Adelaide Cabaret Festival Opens 'With A Blast'

The Adelaide Cabaret Festival opened with a bang at the Variety Gala Performance sponsored by Adelaide BMW. The red carpet was overflowing with A-list celebrities and Cabaret superstars, and patrons partied well into the night as all of the Festival Centre venues were transformed into the glitz and glamour that is the cabaret realm.

Adelaide Cabaret Festival Artistic Director David Campbell says,
"The opening weekend of the Festival was an absolute blast, the Variety Gala was enjoyed by all and headliner Olivia Newton-John wowed audiences with her knock-out vocals and demonstrated why she is one of the world's most celebrated performers. "We are thrilled to announce that at the start of the Cabaret Festival's second week we have reached 90% of the Festival box office target and are 7% up on where we were at the same time last year."

Highlights heading into the second week of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival include leading lady and legendary Broadway star Chita Rivera, along with the next big thing in musical comedy, Gillian Cosgriff in Waitressing, and Other Things I Do Well, where she performs incredible self-penned songs that won her the Julie Michael Award for Musical Cabaret and the Showcase Award at the Annual Sydney Cabaret Showcase.

Local Adelaide boy Michael Griffiths gets into the groove as he performs In Vogue: Songs by Madonna the ultimate material girl. Leah Flanagan will regale with tales from after dark in Midnight Muses: It Begins to Tell. And check out the musical influences of a master with Paul Capsis in Make Me A King, Paul's personal homage to his musical heroes and influences, exploring the rich legacy of his favourite 20th century torch songs.

Charismatic New Yorker Mark Nadler, who had audiences eating out of the palm of his hand during his performances in the Piano Bar over the opening weekend, will certainly unleash some more mayhem and surprise in the world premiere of Crazy 1961. And charming Gala MC and popular leading man Simon Burke is back and will appear in Something About Always, his honest and heartfelt show about the moments that have made the man.

See Mark Vincent, who rose to stardom from winning the third series of Australia's Got Talent, perform his first ever solo show Diciassette (17). Tim Draxl will perform a stunning tribute to the ‘James Dean of Jazz' in Freeway - The Chet Baker Journey

For those that like their Cabaret cutting edge, don't miss Josie Lane in Josie in the Bathhouse - with her five-piece band and personal ‘towel-boy', Josie will shower you with laughs, tears and blushes as she taps into the bawdy energy of Bette Midler's legendary bathhouse shows of the 70s. Canada's The Wet Spots seem like a couple from the golden age of vaudeville, until they open their mouths and start singing sweetly about the finer details of their carnal encounters.

And for those who like their Cabaret with a good dose of humour, the following comedy acts will tickle your funny bone - Our Hit Parade stars Kenny Mellman, Bridget Everett and Neal Medlyn. Inspired by the famous American musical sketch series, Your Hit Parade it is an alarmingly live top-ten countdown in which the hosts present their renditions of the latest popular hits. Urban Display Suite is musical satire at its finest as Michael Dalley and his cast stab their acerbic wit into the eye of the great Aussie dream...real estate.

On the free list, come and see the odd couple of live chat Mikey Robins and Margarita Pracatan (of Clive James Live fame) perform live in the Piano Bar, where Mikey will interview Cabaret Festival artists and Margarita will be singing and playing as only she can. Don't forget while at the Centre to take in some of the stunning memorabilia in the Peter Allen Exhibition by the Performing Arts Collection in the Festival Theatre foyer.

And for those that like to party, Grammy-winning, chart-topping superstar Leo Sayer delivers all of his greatest hits in The Show Must Go On and the USA's Tuba Skinny, an authentic mix of traditional jazz and old blues from the 1920s and ‘30s will be rockin' the Banquet room in their late night performances.

Don't miss High School Cabaret, an initiative introduced last year by Artistic Director David Campbell. This project is proudly supported by the Adelaide Festival Centre's Education Program (centrED) and aims to help cultivate and encourage the next generation of cabaret artists. David Campbell, in addition to Musical Director Matthew Carey, have mentored a select group of creative arts students from Pembroke School and Blackwood High School to produce a series of stunning cabaret performances. The students will take you on a rollercoaster of emotion and give a glimpse into the cabaret stars of tomorrow.

David says, "The Cabaret Festival is hotting up so don't miss the second week of the Festival, the variety on offer in the second week is as big as the first and there are plenty of good seats still available."

Full program details are available www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au Tickets are on sale through BASS 131 246 or online www.bass.net.au

To post a comment, you must register and login.