Review: ADELAIDE FRINGE 2016: AMELIA RYAN IS LADY LIBERTY Is Quite A Revealing Experience

Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Saturday 5th Mach 2016

Amelia Ryan is back with another of her very popular cabaret productions, Amelia Ryan is Lady Liberty. Her previous award-winning production, A Storm in a D Cup, had a long run, overseas performances, and many repeat seasons due to audience demand, and this is certain to have a similar future.

It takes up Ryan's very personal life story, with not a single embarrassing detail omitted, where the earlier show left off. It is not necessary, though, to have seen that show to follow this one. Where there is a reference to past events, a brief and very funny retelling is given before proceeding to the even funnier new stage.

Those who have caught Ryan's performances before will know that her cabaret shows combine hilarious narratives, sprinkled with brief anecdotes, one-liners, and occasional jabs at our government, which everybody loves to hear, interspersed with songs that have familiar melodies, but words that you have never heard before. Ryan's rewrites of the lyrics have the audience in stitches. Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time, for example, becomes twisted to lines such as "wine after wine", and "beer after beer". You will never be able to watch The Little Mermaid again without laughing. No song is safe.

Ryan has a strong and expressive voice and can really belt out those big numbers, but she can also put across a ballad which, if you weren't laughing at the revised lyrics, would have been quite moving. Those bright eyes, cheeky smile and sideways glances, though, make it very clear that she has no intention of generating deeply powerful emotions that the song might have had in its original form, even though she certainly has the capability. Hearing of her exploits one has to wonder, though, whether Ryan is liberated or a libertine, or a mix of both. Perhaps in this century there is little difference, anyway, and who cares?

There is some audience involvement, and it doesn't matter where you sit, even in the very middle of the audience, it could be you. You might be lucky and get called upon to play a drinking game, 'Never have I ever', with some very revealing sips of bubbly when she or the audience participants admitted to having done various things in the past that they would probably prefer that their parents never knew about. AT least you get to drink free alcohol to hide any embarrassment.

Ryan is backed by a trio of top musicians: from Sydney, Mark Chamberlain, musical director and keyboard player, with Adelaide musicians, Alana Dawes, double bass and bass guitar, and Paul Butler, drums, each of whom was recently playing for one or other of the big musicals that were touring Australia and, fortunately, were all free at the same time to become The Liberettes.

The Factory, in The Garden of Unearthly Delights, is not exactly a cabaret venue, and the all timber construction makes the acoustics very live, but the skilled sound technician managed to ensure clear vocals and good balance within the band.

This is the usual high standard show, with plenty of the polish and pizzazz that we have come to expect from Amelia Ryan and, of course, there was a big audience in attendance, which means that you should book ahead for this show.

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