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
