Parade 2 Pinnacle is about your personal challenge… all 21kms of it.

It is also about helping others overcome challenges. Joining forcings with Movember, Parade 2 Pinnacle is helping raise funds and awareness for mens health issues.

Jason Hincks, Chief Operating Officer Movember states: “Movember is looking forward to bringing the moustache to the streets of Adelaide during this year’s debut Parade 2 Pinnacle. A great day for serious runners and weekend warriors alike, the event provides an opportunity for Mo Bros and Mo Sistas to pound the pavement and show their support for men’s health, whilst raising vital funds and awareness for a worthy cause”.

Winning the battle doesnt have to be done alone, nor does it have to be devoid of a good dose of FUN.  Corporate and social teams of four people can partake, relay-style. There are set handover points at approximately 5, 10 and 15km marks where a runner can tag a new runner in.

Naturally cultivated Movember moustaches are encouraged, as is a festive spirit. Event Ambassador and Redbacks Cricket hero, Gary Putland is already in pre-moustache training leading up to the event.

The 878 metre ascent gets underway on Norwood Parade, preceeding the Norwood Christmas Pageant between 7am and 9am on Sunday November 24th and climbs to the peak of Mt Lofty via a 21km route winding through the Adelaide Hills.

Register online at www.parade-pinnacle.com.au

www.facebook.com/parade2pinnacle

Presented by The Soul Box
Reviewed Friday 14th June 2013

Sometimes there is a world of difference between a good show and a good, fun night out – the variety show Live At The Soul Box is definitely the latter.

It is what it purports to be: a variety show. There are no frills; it is far from slick; but as a good time out, it is fairly successful.

The emcee on the night was dread-locked, head-banded, young Aussie battler Fabian Clark who, in his own inimitable way, told very funny stories of his lifestyle, his family and his mates. Clark’s delivery is very, very laidback and relaxed (perhaps a little too much so), but he certainly knows how to whip up a frenzy from quite a small audience, making all the acts feel very welcomed.

On the night reviewed, the acts were Scott the Magician, Chloe and her ukulele, two burlesque dancers and an improvisation routine.

Scott was good and amazingly tricky; Chloe was sweet and entertaining; and all the burlesque routines were sexy and flashy (in more ways than one).

The art of improvisation is just that, an art. It is extremely difficult to pull off well and should be left to the experts – unfortunately, the two performers on the night reviewed were not. The female of the team had quite good witty responses, but the male’s reactions were as slow as a wet weekend.

As a ‘good time had by all’, this is a great attempt but needs to be shaved time wise – lose the interval and the impro act and the end result would be a lot better.

A good excuse to share nibbles and have a drink or two in the comfortable surroundings of The Soul Box – but Cabaret it ain’t!

Reviewed by Brian Godfrey

• Cabaret Fringe Festival website
• The Soul Box website

Venue: The Soul Box, 252 Hindley Street, Adelaide
Season: 14, 22 & 29 June
Duration: 2hrs 15 min (including interval)
Tickets: $12
Bookings: Book online at the Cabaret Fringe Festival website or tickets available at the door if not sold out

Having launched a year ago in April 2012, Carmelina bags have proven to be successful in the baby bag market, and now Carmel Margaritis – Designer and Owner of Carmelina Bags, is introducing a new addition; the Jewel baby tote, as well as launching in to the mainstream handbag market with the introduction of the Indigo bag.

Drawing on her own life experiences as a working mother of two, 30 year old Carmel Margaritis designed the Carmelina Baby Tote range after she was unable to find a nappy bag for herself that was not only functional in every way, but also extremely stylish.  A year on and the brand has proven to be extremely successful with stockists nationally, and online sales in high demand.

The Jewel baby tote in black is the newest design to the baby tote family of Carmelina bags. A large, stylish bag that will fit all your baby needs, the Jewel baby tote’s best accessory is the number of pockets on hand which help find those all important items, including two bottle insulated pockets. Made from a combination of PU leather and PU patent leather, this bag retails for $189.00, and also includes a quick-drop key compartment, zipped waterproof wet bag, two pram hooks, change mat, and Carmelina travel blanket.

“The Jewel baby tote is a fashionable, yet versatile bag. Completing any outfit in classic black, this bag can make mothers feel good on the most stressful of days,” says Carmel.

A first for Carmelina is the introduction of the limited edition Indigo leather bag in tan, which is designed for all. Featuring the classic Carmelina clutch, which can be clipped off and used as a separate bag, the Indigo bag can used for travel, fashion, work, or as a toddler or baby bag. Made of 100% soft leather and retailing for $349.00, this bag will get you through season to season in the always on-trend tan tone.

“After having such success with the baby totes, I wanted to design a bag that could be used for other key stages of life – work, travel, or even purely as a fashion accessory. The Indigo still represents what Carmelina is all about – style and practicality, but launches Carmelina in to a new market,” says Carmel.

Carmelina bags are designed for women who are on the go and who are always spotted in the latest trends, as the bags are extremely fashionable, highly desirable, and functional – adding flair to any outfit.

www.carmelinabags.com

www.facebook.com/CarmelinaBags

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Presented by the Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed Saturday 15th June 2013

Oh my goodness! If you missed this performance, you missed a cabaret tour de force.

Melissa Madden Gray aka Meow Meow is an Australian born artiste of international reputation. She is at home on the stages of London’s West End, Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin, and New York. Down Under she has won coveted Green Room Awards, Helpmann Awards and a Sydney Theatre Critics Award. She is a phenomenon.

It’s difficult to describe her ‘act’, but it’s closer to the roots of cabaret than most other performers in the Cabaret Festival. Apart from a powerful singing voice that is at home with the gentlest of songs from the likes of Brel, as it is with Shirley Bassey-esque belters, she is also a raconteur, a comedienne, and … a circus performer (of sorts!) that borders on the ribald! Curiously, Meow Meow carefully and selectively uses her grab-bag of diverse talents to weave a coherent and touching story that draws you in and has you engrossed from start to finish.

“What, no flowers?” she quipped when she first arrived on stage in the packed Dunstan Playhouse.

What’s a girl to do other than walk off into the wings, get her own flowers – dozens and dozens of them! – and then distribute them to the audience with the instruction to adoringly cast them at her feet when she returns to the stage for take-two of her grand entrance. A reverse Dame Edna trick? The audience loved it and settled back for her opening bracket of international songs.

And just as the show seemed to be well underway, a Stage Manager walked on stage and had a quiet conversation with Meow Meow. The gag was that her costume was being reclaimed by hire-company, because the costume budget did not stretch beyond the first five minutes of the show. So, again, what’s a girl to do other than throw modesty to the four winds and change on stage from one very revealing costume into another! There were other antics throughout the show including another costume that was lowered down from above, and audience members press-ganged onto the stage to become her ‘play things’.

Meow Meow’s diction is superb and her command of Spanish, French and German songs is enviable. She is true to pitch regardless of how loud or soft she sings and has an almost imperceptible vibrato even at the big finishes. Meow Meow oozes sex appeal and knows how to deliver Weimar inspired songs with all the requisite vim, verve and grunt. On stage an outstanding two man musical ensemble accompanies her on piano and drum kit – best in the Festival! (I don’t know your names, guys. There was no printed programme and I couldn’t hear Meow Meow clearly enough when she introduced you by name. Sorry!)

A highlight was her version of Jacques Brel’s 1959 classic “Ne me quitte pas”. It was a centrepiece for the entire show that was a richly embroidered story about the fragility of the beauty of youth and the transience of many of the relationships that are inspired by it.

When you though the show couldn’t get any bigger or better, Meow Meow mischievously and provocatively announced that it was time for a “big f*ck of a finish” and with that she …wait for it … crowd surfed off the stage into the audience, up the stairs and into the foyer for a CD signing!

Wow!

Reviewed by Kym Clayton

• Adelaide Cabaret Festival website
• Meow Meow official website
• Twitter: @MeowTopia
• Meow-Meow Facebook Page

Venue: Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: 15-16 June 2013
Duration: 70 minutes

Photo credit: Karl Giant

Presented by the Bald Eagles
Reviewed Saturday 16th June 2013

The Bald Eagles’ Life in the Slow Lane III stretches the definition of cabaret to present a fun, upbeat tribute to the Eagles.

The setting of the Top of the Ark in the Arkaba gives a refined pub feel to host the six man band who play all the hits from the Eagles as well as a few of their other personal favourites. Half the band have been playing together for thirty years and look very comfortable together on stage.

Front man Alan Rosewarne knows his crowd to banter with them, profanity and all, and lure them out onto the dance floor. The linkage and movement between songs requires some refinement to step out of the pub band territory and into a cabaret performance.

The rest of the band, Bob Armitage, Colin Koch, Dave McArthur, Russ McCormick, and Trent Heneker, dress uniformly in flannelette shirts and give a passionate performance.

To blend into the genre of cabaret we are introduced to Lady Clara who steals the show with a saucy rendition of Chicago’s “When you’re good to mama”. She returns throughout the show in stunning corsets and evening gowns.

The Bald Eagles’ long sets play well into the evening so makes for a long night at a single venue. Their season with the 2013 Cabaret Fringe Festival has come to an end but the local band will continue to perform throughout the year at numerous venues.

Reviewed by Alex Dunkin

• Cabaret Fringe Festival website
• Bald Eagles website

Venue: The Arbaba Hotel
Season: 14-15 June

M. Night Shyamalan seems to have slowly become box office poison. That he continues making films is a testament to the goodwill his early work such as The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable generated. Unfortunately After Earth won’t do him any favours with its rambling plot further diminishing his once golden allure.

A thousand years after a cataclysm ruined Earth, the planet Nova Prime is humanity’s new home. One of its revered soldiers is General Cypher (Will Smith) who embarks on a journey with his estranged son Kitai (Jaden Smith). When their ship crash-lands on Earth’s ravaged plains, an injured Cypher sends Kitai to recover their rescue beacon. Aiming to prove his worth to his father, Kitai sets out on a mission full of unknown peril.

In spite of its dazzling CGI vistas and interesting theme of man versus nature, After Earth isn’t very memorable. The biggest drawback is the performances. Despite being true-life father and son Smiths senior and junior show little chemistry. It’s difficult believing in their relationship as their character’s disinterest in each other smothers any emotional investment. Their roles make demands that their limited range can’t give with their acting mediocre at best.

Their misguided renditions are magnified by the confused story. Plot holes abound with many sequences making little sense. These make After Earth difficult to follow although the grand visions of a rediscovered Earth provide some distractions. Shyamalan doesn’t seem interested in providing something unique with the over-used ‘son wanting to please the father’ plot device clumsily handled.

Better actors and a more focussed script may have made After Earth engaging. His latest effort provides further evidence of Shyamalan’s fading talents with his glory days seemingly as distant as the relationship of ‘After Earth’s protagonists.

Reviewed by Patrick Moore

Rating out of 10: 3

Presented by Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed Saturday 15th June 2013

If you go to Songs to Self-Destruct to expecting to see Virginia Gay as she was in television’s All Saints, or as she currently appears in the series Winners And Losers, then you will be bitterly disappointed! This is Gay at her sexy, hypnotically, crazily, maniacally, hysterically funny best – and can the lady sing!

Gay’s latest cabaret show is based on insomnia, having suffered from it herself for sixteen years. She cleverly breaks down those dreaded sleepless hours from midnight to dawn using what she feels are appropriate songs for each individual hour – and what an eclectic collection they are: everything from Gautier through to Kanye and Prince (or Artist Formerly Known As). Gay puts interesting twists on the numbers as well: who else would perform a Honky Tonk version of David Bowie’s “Major Tom” or meld “Mr Sandman” with Metallica’s “Enter The Sandman”?

One of Gay’s undoubted talents is how she communicates with an audience and uses a room to her advantage. In this show no chair or table is safe as she meanders around her captive fans, feeling comfortable with them and making them equally so with her. This lady really enjoys what she does (even to the point of taking her boots off and performing bare footed) – and we adore her for it.

As for the three-piece band – WOW! Musical Director Simon Ross plays piano, piano accordion and ukulele (not at the same time), with bass player Gavin Pierce and percussionist Benny Cann equally as hot and stunning as Ms Gay in all numbers.

This is an absolutely fabulous addition to this year’s Cabaret Festival, and if we must self-destruct who better than the gorgeous, highly talented Virginia Gay to do it with!

Reviewed by Brian Godfrey

• Adelaide Cabaret Festival website

Venue: Banquet Room, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: 15 – 16 June 2013
Duration: 1hr 10mins
Tickets: $34.90 – $39.90
Bookings: Book at BASS

Presented by Spark of Inspiration
Reviewed Saturday 15th June 2013

It’s always inspiring to see talented young performers take to the stage, and even better when they do so for a worthy cause. A Vision, produced and directed by Benji Riggs (pictured) with musical direction by Mark Stefanoff, is a hope-filled tribute to sufferers of Leukaemia and other cancers, featuring 16 brilliant young singers.

A Vision is the first part in a musical project, simply titled ‘The Big Project’, that aims to raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation. If this performance was anything to go by, ‘The Big Project’ is bound to be great.

The performance was quite impressive. I was blown away by some incredibly powerful voices that you would hardly expect to come from such young people. The range of songs was good, from Robbie Williams to Louise Armstrong, and each song perfectly suited the voice singing it. Some songs were sweet, some were emotional and some were exciting, but all contributed value to the show as a whole. Stefanoff’s music on the keyboard was basically flawless, and flowed between the different styles without missing a beat. It was obvious that a lot of hard work was put in during rehearsals and that each performer had a genuine passion for their craft. However, I would have liked to see a wider variety of instruments used, as the keyboard alone seemed to pale beneath the great voices.

Some performers did falter at times, which I attribute simply to nerves. This was most obvious during Riggs’ introductions and improvised comedy between songs, which ended up seeming a little awkward. Although there was bound to be some nerves among the young performers it was good to see them take on board the show’s message of hope and conquer any fears they might have had. The solo performances may not have been perfect, but when the 16 voices came together in chorus something special was created.

Displayed behind the singers throughout the show was the logo for A Vision, framed by fairy lights. Although it doesn’t seem worth mentioning at first, to see each singer step up and suddenly be given angel wings by the design of the logo was something I thought was a very nice touch. The Soul Box itself, however, is a small and rather intimate venue and so interruptions from the crowd were bound to happen. One boisterous audience member in particular made it difficult for the performers to keep their minds on the task. Never the less, they recovered well and continued on as if nothing had happened.

A Vision was a great show, which kept me rapt for the whole hour and made me excited for the next instalment in ‘The Big Project’. Although it was hardly an epic spectacle, it communicated its important message of hope in a fun and exuberant manner. I saw many heads bopping and heard a lot of singing along. You know it’s definitely a good show when you hear ‘wows’ of amazement from the audience.

Reviewed by James Rudd

• Cabaret Fringe Festival website
• The Soul Box website
• Spark of Inspiration website

Venue: The Soul Box, 252 Hindley St Adelaide
Season: 15^th June
Duration: 1 hour

Presented by Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed Friday 14th June 2013

Mark Campbell’s Songs from an Unmade Bed opened Off-Broadway in 2005. It is exactly what it says: songs sung from and around an unmade bed, by a gay New Yorker; or is it several different gay New Yorkers? – this is not abundantly clear. The show is described as “part cabaret, part theatre,” and part song cycle – it is all song cycle, quite a bit of theatre, and hardly any cabaret.

All the lyrics were written by Campbell but with 18 composers. Although written by a large number of composers, the music itself has the modern Broadway feel of the likes of Pasek and Paul, John Bucchino and Jason Robert Brown. It is Campbell’s witty, bitterly humorous, and sometimes beautifully moving lyrics that impress; such songs as “Sex With An Actor” (self explanatory) and “The Other Other Woman” (about a love triangle that is really a square) are hilarious; while “A Dinner Party” and “I Miss New York” let one soak in the poignancy that can occur with relationships. There are a couple of numbers toward the end of the production that could be cut due to the fact that they seem unnecessary – especially “To Sing”.

One of the things that is impressive about this production is Australian musical theatre performer, Michael Lindner (South Pacific, Mary Poppins, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical) as the unnamed character. He bounds around the small stage lithely, singing with strength and clarity and acting with panache.

The other impressive factors are the musical direction of Geoffrey Castles, whom one assumes is the pianist, and the talents of the cellist and percussionist (whose names are uncredited). The female cellist features hilariously in the number “He Plays The Cello” – it’s not easy to play so wonderfully badly, when one is so talented; while the extremely busy male percussionist doubles as an actor in a lovely little cameo toward the end.

Songs from an Unmade Bed is a good, solid show, and while possibly not one of the highlights of this year’s Cabaret Festival, it is enjoyable enough for the more broad-minded of us.

Reviewed by Brian Godfrey

• Adelaide Cabaret Festival website

Venue: Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: 14 – 16 June 2013
Duration: 1hr 10mins
Tickets: $24.90 – $34.90
Bookings: Book at BASS