Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Banquet Room. 14 Jun 2012

 

A well-loved and regular Adelaide Cabaret Festival attendee, Katie Noonan returns to this year’s CabFest with the world premiere of her latest show, Love-Song Circus.

 

An innovative collaboration with members of the acrobatic troupe Circa, Noonan presents an album of new music that draws together stories of Australia’s first convict women. Noonan was joined front of stage by the Tulipwood String Quartet and Ben and Zoe Hauptmann on double bass and guitar respectively.

 

Billed as “a dynamic meeting of song and circus”, the performance concept was an original and intriguing.  The mix of art forms loosely fulfilled the definition of cabaret, though a lack of theatrics, even in the form of verbal interaction or story telling, left you feeling something was missing.

 

Noonan’s gorgeous voice never disappoints; she is technically brilliant with amazing quality and clarity, but goes far beyond this with soul and feeling she infuses into everything she sings.  Clad in black, with gorgeous red hair over one shoulder, she cut a striking figure at her piano surrounded by her supporting musicians, who reproduced Stephen Newcomb’s string arrangements wonderfully.

 

Circa provided a great backdrop for the musical performance, however at times it felt more like a distraction, as it was hard to draw your eye from them.  The fusion of the two worked well for the most part, though I would have been just as happy without it.  To remove it would have left the show as purely concert in nature, rather than any form of cabaret, but it’s debatable how much it added.

 

Overall, a very enjoyable show.  Katie Noonan provides yet another great performance worth checking out.

 

Nicole Russo

 

 

What: Katie Noonan and Circa - Love-Song Circus
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
When: 13 - 15 Jun
Bookings: bass.net.au