Review: CLUB KABARETT, Underbelly Boulevard

A renowned Soho cabaret venue officially re-opens this week - and, no, it’s not Madame Jojo’s.

Part of Paul Raymond’s property empire, Boulevard Theatre was famous in the 1980s for hosting alternative comedy legends The Comic Strip and Eddie Izzard’s Raging Bull Club. It closed in the next decade but was revived as a theatre and cabaret venue in 2019 by Paul Raymond’s granddaughter Fawn James. Sadly, the pandemic ended that venture after just six months but its latest comeback brings world class variety acts to the heart of the West End.

Underbelly, the new operators of what is now known as Underbelly Boulevard, plan to make the place their new London home. This is part of a growing trend: Punchdrunk have already set up an HQ in Woolwich and Cirque du Soleil and Secret Cinema also have their eyes on permanent bases in Battersea and Camden respectively. This ambitious move will burnish Soho’s cabaret credentials ahead of a planned re-opening of Soho Estates’ sister venue Madame Jojo’s early next year.

After debuting down under, Club Kabarett comes to Underbelly Boulevard with its compère Bernie Dieter in typically ebullient form. The show shares much of its DNA with Dieter’s recent shows Berlin Underground and Little Death Club. She was a familiar sight in London in the 2010s as one half of cult act EastEnd Cabaret, an Australian musical duo who made their mark with a residency at The Strand’s Cellardoor before going on to gain an army of fans thanks to gigs at the Old Vic Tunnels, Soho Theatre, Torture Garden, and an infamous West End squat.

Once again backed by her Haus Band (Mark Elton on bass, Frankie South on guitar and Laura Williams on drums), this savvy MC knows how to warm up a crowd with rousing songs and ribald jibes. A series of increasingly bizarre outfits featuring spiky stilettos, a half-kilt and feathered shoulder pads add to her visual appeal as does a genuine connection with the audience.

The roster is heavy with acrobats, all of whom put on flawless exhibitions of poise and skill. Bella Diosa provides a masterclass in controlled fire skills, majestically holding a pair of flaming swords up to the sky like a Viking princess on the rampage, before returning after the interval to hang mid-air over the crowd by her hair. World pole dance champion Blue Phoenix twists this way and that in his strappy BDSM-style harness and high heels.  The Seifert Sisters serve up acrobalance inside an aerial hoop in perfect synchronicity. Washington trapeze artist Adam Malone spins hoops from all four outstretched limbs while upside down in a headstand. 

That the show is generally spectacular almost goes without saying. If Britain’s Got Talent and its international brethren have taught us one thing, it is that the world is hardly short of fantastic variety talent. Those who come to Club Kabarett should expect to see more than a few of those in the pews staring upward with eyes wide open and jaws slack or watching the action intensely through their phones. It is not hard to be seriously impressed with the quality on display.

The theatre itself has been updated specifically for cabaret performances with a small central circular stage and seating around it. Those who have been to Berlin Underground or Little Death Club in London will enjoy being closer to the action even if there are now severe limitations on what the artistes can do compared to the more expansive space available on a Spiegeltent stage. The capacity in the Boulevard has been upped from the 165 seats in its pre-pandemic black box theatre configuration to 200 cosy seats in the new “in the round” arrangement. There are two tiers to the performance space but most of the attention from the stage is directed towards the stalls - for those of us sat in the gods, the view and experience was occasionally less than heavenly.

While airborne acrobats are highly Instagrammable, their preponderance here means that there is a general lack of artistic diversity on the bill. Variety is a broad church that covers musical comedy, drag, magic, burlesque and jugglers and punters coming to the cabaret, sorry, Kabarett may expect to be doing more than craning their necks for most of the night. Another hallmark of this art form is audience interaction; with a new immersive theatre show being announced every few weeks this year, it is clear that the post-pandemic public has a yearning for entertainment which is up close and personal yet - Dieter’s sterling efforts aside - the fourth wall appears fairly solid throughout even though the performers are at eye level and a few feet away from the audience.

The MC herself is a curious choice: she is obviously popular with the Underbelly company having worked with them on a number of occasions in the recent past but, while EastEnd Cabaret produced a constantly inventive stream of deviant entertainment featuring communist puppetry, tales of debauchery and sexual shenanigans and blisteringly funny original songs like “Dangerwank”, Dieter hasn't significantly progressed artistically since the band broke up. Neither has her patter noticeably changed over the last few years: bald men are still called “shaven havens”, men in plaid are “lumberjacks”, those with glasses are labelled “sexy specs” and, as she reminded us in her Covid era shows, we “live in dangerous times”. Being backed by a loud rock band and deploying dramatic pauses does little to compensate for her limited vocal range and expression. 

London is rich in creative themed and theatrical cabaret (think Rose Wood et al at The Box, the RVT’s Cabaret Roulette and the David Lynch-inspired Double R Club) and so to have yet another by-the-numbers production like this from experienced specialists like Dieter and Underbelly is something of a disappointment, especially if this is a sign of things to come. Having said that, Club Kabarett is truly a feast for the eyes which will boost Soho's burgeoning variety scene. 

Club Kabarett continues at Boulevard Underbelly until 6 January.

Photo credit: Craig Sugden

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