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
