Presented by the Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed Fri 11th June 2010
http://www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com
Venue: Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: One night only
Duration: 90mins
Bookings for all Cabaret Festival shows: BASS 131 241 or http://www.bass.net.au
The Variety Gala Performance was sold out even before the programme of events had been printed, and for good reason. It offers patrons a wonderful chance to sample a selection of acts from the Festival.
David Campbell welcomed everybody to the Cabaret Festival and introduced Liza Minnelli impersonator, Trevor Ashley, whose show is called Liza [on an E]. He started the ball rolling with a high energy rendition of Cabaret, rewritten to also make reference to Judy Garland. This was a great start to the evening.
The MC was Todd McKenney, who engaged in a little humorous chat with Ashley and had a bit of fun at the expense of those sitting in the top balcony, before announcing the next act.
Ennio Marchetto presented a selection of the characters that he plays in his fast paced show. He creates them using only a collection of cardboard cut-out costumes that cleverly change, with nothing much more than a flip of a section, into a completely different character. There are plenty of laughs to be had here.
Then Earl Okin took the stage. His show is called Musical Genius and Sex Symbol, and he can certainly play guitar very well, so perhaps the other part is also true. His droll sense of humour and smooth jazz styling quickly endeared him to the audience and his show is sure to be a big hit.
Musical Theatre rising star, Elizabeth Cousemacker, followed. Her show is Noël, Kurt Cole, featuring the music of those three great composers, Noël Coward, Kurt Weill and Cole Porter. She sang a Kurt Weill number, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, The Saga of Jenny, written for the 1941 musical, Lady in the Dark, and made famous by Gertrude Lawrence. Her powerful voice and great interpretation was a winner with the crowd.
Tom Sharah then followed injecting some comedy into a song written by Sting and recorded by The Police, Every Breath You Take, alternated with Stephen Sondheim’s I’m losing My Mind. His show Que Sera Sharah looks set to be a success.
Marika Aubrey then gave a wonderfully sensitive rendition of Meadowlark, from the Stephen Schwartz show, The Baker’s Wife. Her show is simply entitled Redhead and pays tribute to red-haired women including Lucille Ball, Ethel Merman and Rita Hayworth. She has a beautiful voice and is sure to delight.
Mark Nadler just about turned the piano inside out, next, with his high powered playing on an extended version of Birth of the Blues. Listening to the massive chords that he produced you’d almost swear that he had a dozen fingers on each hand. His show is nightly in the piano bar and there is no charge for admission. Make sure you catch him.
Multi-award winning Broadway star, Donna McKechnie, tells her own story in her show, My Musical Comedy Life. Her contribution to the evening was a song that could easily describe her own approach to life, I’ve got a Lot of Living to Do. This is one show not to be missed.
Raymond Crowe, who refers to himself as an Unusualist, raised quite a few laughs interacting with the audience, amazing us by dancing with a jacket and ending with a brief look at his trademark hand-shadow work. His Wonderful World of Hand and Shadow will, no doubt, see his legion of followers turning out in droves.
That much loved Australian star of musical theatre, Caroline O’Connor, who is about to fly to some prestigious performances in England and the USA, then offered Nat King Cole’s Nature Boy, leading into another song by Sting recorded by The Police, Roxanne, in a powerful rendition. Her show, An Evening with Caroline O’Connor, will, no doubt, sell out.
iOTA, from the Sydney Festival hit show, Smoke and Mirrors, was next, wielding his ukulele as he fronted the Smoke and Mirrors Band with aerialist, Chelsea McGuffin, working overhead. Dark and energetic, this is definitely a show for those who like something different and challenging.
Headliner, Natalie Cole, sang her father’s song, L-O-V-E, leaving everybody wanting more. Her swinging version of this old favourite clearly won the approval of the audience and whetted the appetites for those lucky enough to have tickets for her show.
Todd McKenney closed the show with Everything Old is New Again, joined by a line of senior tap dancers and, eventually, the entire cast of the evening’s performance for the final bows.
Our Cabaret Festival has established some strong credentials in its first decade, as seen in the calibre of artists that it can attract. This event was only the tip of the iceberg and the remainder of June will see the Festival Centre in full swing at all hours.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Arts Editor Glam Adelaide.
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