Dunstan Playhouse. 14 June 2015.
With the opening medley of classical musics most loved symphonies still ringing in our ears, Ali McGregor, Dimity Shepherd & Antoinette Halloran enter to showcase a different side of opera.
Opera Burlesque is the brainchild of soprano Ali McGregor, whose artistic genius was sparked by the story of the girls of the Royal Opera House. After performing for the Convent Garden elite, they would discard their costumes and travel to the darker side of town to sing their arias to the public in the Miton's Music Hall. McGregor first staged the show with Shepherd & Halloran in 2005, and toured it successfully in both Australia and overseas until 2007.
Returning as part of this year's Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the three lovely ladies may be 10 years older, but they are as sexy as ever. Clad tastefully in corsets and lace, they soar through a mix of opera and rock, melding the genres with ease and charming all with sassy banter.
The audience delights in Halloran's euphonious performance of Un bel di vedremo, from her recent role as Cio-Cio-San in Madame Butterfly. It is an unexpected treat for those who did not get the pleasure. In hilarious contrast, she also gets the pulse racing with an orgasmic, operatic recital from 50 Shades of Grey.
Shepherd's seductive mezzo-soprano vocal is perfectly matched to cabaret. She brings the sass, with a dark version of Grace Jones's I've Seen That Face Before. McGregor is the "nice" to Shepherd's "naughty", and her innocent rendition of Kiss's I Was Made for Lovin' You is one of the highlights.
The three lovely divas are well supported by their mini orchestra, who provide wonderful musical accompaniment throughout. The ladies bring plenty of saucy humour and gorgeous vocals, but in terms of burlesque, Sapphire Snow's set is the real deal. She glides and shimmies across the Dunstan Playhouse stage, peeking from behind feathered fans with all the cheeky glamour of a 1920s pin up doll. Lila Luna, stepping in for Imogen Kelly, also provides a lovely acrobatic performance on the aerial hoop.
One feels that the pop "arias" are slightly swamped by their symphonic counterparts, however the quality performances soften the blow from any misplaced expectation.
Closing with a rousing and ear splitting version of ACDC's T.N.T, these three more than succeed in bringing the fun, frocks and frisk of burlesque to the opera.
Nicole Russo
When: Closed
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
Bookings: Closed
