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
