CACTUS COUNTY: A WILD WEST CABARET Rides to Melbourne Fringe

Giddy up for a genre-bending wild west cabaret under the spectacular Melba Spiegeltent big top, this Melbourne Fringe Festival from 28 September.

Like Neo Radio's hit debut production La Petite Mort, CACTUS COUNTY pays homage to 1940s radio drama, while transforming songs by Beyonce, Sia, Crowded House and more into honky tonk, folk and dark country styles.

Producer Suzanne Barton said CACTUS COUNTY is a vaudevillian romp saddled with belly laughs, big voices, close harmonies and mesmeric ballads.

"To save her Pa's ranch, a plucky, gun-slingin' farm girl must join a motley band of cowboys, in disguise, on a treacherous journey over Thunder Mountain," Suzanne said. "Their adventure features a seedy saloon, a talking horse, an interrupting prairie dog and tumbleweeds aplenty."

This darn tootin' escapade features sultry singers Sam Qualtrough (Suade, Serenade), Yvette Hearn (Nuance, Serenade) and Suzanne Barton (Old Time Music Hall, OperaBox), with announcer Paul David-Goddard (Mr & Mrs Murder, The Sculptor), pianist Thomas Byrne, guitarist David Borgeest, bassist Robbie Finch and drummer Chloe Dempsey.

Audience members are invited to channel their inner cowpoke and dress to impress.

Where: The Melba Spiegeltent, 35 Johnston St, Collingwood
When: 8.30pm, Wednesday 28 September to Sunday 2 October
Tickets: Full $30, Concession $25, Child $20, Group 6+ $20
Bookings: melbournefringe.com.au or call (03) 9660 9666

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