Adelaide Cabaret Festival Beats Box Office Records

Only just heading into the first week of the 16-day Winter event, the 2012 Adelaide Cabaret Festival has reached 91 per cent of its box office target, smashing all previous Festivals' box office records.

While a number of shows and performances were sold out before the opening at the Adelaide Festival Centre on the Queen's Birthday long weekend, there are still plenty of exceptional cabaret stars to marvel at this week.

Broadway star Eden Espinosa will charm Adelaide audiences with her rich power and beguiling emotion at the Dunstan Playhouse from 13 to 15 June. In her world premiere performance, the exceptional songstress will take on some of the biggest hits from Aida, Ghost, Rent, Sweeney Todd and Wicked, as well as paying homage to her favourite artists including Joni Mitchell, Sia, Beth Hart, Eva Cassidy and Cyndi Lauper. Calling Adelaide her home-away-from home, Eden has been a regular fixture at the Festival's late night club, Backstage, even playing back-up singer along with Artistic Director Kate Ceberano to The Supremes legend Mary Wilson over the opening weekend.

Former French super group Nouvelle Vague member Nadeah is set to impress at the Festival Theatre Stage from 13 to 15 June with her explosive, quirky and sincerely touching solo show Venus Gets Even. Expect to fall in love with the globetrotting performer and her lively arrangements, distinctive lyrics and rich, sophisticated orchestrations.

Feisty singer/songwriter Paris Wells will grace the Space Theatre stage from 13 to 15 June in Projected. The fast rising star's CV boasts 'touring alongside' music heavyweights Lily Allen and Justin Timberlake. In Projected, Paris collaborates with illustrator and sought after street artist Brendan Coghlan with fitting background projections that marry with her original and poetic songs' themes in a stunning visual display of synergy between art and music.

On 15 and 16 June, The Suitcase Royale relives a hilarious yet dark tale in The Ballad of Backbone Joe at the Space Theatre. Featuring macabre characters, The Ballad of Backbone Joe tells a daft and gruesome story of murder set in a small country town set to The Suitcase Royale's signature rag'n'bone live music. Don't miss superlative storyteller Troy Cassar-Daley's A Life's Story in Song 16 – 17 June in the Dunstan Playhouse, Troy will share the songs that have shaped his life as a musician.

A plethora of great tickets are still available heading in to the first week of the Festival, for full program details visit www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au

Tickets are on sale through BASS 131 246 or online www.bass.net.au