The City of Sydney Cabaret Convention 2003:
A Great New Look for a Fabulous Event

Sydney Town Hall (May 27th through 31st - 2003)
Sydney, Australia

"Everything Old Is New Again," so the song lyric goes and these sentiments are the best possible way to sum up the buzz of this year's Sydney Cabaret Convention. Even before a single performer appeared on stage, it was clear that some remarkable magic had been performed to recreate the energy that had existed when this event was inaugurated in 1997. The glamor, style and sophistication that seemed to be missing in recent years were key to the success of this renewal.

From the moment we walked into the Sydney Town Hall, we were dazzled by a totally transformed City Cabaret Club. Gone were the cramped and shadowy spaces, the large banquet tables that seemed more suited to a retirement dinner than a smart evening of cabaret, the slightly dowdy performance space, the variable sound and the somewhat drafty entry foyer. Instead, we were greeted by an elegantly lit, red-carpeted walkway that opened onto a spacious piano bar area that was to provide the setting of one of the more remarkable new features of this event: the post-show open mike piano bar for any performers who wanted to strut their stuff. But the real marvel was the newly revamped City Cabaret Club itself, a grand performance room with three levels of small tables, great sight lines and a far better sound system than in previous years. This was an evocation of the world's great cabaret rooms (including San Francisco's Plush Room, Club Feinstein, the Carlyle and the Oak Room), no doubt about it.

Beyond this smart new look, there was a real change in the structure of convention programming. Thanks to the vision of Ron Creager, the artistic director of Sydney Cabaret Convention 2003, there was a decision to focus the event on the celebration of the best that Australian cabaret artists, old and young, have to offer. Performance values and a good evening's entertainment were central to the planning of each evening. The talent contest aspect of the Convention that had become such an effort previously was no longer the central purpose of the event.

In past years, the Sydney Cabaret Convention had been focused on the awarding of three prizes. The first four evenings showcased anywhere from 42 to 45 acts vying for these trophies. The two most highly cherished prizes of The City of Sydney Cabaret Convention were (and still are) The City of Sydney Award and The New York Award. Both provide recipients with a round-trip ticket to New York City and passes to all sessions of the upcoming Mabel Mercer Foundation New York Cabaret Convention. However, The City of Sydney Award also includes the opportunity to perform during New York Cabaret Convention. The third prize is the Corporate Gold Award, a cash prize of $500 awarded to the act judged most suited for corporate events.

Over the years, this caused the event to become a hit and miss affair, largely dependent of the quality of participants who chose to apply to appear in the hope of winning a prize. While it was great to give new talent an opportunity to be heard, this left little chance for established performers to appear, other than as incidental to the talent quest. Thanks to the change in focus this year we were no longer treated to a procession of untried, variably talented and often far too young performers. By holding a series of live auditions (as well as considering some videotaped one for those who could not travel to Sydney), the audition panel selected 12 of the best young performers for the showcase with three of them featured at the start of each evening.

This year, Ron Creager (Artistic Director), Ann Hoban (Manager of Events for the City of Sydney) and Christopher Coogan (Producer) managed to tip the balance back to showcasing a glittering array of Australia's established cabaret stars during the second half of each evening in addition to the young aspirants. The stars represented a number of generations of performers, from old-timers to younger pros. Those of you in the USA will probably not know many of these names, but had you been here, you would have known you were in the presence of cabaret royalty. These stars included Toni Lamond, Melissa Langton, Chelsea Plumley, Lorrae Desmond, Stuart Wagstaff, Drew Anthony, Nancye Hayes, Jason Langley, Garry Scale, Leonie Page, Gery Scott, Phil Scott, Dale Burridge, Eddie Perfect, Michael Tyack, Max Lambert, Ron Creager, Lindsay Partridge and Mark Jones. Every night we were guaranteed a great show along with the possibility of seeing excellent work by unknowns. It doesn't get much better than this.

In my next piece I will tell you about the winners of the event, as judged by a distinguished panel of three professionals in the music theater industry, headed by Helen Reddy. This announcement will be made at tonight's Gala last night. I will also discuss some of the other highlights of this year's Sydney Cabaret Convention 2003 event, such as the after-show open mike piano bar and the Master Class, as well as some of the highlights by the stars and the other young aspirants who deserve mention.

David M. Schwartz

Reports of the 2003 Sydney Cabaret Convention

Reports of the 2002 Sydney Cabaret Convention

Reports of the 2001 Sydney Cabaret Convention

Daily Reports of the 2000 Sydney Cabaret Convention

Daily Reports of the 1999 Sydney Cabaret Convention

Daily Reports on the 1998 Sydney Cabaret Convention

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