Cabaret Festival. Her Majesty’s Theatre. 5 Jun 2025
Virginia Gay, Artistic Director of the 25th Adelaide Cabaret Festival, told us in no uncertain terms her theme for this anniversary festival: an acknowledgement of the past, a celebration of the present, and an exciting look at the future. In this, she has succeeded in spades.
The Gala gave us a peek, albeit a limited one, of what to expect this season. From the spikey Louisiana horns and lusty keyboard work of Davina & The Vagabonds; to Vika and Linda Bull, who have never been seen to give less than a stellar performance; from smut violinist Victoria Falconer to the supple and prancing Tomas Kantor in his hot pink pant suit, they gave it their all. Virginia Gay gave at least that much and more in sheer exuberance and costumery, including the opening number Let’s Get This Party Started, but in the end the Adelaide Cabaret Festival’s 25th Gala performance was a story of two names.
What came before the interval was then a warmup, concluding as it did with Rizo’s Song Of Freedom, a pocket rocket of a singer who spoke of ingesting psilocybin mushrooms and appeared to have chosen her costume as a direct outcome of this act. She was – boisterous.
Act Two then began with the aforementioned Vika & Linda. These powerhouses of the Australian music scene never fail to deliver and their rousing rendition of Nina Simone’s New Day was just a taster of their upcoming show.
I promised you two names to remember and here is the first. Carlotta. Carlotta is 82 years of age and proudly celebrates that fact. She is powerful, forthright and ribald, and had the audience eating out of her hand. In four minutes, she showed us exactly what heights cabaret had reached (past tense) and how it might be restored to that position. She dominated the stage by presence alone.
The second name then is Noah Byrne. Noah is 18 years of age, has just finished his intensive music course at Marryatville High School, and is going to be a worldwide star. Nothing is more certain. From the moment the spotlight caught him in repose at the lap of the stage he showed he was in a class of his own. His voice work, his timing, his sense of what works marks him as pure talent. From virtually nothing (a story of how he, a boy with learning difficulties had ended up on this stage) he crafted a theatrical performance which should be talked about for years to come.
Mark his name; remember when you heard of him first: Noah Byrne. With an unruly mop of hair, a conservatively cut waistcoat suit and two-tone shoes, he took less than five minutes to propel the audience into the future with him. He spoke in rapid-fire syllables, bounded across the stage, established himself at the piano and cemented his reputation.
I mean no disrespect in not mentioning other performers; we have witnessed the beginning of a legend in the beginning of a career, and we will be reading the name Noah Byrne for years to come.
As a side note: all reviewers and critics wait for a time such as this, to proclaim “I saw it!”. I am no different in that this is only the second time I have known with such certainty what I have witnessed. The last time was when a friend and I (he an internationally known musician) first heard a band named Innocent Criminals win Triple J’s demo contest with their song Pure Massacre. That band was Silverchair. And believe me - Noah Byrne is in a class of his own making.
With all this in mind you might think the Adelaide Cabaret Festival is in good hands as it embarks upon the next 25 years, and you would be right. The program is strong, there is a solid mix of local and international performers, and it promises much more than late night assignations and innuendo, though there is that. In fact, Carlotta made sure we knew her show was on a Sunday afternoon, a wry comment on the age of her fans. In 2025 it is fair to say the Adelaide Cabaret Festival has something for everyone.
Alex Wheaton
When: 5 Jun
Where: Her Majesty’s Theatre
Bookings: Closed
