THE
2006 ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL
THE FINAL WEEK
Reported by Bill Stephens
The final week of the 2006 Adelaide Cabaret Festival
offered almost an embarrassment of riches, with 10 new shows competing
for audiences on the opening night, and more shows to follow as
the festival drew to its conclusion.
Todd McKenney was the original creator of the role of Peter Allen
in the very successful Australian production of The Boy From Oz
in which he toured nationally to great acclaim. It was the role
which won Hugh Jackman a Tony Award on Broadway, and in which Jackman
is about to tour Australia in a spectacular new arena production.
Following The Boy From Oz, however McKenney again starred in the
national tour of Singing In The Rain, recreating the Gene Kelly
role. He also played the MC in the Sam Mendes production of Cabaret,
before being snapped up by television to become the sharp-tongued
judge you-love-to-hate on the hit series Dancing with the Stars.
But Todd McKenney is a stage performer to the core, and for the
Adelaide Cabaret Festival created an all-singing, all-dancing, Las
Vegas style showcase, Todd McKenney -Live! which sold out every
one of its 5 scheduled performances in the 500 seat Dunstan Playhouse,
before it had even opened. Supported by glamorous back-up singers,
a couple of International ball-room champions, (McKenney was a champion
ball-room dancer before going into musicals) and fronting a terrific
10 piece band and a line-up of 14 sequined elderly senior tappers,
cheekily dubbed The Retirement Village People, McKenney dazzled
his audiences with the sheer exuberance and generosity of his performance.
With an emphasis on fun and excellent production values, the show
harked back to the heyday of variety, but performed with 21st century
speed and sensibility, crammed with snappy choreography, excellent
musical arrangements and top notch performances. McKenney is a consummate
showman, generous with his co-performers and giving his all for
his audience, leaving the stage only for the quickest of costume
changes. Whether singing, dancing, taking the mickey out of himself
or performing multiple sit-ups on the baby grand while performing
"I Go To Rio", he had the audience in the palm of his hand from
start to finish. His was a performance to cherish.
Making her first Australian appearances, Karen Kohler presented
two shows, Noise and Smoke, and Moons of Venus. I was unable to
catch her first show, but did get to see The Moons of Venus: A Tribute
to Marlene Dietrich, a show originally created by Kohler in 2001
to honour the centenary of Marlene Dietrich's birth.
Entering in a long formfitting velvet gown, and accompanied by
John Bowen on piano, Kohler was the very essence of cabaret elegance
as she presented her signature interpretations of songs associated
with Dietrich., particularly those of Frederich Hollander, Robert
Stolz and Kurt Weill. Making no attempt to mimic the sound or appearance
of Dietrich, relying rather on her own natural elegance, Kohler
sang in a clear, multi-faceted soprano, linking the songs with snippets
of information about Dietrich and her career, delivered in a leisurely,
gently teasing manner. She managed to imbue the songs with just
enough drama, flirtatiousness and mystery to capture a hint of the
Dietrich mystique, and demonstrate why these songs, and indeed the
legend of Dietrich herself, have been so enduring.
Trailing quite another essence, this time a whiff of 1930s Shanghai,
and a large number of travel cases, the very beautiful, athletic
and intrigueingly named, Meow Meow , commenced her show, The Absinthe
Tour, by entering the room late. Muttering apologies and complaints
about the venue, she soon gathered an entourage of astonished but
willing assistants from the audience to lug her travel cases to
the stage where she set about changing her costumes in front of
us, and winding alarm clocks which allocated her contracted hour
of performance.
After commencing "Ne me Quitte pas" she became distracted by a
stage cue, and left her accompanist, Justin Holland, to fill out
the tune. She then shared her holiday videos by having Holland project
them on to her exposed midriff. At one point she had another team
of volunteers carry her precariously around the stage while she
shouted instructions to them to manipulate her into a series of
overhead splits and beyond. When she did finally get to complete
a song, her voice was warm, sexy and thrilling. A brilliant example
of deconstructed cabaret, Meow Meow, an artist, obviously possessing
real skills, committed just about every sin the cabaret performers
handbook, with hilarious results.
For her show, I Got the Music In You, singer/songwriter Queenie
Van de Zandt, hinted at sins of a different type when she adopted
the persona of International Musical Therapist, Jan van de Stool,
to induct her audiences into her wonderfully wacky world of music
therapy. Van de Zandt also took on the roles of several of van de
Stool's singing students, displaying her acting versatility and
the voice that has won her feature roles in national productions
of The Full Monty, Hair, Cabaret, and the original Australian production
of The Boy From Oz. Her act was witty, intriguing and very funny.
Secret Love, directed by Adelaide Cabaret Festival founder, Frank
Ford, provided an intriguing glimpse into a world of surrealism
and fantasy. Adapted from an existing script by Angela McKay and
interpolated with well-known songs from various sources, Secret
Love received strong, committed performances from Catherine Campbell
and Craig Behenna and its single performance at the festival was
enthusiastically applauded by a packed house.
If you've ever wondered what would happen if Frank Sinatra and
David Bowie unwittingly turned up at one another's concerts by mistake,
then took up the challenge and performed each other's repertoire,
then Jeff Duff's startling performance in Ground Control to Frank
Sinatra, would seem to provide the answer.
Formerly the frontman for brassy jazz-rock ensemble, Kush , Duff
spent some years in England in the 70's emersed in the London punk
and glamrock scene, reflected in his appearance when he took the
Adelaide stage. An apparition in a sea captain's costume, amazingly
thin, white faced with spiked blond hair, he resembled a cross between
David Bowie and Andy Warhol. His strong, warm, rock-baritone voice
however belied his appearance as he immediately launched in to a
driving arrangement of "My Way", then on to a gutsy "New York, New
York" which he followed with "I've Got You Under My Skin". From
there it was on to "Space Oddity" and "Suffragette City" and a slow
slinky "Rebel Rebel".
Throughout the show, Duff strutted the stage, in a variety of
costumes each more outrageous than the last. Tight black leather,
a Hitler costume, a revealing white leotard, and finally a satin
suit in which he ended his performance with a showstopping finale
version of "McArthur Park". Movie footage and rock lighting added
to the excitement, but in the end it was Duff's extraordinary voice,
stage presence and inventive musical arrangements that made this
tribute show such a memorable. event.
Another original approach to the homage, was a more modest, and
very funny cabaret, The Carpenters From Kempsey, performed by Lisa
Adams and Darren Mapes, as brother and sister, Darren and Sharon
Carpenter, who discover that they have a talent for singing the
songs that the other Carpenters have made famous, so decide to hit
the road. Their connecting dialogue was pithy and appropriate, with
just enough of the Carpenter's signature gestures to evoke the performances
of the objects of their admiration, and the concept allowed the
duo to present very creditable versions of such Carpenters hits
as "Close To You", Ticket To Ride" and "Rainy Days and Sundays",
without the necessity of having to revisit the details of their
lives.
In the final week of the festival I was lucky to catch performances
by three very different songwriters, who presented collections of
their own work. Rick Price, a sweet-voiced troubadour, accompanied
himself on piano and guitar, to enthral with his gentle songs about
family, travel and loneliness.
Kate Miller-Heidke, a young, pretty, emerging singer with the
ability to write ear-catching pop songs about contemporary living
and attitudes, also attracted large audiences.
Casey Bennetto, whose country-soul opera, Keating, had become
the hit of the early days of the festival, in his one-man show,
Australia on $400 a Fortnight, treated his audiences to an insight
into the life of a struggling songwriter trying to survive on unemployment
benefits. His collection of songs were often insightful, sometimes
moving but always humorous.
The second original Australian musical, workshopped and given
a performance during the festival, was Beyond The Beep written by
Craig Christie and Mark Jones. A neat little two-hander, packed
with attractive melodies, Beyond the Beep traced the lives of a
young couple following the end of their five-year relationship.
From the moment Jason leaves Samantha behind in their flat, the
two of them never speak face to face, relying instead upon emails,
text messages and answering machines to negotiate a reconciliation.
It was an interesting idea, well realised, and performed on a
simple, multi-level set, given concise, unambiguous direction by
the composer, Mark Jones, who also accompanied the performance on
the piano. Christopher Parker and Verity Hunt-Ballard, as Jason
and Samantha, both gave attractive, confident performances, which
belied the limited rehearsal time available to them, and earned
enthusiastic applause from the large audience, most of whom stayed
on to join in the forum afterwards.
This taste for showcase performances of new musicals has of course
been nurtured over several festivals by similar presentations by
Broadway composers of the calibre of Jason Robert Brown, Maltby
and Shire and Andrew Lippa. These performances have provided the
yardstick for audiences and practitioners to judge the work of our
own emerging composers, and inspiration for these composers. It
was exciting to see this nurturing rewarded with the emergence of
two excellent pieces of music theatre by home-grown writers and
composers.
The Adelaide Cabaret Festival has also actively supported the
work of emerging young performers, and two Adelaide acts which had
been first seen in previous festivals, Flat On Your Bacharach and
Gentlemen Prefer Curves, were both given seasons which played to
full houses. The reception given to them by audiences, and the quantum
advance in their performance standards, evidence the success of
this important aspect of the festival.
Two other acts, Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, and an
a capella group Crying in Public Places were selected for intensive
workshopping with a director during the festival, and previewed
at a special performance in the final week called Nearly There.
Because of other commitments, however, I missed this performance.
Not to worry though, because over the 16 days of the 2006 Adelaide
Cabaret Festival, I did manage to catch more than 35 different shows,
attend both Master Classes, both new musical presentations, several
"In Conversations", some of the free Lyric Lounge series of performances,
and many of the performances in the nightly Kool Kat Club, as well
as share some great conversations with other festival patrons, and
there was never going to be a way I could see everything on offer.
How could I expect to?
During the festival 400 artists from around the world, performed
in seven venues. They gave 193 performances, 80 of which sold out.
In the six years since its inauguration, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival,
under the direction of the remarkable Julia Holt, has managed to
define itself clearly, develop its own style and personality, and
lay claim to being the unchallenged premier cabaret event in the
world.
As one journalist put it "The only problem is that those who haven't
yet dipped their toes into the 16 day event are simply missing out".
So if you want to see what all the fuss is about, mark June 8th
through 23rd in your diary and make your way to Adelaide for the
2007 Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
Full Details
of the 2005 Adelaide Cabaret Festival program can be found at http://www.adelaidecabaretfeastival.com/
.
Reported
by Bill Stephens
Reports
of the 2006 Adelaide Cabaret Festival
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