Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Wednesday 30th December 2015
In closing off my reviewing for 2015 I attended Club Swizzle, created by the people behind La Clique and La Soirée, regular and popular visitors to Adelaide, and presented by the Adelaide Festival Centre in the Space Theatre. In the centre of the Space is a long bar, at one end the stage and at the other a round table with a high and solid central pole. On the other three sides are chairs in rows, with cabaret seating at the very rear and, once the performance is ready to start, more cabaret seating near the bar, which now becomes a catwalk out from the stage by adding an extra piece to join the stage and revamped bar. Set Designer, Kent Johnston, is the mastermind behind this construction. While bartenders are mixing cocktails, four uniformed young men busy themselves welcoming patrons and helping them to find seats.Designer, Rebecca Clark, created the smart uniforms. They are soon revealed to be the Swizzle Boys (Tom Flanagan, Joren Dawson, DJ Garner, and Ben Lewis), a quartet of very talented acrobats. More about them later.
Brett Haylock, who was involved with the earlier works, La Clique and La Soirée, is behind the concept for this production, an intriguing mix of genres drawing on cabaret, circus, burlesque and more. His knowledge and experience have been put to work to create another winning production that is sure to tour for a long time.
New York comedian and "drag king", Murray Hill, is the Master of Ceremonies, and a fine choice for the role. The audience lapped it up as Hill cracked jokes, made cheeky comments, and generally jollied the show along in a very personal and personable style. Audience involvement was a part of Hill's repertoire, and couples picked were happy enough to go along with it. Not they had much choice as Hill's gentle insistence and obvious intent to proceed until he got what he was after, along with massive encouragement from the audience, left no alternative. It was all in good fun, though, and I suspect that a few who passed unassailed later wished that they had been picked for some purpose during the show. Watch out for the Murray Hill Challenge for a few good laughs.
Returning, now, to the Swizzle Boys, their versatility, embracing a great many skills, was put to good use, as they and Murray Hill were the two major performance parts of the evening, sometimes one or the other, and sometimes together, locking all of the other acts into the programme, since the others are likely to change over time as some are special guests at each location. The Swizzle Boys were as impressive as one could wish for, with high precision routines, comical additions, and the ability to appear to simply hover in the air at times. To add to the complexity, much of the time they were mixing, dispensing and carrying trays of drinks at the same time. They used every tiny bit of the catwalk/bar for their numerous routines and, in one segment we discovered why there was a round table with a central pole. The Swizzle Boys were up and down it in a myriad of climbing techniques, sometimes solo and other times with all four on the pole at once, leaping up and down past each other as though defying gravity to just try to interfere with their routines. Gravity decided to let them get on with it.
It would have been impossible to stage this work and generate the excitement without the band, Mikey and the Nightcaps, led by Musical Director, Michael Lira, with Svetlana Bunic, Jim Dunlop, and Suzanne Simpson, all multi-instrumentalists, at one point also joined by Swizzle Boy, Tom Flanagan, on trumpet. The talent in this show knows no boundaries. Lira and his musicians keep the energy high all night, and also added a little touch of humour here and there. Their presence is vital to the performance as they are far more than just a backing group.
Then there are the soloists and guests who make up the remainder of the production. From Russia came Valerie Murzak, daughter of two circus artists. Her first piece was some very stylish aerial work, and a photographer would have found dozens of brief poses, all of which would have made for an exciting photograph. She later returned to perform another routine atop a giant mirror ball, and that would have pushed any photographer to the limit in trying to capture every aspect of that remarkable piece. Her movements were most sensual in both acts, showing that circus can be sexy.
Belgium-based Laurie Hagen referenced German Kabarett of the Weimar Republic era between the wars, and all that that entailed, including in her re-imagined Burlesque the influence of Dadaism, which was strong at that time. Her first appearance is as a drunken stripper, hilarious yet skilfully working through to the end, only to discover that she has forgotten to attach her tassels. The second routine is a reverse striptease, with every move carefully choreographed to appear as a film running backwards. She commenced this routine wearing bra and panties and one could not help wondering if this was because it was discovered during the interval that a nine-year-old and other minors had been brought to this performance. The term 'subversive' is most applicable to this artist's very clever approach to this long-established genre, for which she has won awards.
Harlem song and dance man, Dandy Wellington, sang and tapped his way through a couple of swinging numbers, taking us back to the Big Band era of the 1930s. He has a great interest in style and costuming and his jauntily tilted straw boater, large bowtie, and snazzy tap shoes filled the bill perfectly. He is a very dapper gent and his natty mode of dress is not only for the stage, but an everyday part of his life.
The very special guest for the Adelaide season is Ali McGregor, who is also the co-Artistic Director of the 2016 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Her remarkable voice and sense of humour were matched by her stunning gowns, as she took the audience by storm at each appearance. Her inclusion was a very sound decision and quite a bonus for her many fans who appeared to be in the audience, judging by the applause.
Make sure that you get a ticket before the season sells out.
Watch the video for a glimpse of the show
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