Adeladie Cabaret Festival. The Space Theatre. 8 June 2014
Take ten of the world’s most fabulous divas who were strutting their stupendous stuff in the 1960s – including Shirley Bassey, Eartha Kitt, Nina Simon, Dusty Springfield and Judy Garland – and link them all with a highly improbable, tongue firmly in cheek and highly amusing narrative and you have Sven Ratzke’s cabaret tour-de-force ‘Diva Diva’s’.
What is a diva anyway? According to Ratzke a prima donna complains when the champagne is too cold or too warm, whereas a diva squeals approval that champagne is on offer but announces in grand style she will return when the temperature is ‘just right’! Such is Ratzke’s off beat humour which infuses the show and has the audience howling with laughter.
Ratzke is a consummate entertainer from the moment he pokes a white satined leg through a split in the curtain announcing his imminent arrival, to the final ecstatic note of his last encore as he peremptorily leaves the stage and whisks his long-time collaborator, music director and talented jazz pianist Charly Zastrau away with him.
His costume was almost an homage to Liberace, and his diamante studded shirt just shouted at you that he would at some point belt out ‘Diamonds are Forever’ made famous by Bassey, which of course he did, and it was impressive. Ratzke has a strong melodic voice and his register comfortably sits in the upper baritone range. However, he can go as low and as gravelly as you like, and it’s almost unsettling – the stuff of horror movies! He is almost a Foley artist as well, creating many amusing vocal sound effects to embellish his storytelling.
Ratzke’s version of Dusty Springfield’s 1968 classic ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ was outstanding story telling. His reading of Judy Garland’s classic song ‘Over the Rainbow’ was less satisfying. It is essentially a song of innocence and should not have its chordal and interval structures put to the sword! The highlight was an impassioned rendition of ‘The Windmills of Your Mind’, which he sang in several languages, including the original French, amply demonstrating his versatility and internationalism.
‘Diva Diva’s’ is true and first-rate cabaret, and Ratzke is arguably first amongst equals in this year’s outstanding festival line-up.
Kym Clayton
When: Closed
Where: Space Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Festival Theatre. 7 June 2014
For one night only, Michael Falzon, Matt Lee, Luke Kennedy and Ben Mingay transformed the Adelaide Festival Theatre into a swinging 60s boys club. Their soundtrack was resplendent with samplings from Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra, Irving Berlin and Oasis (yes you read that correctly!). It wasn’t just classic swing that made it into the packed two hour set. We were treated to ‘swingified’ versions of Van Halen’s ‘Jump’, ‘Tainted Love’ sung beautifully by Kate Ceberano, ‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis, and ‘New Sensation’ by INXS.
All of the staples where there; Sinatra’s ‘One More For My Baby’, ‘It Had To Be You’, ‘Me And My Shadow’ and ‘Night And Day’, Sammy Davis Jr’s ‘Mr Bojangles’, Ray Charles’ ‘Hit The Road Jack’, Bobby Darin’s ‘Mack The Knife’ and Cab Calloway’s ‘Minnie The Moocher’ to name a few.
The show started out sounding like a live performance of Robbie Williams’ 2001 album release ‘Swing When You’re Winning’ and youngster, Luke Kennedy, joked that Williams was the originator of many of the songs they sang!
But, it was the onstage banter between the boys that really gave the show some personality. Ribbing and heckling each other during numbers, they each took on respective roles as the bad boy, comedian, dancer and newbie, and filled the stage with a feeling of fun and camaraderie that translated beautifully onto the audience.
The not-so-surprising arrival of Kate Ceberano for ‘guest spot’ was fun, and gave the boys somewhere to focus their youthful energy. Highlights of the night included the three, totally unplanned(!), encores, Matt Lee’s solo tap routine as he sang Mr Bojangles, and every time the four talented artists came together in harmony practically lifting the roof off the theatre.
The 18 piece Adelaide Art Orchestra were perfectly on song and the show was just plain good fun! With a bar onstage for the boys and wine and beer enjoyed throughout the auditorium the evening felt intimate and personal despite the enormity of the theatre. Bravo!
When: Closed
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
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Thought the Cabaret Festival was just for adults? Welcome to cabaret for the under-fives, it's a blast!
Set in the Banquet Room, Ali McGregor delivers a swinging intro to the world of jazz with 'Jazzamatazz', aimed directly at our smallest arts lovers.
Featuring all the classics (think Twinkle, Twinkle rather than Miles Davis), it is a gorgeous show created and performed by the equally gorgeous McGregor.
In usual fine vocal form and looking smashing to boot, McGregor seamlessly slots jazz-ifed versions of Bjork's 'Oh So Quiet' and Britney Spears' 'Oops I Did It Again' in between 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and 'Happy and You Know It'. Sheer musical genius.
This show is jammed-pack fun from start to finish and a hit with the kids. The quality and cleverness of the music means it's genuinely enjoyable for the parents too. McGregor proves that children's music doesn't have to be a stream of educational but repetitive ditties that end up stuck in your head for hours, if not days. Music for children can be cool, complex and fun for the sake of it, and this show is a celebration of that.
Don't get me wrong, 'Hi Five' are great and all, but 'Jazzamatazz' is where the fly kids are at.
Therry Dramatic Society. Arts Theatre. 6 June 2014
There have been so many good musicals on in the last year that I was hoping this one would be a stinker so I could once again show off my acerbic wit and biting satire. How disappointed I was to instead be in the presence of perhaps the most delightful musical of them all.
She Loves Me has at its heart yearning and unrequited love, and all the accidents and misfortune that go with it.
We join the service staff of a quaint and charming parfumerie of 1930s European vintage as they greet each other in the early morning for another day at work. The musical is based on Miklos Laszlo's play set in his own time in his native Budapest. The play has inspired three movies - including 1998's You've Got Mail - and this 1960s Broadway musical by Joe Masteroff, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock which you must see at the Arts Theatre.
A young woman sings her way into a job in the cozy shop much to the chagrin of the manager. It turns out they have been corresponding anonymously for some time, and how they twig onto that is the main business of the narrative.
I had a smile on my dial from start to finish. Did anyone see Kneehigh Theatre's Brief Encounter last year? She Loves Me has all the quirkiness, kindness, sadness, magic and love of that superb professional production. Musical Director Martin Cheney and his orchestra handled the sharp changes in style with alacrity - from Hungarian waltz to Bolero. The unexpected was expected. Director Patsy Thomas perfectly cast the show and with choreographer Madeline Edwards had the whole thing moving beautifully. It was enchanting, captivating and exquisite.
The entire cast was evenly strong in all of voice, movement and realisation of character. Lauren Potter, as one of the correspondents, and Sarah Nagy, involved in a misjudged love subplot, exuded incredibly vivacious and nuanced personae, and sang me into another world. I just loved them both. James Reed as the manager and co-respondent needed to demonstrate subtle, yet open emotional turmoil, which he did with clarity. The busy Buddy Dawson was once again awesome, this time as a cad. His dancing and vocals skills were shining and his unique use of speaking voice was masterful. Tim Taylor as the eldest employee easily engendered compassion and his musical number was quite different. John Greene made Mr Maraczek a character easy to empathise with. Andrew Crayford dangerously could steal every scene he is in and Mitchell Smith as the young and ambitious delivery boy projected a fetching optimism. Buddy Dawson's exit dance scene with a cane was a highlight. Potter's and Reed's ice cream scene with all that business in the tiny bedroom was a scream, and Nagy's comic vignettes were terrific. All the other parts were performed to a comic, movement and musical T. Bravo to you all!
And the costumes! My word. Chief costumier Gilian Cordell and her crew have a show to really be proud of. The '30s frocks and coats, and Mr Maraczek's and Kodaly the cad's suits were absolutely impeccable. Each and every shopper was dressed for the high street. Norman Caddick's and Patsy Thomas's parfumerie was such a detailed and functional facsimile that I wanted to shop there.
As for the director and for actors, the job is to find the humour, find the love and find the conflict in each and every scene. She Loves Me has done it for me, with lyricism and debonair flare. Double Bravo!
David Grybowski
When: 5 to 14 June
Where: Arts Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Banquet room, Adelaide Festival Theatre. 6 June 2014.
Kim Smith is an award-winning Australian cabaret performer and his latest show ‘Nova noir’ is a hit.
Dressed in a fitting tailored white shirt, drawn tightly over his broad shoulders, and high waisted butt-hugging trousers finished off with an exaggerated belt and braces, Smith is the very image of the Weimar era. His face is carefully made-up and his hair distinctly parted and slicked back with lightly glittered wax. He oozes androgynous sex appeal, he is narcissistic and you cannot bear to look away. He draws you in.
Smith knows how to tell a story, and he does it with the power of his voice, his steely gaze and his striking posturing. His song selection – ranging from Kurt Weill to Don Black to Sonny Bono – is carefully sequenced and bound together with a witty narrative that explores tolerance and the trials and joys of love.
Smith has a strong baritone/light-tenor voice that he pitches accurately and sustains pure tones with imperceptible tremolo. It is very easy to listen to, and he chooses songs carefully to suit his register. The sound engineers tamed the unforgiving acoustic of the Banquet Room so that Smith’s voice could reign supreme. He was accompanied by an excellent four-piece band masterfully led by Music Director/ Accordonist Benjamin Ickies.
Kim Smith is a consummate and witty performer, and Nova Noir is world class cabaret.
Kym Clayton
When: 6 to 7 June
Where: The Banquet Room
Bookings: bass.net.au
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