Kate Leigh - The worst woman in Sydney. Cabaret Festival. The Space. 15 Jun 2018
What a ripper of a show.
Libby Donovan taps into the heart and soul of modern cabaret with this exquisitely devised musical theatre piece.
It centres around the extraordinary life of Sydney crime queen, Kate Leigh, whose acumen running fancy grog shops and marketing drugs and prostitution made her not only phenomenally rich but also a media celebrity of the 1920s to 40s. She was as kind as she was ruthless and, despite the brutal underworld nature of many of her exploits, she was a remarkable businesswoman in an era which brought women few opportunities. This is the feminist message which O’Donovan evokes with her marvellous musical narrative.
O’Donovan arrives in The Space voice first, slowly weaving her way through the crowded cabaret tables, with the spotlight on her massive wig of long blond tresses. That voice is sublime, the theatre sound perfectly balanced so not only the beauty of the soft notes lingers in the air but the precision of every syllable with it. The audience is immediately captivated. It is a good entrance. And the show just keeps getting better.
Of course it is all tightly scripted and directed. It is a bio show with a complicated chronology. But O’Donovan’s loose, casual style makes it feel more like a friend telling an engrossing story.
She’s clad in a gorgeous magenta beaded and fringed 20s number, not all of it visible thanks to the sight-lines, and a monster fur stole of arctic fox or some such. There’s a lovely old 20s lamp on stage, an armchair and a giant projection screen on which black and white archival photos are presented as in a wooden picture frame. The aesthetic is dramatic. Her three piece jazz band has already established itself with some rousing pre-show entertainment. It settles in to back the star with a companionable spirit.
And, O’Donovan brings “the worst woman in Sydney” to life in word and song. She does red hot mama with the song Because Mama’s Got the Booze, soul with Lonely Girl, blues with Dangerous Girl, rag with Worst Woman and brings the house down with the fabulous tune of Six O’Clock. The songs carry narrative punch as well as classic jazz construction dominated by catchy chorus lines.
At one point, when Kate Leigh’s rival gang leader Tilly Devine is featuring in the storyline, another singer emerges from the audience to parry briefly in the character. The audience recognises it is Kate’s spouse, C&W star Becky Cole, and roars with approval.
"The Worst Woman in Sydney" is a finely-researched and constructed show. In its 70 minutes, it takes the audience through highs and lows and spots of humour: marriages and incarcerations, razor wars and shootings, snowstorms of cocaine, and media manipulation. It sets a vivid scene of rough old days of crime and tough old women achieving daunting power against the odds of the justice system. And, it features that wonderful, powerful, versatile voice of Libby O’Donovan and one vivid song after another. She makes it all seem effortless; the mark of the true pro.
Brava.
Samela Harris
When: 15 to 17 June
Where: The Space Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
Cabaret Festival. Dunstan Playhouse. 13 Jun 2018
Veteran Aussie rocker Mark Holden has seen a few ups and downs through his career. The Carnation Kid soared to success as a fresh-faced Adelaide lad before his career palled, rose, dropped, sparkled…
He’s been a star. He’s been a student. He’s been a producer. He’s been a songwriter. He’s now a barrister and a beloved performer with one helluva tale to tell.
This tale is the substance of his Cabaret Festival show.
Clad in a snazzy red ringmaster’s jacket and accompanied by a four-piece band on the stage, he relates the Holden family saga, how he was descended from true circus folk, salt of the earth farmer circus folk who toured from Gelong to Ceduna in the early 1900s. It all began with the one-legged slack-wire and trapeze artist, Adolphus and his nine singing, dancing acrobatic children. Adolphus played the Tivoli in the 1870s. Holden has grainy old black and white photos projected onto a huge screen to prove it all and he sings a yodelling country and western number, My Dear Old Daddy, while the audience gazes at the image of a rural big top of yore. It was the Holden Ashton Circus in those days.
Mark Holden asserts that the circus is in his blood and, indeed, pulses merrily through the veins of all the Holden descendants.
Thus does he tell of Holden travels and travails, highs and lows, success and failure, hardship and success.
There was a grim shadow in the family history, Holden reveals. They farmed lovely land around Geelong where the Aboriginal people long had camped and travelled. But no more, the Wathaurong. The settlers, his ancestors among them, sent out “kill parties” to slaughter them and deter their return to the farmlands. Holden laments this awful legacy and has worked with the Aboriginal community and particularly one Mick Ryan creating a fierce history song called The Kill Party. He furthers the theme with a dispossession song, beautifully arranged albeit a forgettable tune.
The stage lighting, with fair-haired Holden in his red coat beneath projected scenes of verdant Australian landscape, is particularly pleasing to the eye and the old rocker is in fine voice.
His bio show is divided into chapters and thus comes the Countdown era with Holden singing Never Fall in Love Again, the screen showing scenes of the wild fandom of the day and the evolution of the Holden’s red carnation tradition.
With video clips illustrating the moments, he swings through his historic casting as the first ever Joseph of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat, his early acting in The Young Doctors, time with the Hoff on Baywatch, a battle with cancer, a return to law school, the days of Vanessa Amorosi, Australian Idol, and Dancing with the Stars.
Holden has been in and out of the spotlight for decades so he has a wealth of tales to tell; perhaps too many. The show could do with a cut, albeit Holden races through the mass of anecdotes and nostalgia with amiable efficiency.
The old star has not lost his appeal and there are lots of fans in the audience.
For a grand finale, he distributes red carnations throughout the auditorium, a gesture which is acclaimed with delight.
From the experiences of his career, today’s wise and seasoned Mark Holden promotes a theme of Nothing Lasts Forever and "making the best of what you’ve got”.
He gives us a substantial sentimental journey and a hearty slice of Australian entertainment history.
Samela Harris
When: 13 & 14 Jun
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
Bookings: Closed
Cabaret Festival. Dunstan Playhouse. 10 Jun 2018
As if the 2018 Cabaret Festival could not glitter enough, here comes a huge sparkling diamond of a show.
Bosom Buddies is a delicious collaboration between two of Australia’s most adored showbiz stars: Nancye Hayes and Todd McKenney.
Between them, they brag, they have 90 years’ experience in musical theatre - 55 from Nancye and 35 from Todd.
They josh about the age difference. Ageless Nancye admits to being a “veteran”.
The old photographs, video clips and news clippings projected onto the screen of the Dunstan Playhouse tell their stories.
The two stars sit on in their named director’s chairs and watch with the audience. From family childhood snaps through to sizzling show numbers and awkward moments, their outstanding careers unfold.
Nancye soared to the bright lights when she was catapulted into the lead role of Sweet Charity in 1967. As she sees her young self on the screen, she comments on how she was awarded the role making sure that inspirational star Jill Perryman is accorded some credit. Nancye is not one to hog her own limelight. That’s the mark of a true star.
Todd's rise to stardom also was exceptional and many still believe that in his Boy From Oz performance he did Peter Allen better than Peter Allen. Ah, but when the show hit Broadway, his role was stolen by Hugh Jackman.
McKenney now can make fun of that loss which still has many of his fans hot under the collar.
But for him it is now a satiric song called It Had To Be Hugh.
These two luminous entertainers are mellow and giving. They tease and parry.
There are so many tales, so many songs, so many images.
The show is allowed only 80 minutes and they are arguably the tightest, most beautifully structured and honed, if not the busiest 80 minutes in showbiz history.
A lot of life and laughter is crammed in. There are show tunes. Nancye dances with the young Nancye on the screen behind her. She dances superbly. Todd also. He sings a duet with giant Peter Allen on the screen. He sings it with such depth of feeling that the whole audience turns misty.
With a creamy four-piece band beside them on a stage adorned only by the two director’s chairs and a side salon of armchair and coffee table with flowers, the twosome tell of the hard times, of tough breaks in childhood, of losing beloved family members. They tell of monster moments. They send themselves and each other up. Nancye corners the sweet man who was the nasty judge on Dancing with the Stars. Todd risks an ageist snipe at Nancye.
They sing and dance and sing and dance. They tap. They do a monster medley of show tunes, the “Medley from Hell”.
Todd demonstrates Auslan. He is patron to the Theatre of the Deaf. Nancye eggs him on to do some Auslan shtick as she sings the hardest of all songs to sign. He is beaten, but he gifts audience with a take-away signed word. The foyer later on is full of people practising and vowing ever forth to be using it.
But, in fact, the whole show is a gift.
It is a consummate piece of living-bio theatre, superbly devised by Peter J. Adams, directed by Jason Langley and performed impeccably by the two Australian superstars whose years at the top and in partnering roles have, indeed, made them Bosom Buddies.
It was an act of genius to create this show for it provides a precious slice of Australian stage history, live on stage.
The Cabaret Festival audiences were avidly aware of this and they grabbed the privilege of sharing the room and the histories with Nancye and Todd. They packed the Playhouse. They laughed. They cheered. They applauded, They stood in acclaim. And they left purring about the seamless professionalism of the show and the generosity of spirit of its stars.
Indeed.
Samela Harris
When: 10 & 11 Jun 2018
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
Bookings: Closed
Therry Dramatic Society. Arts Theatre. 9 Jun 2018
Blockbuster musicals rarely tour any more. They’re cost prohibitive. But the zeal and expertise of Adelaide’s non-professional theatre world has meant that audiences here are not denied their gorgeous glamour.
Right now, it’s Holiday Inn, a singing-and-dancing, musical-comedy love story by Irving Berlin with a cast of thousands and more costumes than Mardi Gras.
It’s quite the MGM epic.
Jude Hines has directed this classic Broadway musical fearlessly. She has corralled a keen troupe of performers and a fabulous orchestra directed by Mark DeLaine along with a vast tribe of costumiers and dressers. The result, with simple, snappy sets from Gary Anderson, is sheer stage spectacle.
One of the joys of such productions is the airing it gives to developing talent. Professional theatre is largely made up of performers who once have trodden the boards unpaid. And, amateur theatre also is the place where should-be professionals have chosen to enjoy the theatre as a sideline.
Not everyone in this cast is Broadway standard but some certainly are close to it.
It is wonderful to see two leading men who can sing and dance. Lindsay Prodea even taps. Both he and Brady Lloyd are strong, seasoned performers.
The show centres around nightclub entertainers looking to break into Hollywood. Lloyd plays Jim, who is tired of the touring life and wants to settle down on a Connecticut farm. His fiancée, Lila, played by Nikki Gaertner Easton, does not want to give up the bright lights and is lured away from him by Prodea’s character, Ted, a selfish, vain and ambitious hoofer. Jim is left to start life on the farm, sad and broke and, it turns out, with no aptitude for farming. Luckily the farm’s former owner, Linda, played by Lauren Scarfe, has a kind heart and a theatrical bent. Firstly she hands on the lifelong farm factotum, Louise, and later, her support in turning the farm into a live performance enterprise, the Holiday Inn. It all goes gangbusters until Ted turns up.
Brady Lloyd carries the show as the romantic lead. He has an exceptionally personable stage presence. The audience rightly adores him. Prodea doesn’t get to be adored. Ted is a louse. But Prodea gives him unrelenting chutzpa and both performers are classy.
The female principals are not quite as vocally strong but dance well and push out the old pizzazz with style. It is Kate Anolak as the trusty jack-of-all trades who steals the show.
She is a powerhouse both in characterisation and in song. She simply brings a stage to life.
Not that this stage is short on life. It is dressed by a fabulous ensemble and an ever-changing panoply of stunning costumes and hair-dos. The big dance numbers are well choreographed by Thomas Phillips. The sound is well balanced thanks to Tim Freedman and Marty Gilbert. The sets change smoothly. There could be a few more spotlights; a small oversight.
Andy Trimmings pops in and out of the plot as Danny, the hopeful Hollywood agent. He gives the role a strong comic edge but, for the sensitivities of this day and age, director Hines might redraw the character somewhat to make it less of a racial parody.
There’s also one important junior role in this show, that of young Charlie the local messenger boy. It is alternated by Luca Camozzato and Charlie Zorkovic. The latter shone nicely in the performance seen by this critic.
Indeed, the whole show sparkles.
Bravo, Therry.
Samela Harris
When: 7 to 16 Jun
Where: Arts Theatre
Bookings: trybooking.com
Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Festival Theatre. 8 Jun 2018. One night only
Oh, what a night.
Such is the draw of Adelaide’s winter festival that the massive Festival Theatre was packed to the rafters with excited cabaret fans. And, boy, did they get their money’s worth.
For her final Adelaide Cabaret Festival, artistic director Ali McGregor pulled out all the stops emceeing a glittering production to showcase the stars of her 15 day program. If their shows weren’t booked out before this shimmering sampler, they will be now.
“Welcome Home” she sang in a big opening number complete with Jack Buckskin’s "Welcome to Country" ritual and some eloquent indigenous bonding with the Modern Maori Quartet.
A fabulous orchestra of Michael Tyack’s Variety Gala Musicians flanked the stage to whirl flawlessly from one musical style to another throughout the ensuing performances while Wendy Todd’s amazing curtains of changing colour sparkled as a glamorous backdrop.
And they came and came in a show which ran like clockwork under Zac Tyler’s direction.
Perchance this was the slickest Gala production of them all.
The adored Todd McKenny did gospel, of all things, backed by the Class of Cabaret 2018, the mentored student artistes all straining to be noticed.
Todd is programmed in a "Bosom Buddies" show with the also adored living showbiz legend, Nancye Hayes, who was to make her Gala appearance singing I am My Own Best Friend, sleek and stylishly expert as ever and in an exquisitely tailored white jacket.
Antoinette Halloran, in a fluffy confection of pink tulle and glitter top, performed Verdi, er, well, a superbly executed Rigoletto aria with lyrics read from the book Fifty Shades of Grey. ’Twas an aria of innuendo, so incongruously naughty, audience members creased with laughter. "Taking it Up an Octave" is her CabFest show.
American Amber Martin came out in red thigh boots, Afro frizz and 60s mini kaftan to belt out a heart full of Janis Joplin before the magical Maori four returned with haka and war songs. If they were conservative in their grey suits, Adelaide’s own Hans brought the bedazzle back to the stage in a blinding bling of silver bodysuit. It was The Loveboat he belted out; a gorgeous cringe of corn. The audience loved him. As ever.
Yma Sumac, the mysterious 1950s Peruvian beauty, one of the headliners of the “Eyes Open” themed CabFest 2018, materialised backlit in a vivid rapture of theatricality. This exotic legend sang and trilled and thrilled with immense authority. Her voice ran up and down and around a seeming boundless vocal range. If there is a note higher than High C, she hit it. But, “Eyes Open” everyone; this exotic cabaret star was none other than Ali McGregor doing a snatch from her "Peruvian Songbird" show.
The Carnation Kid is long since grown up. Mark Holden brings a circus-themed "Greatest Show on Earth" happening to the festival. To that end, he appeared in a red ringmaster’s jacket and performed Nothing Lasts Forever. Ironic, really. The Aussie rock star turned barrister sings as well as ever if not better. He brought the house down.
Matthew Floyd Jones from the UK gave a sampler of his Edinburgh Fringe smash hit satirical show “Richard Carpenter is Close to You”. It was a peek into the Carpenter’s story with a very sharp edge about litigious stars and how to plagiarise for the sake of comedy. Very clever and very “Eyes Open” funny.
As if the show could get any better, Liza Minelli’s voice suddenly rang out from the floor of the auditorium. And there was the inimitable imitator, Christine Bianco. And there was another phenomenon of vocal range and deadly ear. She sang Life is a Cabaret in the voices of Liza, Barbra, Bernadette, Judy, Celine and, oh, wow, Julie Andrews. Vocal acrobatics. Breathtaking.
Ali McGregor’s next appearance was to introduce Em Rusciano, the hell-raising “Difficult Woman” here for a one-night show. She did stand-up on her childhood fixation with Johnny Farnham. More laughter. Wonderful singing.
McGregor topped her off with I am Woman and reminded the audience that the next 15 days and more than 50 shows of CabFest were an excuse to dress up. She presented an Icon Award to the Spiegeltent’s David Bates and then, after some rubber man whimsy from Captain Fredo, the stage erupted in a grand finale of epic proportions with an invasion of the neo-cabaret circus folk, the Glorious Misfits, flesh and feathers and glamorous weirdness.
CabFest 2018 is here.
Applause. Applause.
Samela Harris
When: 9 Jun
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed
Full Program: adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au
Edit: In response to feedback from one of the performers mentioned herein, and at the request of the reviewer, the content of this review was altered on the 12th of June.