THE 2007 ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL
THE SECOND REPORT


Reported by Bill Stephens

New Yorker, Tony DeSare made his Australian debut during the second week of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Backed by a 16 piece orchestra, the talented young composer, wowed a packed house with his warm, mellifluous voice, brilliant pianistic dexterity and low-key sense of humor. The fact that he was good looking, with truckloads of charm was no hindrance either.

Drawing on a wide range of sources from Jule Styne, Count Basie, Peter Allen and his own compositions, Desare, worked his way through a collection of superbly arranged songs including a driving stride version of ."ly Me To The Moon." However it was his own songs which stuck in the mind, especially his lovely ballad ."ow I will say I Love You."and his theme song for the film ."y Date with Drew." ."I'd Have it all) If I Only had Drew." DeSare gave only three performances at the festival, but they were enough to ensure that he will leave a host of fans eagerly anticipating his next visit down under.

Direct from Paris, Isabelle Georges and Frederik Steenbrink premiered at the festival with a delightfully concocted show about Judy Garland ."ne Etoile et Moi..Judy and Me." With the handsome Steenbrink providing the piano accompaniment, and joining in the occasional duet, the tall and beautiful, Isabelle Georges, a gorgeous combination of Leslie Caron and Shirley McLaine, sang and danced her way through a clever montage of Garland moments.

Georges and Steenbrink have devised a delightfully fresh way of telling this all-too-familiar story. A heartfelt tribute to the woman who Georges credits with having inspired her to become an entertainer, ."udy and Me."is also a delightful showcase for the particular talents of this performer who, with her luminous presence, could well be a movie star waiting just for a movie.

Judy Garland also made an appearance in ."hrough the Red Door."the latest show by the prodigiously talented Paul Capsis. Perhaps the most unique and remarkable cabaret artist in Australia, Capsis has an extraordinary ability to channel great cabaret divas from Judy Garland to Marlene Dietrich and Janis Joplin, with a voice which can range effortlessly from stratospheric soprano to deep bass, and a remarkable head of hair which he uses as an indispensable prop throughout his act.

Hair and collar up, he becomes the vocal and physical essence of Judy Garland staggering through ."he Man That Got Away." hair down and swathed in fur, an hilariously Germanic Marlene Dietrich tackling ."ig Spender." or even a reincarnated Janis Joplin for a frenetic version of ."et It While You Can." Supported by a tight 4 piece band, Capsis just keeps getting better. New Yorkers will have the opportunity to see this remarkable performer in July when he makes his New York debut at Spiegelworld on the East River in a show called ."bsinthe." Don't miss the opportunity.

Fey and fabulous, Canadian composer and singer Issa, who recently changed her name from Jane Siberry, sang a generous selection of her own arresting new-agey songs. Her act opened (and closed) with the recorded sounds of birds, which she gently proceeds to identify, one by one, before commencing her first song. She connects her songs with comments which reveal a quirky sense of humor, spoken in a gentle, accented voice which when she sings is angelically small and pure. Her presence is magnetic.

I attended Issa's last performance and at the very end of her show, she invited a young singer from a local intellectually handicapped choir to sing with her for her final song, the ethereal ."alling all Angels." It turned out that this song was in the repertoire of the choir, and the joy and obvious connection to the song by the young singer, and her thrill of being invited to harmonies, quite beautifully, with the composer, was extraordinarily moving. A quite magical performance which was one of the most memorable of the festival.

Music theatre has always been an integral component of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and this year two new musicals are to be premiered in rehearsed concert performances in the ."early Ready."section of the festival. The first of these is ."hane Warne - The Musical." music and book written by Eddie Perfect. There is a lot of interest in this show because Perfect has already attracted attention at previous cabaret festivals with his writing and performances.

The 500 seat Dunstan Playhouse was packed to capacity, when the 16 piece band took the stage, along with the six soloists, three women and three men, who had had just five days rehearsal to prepare for the performance. Seated at a grand piano, Eddie Perfect explained that as this was still a work in progress, this performance would concentrate on the songs. He would narrate the gaps between the songs where the dialogue will eventually be.

In fact, not only had Perfect written the show, which was performed straight through, without and interval, he had also written the clever musical arrangements for both the orchestra and the singers, and in addition to narrating played the lead role of Shane Warne, a well-known cricketer as famous for his off-fields antics as on.

Perfects performance was a genuine tour-de-force, and the show has success written all over it. The music is tuneful, the lyrics gritty, frank, confronting and hilarious. Kaye Tuckerman, as Shane Warne's mother was sensational in her heavy-metal show-stealer ."ake the Pill."and Rosemarie Harris was surprisingly affecting as Warne's wife, Simone. One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to predict that we will be hearing much more of ."hane Warne - The Musical."

Other highlights of the second week included Mikelangelo, accompanying himself on piano accordion, for a solo performance of his own intriguingly dark, compelling, and funny songs; the remarkable Moira Finucane leading a troupe of astonishing performance art divas in a show called ."he Burlesque Hour."which was part strip-tease, part cartoon strip, vaudeville and carnival, but very definitely cabaret, and a two-hour live broadcast of ABC Radios popular ."he Music Show."which featured most of the top acts appearing in the festival this week. A great way of catching up on seeing some of the acts one would otherwise miss.

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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