Review: LOU BLACKWELL AND THE FRENCH SET – ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL 2026 at Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre

Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Sunday 7th June 2026.

Louise Blackwell brings her show, Lou Blackwell and the French Set, to this year’s Cabaret Festival. Post-war French Cabaret is very different from the largely political, sexual, and often dark gallows humour associated with the Weimar Republic era German Kabarett of Weill, Hollaender, Spoliansky, Eisler, and the rest. Kabarett suffered a demise at the hands of the Nazis as it was considered decadent and, worse, many of the composers, lyricists, and performers were Jewish, fleeing from Germany to the USA. French Cabaret came back to the fore.

This production focuses on various facets of love, as seen through the eyes of French composers and singers. The first wave of French Cabaret began, though, in the late Nineteenth Century at Le Chat Noir, where it grew and thrived, spreading far and wide before the First World War, before the focus moved to Berlin between the wars, then back to Paris post-war.

This performance featured a quintet under Musical Director, arranger, and pianist, Mark Simeon Ferguson, who leads a very fine group of musicians: Julian Ferraretto, violin, Tom Pulford, clarinet and tenor saxophone, Dan Witton, bass, and Kyrie Anderson, drums. Anderson, in particular, impressed with her mastery of light and shade, and the subtlety with which she underscored and supported the other musicians, skills that my own teacher instilled in me. Ferguson wrote some superb arrangements for this performance, and the four-part male vocal harmonies by the band members were an added bonus.

Blackwell went to Paris on an exchange visa to study French and cinema, and came back a cabaretière. Ever since somebody coined the ridiculous statement that “anything can be cabaret”, which is akin to saying that anything can be football, and offering an egg and spoon race, there has been progressively less actual cabaret in this festival every year. It was encouraging to find at least one genuine, authentic cabaret performance this year, albeit staged in a proscenium arch theatre, rather than a cabaret setting, with candle-lit tables and chairs, and wine flowing freely.

Along with the many songs, Blackwell told of her journey to France, her discovery of the many facets of Paris and her love for the city, its culture, and everyday life. A decade there was not enough. She told of the composers, their lovers and affairs, and the songs, and brought the audience into the world and life that she had to reluctantly leave behind when her visa expired and could not be renewed. Her background as an actor was evident in her captivating storytelling. It was a spellbinding, and all too short performance that left the audience wanting more.

It became clear that many in the audience were fluent in French, as much of the dialogue was in that language, and there was often laughter at comments that she made.

There were songs that, although sung in the original French version, would have been familiar to English listeners.

There was a moving version of Les Moulins de mon cœur (The Windmills of My Heart) better known with the English lyrics as The Windmills of Your Mind, with the haunting melody written by French jazz pianist and composer, Michel Legrand, for the film, The Thomas Crown Affair. Eddy Marnay wrote the original French lyrics, while Alan and Marilyn Bergman wrote the English words.

From 1942 came Que reste-t-il de nos amours ? (What remains of our love?), composed by Léo Chauliac, with lyrics by Charles Trenet. The English lyrics were later written by Albert Beach and it became I Wish You Love. It was given a passionate interpretation by Blackwell and featured a violin solo from Ferraretto.

Les Feuilles mortes (The Dead Leaves) was composed by Hungarian, Joseph Kosma, in 1945, with lyrics by Jacques Prévert. English lyrics were written in 1950 by Johnny Mercer and it became Autumn Leaves, one of the great jazz standards. It has been recorded by everybody from Edith Piaf to Frank Sinatra. This was also given an emotional reading by Blackwell, and featured a moving tenor sax solo by Pulford.

One English inclusion was the satirical number, Another song about Paris, by American Dave Frishberg, from 1983, sending up all of those songs that pay tribute to that city. It naturally, caused considerable laughter and applause.

Ma plus belle histoire d’amour (My most beautiful love story) was penned in the 1960s by the singer-songwriter known simply as Barbara (born Monique Andrée Serf (9 June 1930 – 24 November 1997), and nicknamed La Chanteuse de Minuit (the Midnight Singer). She took her name from her grandmother, Varvara Brodsky, who came from Odesa, Ukraine. The full title is Ma plus belle histoire d'amour c'est vous (My greatest love story is you), and she dedicated it to her fans.

My minimal schoolboy French from the early 1960s, never used, then or since, has long ago faded to a few scraps which, on this occasion felt like a huge loss, but it did not diminish the enjoyment of this performance an iota.

The most important factor of all, of course, is Louise Blackwell, whose impeccable Parisian accent, crystal clear diction, thorough understanding of the songs and the meanings behind them, evocative personal stories, and enlightening, knowledgeable dialogue, and whose voice perfectly suits French chanson, lift this performance to the level of exceptional.

There was plenty of variation, with songs that were gentle, emotional, comical, sad, poignant, celebratory, and more in this highly varied collection of chansons. There were vocal duets with Witton, and with Pulford, backing vocals from members of the band, and songs where the audience clapped along. Vive la France!, et Louise Blackwell.

This was a performance with appeal to both fans of genuine cabaret and Francophiles alike. Every song was awarded plenty of well-deserved applause, and the final bows drew even more extended applause and cheering. The only thing that could have improved this wonderful, generous, heartfelt performance would have been another hour or two. If you hear that she is performing anywhere around Adelaide at anytime, rush for a ticket. Hopefully, there’ll be much more of her work in future Cabaret Festivals.