Tom Dickins Wins 2009 'Under Our Wing Award' From The Butterfly Club

The Butterfly Club is today thrilled to announce the winner of its 2009 "Under Our Wing Award". Tom Dickins was announced today as the winner of the prestigious annual ‘Under Our Wing Award', one of Australia's top awards given to emerging cabaret performers.

The Butterfly Club's David Read said "the Under Our Wing Award is given to outstanding emerging cabaret performers who in our opinion deserve much more recognition than they are currently receiving. Tom first came to our attention at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival when he invited us to hear him sing his newly written songs. We instantly saw the potential for his voice and stories to fit perfectly into the cabaret genre." Amanda Palmer from the Dresdon Dolls was also at that invitation-only showcase and she too recognised his potential, writing that Tom has "the velvety yet bittersweet voice of an angel, only recently fallen from grace."

Returning to Australia, Tom won the Professional Development Award at the inaugural Short Sweet+Cabaret in July 2008 for his 10-minute cabaret piece "Cab-O-Rage". In February 2009 Amanda Palmer proved she meant what she wrote when she invited Tom to perform with her at one of The Butterfly Club's infamous subscriber-only ‘secret shows'. He returns to the stage as The Butterfly Club's headline performer for the 2009 Melbourne Fringe Festival. His exciting new show ‘Where Was I' runs for the full three weeks of the Festival. "Where Was I?" is the story of Dickins' running, tripping and tumbling journey around the world in a crazed search for identity, love, sex and purpose. The cabaret features "deliciously dark original songs that claw into the brain and refuse to let go" (David Allen, ArtsHub) along with some very familiar songs played in very unfamiliar ways - such as an upbeat, cheerleader version of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails.

Dates: Thursday 24 September to Sunday 11 October (12 performances Thursday to Sunday)
Times: 9.00 pm Thursdays - Saturdays, 8.00 pm Sundays
Preview week ticket price: $15
Season ticket price: $22 full / $17 concession and for groups of 8 or more
Bookings: http://www.thebutterflyclub.com or www.melbournefringe.com.au

For more information, email info@thebutterflyclub.com, or call 0402 099 222. To listen to Tom Dickins' music, visit www.myspace.com/tomdickins

About the award
Tom joins luminaries Tim Minchin (2003), Daniel Maloney (2004), Reuben Krum (2005), Sammy J (2006), Karin Muiznieks (2007), Joanne O'Callaghan (2008) and James Simpson (2008).
Like all of the previous Under Our Wing Award winners, Tom fits The Butterfly Club's preferred style of cabaret. While we welcome all forms of cabaret, we favour those of the European model that reflect the style of performance for which cabaret was originally created - shows that satirise or reflect contemporary life and enlighten audiences, performed in an intimate setting.

The inaugural recipient of this award (in 2003) was Tim Minchin at a time when he was an unknown. He has since gone on to win the coveted Perrier Best Newcomer Award at the world's largest festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and is now regularly selling out in large venues across Australia, the UK and the USA. The Butterfly Club was the first producer to recognise and tour Tim's extraordinary talents and nurtured him for two years as a regular performer including his first show in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival before his rise to international acclaim.

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