Marie Clark Musical Theatre. Arts Theatre. 21 Jun 2025
Was there ever a more beautiful, uplifting and exquisitely-toned music emanating from the orchestra pit of the Arts Theatre! Conductor Serene Cann with a nine-piece orchestra is currently performing Frank Wildhorn’s jazzy score for the musical Bonnie and Clyde. It has a 1930s ring, a Duke Ellington spirit, and shades of American bluegrass.
And it is peerlessly played under Cann’s baton.
So the Marie Clark mob is off to a flying start with this production. No wonder the Saturday matinee house was so good.
They were in for a terrific show with a terrific cast.
Its huge, glossy program reveals the mighty team of volunteers who rallied with all manner of expertise to mount such an ambitious, big-cast, musical bio-drama.
From the spectacular murderous opening with the two protagonists shot to bits in their notorious 1934 Ford Deluxe V-8, the show soars along with brilliantly expedited violence and some touching tales of love and loss and Depression-era deprivation in America’s South. As devised by Ivan Menchell with its lyrics by Don Black, it embellishes the criminal couple’s tale with a bit of fictionalisation but sustains a healthy true-crime mood.
The sets are eminently serviceable and the set changes are smoothly executed.
The onstage car is masked and the tale begins at the beginning with Bonnie and Clyde depicted in childhood, thus providing family and cultural context. Able juniors from an alternating child cast deliver the Picture Show opening number in confident talent show over-sing style. The score enables this, albeit the long vowels are mercifully more muted from the adult cast. It is not a competition. It is a musical and an otherwise creditable directorial debut by one Lucy Trewin.
Kristian Latella really grows on one in his role as Clyde Barrow. One looks forward to seeing more of his work. Ava-Rose Askew is an absolute winner as the ravishing redhead, Bonnie Parker. She is funny, simpatico and can sing up a storm.
Then there is Caroline Fioravanti who gives a sublime performance, powerful and heartbreaking, as sister-in-law, Blanche Barrow. Lovely voice, too. David MacGillivray can be depended upon as a strong stage presence and here is another fine, generous performance. Then there are the myriad other good players: Zachary Baseby as the lovelorn cop, Rodney Hrvatin as the revivalist preacher, Claire Birbeck as Mother Parker, Merci Thompson as Cumie Barrow, Ben Todd, Dawn Ross, Jamie Wright, Jarrad Prest, Tom Moore, and Darcie Yelland-Wark. The cast is numerous and all of good quality and focused.
Thanks to choreographer Deborah Joy Proeve, there’s a great big showstopper dance routine, and thanks to teams of costumiers, there are myriad effective period costumes, especially those upon Bonnie and Clyde.
The accents are good. The lighting is good. The sound is good.
And good onto the power of Marie Clark which seems to be operating at a wonderful peak of enthusiasm, support and ability.
Quick sticks, Adelaide audiences. Fire up and see a murderously beaut. show.
Samela Harris
When: 20 to 28 Jun
Where: Arts Theatre
Bookings: mcmt.net.au
Cabaret Festival. Banquet Room. 20 Jun 2025
“Why don’t we do it in the road?” belts Virginia Gay, emerging from a dark corner of the room, opening the Birthday Party on the penultimate night of the 2025 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the 25th anniversary of what has slotted so comfortably into the lexicon of Adelaide festivals. The Beatles’ classic is subverted pretty quickly; why don’t we do it in the crowd? Why don’t we do it on the stage?
The end is nigh, the passions are high, and this late-night crowd is so ready for this celebration. Gay is in her element, cosseting the audience, telling jokes, being just that tad raunchy.
The opening night Gala was a glitter and glitz affair at Her Majesty’s, giving us a taste of what was to come, in the nicest possible way. This night looked back, giving a nod to the artists who had made this festival a success.
Gillian Cosgriff, host of last weekend’s There Is Nothing Like A Game, was up first, throwing a burst of nostalgia at the baby grand with the theme to the children’s TV series Around The Twist. Cosgriff is very funny and can turn on a dime with ad lib repartee. She’s become a regular at the festival and is always welcome.
A quick game of audience participation ‘what’s that dance’, and we’re on to Libby O’Donovan. I first saw her perform as an ingenue at her graduating concert and she was good then. Now, she’s just bloody brilliant. James Brown’s It’s a Man’s, Man’s World was in good hands here, O’Donovan has matured int a powerhouse and really should be a household name. Her version of Etta James At Last, sung in a full strine Australian accent, as befits a Broken Hill girl, should be seen by everyone who bemoans the Atlantic accent in song. Just hilarious.
After a Sweet Transvestite from Gay which owed more to Peggy Lee than Rocky Horror, and a brief but essentially pointless La Clique appearance, Michelle Monaghan had the audience in singalong mode with 4 Non-Blondes’ What’s Going On. Sobering to think the song came out in 1992 (for those playing at home, that’s 33 years ago), but it does explain how the range of generations in the crowd knew the words!
This night, and tomorrow’s closer, is Virginia Gay’s swansong. She’s been at the helm of this festival for the past two years and needed to spend some time acknowledging those who were on this journey with her. And fair enough. But it was time of course to hand over, and she did so, introducing the 2026 Cabaret Festival Artistic Director, Rueben Kaye who of course had a show at this year’s festival. You have to ease them in.
Rather than close with a big bang, Gay chose to close with the poignant We Raise Our Cups from the musical Hadestown; a fitting goodnight for the 25th Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
Arna Eyers-White
When: 20 to 21 Jun
Where: Banquet Room
Bookings: Closed
Cabaret Festival. Dunstan Playhouse. 19 Jun 2025
The album Trio, released in 1987, was the much-anticipated collaboration between three of country music’s greatest artists of the time: Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. Various issues, such as recording contracts and commitments to other projects resulted in the album being recorded over almost a decade. The album is a beautifully curated mix of original and traditional songs, and some quite stunning covers.
In homage to these powerhouses and the platinum album, Fanny Lumsden, Jess Hitchcock and Alice Keath have come together to perform the songs from the album (and a little more). With a backline of local session musicians, the trio took on the challenge with great enthusiasm. Opening with the album’s first track The Pain of Loving You, the musicianship gathered on the stage quickly became evident as the multi-instrumentalist backline of mandolin, fiddle, acoustic and electric guitars, pedal steel and bowed upright bass promised early and delivered for the entire performance.
As with the original trio, these three are successful artists in their own right; they’ve worked together on these numbers, and for the first part of the show they are quite tight and on track. It gets a bit loose towards the end, but this is a one-off and they don’t have the luxury of take after take to get it right.
That said, there are some real stand-out moments. Phil Spector’s To Know Him Is To Love Him is tight and joyous, a real crowd pleaser, and Randy Newman’s Feels Like Home (which was released on Trio 11 in 1999) brings the house down. Led by Jess Hitchcock at the grand piano, it is poignant and powerful and, along with a beautiful rendition of High Sierra, we are reminded of what a tragedy it is that Linda Ronstadt has lost that magnificent voice.
Also from the sophomore album (which was released in 1999) is a rendition of Neil Young’s After the Goldrush. Since Prelude’s 1974 recording showed how a close-knit vocal harmony could elevate this song, whenever three or more voices gather, they tend to have a go at this. Trio are no exception and carry it well; a small niggle was that the sound mix pulled up the pedal steel and double bass (bowing) a little high, drowning out some if the quite delicate vocal harmonies.
There is a generosity of spirit amongst these three artists, as indeed is evident with the original artists, with each acknowledging the other’s skills, particularly as they pull out their instruments to accompany some of the songs; banjo, guitar, piano and zither all make an appearance.
There's a sense of almost-but-not-quite about this production. It lacks a narrative; while there is some patter between songs about the making of the albums, there could be so much more to this story, elevating it above the concert format. These three artists have led remarkable lives, and some of the things that were going on in their lives during the making of the first album would have added to understanding some of the song choices that made it onto this first pressing.
Lumsden reads from notes far too much, and when the performers aren’t holding their instruments they physically seem a little lost, staring at the backline during solos, unsure of what to do with their bodies.
As a one off, it is a most entertaining show albeit a little under cooked for what should be a premium cabaret performance. But the singing is what it’s about for many, and the trio don’t disappoint, with a closer of Waltz Across Texas Tonight. And kudos to the backline; a stellar performance.
Arna Eyers-White
When: 19 Jun
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
Bookings: Closed
Cabaret Festival. Frankie McNair. Banquet Room. 15 Jun 2025
Epic trash(ed) exposition of fame that never was yet desperately clawed for with an insane lust for the important people’s love and admiration.
Thus is the tragedy of Tabitha Booth’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2025 cheap, self-adulating, sell out, golden era culture stealing fifth rate gig that would happily score a five cent piece off the pavement and call it a win.
Oh the tacky, tacky! The cheap red curtained ‘Booth’ lit sign with a crooked H. A promising black and white screened interview intro with the star herself, as she works towards a show celebrating her long, fearless, barrier breaking career.
Fearless destruction is her theme, sadly. Here is an artist who broke the rules against herself. Stuffed up a chance being a Bond girl, but gifted the franchise a song Duran Duran would have been exterminated by had they been exposed to it. She did worse. Cats. We are to be grateful her poor approximation of Sarah Brightman ensured she never got the role.
Tabitha cannot escape her psycho bent fixation with tap dancing Judy Garland identity or her questionable Garbo bigger, bigger cigarette fixation.
If it wasn’t for Harris, stage manager keeping her moderately in line, there would be no show!! No cheap arse sponsors either!
Ok. Gonzo review section complete. Frankie McNair (the performer playing the fictional ‘Tabitha Booth’) is a genius. Never has an artist been able to crush and compound a golden era of music theatre/cabaret and film history, in the manner she does. It is liberating, extraordinary, yet remarkably respectful in all its ribald comic glory. More power to her. There were enough people on their feet testifying to that at shows end.
David O’Brien
When: 15 June
Where: Banquet Room
Bookings: Closed
Cabaret Festival. Her Majesty’s Theatre. 13 Jun 2025
I have a marble sculpture of an egret. So, I can’t say, “non, je ne egret, rien.” (No, I regret nothing). Neither can Edith Piaf. She had regrets. But not in the show Divas. Piaf without regrets is unusual but so is this show. It’s a long show and by the end it was still difficult to know what the show is.
Piaf is one of ten great divas featured in Bernadette Robinson’s odd show in this odd Cabaret Festival. The show is certainly not cabaret but neither is most of the Cabaret Festival. Neither is Divas a concert. It’s a peculiar show in which Robinson doesn’t impersonate but sort of suggests the great voices of ten sublime entertainers and links this with narrative of their own words. We’re used to parody and camp but there is none here. Nor is the show funny. Robinson is attempting to avoid portraying the oft-recalled suffering of these women in favour of a positive interpretation of their joy and power in performance. What a shame.
There’s a backdrop of ten bad faux Warholesque portraits of the divas which is confusing. There’s a forest of microphone stands on stage and when Robinson sings her intonation is faultless but when speaking she struggles to be heard. Robinson is gamine, has raddled hair and is very oddly dressed with a feature panty line. After an awful opening number in which I thought she was singing Cher but it was really Kate Bush she eventually settled down. Her Shirley Bassey and Piaf lack the requisite killer aggression. Piaf was born in the gutter and you need to hear that in her voice. Karen Carpenter is herein underwhelming, Dolly Parton is interesting and Miley Cyrus was dreadful. Amy Winehouse was closer to to the mark. Robinson’s Barbra Streisand underwhelms although her version of I’m The Greatest Star was cute. Judy Garland was a complete miss but the evening is saved by a bravura, exquisitely sung and inexplicably cheery Maria Callas.
It’s a strange night with a very laid-back performer. She is only occasionally worthy of her great material. The show needs an orchestra and although the four piece band tried its best it would’ve better suited backing singers at a cabaret at the Finsbury Hotel in the 60s.
The mainly elderly audience (bless ‘em) eventually seemed to enjoy the show but I have regrets.
Peter Goers
When: 13 Jun
Where: Her Majesty’s Theatre
Bookings: Closed