Olivia Newton-John, Chita Rivera, Bryan Batt, & More Set for Adelaide Cabaret Festival, 6/10-25

Adelaide Festival Centre together with Artistic Director for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, David Campbell, announce the 2011 Adelaide Cabaret Festival program, 10 - 25 June, proudly supported by Principal Partner FOXTEL.

Come join the celebrations in June, where once again Adelaide Festival Centre will be transformed into Cabaret mode and experience some of the best Cabaret at one of the world's most unique festivals for the genre.

The 2011 program features 50 International Artists from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada and the best from Australia with 224 Australian artists, 125 of those South Australian performers. There will be 15 international shows, 32 Adelaide premieres, 3 Adelaide exclusives including 7 Australian premieres and 15 world premieres.

Adelaide Cabaret Festival Artistic Director David Campbell says, "We are thrilled to announce this year's program, my last as Artistic Director, and feel that we are truly delivering something out of this world. We have numerous international chart toppers. Tony winners and multiple Grammy award winning songwriters. We have the newest up and coming artists from all over the world. We have scores of shows debuting here at the Festival and we have our headliner - the most successful Australian singer of all time. How is that for going out with a bang? Thank you for coming with us on this incredible journey. It has been a blast and I look forward to seeing you at this year's Festival".

Opening this year's Cabaret Festival is Adelaide's night of nights Variety Gala Performance on Friday 10 June. Once again patrons will walk the red carpet and witness a variety of incredibly talented cabaret artists in this year's Festival. This year's Gala will be presented by the incomparable Simon Burke and the line-up is more impressive than ever - book early as it is sure to sell out.

Headlining this year's Cabaret Festival exclusive to Adelaide is international chart stopper, movie star, tireless fundraiser and Australian icon Olivia Newton-John. Having sold more than 100 million records worldwide Olivia will be accompanied by the Adelaide Art Orchestra in an evening that encompasses the highlights of her career and the hits that have become the soundtrack to our lives.

Opening on the Queen's Birthday long weekend, this year's Cabaret Festival includes 129 performances of some 47 different shows across 16 nights; the program is full of rich diversity and stimulating entertainment to delight the heart and mind.

From the U.S., New York's master of song Michael Feinstein returns to the Cabaret Festival closing the Festival in a special performance which pays tribute to Sinatra. The multi-platinum artist will be accompanied by a swingin' big band in Michael Feinstein Sings Sinatra. Star of the critically acclaimed Mad Men, Bryan Batt, performs BATT on A Hot Tin Roof, a comical and moving musical showcase from the classics through to his experiences in shows including Saturday Night Fever and Cats, all interwoven with hilarious and poignant monologues about his eventful Louisiana childhood. The ultimate songsmith Jimmy Webb will share his inspiration and stories in an intimate performance An Evening with Jimmy Webb including a selection of his diverse and timeless work: Galveston, Wichita Lineman and Up, Up and Away.

Our leading ladies include the legendary Broadway star Chita Rivera (USA), Australia's favourite fiery redhead Rhonda Burchmore and Australian country music star Melinda Schneider. Legendary performers in their one-woman shows, each will captivate you with their extraordinary vocals and bewitching tales. Ms Rivera will perform selections from her most celebrated musicals including numbers from West Side Story, Sweet Charity and Chicago in My Broadway. Burchmore makes a lasting impression as she interprets the musical journey of Julie London in Cry Me A River The World of Julie London. Schneider has indulged her passion and performs Doris Day - So Much More Than the Girl Next Door.

Grammy-winning, chart-topping superstar Leo Sayer delivers all of his greatest hits in The Show Must Go On and 45 Years of Song sees Australian music industry legend Glenn Shorrock of Little River Band fame reminisce on a career spanning almost 50 years.

It wouldn't be a Festival without a variety of shows paying homage to some of the greatest musical masters. Paul Capsis Make Me A King is Paul's personal homage to his musical heroes and influences, exploring the rich legacy of his favourite 20th century torch songs. Tim Draxl will perform a stunning tribute to the James Dean of Jazz in Freeway The Chet Baker Journey. Whilst no newcomer to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival (2003 & 2004) Bert LaBonte returns and puts his spin on the king When I Fall In Love The Nat King Cole Story. And Local Adelaide boy Michael Griffiths gets into the groove as he performs In Vogue: Songs by Madonna the ultimate material girl.

The Cabaret Festival continues to act as a platform to showcase new artists to the genre: Mark Vincent who rose to stardom from the moment he won the third series of Australia's Got Talent will perform his first ever solo show Diciassette (17). Be prepared to hear one of Great Britain's greatest voices when BBC TV's Daniel Boys make his Australian premiere in So Close. Boys will perform an array of songs from the world of musical theatre and pop, alongside some lesser-known gems taken from his best-selling debut album So Close: an album which cements his reputation as one of the UK's brightest emerging talents.

Returning to Adelaide after performing last year in An Evening With Stephen Schwartz, Carrie Rawlings is a sublimely talented pianist/vocalist who will take you on a whirlwind, emotional journey into diversity through the songs we grew up with on A.M. radio. Don't miss this world premiere When I Was Young I Listened to the Radio.

Following electrifying performances at the Isle of Wight and Glastonbury Festivals, and a sell-out season at the Edinburgh Fringe, The Magnets make their Australian debut in Adelaide. A six-man sound machine that make all their music with their mouths, six distinctive voices creating unique sounds that rivals any band with guitars and keyboards. This is Cabaret at its coolest.

And for those that like their Cabaret cutting edge don't miss Josie Lane in Josie in the Bathhouse, with her five-piece band and personal ‘towel-boy', Josie will shower you with laughs, tears and blushes as she taps into the bawdy energy of Bette Midler's legendary bathhouse shows of the 70s. Canada's The Wet Spots seem like a couple from the golden age of vaudeville, until they open their mouths and start singing sweetly about the finer details of their carnal encounters. Not for the faint hearted Amy Housewine makes her Cabaret Festival debut in a show that dishes the dirt Back to Crack and get deep and dangerous with cabaret's punk pin-up Storm Large in Crazy Enough. Be prepared all these shows come with a warning: Suitable for audiences 18+.

Audiences will love Adelaide born actress, director and producer Ansuya Nathan in Long live the King documenting her life from India to Elizabeth. Robyn Archer, always a Cabaret Festival crowd favourite, presents The Other Great American Songbook - with songs by Brecht/Weill and Eisler written in the USA, and ending with Dylan & Pink.

Don't miss the next big thing in musical comedy Gillian Cosgriff, in Waitressing, and Other Things I Do Well, where she performs incredible self-penned songs that won her the Julie Michael Award for Musical Cabaret and the Showcase Award at Annual Sydney Cabaret Showcase. Under the direction of Festival Artistic Director David Campbell Blokelahoma! Stars 23 year old rock tenor and 8th Annual Cabaret Showcase winner Toby Francis.

The festival wouldn't be complete without a big dose of Comedy - Our Hit Parade stars Kenny Mellman, Bridget Everett and Neal Medlyn. Inspired by the famous American musical sketch series, Your Hit Parade it is an alarmingly live top-ten countdown in which the hosts present their renditions of the latest popular hits. Urban Display Suite is musical satire at its finest as Michael Dalley and his cast stab their acerbic wit into the eye of the great Aussie dream...realty.

Aussies flying the flag at this year's festival include Leah Flanagan who will regale us with tales from after dark in Midnight Muses It Begins to Tell. Mike McLeish premieres The World is Winning a confessional cabaret chronicling life after the glory of the wildly successful Keating! Alexis Fishman is Erika Stern, darling of the Berlin cabaret in Der Gelbe Stern (The Yellow Star) and popular leading man Simon Burke will appear in Something About Always a brutally honest show sharing the moments that have made the man. Ali McGregor's Late-Nite Variety Nite Night is variety at its best and well-loved singer, soap-star and novelist Jane Clifton explores what it's like to be home in Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home.

Get up close and personal as Rachel Beck and Ian Stenlake perform More Than Words a hilarious look behind the scenes of this beloved showbiz couple.

Having thrilled and titillated audiences with four sold-out seasons at the Sydney Opera House, Sydney's most delicious drag queens are heading across the desert with their critically acclaimed show, Drag!

Back by popular demand is the charismatic New Yorker Mark Nadler who reprises last year's hit FREE performance in the Piano Bar Broadway Hootenanny. Don't miss the maestro menace the keyboards, unleash mayhem and surprise with his special guests. Or catch Nadler celebrating the first half century of his life, reliving the songs and events of the year in which he arrived on planet earth in the world premiere of Crazy 1961.

The odd couple of live chat Mikey Robins and Margarita Pracatan (of Clive James Live fame) perform live in the Piano Bar where Mikey interviews Cabaret Festival guest artists and Margarita will be singing and playing as only she can.

A big hit at last year's Festival was ‘Late Nights in the Banquet room', this will continue including performances by USA's Tuba Skinny, an authentic mix of traditional jazz and old blues from the 1920s and ‘30s and The Jitterbug Club: a bastard contemporary Harlem Jazz club.

High School Cabaret an initiative introduced last year by Artistic Director David Campbell continues. This project is proudly supported by the Adelaide Festival Centre's Education Program (centrED) and aims to help cultivate and encourage the next generation of cabaret artists. David Campbell, in addition to Musical Director Matthew Carey, will mentor a select group of creative arts students from Pembroke School and Blackwood High School to produce a series of cabaret performances to be showcased in this year's Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Sing, dance, laugh and cry with South Australia's exciting young stars as they show us why they are the stars of tomorrow.

Catch a glimpse of the creative process at work at one of this year's Masterclasses with Dean Bryant and Neil Gooding as they talk you through Getting your act together and taking it on the road. Not to be missed will be Jimmy Webb's Q & A The Songwriter's Songwriter, a rare opportunity to sit down with the Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The Performing Arts Collection is proud to present a stunning collection of Peter Allen memorabilia never seen before in Adelaide, The Peter Allen Exhibition.

The ever popular Sing Your Own Musical is back with Michael Morley and friends for another sing-along around the piano.

Bring a Friend Free Thanks to Minter Ellison is again extended to span across the entire Festival to selected shows and performances. Stay tuned for more information at www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au Allocations are strictly limited and only available in person at BASS Outlets or BASS 131 246.

Book to see four or more shows in the same transaction and you'll enjoy great savings, plus you will secure the best seats in the house. Simply choose the Festival subscription price when booking at BASS and you will automatically go into the draw to WIN a Supernova Prize package worth over $5000. For full terms and conditions please go to www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au

Under 30s have the opportunity to get $19.95 Cabaret Festival tickets to a number of specific performances by joining the Adelaide Festival Centre's Green Room program a backstage arts membership for under 30s. Join now at www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/greenroom

Full program details available in the Adelaide Cabaret Festival brochure. Get one free by calling the Adelaide Cabaret Hotline on (08) 8216 8901 or go to www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au
Tickets on sale now around the country through BASS Dial n Charge 131 246 or online www.bass.net.au Interstate guests call BASS Special Events on (08) 8400 2222 for details of accommodation packages.

The Adelaide Cabaret Festival thanks ‘Evening and Performance' partners: Villi's; Coopers; Investec and Adelaide City Council along with ‘Associate Partners': Grant Burge; Adelaide BMW and Moet & Chandon.

 

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