THE
2007 ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL
THE FIRST REPORT
Reported by Bill Stephens
The
sounds of energetic drumming beckoned audiences to the opening sessions
of the 2007 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The festival takes place
in a variety of venues, all situated in the beautiful Adelaide Festival
Centre on the banks of the Torrens River. The drummers are part
of a team of street theatre performers adding to the excitement
in the foyers as patrons arrive at the centre.
The statistics for this seventh Adelaide Cabaret Festival
are impressive. No fewer than 450 artists from New York, Paris,
London, Germany, Canada and of course Australia. On offer are 178
performances of 68 different shows - many of them already sold out
- which will be performed over 16 days from 8 - 23rd June.
In fact the first weekend alone offered the possibility
of 28 different shows and try as I might, there was no way I was
going to be able to see them all..so my first report covers some
of the shows I managed to catch in the first weekend, from June
8th - 11th.
On opening night , from a possible nine different
shows, I chose to kick off the festival with "ASO Plays Cabaret".
This show featured the entire Adelaide Symphony Orchestra on stage
in the 2000 seat Festival Theatre, playing fabulous arrangements,
mostly by Nelson Riddle and Billy May, of songs closely associated
with Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.
The orchestra was conducted by John Wilson, a noted
English conductor, arranger and scholar, with a well deserved reputation
as a prolific arranger of orchestrations for film, radio and television.
What a pleasure it was to listen to Wilson expose the subtle nuances
in these glorious orchestrations of songs like "Mona Lisa", "Unforgettable",
"Nature Boy" and "Walking My Baby Back Home" in the first half,
and later "Cheek to Cheek", "September in the Rain", "I've Got You
Under My Skin", and the inevitable "New York, New York" - all of
which were impeccably sung by Gary Williams, who, in the best tradition
of those BBC radio broadcasts, happily allowed the songs to shine.
It was a thrill to hear all these great arrangements superbly played
without a synthesizer in sight.
Following this concert I hurried to the Banquet Room
to hear elegant German chanteuse Eva Meier, stylishly accompanied
by gifted young pianist, Paul Cibis, perform an uncompromising program
of classic cabaret songs by Eisler, Brecht, Hollaender and Raben.
Tall, elegant and wearing a beautiful gown of full-length black
chiffon, Meier sang with passion, strength and, occasionally, heartbreaking
fragility. Her program was one to delight any cabaret connoisseur.
Then it was on to the Kool Kat Festival Club, which
runs each night of the festival. The Club is a great meeting place
for festival patrons, as well as for the artists who have finished
their performances. There is always the potential to suddenly discover
yourself engrossed in deep conversation with other cabaret enthusiasts
from around the world. Each night a different band provides the
entertainment, and tonight it was Brazza, an excellent latin outfit.
Saturday commenced at 2.30 pm in the afternoon in
the Lyrics lounge where James Gavin, author of the definitive cabaret
history "Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of American Cabaret" preceded
a fascinating talk by showing a short film of early New York Cabaret
performers, before answering questions from the audience.
Then on to the piano bar where festival director,
Julia Holt, interviewed three festival performers, Englishman Chris
Green, European singer, Mickelangelo and Australian entrepreneur,
David Bates. These well-attended talks which are an on-going feature
of the festival, are fairly informal and often provide rare insights
into the way various cabaret artists approach their work.
One of the more unusual acts of the festival, and
certainly among the most unforgettable was "The Feast of Argentina
Gina Catalina" performed by performance artist Moira Finucane. Billed
as 'a sumptuous journey for the palate and senses', it turned out
to be just that.
Patrons entering the JB room were offered delicious
tid-bit of barbecued corn and meat, and a glass of sangria. As a
seethingly forceful and opulently costumed Finucane offered her
wildly histrionic account of the adventures of diva, Argentina Gina,
superbly accompanied by an over-the-top soundtrack, and involving
several changes of costume, the menu mirrored her ordeals. As she
is threatened by ravenous beasts, we are offered platters of cured
meats. When Gina is lost at sea, we got oysters, prawns and scallops.
For her re-union with her long lost mother we celebrate with ice-cream
topped with raspberry whiskey coulis and desert wines, all superbly
prepared and presented by chef and "Food artiste", Fofi Cristou.
It was a brilliant concept, wonderfully executed.
On Saturday evening,in the 500 seat Dunstan Playhouse,
acclaimed British director, composer, lyricist, orchestrator and
conductor, Jeremy Sams gave a rare one-off performance of music
and songs with which he had had a close association during his surprisingly
varied career. Sams directed the current London revival of "The
Sound of Music", as well as a short-lived season on Broadway of
Michel LeGrand's "Amour". He was also responsible for the hugely
successful national tour of "Little Britain".
Seated at one of two grand pianos used for the concert,
and accompanied by a small ensemble of double bass, flute and clarinet,
and utilising the considerable talents of Kaye Tuckerman, Simon
Burke, Johanna Allen, Douglas McNicol, and special guest, Philip
Quast, who had flown in to Adelaide direct from starring in the
West End production of "Evita", Sams narrated and played a charming
concert ranging through music theatre and opera.
Philip Quast, offered a lustrous version of "Shanandoah"
before joining Simon Burke for a soaring duet, "Lilly's Eyes" from
"The Secret Garden". We heard a selection of music from "Amour",
some Stephen Sondheim, Kurt Weill, and even a Mozart duet from "The
Magic Flute" for which Sams had done a translation.
It was a charming concert and a delightful entree
into a fascinating career.
Then on to the Artspace for a delightful little show
called "The Soubrettes". Alice Carter and Tanya Kyriakou, both from
Melbourne, accompanied on keyboards by William Poskitt, presented
a delightfully cheeky and well choreographed presentation of their
own very funny songs.
"Variete": A Homage to The Speigeltent" had originally
been scheduled for only three performances,none of which I could
see, and which quickly sold-out. Thankfully, an extra late-night
performance was scheduled. Fantastic..my opportunity..and of course
I took it.
The Speigeltent is an antique European mirrored travelling
venue, owned by Australian entrepreneur, David Bates, which tours
around festivals in Europe and Australia presenting an eclectic
program of often startling acts. Adelaide Cabaret Festival Director,Julia
Holt, in a moment of inspiration, took advantage of the fact that
the speigletent was currently being shipped from New Zealand to
Edinburgh, and invited Bates to bring a selection of his acts to
the festival as "Variete".
Mostly sight acts which include incredible balancers,
trapeze artists, jugglers, strippers and performance artists, working
in decadent European cabaret mode; each act superbly costumed and
staged; "Variete" has been a huge success with Adelaide Cabaret
Festival audiences. Hopefully it will be be repeated at future festivals.
Among the most important, and most enjoyable aspects
of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival are the master classes. Conducted
by top practitioners, these master classes draw big crowds, and
are often inspirational. At this year's festival Jeremy Sams gave
two classes, the first on "Writing for Theatre" and another on "Singing
Sondheim". Philip Quast gave a class on "Performance methods for
narrative songs" and Michael Fienstein will also give a masterclass
on the last day of the festival.
For his first masterclass on Sunday afternoon, Jeremy
Sams, drew a large attentive audience. Participants in the class
were three of Australia's most promising young composers. Eddie
Perfect, whose latest show "Shane Warne - The Musical" will be given
a concert performance at the festival next weekend, Matthew Robinson,
whose musical "Metro Street" won the prestigious Pratt Prize in
2005, and was given a workshop performance at the festival last
year, and Casey Benetto, whose show "Keating - the Musical" was
also given a workshop performance at a previous festival and has
since been doing sell-out business around the country.
As the masterclass progressed each of the young composers
were invited to perform a song from a show on which they are currently
working. The lucky audience was then privileged to the premiere
performances of three previously unheard songs.
The following day,Philip Quast was absolutely riveting
as he took six young singers through the seemingly endless possibilities
suggested by the songs they had chosen. Often referencing Shakespeare,
his comments were insightful and revelationary. The final moments
of the session when he worked with a young tenor on interpretation
of the Rogers and Hammerstein song from "South Pacific", "Younger
than Springtime" were absolutely spellbinding. No one wanted the
session to finish.
On the first Sunday afternoon of the festival, the
Festival Centre was positively jumping and there was no lack of
variety in the offerings. While the masterclass was in progress,
two Australian music theatre greats, Simon Gallaher and Julie Anthony,
were performing to a packed house in the 2000 seat Festival Theatre,
as was Janet Seidel and her trio, in the 400 seat Banquet Room.
Wonderfully geriatric Ida Barr, a Christopher Green creation, was
packing them in for "High Tea with Ida Barr", and audiences were
cueing up for the indigenous rap act "Sista She".
Michael Leunig is a well-known cartoonist who also
writes poetry. Singer Gyang had set a collection of his poetry to
music the results of which have been released as a CD/Book called
"Billy the Rabbit". For their one-off performance at the festival,
Gyang and her ensemble sang the songs while Leunig drew the cartoons
which inspired the songs. His drawing was projected on to a large
screen allowing the audience a fascinating, and curiously moving,
glimpse into the world of this revered cartoonist.
The program for the first week of the festival has
been diverse and exciting. Next week there will be a whole new line-up
including the extraordinary Paul Capsis, New York entertainer,Tony
Desare, and Parisians, Isabelle Georges and Frederik Steenbrink.
I shall give you my impressions of these artists in my next report.
Bill Stephens
Full Details
of the 2007 Adelaide Cabaret Festival program can be found at http://www.adelaidecabaretfeastival.com/
.
Reported
by Bill Stephens
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