Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The Banquet Room. 7 Jun 2024
Mark Nadler - along with his ubiquitous rubber-ducky, makes a welcome return season to the Banquet Room at the Festival Centre for Cabfest.
It begins as a strap-yourself-in one-man show and it never stops. He simply is an experienced and class performer, who owns the stage from the outset and never lets go. This is a consummate performance.
Nothing and no-one, is sacred. He references an audience member as "nothing more tragic than a hapless drag queen". The Banquet Room he compares to playing at the Holiday Inn - at least it's the "big room at the Holiday Inn". A late comer who arrives with a bag of chips is regularly referenced. Yet all is delivered with style and panache and a generous dose of personality.
In a partly self-mocking way, Nadler recalls his risqué COVID home-podcast that includes his dog. It doesn't get broadcast.
At the show's beginning, Nadler tells us that his only planned numbers are his opening and his closing songs. The rest is a spontaneous, come-as-you-are show. His wealth and breadth of experience serves him brilliantly. Though too, he is able to adapt. Having promised "more Gershwin" (which had not eventuated) he replaces this final number with...'"more Gershwin". He is so at ease. This is his stage.
His brilliant vocals and skilful piano playing remain the focus. His songbook is wide and rich, and his pianism is exceptional. With his range, skills and variety on full display the audience rarely has time to draw a breath. Nadler progresses so quickly from song to anecdotes and observations (and everything in between), that we are clearly seeing a one-man, all-singing, all-dancing, all-talking virtuoso performance. The likes of which are rarely seen. Catch your breath for a moment and you're in awe.
With the welcoming of his handpicked guests, Gillian Cosgriff, Mark Lebante, and Joan & Flo, this is Nadler's moment of generosity - championing the talents of all three. All had played at the earlier Gala Performance, or in Nadler's words the "Galah Performance."
Cosgriff ranges from Why Try To Change Me by Cy Coleman to a brilliant piano duet with Duke Ellington's Dont Get Around Much Anymore. It is sassy and wildly energetic. Lebante's signature piece focuses on the playlist of Nat King Cole - and both he and Nadler balance and counterbalance each other harmoniously in a rich duet. With a change of pace, Flo and Jo sing One Night Only from the show Dream Girls; however it is their own number of having drunk too much that is the highlight, and so very funny.
As the end of the show draws nigh, Nadler individually thanks all of his crew. Another nice and generous touch. It is clear that this is not so much a curated show - but rather a spontaneous one. Closing with Who Could Ask For Anything More (complete with tap shoes) is so apt.
Just perhaps, Mark Nadler may one day get his own star at the Festival Centre's ‘Walk of Fame’? It will be well deserved.
Brian Wellington
When: 7 to 9 Jun
Where: The Banquet Room
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The Banquet Room. 8 June 2024
Barbie doll.
Plastic. Pink. Really smooth. Manufactured perfection.
Sits on a high silver table offering sarcastic retorts, blended with bone crunching legal smarts, even if she is meant to be a loving confidant to a Christie Whelan-Browne circa school year 6 – 9. Barbie’s presence hangs large even when your eyes are on Whelan-Browne in full flight.
Life in Plastic surveys Whelan-Browne - young girl, teenager, young woman - attempting (and yet battling a deep need) to be a perfect Barbie despite life, and her body, not being smooth, manufactured pink plastic perfection. Still attempting it, even when unselfconscious innocence is smashed.
When you are made to cover up in a Dinosaur costume in the school play instead of being a dancing Pebble, you realise consciously, you are not beautiful.
Bubble gum colours of 80s//90s popdom, with Dolly Magazine and Impulse spray in the air were wonderful times. Whelan-Browe delivers Cyndi Lauper’s songs alongside every other girl hit of the era’s magic, happy days when she was a “Westfield Barbie on minimum wage” despite the secret malice buried within myriad gleefully relayed comic, and not so comic, life experiences.
Sheridan Harbridge wrote and directed this sensational sass laden Whelan-Brown life saga. Key element? Balancing a bright, innocent outer world with a very sophisticated, deft and delicate revealing of things darker, raw, intimate and vulnerable. Yet managing still to be screamingly funny when the show unloads difficult, hard-core stuff. There is a point where all things Barbie do not cut it. Can Barbie have a baby? What if you can’t either? IVF and $10,000 a pop anyone?
Harbridge’s direction and writing allow Whelan-Browne the freedom to create her story in performance as an act of art freed from the life-material’s inescapable attachment to her. She is enabled to create, one step away from herself. That freedom is the infectious spirit powering this show. Whelan-Browne lets it rip. She shows off her superb stylistic vocal range with kick arse elegance, laced with whip sharp comic timing that never fails to land the laughs.
Kellie-Anne Kimber’s score and sound design capture that 80s/90s period perfectly. You won’t hear bubble gum pop overlayed with Cyndi Lauper’s lyrics any better than this.
David O’Brien
When: 8 June
Where: The Banquet Room
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Festival Theatre. One night only, 7 Jun 2024
If one wonders why the bubble bath features on the 2024 Cabaret Festival’s “Soak It In” program, keep wondering. Its wondrous Artistic Director Virginia Gay made her entrance to the Gala show clambering and tumbling from a big white bathtub onstage. ’Twas an ardently silly and memorable opener.
Gay has made the CabFest very much her own, so proud of it and her role as AD that barely an effusive compere's intro goes by without her mentioning it; ebullient, enthusiastic, vivacious, and verbose. One could go on. She certainly did. And her stars worked hard to live up to the superlative extremes of peerless, incredible talent she touted.
She was gloriously frocked up for the big night. It was an abundance of stunningly oily-looking black organza and she set the show on the road singing Ben Folds’ famous Adelaide song.
Shanon D. Whitelock’s massive orchestra was perched in two sections across the Festival Theatre stage with a classic cabaret-drapes backdrop and assorted giant light-balls dangling aloft.
In an odd tickle of irony on this Gala night of glittering dressup, the stage crew was attired in particularly drab dressing gowns, of all incongruous things.
Fabulous Aida, comprising Dillie Keane, Adele Anderson, and Liza Pulman with Michael Roulston kicked off the program with an autobiographical song from Adele. Both fun and touching, it was called Prisoner of Gender and it contained my absolutely favourite lyric rhyme of the night: “puberty” rhymed "Schuberty”. Ten out of ten.
Mim Sarre - Photo by Claudio Raschella
According to Gay, Bert LaBonte is “the greatest stage actor in Australia”. He was not on stage to act for the Gala but he certainly sang and he was certainly “wow” factor. The adoring audience joined in on the chorus of Let’s Get it On and delivered a surprising prettiness of sound in so doing.
Gillian Cosgriff followed on at the piano with a diverting ditty about ghastly gifting delivered in a very lovely voice after which Adelaide’s own Millicent Sarre, now a Class of Cabaret Mentor, belted out I Can Cook Too in strident hot Mama style.
English gals, Flo and Jo, had the house laughing from the moment they stepped on stage. Casually clad and with recorders poking out of their hip pockets, the dissimilar sisters revved up the orchestra to accompany them in the song answering the constant question as to their genuine sisterhood before dismissing the musicans and turning back the musical clock to timeless Celtic folk harmony and their song of Lady In The Woods; a long unforgettable song with an evolution of narrative verses. It brought the house down!
It was a hard act to follow. But, Jess Hitchcock came equipped with a very well-honed tool, otherwise known as a well-trained voice. Thus, from her A Fine Romance show, in clear, pure tones, she enabled one and all to be Suspended in Time. Then on came the Jewish genius American songster and satirist Mark Nadler. He plays the piano like a furious sorcerer and plays the audience like a Stradivarius. Funny? Oh, yeah! Clever? Blowaway so. He’s high octane and highbrow. He electrifies the piano with his transcendent brilliance and adorns the piano stool like a comic madman. His theme was I Love a Piano and everyone loved him. He has shone forth in many past CabFests and it is pure joy to have him back in town. There’s no one like him. And no one remembers to play up to the dress circles like he does. Finesse.
Exhausted by Nadler's fearless physicality, the audience tottered out for refreshments before the second act.
Mark Nadler - photo by Claudio Raschella
And out came the divine Reuben Kaye; exquisite to behold and outrageous to perceive. He’s wickedly pithy, provocative, political and, dammit, he sings like an angel. He’s pure five-star cabaret and when Virginia Gay came on and announced him as the 2024 Cabaret Festival Icon, it was to tumultuous cheers. He has “it”.
It was unfortunate program timing for Gabbi Bolt and Matthew Pedney with their Murder For Two encore duet at the piano. They’re good but it was hard for anyone to outshine what had gone before with Nadler and then Kaye.
Cassie Hamilton came on and did a terrific big, bouncy musicals-style number with her fabulous voice. She’s an exciting new creative. Her show is Transgender Woman On The Internet, Crying and, despite the title, says Gay, it promises laughs. Cassie is particularly endearing in the way she uses her Aussie accent in song.
Here, she was billed up with the old-school musicals pro, that living legend Rhonda Burchmore, still fresh after 42 years in the business, giving a taste of her Tall Tales CabFest show and singing, supremely, Moving The Line. Sighs of approval.
Virginia Gay & Reuben Kaye - (Cabaret Icon Award Winner 2024) - Photo by Claudio Raschella
Virginia Gay, now in a black pants suit, had been on and off throughout the show giving her garrulous introductions to an audience known as “my beautiful friends”. She’d made it clear that this was her show. But it was when she donned a leather jacket to take the John Travolta part in a duet with Christie Wheelan Brown in You’re the One That I Want - she truly owned it. She just stole the scene. Applause.
This was another hard act to follow but, with some formal thanks to the production team which featured our beloved Mitchell Butel as director, she brought on Mahalia Barnes. In a breathtakingly beautiful black and floral gown, that beautiful Barnes girl belted out River Deep and Mountain High. Hot ain’t the word. The audience went wild. It was a top signoff for the Gala and teaser for the rest of our wonderful winter festival.
Samela Harris
When: 7 Jun
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
More info: cabaret.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au
Festival dates: 7 to 22 Jun
The Adelaide Repertory Theatre. Arts Theatre. 6 Jun 2024
The Adelaide Rep delivers another strong production with its latest performance of Moonlight and Magnolias.
It's Hollywood 1939, and film producer David O. Selznick has a crisis. Production on Gone With The Wind has halted - the Writer and Director just don't 'get it. And with the ever-present - yet unseen shadow of Louis Mayer (co-founder of MGM), Selznick needs a new Director and Scriptwriter. And now!
Lingering in the background is Selznick's own darkness - of just maybe over-committing on his investment? And thereto following in his own father's footsteps of bankruptcy.
The Solution? Find a new Director and a new Script Writer immediately and complete it within 5 days.
Enter Ben Hecht, as the experienced and successful replacement Script Writer. There is one hurdle however - he hasn't even read the book.
Add in Victor Fleming as Director - who's been plucked from directing Judy Garland & Munchkins in a film called Wizard Of Oz (which he prophesies will be a loser) and what could possibly go wrong? Well, plenty.
Selznick's first safety-net is to lock all three in his office until the script is delivered.
Their only sustenance is bananas and peanuts. Apart from a typewriter and plenty of paper, that's it.
What ensues over the next two Acts will ultimately redefine film history and shape careers.
The play Moonlight and Magnolias (written in 2004 by the now American, Ron Hutchinson) becomes a mix of storyline, farce and slapstick. A fly-on-the-wall observation.
But there is a darker counterbalance too. This was at the time of Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, and Selznick and Hecht are Jews. So too Louis Mayer of MGM. Even the British actor Leslie Howard (Steiner) rates a mention.
Act I is so busy, it’s as if The Three Stooges were writing and playing Gone With The Wind - such are the manic moments. Yet too, these moments almost act as a guise or a deflection to what is seen as the hopeless and mammoth 5-day task of rewriting a film script.
Yet intertwined, there is another event occurring in another place, and the slapstick scene explores this. It is ostensibly on how to best film a slap-scene (with the cast practising on each other!) but more importantly it is an allegory of the treatment then, and violence towards, the Jews in Europe. It is a continuing theme - though perhaps not fully explored on stage.
If Act I centres upon delivering a tight-deadline script from this triumvirate, then Act II delivers conclusions and insights. A stage full of peanuts, banana skins, and exhausted bodies requires minimal explanation of the time, effort and commitment consumed.
Yet even with a final script delivered, doubts surface and linger.
Is the ending right? Will the script deliver? Will it be a success? Should they take a set-fee, or a percentage-of-the-box?
It's this ever-evolving storyline that maintains the pace and interest throughout.
It is too a subplot of humanity and morality. And it is now that it then engages the audience.
Some 80 years on, we know the answer. Gone With The Wind is a mammoth success. Yet too, those real-life social issues are as much at the forefront today as they were in 1939. There is still the Middle East conflict, and from the play: "I can't deal with the race question" or, "Great movie making is dead". What is old is new again.
This production needs a clear direction and a strong cast of four.
Harry Dewar directs his multi-level production with strong purpose and subtly. Clearly appreciating his cast and encouraging them to explore.
Adam Gregory Shultz as Selznick is powerful, driven and determined - yet full of self-doubt. His accent tends to be general-American - something more regional might add depth. Terry Crowe (Ben Hecht) is almost laconic and consistently & wonderfully underplayed to full effect. Scott Battersby (Victor Fleming) delivers a fine sense-of-reason and importantly becomes the conduit between cast and audience. And Rebecca Gardiner (Miss Poppenghul) delightfully under-plays her role reinforcing that less can be a whole lot more.
At the moment this production is more an historical and a philosophical piece, rather than a comedy - yet too this element will be heightened during its run. Well recommended and runs to 15th of June at the Arts Theatre.
Brian Wellington
When: 6 to 15 Jun
Where: The Arts Theatre
Bookings: artstheatresa.sales.ticketsearch.com
Cabaret Fringe Festival. Charlee Watt. Carclew Ballroom. 31 May 2024
In the immortal words of Mick Jagger “Charlie’s good tonight, isn’t he?”. That was 1969 and he was speaking of his drummer Charlie Watts, but it’s a fitting reference for this Charlee Watt; she was having a good night tonight.
Charlee has presented a few shows variously featuring the songs of Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Mama Cass Elliot in past Adelaide Fringes and as a recipient of the Nathaniel O’Brien Class of Cabaret in 2021, she performed the songs of David Bowie. Watt isn’t the most polished performer you’ll see this year, but much of that is to do with the fact that she is only 19 (cue another song title!) and is barely at the beginning of what promises to be a remarkable career.
Charlee performed with her own fab four, all of whom have passed through the jazz portals of the Elder Conservatorium, which gives an indication of where this show is coming from. Lewis Todd (drums), James Ho (bass) Christina Guala (saxophone) and Musical Director David Goodwin on keyboards set the tone of this show from the start; it might be an homage to the Beatles, but not as we know it.
Watt and the band have drawn on the rich history of Beatles songs as performed / arranged by such jazz greats as Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McCrae, Diana Krall and Nina Simone, and while she stands on the shoulders of giants she does so with the greatest of respect, and with a warning that she’s coming.
Because Charlee can sing.
She moves with ease from a soulful croon to a jazz swing, through to a full belt, and while her voice and style have yet to fully mature, it’s all there. And power? Waiting for her to really let rip was one thing, the surprise when she did so, quite another. The microphone threw a tizzy in protest.
Watt is an early career performer, and while this shows in areas such as stage patter, it matters little when she is doing what she does well. Working comfortably with Director Goodwin, they present some beautifully nuanced versions of some very overplayed songs, bringing to them a freshness and simplicity that gives a new perspective to these compositions.
The band worked their way through a selection of songs that of course goes nowhere near reflecting the lexicon; one assumes that each iteration of the show presents a slightly different setlist. Songs featured included Things We Said Today (A Hard Day’s Night 1964) Got to Get You Into My Life (Revolver 1966) and Carry That Weight (Abbey Road 1969). All are immediately identifiable, even when presented in a fulsome jazz setting. You might think this is because they are among the most recognisable pop songs, but it is the songs that Watt renders almost unrecognisable that are the stars of the show.
For my money, highlights were, I Saw Her Standing There, which she gender-reverses and delivers as a sassy paean to the boy meets girl dynamic; Hard Day’s Night, a bluesy soul rendition which turns the song on its head; and She Loves You which becomes a haunting and almost tragic call to uncertain love.
I just need to make a confession here; I’m not a fan of the Beatles, being more a ‘Stones kind of gal. Charlee Watt entranced me from the get-go, and the arrangements, many of which were co-labs between her and Goodwin, brought a texture to these songs that one suspects would delight the original authors.
In the old ‘do-yourself-a-favour’ kind of way, catch her next gig. If you miss this, she’ll probably be at the Fringe ’25. Get in on the ground floor with this girl, because Charlie was good tonight.
Arna Eyers-White
When: 31 May to 1 Jun
Where: Carclew Ballroom
Bookings: charleewatt.com.au