cabaret: le gateau chocolat - black

Le Gateau Chocolat has been wowing Adelaide crowds since his first solo Fringe show in 2011 but this is the first time he's been invited to be part of the Cabaret Festival, and I personally think that it's about damn time.

The show he brought to the festival, Black, is a dark show... in all senses of the word. It's also the most personal, most revealing, most adult and without doubt the bravest show he's ever done... and one of the bravest shows I've ever seen.

Black is about the colour of his skin and his identity, the songs and performers he's chosen, but it's also about the absence of light (both literally and metaphorically) and, at it's core, Black also represents the spectre of depression.

As I said, this is such a brave show... and Chocolat has already presented two very brave and personal shows, Icons and Duckie, but Black lays his soul very, very bare. As such, it's a very different show from any of his others... this feels (and, to be honest, is) much more of a one man musical play, and in a lot of ways actually felt like the very "grown-up" version of Duckie.

What I hope though is that there is eventually a companion piece to this, Light, if you will... that tells the other half of the story, how Chocolat and his onstage avatar Little Black manage to both realise their dreams of being the big black opera diva but also make the lightbulb of his happiness shine as bright as it possibly can do, bathing that stage in light.

Also, the story of Little Black which is shown throughout the show with beautiful animated artwork and a voice over that sounded strangely familiar (Johnny Woo maybe?) really moved me to tears, but also made me want the story to be finished and turned into a children's book... I want it on my bookshelf but I also want to buy a copy for every parent I know.

I also feel like this is the first time I've had the opportunity to hear Le Gateau Chocolat perform in "real" venue... and I know I've gushed about his voice every time I've had the pleasure of seeing him perform, but having him command the stage on the Dunstan Playhouse was a whole new level. Even the opening number which was entirely in German (I think) and hence a complete mystery to me was so beautifully performed and stunning to listen to.

He also commanded that stage in a way I've never seen him do before... don't get me wrong, he's charmed audiences before, but this time there were points where you knew that the audience wanted to applaud, but the show and Chocolat wouldn't let them (it also did feel a little weird at times wanting to applaud such raw emotions, so I'm happy the show was actually arranged the way that it was)... he held over 600 people in the palm of his hand for the entire run time of the show, knowing exactly how to twist and turn and caress us all until we were totally at his mercy.

And speaking of the Playhouse, the lighting design has to be mentioned... Black is a dark show as I mentioned, not just in tone but literally quite dark, with the lighting used very sparingly and at times to great effect.

Which isn't to say that the show is without lighter moments... from the tips for fat people to the brilliant NHS Direct song to the hilarious introduction to I Wanna Dance With Somebody (although the way he finishes that song absolutely WRECKS me every time), but this really is an emotional journey that he invites the whole crowd to join him on.

I'm just very, very glad that Le Gateau Chocolat is still here and lets us into his world, even if only briefly.

And for the record, happy 35th birthday, you beautiful, amazing man!

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cabaret: kim david smith - morphium kabarett

His Vampness, Kim David Smith, has returned to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival this year, and he once again proves that he's a consummate performer.

I know I've said it before (probably in relation to all three previous shows) but Smith's slightly deranged, somewhat evil and incredibly vampy stage persona is someone you want to seduce you and someone you're slightly frightened might stab you in equal measure at an moment.

And I'm okay with that.

The false eyelashes, bondage harness tuxedo shirt and top hat ensemble suited not only Smith (and yes, we were in fact looking at your boobies... there were times when they were a little hypnotising, especially from front row centre) and his music, but also the Spiegeltent venue.

Much like last time, there's much of the hypnotic, sleek snake about his performance, but there seemed to be a little more of a comedic edge to his between songs banter this time. Although his ability to absolutely mesmerise and capture an audience hasn't changed.

I think almost all of the songs were ones I'd heard in previous shows... but that tends to happen when you've been to all of the shows.

Old tunes like Pirate Jenny, Black Max and Padam Padam all make a welcome return as his own interpretations of songs like Dracula's Tango (Sucker For Your Love) and Nature Boy. I will say that the decidedly unhinged arrangement of Pirate Jenny and the fact that Dracula's Tango takes a brief Kylie detour in the middle make them personal favourites.

Accompanied once again by pianist, Amanda Hodder, and the cellist whose name escapes me, were both excellent, mostly melting into the background but playing flawlessly throughout.

It's always an experience to see Kim David Smith... and he's both too, too much and never enough all at the same time.

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cabaret: briefs - close encounters

It's time to phone home, live long and prosper and let the force be with you... the boys from Briefs are going intergalactic...

This is the fourth time I've seen the boys (2016, 2015 and way back in 2010), and the first time they've appeared in the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. This is also a brand new show (I'm not sure if it's the one they brought to Fringe this year or not) and they definitely lean into the "close encounters" intergalactic theme, very successfully.

And there are some new faces this time around which definitely gave the show a new energy.

Returning as part drag dominatrix, part alien circus ringleader, part high fashion model is Fez Faanana aka Shivanah, once again letting his/her (I never quite know the correct pronoun to use for Fez... I'm going with she/her for the rest of the review though I think) fantastic energy get the crowd in the mood... Fez did seem oddly hyper in the opening night show, but I'm putting that down to first show nerves as she's always seemed quite laid back in the past, but seemed to be tripping over her words in the rush to say everything. Not that that's really a criticism, I just really wanted to tell her to take a breathe and slow down a little.

I always enjoy her "real talk" section at the beginning of the show... especially the giving thanks section, which is oddly grounding for such a small part of the show.

And I want to take a moment to shout out their costume designer, Dallas Dellaforce... he's done amazing work for the Briefs crew in the past, but this time he's really excelled himself... from each and every one of Fez's outfits (although hands down the best outfit was the green masked extravaganza)... to the incredibly, INCREDIBLY sexy stormtrooper lycra suits for Louis Biggs, Thomas Worrell and Dale Woodbridge-Brown (especially Thom's elastic harness version). And Louis's mad scientist outfit somehow managed to be incredibly sexy even while he was completely covered (more on that in a second).

I was also in love with Dale and his White Rabbit/March Hare ensemble... there was no Evil Hate Monkey this time around, but Bunny Dale filled out that role beautifully. Also, I really want to know how the hell he did his alarm clock routine... that was both insane and incredible... and I kind of wish it went on a bit longer.

One of the other highlights was, as previously mentioned, Louis's mad scientist combination juggling/strip tease routine... in part because he's doing actual chemical experiments on stage in the midst of everything else. It flies by entirely too fast to really take in what he's doing, but it's incredibly impressive. Also, the way that his outfit comes apart as he goes along... holy fuck. It's never been a secret that Louis is my favourite Briefs boy (and I won't lie... I really miss the naughty nerdy schoolboy/Rubix cube routine he's done in the past), but add in that outfit and the man is walking sex.

I was also fairly mesmerised by everything Thomas did... but the "caged bird" number with Fez (and the aforementioned green outfit) was breathtaking. But to then follow it up with his strategically placed stormtooper outfit number... suffice to say my socks were blown clean off. He's always been amazing, but there's just something about this new show that really lets him take it to another level.

It was also interesting to see that they've changed up the raffle prize with this new show (although I'm sad that I missed out on being able to maybe one day win the previous prize), and the new prize is actually a fantastic little number in and of itself. And given that there are now four possible prizes, I'm very interested to see what the other three entail.

I also oddly enjoyed the very strangle number that new boys Harry Clayton-Wright and Thomas Greenfield put together. They'd both done solo numbers earlier (if you can technically count Harry running around the stage and streaming hysterically a number), but there was something I liked about the number together. I will say that Greenfield has a performance style that's a little... intense. But it was an interesting (if decidedly weird) piece.

While it didn't necessarily feel as "polished" overall as the previous show did the last time I saw it, they did have a long time to really refine that down to that point, whereas this still feels a little new and there are a few rough corners that will disappear with time.

But overall it was an incredibly night out as well as being a brilliant addition to the Cabaret Festival lineup... and as usual I left completely hoarse from cheering and with sore arms and hands from all the applauding.

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adam hills: clown heart

This was our second trip to see Adam Hills live... and just like with Happyism, it was totally worth it.

And there is just something about Hills in his Adelaide shows that it just wonderful. It's totally not something you see in the recorded versions of interstate shows... I suppose it's best summed up as bonding with the home town crowd (okay, technically he's from Sydney... but he loves Adelaide as much as we love him, so it still counts). He's one of those comedians who, when they're writing the show, must just put at the beginning of the set list "Bond with audience - 10 minutes - but lets be honest, it might go to 15".

Plus it leads to wonderfully inexplicable moments like this.

For the record, those two people did not know each other and were sitting on opposite sides of the audience.

There was also the fantastic moment where Hills just brought out a little crate of Fruchocs he'd been given and gave them out to the audience. Part of this involved lobbing them up into the dress circle without being able to see where he was aiming. And nobody got hit in the head or anything.

It also let me photograph the most Adelaidean thing ever... Adam, at the Festival Theatre, carrying a crate of Fruchocs.

Once he finally made it back on stage he started the show in earnest. As always there's a mix of political/social humour, as well as fatherhood and laughing at death before death gets the last laugh. Plus his Working Class Man/Advance Australia Fair mashup.

There's always a point in the show where things get a little touching... and in this case it was when Adam started to talk about losing his dad to cancer, and his relationship with his dad.

And then he showed the clip from his Adam Hills Tonight show featuring Craig Coombes whose response to having cancer was to get his gear off and take photos every Tuesday. I saw the clip when it originally aired, and it's great... but then Adam came back on and I fully expected him to say that Craig had passed away given how long he was expected to survive and how far back that clip was from.

But no, plot twist, Craig is still alive and kicking and Adam brought him out on stage.

It's clear that these two guys have profoundly affected each other's lives and it was great to see their relationship and how much they care about each other.

And when Craig got a standing ovation from the crowd you could see how special that was to him, especially as this may be the last chance he has to get up on a stage as part of one of Adam's shows.

Of course you can't have Craig up on stage for the finale of the show without somebody taking their clothes off... and yes, that's exactly what happened... both Craig and Adam stripped down to their underwear. I did wonder for a moment if there was going to be full frontal nudity... which would have been a hell of a way to close the show, but thankfully everybody kept their bits covered.

All in all though, it was a brilliant show, I laughed, I got a little choked up, I yelled and screamed and applauded my brains out.

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cabaret: kim david smith - nova noir

Every two years Kim David Smith returns to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival with his darkly seductive alter-ego... this year he's back with Nova Noir.

In my two previous reviews I've described Smith as some sort of sleek jungle cat... but sitting much further back from the stage this time around I got a chance to observe him from a different vantage point. And I realised he's not exactly a cat, or not this time anyway... there's a stillness and a fluidity that isn't catlike.

Then during his mid show banter he made a Slytherin reference... and that's when I knew.. we weren't watching a cat... this was all snake. Sleek, slithering, seductive snake with fluid arm movements and occasional sibilant sounds.

Just like a snake, he has the power to hypnotise his audience. From the slow walk through the crowd at the beginning of the show to the fact that I don't think he moved more than a step from his mark through the whole performance, not even when he slowly spun up from the floor after taking a drink.

Smith is also a performer you never want to take your eyes off... not just because he's beyond beautiful to watch (and was lit exquisitely by the lighting gentleman who's name escapes me) in his tight white shirt, flowing black pants and half bondage harness/half lederhosen belt and braces but also because there's a dangerous, slightly deranged edge in his on stage persona... he commands your attention, demands it with every sinuous movement he makes... it powers him and he returns your adoration with his amazing voice.

Which brings us around, at long last, to the actual singing.

This year he's performing in the larger Banquet Room, which means that there's finally room on the stage for more than Smith and a piano, so he was accompanied by a pianist/accordionist, a guitarist, a cellist and a drummer which made for a different, fuller sound.

Given that I already own Smith's cabaret EP, The Tease and we've seen him twice before I recognised most of the songs straight away... he started the show with perhaps my one of my favourites, Pirate Jenny, which is made for him.

And while I haven't heard a lot of German singers, I would suggest that few of them could make Kylie Minogue lyrics sound as sexy in German as Smith manages to.

He also snuck in a song, Radio, from his electropop originals album Nova... and even that was woven seamlessly into the rest of the show. And there was a song I've never heard before, an 80's track by Toto Coelo, Dracula's Tango (Sucker For Your Love), which he managed to weave a little Kylie into at one stage.

Smith's version of Nature Boy (which I'm most familiar with from Moulin Rouge) was also hauntingly beautiful, but that is a song I adore.

If anything was missing from the show, it's that it somehow didn't feel like there was as much of that "popular song sung in an unfamiliar style and tongue" that I've enjoyed in the past. But the show is only 70 minutes long, and he has a lot to cram in there, so I understand.

Although he did manage to sneak a Shirley Bassey/Don Black tribute in there with "Diamonds are Forever" as one of the montages, so I can't complain too much.

Then he closed out the show with my absolute favourite, Bang Bang, which brought the house down.

As always, Smith was a delight... a sleek, seductive, sensational delight!

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cabaret: the lost fingers - lost in the eighties

It's impossible to see The Lost Fingers perform and NOT enjoy yourself.

It's impossibly not to smile and tap your feet to their catchy versions of classic 80's songs. And it's impossibly not to fall in love with one or more of the members of the band.

And what's not to fall in love with when you have three very handsome musicians... Christian Roberge, who can sing in French... Alex Morissette, who plays a double bass taller than he is... and Byron Mikaloff who does all the funny intros.

But they're also incredibly talented... all three of them make their instruments sing, and just watching their fingers as they play is amazing (I really need to see more things with double bass players though... there's something sexy about the way they're played).

All the classic 80's songs were there, all done in The Lost Fingers own jazz style... from Karma Chameleon to Enter Sandman... Pump Up The Jam (probably my favourite song of the night... since that's definitely MY 80's music) to You Shook Me All Night Long... Tainted Love to Samatha Fox's Touch Me... but occasionally so unrecognisable from their original forms that I only realised what they were once they got to the chorus.

I spent the whole show tapping my feet, clapping my hands and bouncing along to the music.

The Lost Fingers were a perfect end to our 2012 Cabaret Festival, and I can only hope they come back again!

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cabaret: keira daley - ladynerd

Keira Daley is a nerd... in fact, she's a LadyNerd, and proud of it.

Emerging onto a stage covered in Tetris pieces in glasses and an anorak, she looks every inch the stereotypical nerd (from the waist up anyway), but those props are discarded... because a nerd is not about how you look, it's about having a brain that gets obsessed with things.

Things like apostrophes being in the wrong place, numbers, being right (and yes, I would rather be right than be happy) and researching stuff so that you can pretend you knew about it all along.

I have no qualms about admitting to my own nerdness, and quite a lot of Daley's show hit the mark with me. Between references to Sonic and Mario, the number song from Sesame Street (yes, that one), Daria and Team America, there was a lot that made me laugh.

There was also quite a bit of stuff about LadyNerds from history that I didn't know... Marie Curie, Hedy Lamarr, Bette Claire Graham (the inventor of Liquid Paper), Ada Lovelace. I actually learned quite a bit of nerd history that I wasn't aware of... or I'm more aware of it now than I was before the show.

I'm also terrified of using an incorrect word or putting an apostrophe in the wrong place just in case Daley reads this and judges me.

The songs seemed to either be ones that I wasn't aware of, or existing songs with new lyrics... and I'll admit that I did tend to prefer the songs I recognised. But Daley has a great voice as well as great comic timing.

There were a few spots where the show dipped a little... at least one of the pre-recorded "filler" pieces went on a little bit long... and the song in the Ada Lovelace section felt a little too serious/sombre for the overall bubbly nature of the show.

And I did find myself getting distracted occasionally by Daley's very pretty (and incredibly talented) musical director/accompanist, Mark Chamberlain. But you have to be impressed with anyone who can play two pianos at the same time.

But just remember that you don't have to be a nerd to enjoy LadyNerd... although it probably helps...

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cabaret: kim david smith - misfit

I'm a little bit in lust with Kim David Smith's on stage persona.

At the same time, I'm a little bit afraid of it.

That really sums up the contradiction that embodies Smith's show, Misfit.

Whether it's because I knew what to expect this time around or not, I found Misfit a little bit naughtier than the previous show, Morphium, from a couple of years ago.

And possibly funnier this time around too... I don't remember laughing quite as much or quite as often last time, but the humour also has that wonderful dark edge to it that I love.

And he's still like a big cat up on stage... pacing around, sensuously, sinuously and much like the big cats you might see in the zoo, just begging to be petted. Although there's that off-kilter edge to his feline nature that, much like the caged leopard, petting him could be your undoing.

But all the tight shirts and tight black pants and microphone cord twirling and breathy seductive banter wouldn't be worth anything if Smith couldn't sing.

Thankfully he's essentially like one of the sirens from Greek mythology, luring the audience in with his smoky, seductive voice... urging them ever closer, ever neared to their undoing in his hands. And like a siren he's impossible to look away from once he's on stage.

More than anything it's his arrangements and interpretations of songs that I love... Kylie in German (I can't remember the song for the life of me)... a dirty, dirty, dirty version of Olivia's Physical... a heartfelt version of Bang Bang that owed more to Cher's original song than the Nancy Sinatra version.

Any man who can sing in English, French and German... and make all of them sexy... is doing a lot of things right.

I also need to mention his amazing pianist, Amanda Hodder, who is consistently brilliant.

Even though this is only the second show we've seen in this year's Cabaret Festival, I can already tell it's going to emerge as my favourite... because everyone else will have to work very, very hard to top the very talented, very beautiful, slightly deranged wonder that is Kim David Smith.

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cabaret: bernadette robinson - songs for nobodies

From the first moment of Songs for Nobodies, Bernadette Robinson captures your attention and holds it right until the final moment.

And portraying ten different characters, five ordinary women and the iconic female singers they each have a connection/encounter with, she does it flawlessly.

And the ten characters are all completely individual... it's enough that she can sing like Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Maria Callas, but to be able to embody both those amazing women as well as the five nobodies of the title is amazing.

The two most outstanding sections were the Piaf and Holiday segments. Not only because of the way she sang, but those particular stories were my favourites. But the entire show was wonderful.

And I never knew that Patsy Cline was killed in a plane crash, or that Piaf helped to free prisioners from the Nazis.

The writing by Joanna Murray-Smith is wonderful... the five female characters that we meet are each perfectly formed, even if they're only on stage for about 15 minutes or so... but it's Robinson's performances that really shine.

The musical numbers are likewise wonderfully performed. As I mentioned, Robinson sings in each of the women's voices, although I think the most amazing transformation is when she sings as Billie Holiday... when I closed my eyes, she just sounded like a jazz singer from the 40's.

I didn't always recognise the songs, although she did perform Piaf's signature song, Non, je ne regrette rien.

All in all, a very powerful one woman show, and one that fully deserved the standing ovation she received from the audience.

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cabaret: bryan batt - batt on a hot tin roof

And so our 2011 Cabaret Festival experience ends fittingly with Mr Bryan Batt...

It also turns out that he's the first American act we've seen in the three years we've gone to the festival. French, English, Australian (including those living in the US), but never an American native.

And it just felt different... like we'd seen something very Broadway I guess. It's also helped that Batt is a hell of a performer.

He's also a very enthusiastic storyteller... so enthusiastic in fact that he doesn't always wait until he's back at the microphone before continuing... but it's easy to forgive him because the stories let you know more about the man, and as a fellow gay man I found a number of them very easy to relate to.

The songs were a mix of old standards, newer Broadway numbers and others that fit somewhere in between.

And he wasn't afraid to "work blue" either... my two personal favourite numbers were the innocuously titled "The Sensitive Song" and "Let's Talk Dirty To The Animals", both of which had me laughing my head off.

It was also nice to hear him do a version of "Way Ahead Of My Time", the "gay caveman" song which Mitchell Butel did last year.

I may now need to track down a copy of his book though...

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cabaret: tim draxl - the chet baker journey

I've been in love with the music of Chet Baker since Sheba introduced me to him about ten years ago... so smooth, so beautiful and it always sounds as though he's singing just for you.

So it was a foregone conclusion as soon as I saw that Tim Draxl was performing Freeway: The Chet Baker Journey at the Cabaret Festival...

It was the perfect venue too... the little "club" they create on the Festival Theatre stage which always feels very secret and intimate.

Surprisingly, while I'm familiar with Baker's music, I really didn't know anything about his personal life, and this show (similar to the format of Nick Christo's show a couple of year ago) provides not only the music, but Tim speaking as both himself and as Baker. Turns out that Baker's life was as chaotic and intense as his music is cool and serene.

Rounding out the "Chet Baker" experience is Eamon McNelis who masterfully provides all the trumpet work necessary for Baker's music.

But the star of the show is Tim Draxl's voice... which is amazing... warm, masculine, strong and dexterous... like being wrapped in warm honey really. And it perfectly suits the style of the music.

It also has to be said that Tim Draxl is a very attractive man!

A beautiful performance of beautiful music from a beautiful man by a beautiful man... what more could you ask for really.

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cabaret: tuba skinny

Tuba Skinny's performance last night was the musical equivalent of "You had me at hello".

Less than 30 seconds into their first song I was completely enamoured and leaned over to Ma to say "I'm buying the CD".

And I know we still have a couple of shows to go, and we've seen some good stuff so far, but I think that this six piece group from New Orleans is way out in front as my favourite so far.

Erika Lewis who provides the vocals has the most amazing, smoky, vintage voice... if you close your eyes if feels like you're listening to a recording from the 1920's or 1930's. It's just magical.

The other stand-out performer was Robin Rapuzzi who plays the washboard and provides all of the percussion... not only is he incredibly talented and entertaining, but he has such great energy and knows how to work a crowd.

Having said that, the other musicians are excellent... and together they're spectacular, both when they're slow and slinky as well as when they're fast and upbeat.

I haven't heard that much of this particular style of jazz before, but something about both the songs and Lewis's vocals just spoke to me... I don't think there was a single number that I wasn't stomping my feet to or pounding out time on my thigh.

I perhaps could have done without some of the people who got up to dance due to a distinct surplus of alcohol... but for the most part it worked well with the music and was something different.

After the show I couldn't choose between the two CDs they had on offer, so I got both... and got both signed. It's been a very CD related Cabaret Festival this year.

And I can kinda tell that these songs are going to get a thrashing on my iPhone in the next few weeks!

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cabaret: michael griffiths - in vogue

A minor complaint before I begin... possibly the only thing worse than having drunk middle aged women in the audience of a Cabaret Festival show is having drunk middle aged women and drunk middle aged homosexuals.

I'm just saying... they're annoying, loud and obnoxious...

Okay... moving on.

You can keep your Gagas and your Beyoncé and even your Kylies... because I'm a gay of a certain age and went through my formative years during the height of the Material Girl, Madonna was always my diva. And In Vogue: Songs By Madonna as performed by Michael Griffiths was both homage, parody and love letter to Madge.

In a lot of ways this show reminded me of Nick Christo's show from a couple of years ago. And a tiny bit of Kim Smith's show from last year... but that may also have been because it was the same venue.

Like Nick's show, Michael performs as someone else (in this case, the one and only Madonna), but without accents, wigs or drag paraphernalia and singing in his own style. In essence it was just Michael, a piano, a cup of tea and the spirit of the Material Girl.

It also made me realise how beautiful some of the lyrics to Madonna's music are. Okay, some of the lyrics are completely asinine... but others are beautiful.

The show itself was something of a slow burn... at the beginning I wasn't quite sure about the performance and the between song banter. But as the show went along it just got better and better and by the end he had completely won me over.

And part of that is purely down to how great Michael is as an entertainer... even the occasional "heckle" from the overly enthusiastic audience couldn't phase him. I'm not sure how great a piano player he is though... even though he only acknowledged one bum note during the show, I think there were actually a few that snuck under the radar. But it never particularly bothered me... the performance was strong enough to carry through the minor mistakes.

The banter between songs also turned into a definite highlight... it was very dry and often very witty, and I did wonder whether some of it actually came from interviews or direct quotes... basically Madonna's actual words. It felt like that, but that could have just been the brilliance of the show.

Interestingly I can almost see Madonna doing the same kind of thing, if her whole career went completely to pieces and she decided to go in a different direction... just Madonna, travelling around, singing acoustic versions of her songs... it could work.

There was also a special guest appearance by Justin Timberlake. Well, in the same way that Michael is Madonna, JT was played by fellow Cabaret Festival star Josie Lane... and I think she was supposed to join him for Madonna and JT's Four Minutes song, however instead they performed another song which for the life of me I can't remember (sorry, it's been a very busy day).

But speaking of Madonna's songs, all the classics were there... from the eponymous Vogue, pretty much through all of her albums and styles. There were a few songs that I kind of missed... specifically Rain and Bad Girl, but I think since they're pretty much ballads already they wouldn't have been as effective to turn them into cabaret versions.

All in all though, a show that gave me a big fat nostalgic happy.

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cabaret: daniel boys - so close

I'm telling you right now... that picture of Daniel Boys does not do him justice!

He has this smile and this twinkle in his eye that I don't think you could catch in a photograph...

And there's something about a guy in a shirt, tie and waistcoat with jeans that's just gorgeous.

But I'm getting off track...

The songs Daniel performed were mostly from his album (and the title of the show), So Close, which contains both well known classics and some less well known but gorgeous songs. And he did throw a few others into the mix, including a fantastic version of Cold Chisel's When The War Is Over.

It was a 4pm show, so I don't think you tend to get the raucous applause you get with the later shows... but the audience definitely warmed up as the show progressed.

My personal favourite had to be his version of I Hope You Dance... but I was also fond of Annie's Song because I used to be able to play that on the piano many, many years ago.

Daniel's patter between songs was great too... from his story about touring the Desperate Housewives set to his confession of being a Neighbours tragic... he's funny, warm and makes you feel like he's letting you in on the secret.

And it felt like he is looking straight at you when he stares out into the audience. I know it's more than likely he can't see a damn thing, but you feel like he's seeing you, which is great.

He's definitely worth going to see on stage...

And if that isn't enough, I'll let the following video speak for itself (sorry, I couldn't resist)...

Ma also bought the CD and got it signed (along with the ticket stubs)... that's two for two on both the CD buying and the ticket signing... I'm not sure we can keep up with the CDs, but I want to try and get all of the tickets signed!

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cabaret: the magnets

Well, this year's Adelaide Cabaret Festival is off to a rollicking start thanks to Fraser, Andy, Nic, Michael, James and Steve from The Magnets!

But what's not to love about six sexy, talented gentlemen who perform their a cappella versions of well known songs. Especially when they do it with such energy and more than a dash of humour.

And the performance is purely a cappella... not a musical note that doesn't come out of somebody's mouth... which is almost impossible to believe given the skills of beatboxer Andy Frost... the man is amazing, and there's a whole section in the middle of the show that gives him the opportunity to show off exactly what he can do. Awesome!

My personal favourite Magnet was definitely Nic though... he's so cute and did a very funny bit introducing all of the other boys.

Our seats didn't turn out to be too bad... given that they were in the first row of the balcony, we had a nice view overlooking the stage... although it did seem like a very, very long way down, and I don't ever really have a problem with heights.

It's hard to pin down what my favourite song was, although their version of Poker Face was really good, even though I'm not generally a Gaga fan.

The only problem with the show (other than song of the audience participation stuff... with the singing and clapping and standing), is the same thing that's always wrong with the Cabaret Festival shows... they're only an hour long!

After the show, the boys were outside selling CDs and signing autographs... and not only did we end up getting the CD (and getting it signed by all six of them), but I also got both of our ticket stubs signed (which I wouldn't have thought of if I hadn't seen somebody else doing it).

Let's hope that the other shows live up to this standard!

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cabaret: caroline o'connor's musical life

Just like last year, our last trip to the 2010 Adelaide Cabaret Festival was a fantastic finale...

We saw the First Lady of Australian Musical Theatre, Caroline O'Connor and her show "A Musical Life".

And to sum up... the show ended in three encores and two standing ovations. She was simply sensational!

We had great seats too... down in the tables at the front.

She started the show with songs from Chicago, since she's been involved with it for over 15 years, and performed it in at least three countries.

And boy can Caroline sing!

But that's kind of a given... what I didn't know is that she had such great comic timing (which I suppose isn't that much of a surprise given her background in musical theatre)... her between song banter was great.

Some of the music I didn't necessarily know, most of it was show tunes... but essentially it was her life in music... or maybe, in musicals would be a better description.

She did a great couple of pieces from Moulin Rouge too... the intro song (Nature Boy) and El Tango de Roxanne, which was interesting with a female spin on it.

My favourite number was probably a toss up between "I Hate Musicals" from Ruthless and the mashup between Somewhere Over The Rainbow & Waltzing Matilda she did as one of the encores.

But everything she did was fantastic... she's highly skilled at accents and impressions (or else is just a natural mimic) and was wonderful when she channelled other divas like Judy Garland and Edith Piaf.

She very much deserved the two standing ovations we gave her.

Which brings our Adelaide Cabaret Festival adventure to an end for another year!

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cabaret: mitchell butel killing time

I think I can officially say now that we've only seen one straight guy during this years Cabaret Festival... and it wasn't Mitchell Butel...

After seeing him in Avenue Q, there was no way we weren't going to go and see his solo show.

It was probably the most "mainstream" show we've seen so far, although it did get a little more interesting as it progressed.

Both Ma and I had a moment of thinking it was going to be particularly vanilla at the beginning... but then Mitchell launched into a string of "fuck" during one the breaks between the songs, and it kinda picked up from there.

Well, between there and the very awesome arrangement of "9 to 5"...

The whole show is based around time... songs about time, specific times, time as a concept and compresses 24 hours from dawn to dawn into 60 minutes. And somewhat surprisingly (since we've tended to see people singing with nothing but a piano) he had a piano, double bass and a drum kit backing him up.

Mitchell really has an amazing voice... one minute he's singing loud and powerful, the next soft and soulful... and the final number where he sings without the microphone and with only the piano was amazing. It did make me wish that more performances were done that way though... throw the microphones away and let us just hear the singer live and unplugged.

Some of the songs I recognised, but a lot of them I didn't... at least not in that particular arrangement. Other than 9 to 5 my favourite song of the night had to be one about a gay caveman, "Way Ahead of My Time", which was hilarious (and a version of it now lives on my iPhone).

The only slight downside to the show were the number of quotes and things Mitchell included in the show, if only because he was reading them all from notes rather than including them organically... and I did feel like a couple of them just got dropped into the middle of a moment and basically sat there like the proverbial lead balloon. When he was just talking he was great, it was just the "prepared remarks" that felt a bit forced.

But his voice, his style and the fact that's as charming as hell makes up for any minor problems.

A really great show!

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cabaret: raymond crowe

Raymond Crowe and his Wonderful World of Hand Shadow was the show I remember Ma being particularly enthused about when we went through the festival guide...

That's not to say that I wasn't interested in seeing it... but to be honest beyond the titular hand shadows I didn't really know what to expect. And to be honest, I kinda thought there would have been more of them.

Turns out that Raymond is an "unusualist" (which I think is a term he made up since the only references to it in Google seem to be him)... essentially other than the hand shadows, he's also an illusionist, a ventriloquist and a comedian.

And he's quite good.

The hand shadows are really good... especially the rabbit from the picture... I think it's one he's really mastered the knack of because he does it especially well.

When he first started out with some of the magic tricks I'll admit I was a little bit disappointed since I could "see" the tricks... or at least work out how he was doing them, if not actually see him do them if that makes sense. But as the show progressed the tricks got more complicated and seemed much more like "magic".

There was also quite a bit of audience participation which included some hilarious ventriloquism. A lot of the show was very funny actually, Raymond has a great sense of timing.

He finished off the show with a hand shadow version of Louis Armstrong singing What A Wonderful World which was amazing!

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cabaret: kim david smith - morphium

It should come as no surprise to anyone to hear that I do like my men just that little bit deranged... more "Tim Burton" than "Ted Bundy" obviously, but deranged nonetheless...

And Kim Smith's stage persona in Morphium is just the right kind of deranged.

He's also incredibly sexy... what with the guyliner, tight shirt and perfect hair. But more than sexy, he's a whole world of slinky and mysterious up there on stage.

Thinking about it now... basically he's like a cat... well, a cat that sings in English, French and German and wouldn't be out of place in a smoky underground club in the 1940's!

But c'mon... who's not going to be won over by someone who looks that good and who can sing in three languages! And boy can he sing! Vocally he can turn on a dime too... go from almost a whisper to belting it out... from bright and bubbly to dark and painful... and the spin he put on some of the songs was fantastic... Kylie Minogue's Confide In Me in French... Somewhere Over The Rainbow in German...

The staging of the show is very smart too... when the pianist, Amanda Hodder, came out the lights were dark on the stage and up full in the crowd... as she played the lights slowly raised on the stage and lowered over the crowd. By the end of the couple of minutes of her playing the audience was absolutely still and somewhat mesmerised when Kim arrived from the back of the crowd and wended his way through slowly singing.

In fact, he had the crowd so completely under his spell that I think we missed a queue to sing the chorus of one of the numbers... so he just stood there and let us wallow in our mistake. But oddly it wasn't out of character for the show... Kim knows just when to pause and let the audience anticipate the moment. You can feel the transitions between interconnected numbers and only when Kim lets the audience go between numbers did we all break into thunderous applause.

I very much agree with the review on the AdelaideNow website... "Polished to perfection but still wickedly dirty when the moment calls for it, Morphium is one truly engaging hour of cabaret."

I'm giving it two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

And I think it will be a while before I managed to get this song out of my head!

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cabaret: que sera sharah

Last night was a very pleasant night indeed...

After a very delightful dinner (Best! Chicken! Ever!) at Paesano in North Adelaide we headed off to the Festival Theatre to see Tom Sharah.

Like Nick Christo last year, Tom's show Que Sera Sharah, was chosen specifically because he looked so damn cute in the festival guide.

There's only one problem with general admission shows and that's the line... when people have allocated seats they don't bother with a line... but I have the worst luck with lines... the people behind me always end up being somewhat obnoxious...

Fortunately we got a great table near the stage and the people we were sharing it with were quite pleasant.

When Tom strutted his way on stage I knew we were going to be in for a camp old time.

I don't remember all of the songs, but the show did feature:

• Money Money Money
• Good Morning Heartache
• Stop (the Sam Browne version)
• Who'd I Be (from the Shrek musical)
• A Spice Girls Medley
• I'll Be Watching You
• Que Sera Sera (obviously)

Tom definitely put his own stamp on all of the songs... but none so much as "I'll Be Watching You"... which as soon as he started singing made me just about fall off my chair laughing.

While the lyrics seem completely reasonable... "Every breath you take/And every move you make/Every bond you break/Every step you take\I'll be watching you"... imagine them sung by a slightly crazed stalker... and they take on a whole new meaning.

Tom puts on a great show though... he's funny in the pieces between songs, he's quite cute, he's camper than a boy scout jamboree at times and he has a beautiful voice.

The only downside (other than the stage light that was pointed straight at me) was that the show was only an hour long.

He's definitely one to watch...

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