BWW Reviews: ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL 2015: LADY RIZO - UNESCORTED Is Pure Cabaret Royalty

Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Wednesday 17th June 2015

The performance began with Lady Rizo in silhouette behind a backlit three panel screen, eventually turning to a side view revealing the fact that she is five months pregnant. Lady Rizo - Unescorted uses this happy event as a recurring theme, and it is clear that she could not be happier about it. She literally glowed with happiness. Offstage, she is Amelia Zirin-Brown, and her Australian partner is a lighting designer she met when performing at the Sydney Festival last year, Nicholas Rayment, and he, too, appeared to be extremely thrilled about their future addition to the family.

The first of her very funny interludes involved the whole audience and she had some great observations and comments that kept everybody laughing and applauding. Every person there had been captivated by her charm and vivaciousness.

Some of the songs were her own, such as the opening number, Song of Freedom, and, shortly after, Dominika, both from her latest CD, Violet. Baby It's You, with a chance for the band to spread out, drew a lot of applause, and a song that author Neil Gaiman penned for his partner, Amanda Palmer, was introduced as "a torch song for our time". It turned out to be the very funny, I Google You, also on her Violet album.

Climbing up to deliver a song from the top of the piano proved a problem, with the extra human on board, and so, naturally, she asked for an audience volunteer to assist. I bet that he didn't expect to be asked to go down on hands and knees to act as a step.

An extended costume change involved selecting an audience volunteer to sit with her behind the screen, silhouetted again, chatting while she changed dresses. The 'interview' that ensued was a lot of fun but, as the guest was Frankie Starling who sings with the Adelaide band Chica Chica Electrica and so has no fear of being on stage, getting a fascinating dialogue running was easy.

Her repertoire is eclectic and, appropriately, even included the rarity, a gentle lullaby, Baby Mine, sung by his mother to Dumbo, the elephant that learned to fly, in the Walt Disney animated film from 1941. Then we came right up to a brand new song that will be on her next album, a number that she described as the first really happy love song that she has written. This was also its world premiere, just for us at this festival.

We heard about her first professional job, on a cruise ship in Alaska, an hilarious tale of regret involving a really mean keyboard player, and a breakfast shift. Going back to 1931, and Cole Porter's Love for Sale, brought loads more applause.

Her band featured three great Australian musicians, Tim Bowen bass, John McDermott drums, and Mark Fergusson piano, plus her musical director, Yair Evnine, on guitar. Sadly, this performance suffered from a dreadful sound mix, heavy on the bass and drums, obscuring much of the music. It was the sort of mix that one might expect to hear at a dance club.

Lady Rizo, as any of her fans will tell you, has a magnificent voice and really knows how to interpret the songs of other composers, making them very much her own. She writes thoughtful lyrics, as well as comic songs, and her spoken sections are as intimate as if with a few friends. She makes her audience feel welcome and loved, and is willing to share the cabaret glitter, as those near the stage were to discover. When it comes to cabaret performers, she is one of the world's best.

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