Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2011 Underway - International Stars to Tour.

Once again Adelaide Festival Centre has been transformed into Cabaret mode to host some of the best Cabaret at one of the world’s most unique festivals for the genre.

But the rest of Australia doesn't miss out, with the visiting international stars, Michael Feinstein, Chita Rivera and Bryan Batt also visiting other capitals.

The 2011 program features 50 international artists from the USA, UK, Canada and the best from Australia, with 224 Australian artists, 125 of those South Australian performers. There will be 15 international shows, 32 Adelaide premieres, 3 Adelaide exclusives including 7 Australian premieres and 15 world premieres.

Announcing the program for his final Adelaide Cabaret Festival as Artistic Director David Campbell said, “We are thrilled to announce this year’s program, my last as Artistic Director, and feel that we are truly delivering something out of this world. We have numerous international chart toppers. Tony winners and multiple Grammy award winning songwriters. We have the newest up and coming artists from all over the world. We have scores of shows debuting here at the Festival and we have our headliner – the most successful Australian singer of all time. How is that for going out with a bang? Thank you for coming with us on this incredible journey. It has been a blast and I look forward to seeing you at this year’s Festival”.

The Cabaret Festival opened with a Variety Gala Performance on Friday 10 June, presented by Simon Burke.

Headlining this year’s Cabaret Festival exclusive to Adelaide is Australian icon Olivia Newton-John. Olivia will be accompanied by the Adelaide Art Orchestra in an evening that encompasses the highlights of her career.

This year’s Cabaret Festival includes 129 performances of some 47 different shows across 16 nights; the program is full of rich diversity and stimulating entertainment to delight the heart and mind.

From the U.S. Michael Feinstein returns to the Cabaret Festival closing the Festival in a special performance  which pays tribute to Sinatra. The multi-platinum artist will be accompanied by a swingin’ big band in Michael Feinstein Sings Sinatra.

Legendary Broadway star Chita Rivera will perform selections from her most celebrated musicals including numbers from West Side Story, Sweet Charity and Chicago in My Broadway.

Star of the critically acclaimed Mad Men, Bryan Batt, performs BATT on A Hot Tin Roof, a comical and moving musical showcase from the classics through to his experiences in shows including Saturday Night Fever and Cats, all interwoven with hilarious and poignant monologues about his eventful Louisiana childhood.  The ultimate songsmith Jimmy Webb will share his inspiration and stories in an intimate performance An Evening with Jimmy Webb including a selection of his diverse and timeless work: Galveston, Wichita Lineman and Up, Up and Away.

Among the visiting stars, Michael Feinstein, Chita Rivera and Bryan Batt will give other Australian cities a taste of the cabaret festival experience.

Michael Feinstein will also perform in Brisbane (July 1), Sydney (July 4) and Melbourne (July 6).

Bryan Batt will perform at Palms at Crown, Melbourne (June 25) and The Basement, Sydney (June 30 – July 2).

Chita Rivera: My Broadway will also be seen in Perth (June 20), Sydney (June 22) and Canberra (June 24).

Chita Rivera spoke to Stage Whispers about her show and career hightlights.

“I’ve been touring my concert in the US for some time now along with my long-time music director Michael Croiter and other musicians,” she told Stage Whispers. “I’m so lucky in my career to have had so many wonderful songs written for me. This is an intimate evening and I will perform selections from West Side Story, Sweet Charity, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Bye, Bye, Birdie The Rink and more which featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Charles Strouse, Stephen Sondheim and Cy Coleman.” 

With such a remarkable Broadway career, in so many hits, so many iconic shows, does she have a favorite?

“No, they were all brilliant shows, but it is between West Side Story, Chicago and Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

Many performers have a hit on Broadway and then desert the stage for movies or TV. But Chita has stuck with Broadway. Why?

“I stayed with the stage, as I prefer live theater, having done many, many television shows, and the film of Sweet Charity.”

Chita has always been known as a dancer/singer. What sort of formal training did she have in dance and voice?

“The School of American Ballet, George Balanchine, and the shows were my voice teachers.”

Like many performers she has been in her share of flops, including two which closed out of town, Zenda and 1491. Was there anything memorable about them, apart from the opportunity to work with Alfred Drake and John Cullum?

“First of all I don't like the word flop, and I considered Zenda with Alfred Drake a fabulous experience.  He was brilliant as was John Cullum. Also the shows were for The Civic Light Opera and meant for California, not New York.” 

The first Broadway where Chita made an impact was  Mr. Wonderful with Sammy Davis. Had she done Broadway before this break?

“Yes ,Seventh Heaven, Call Me Madam (with Elaine Stritch), Guys and Dolls, and Can-Can with Gwen Verdon, and others.

West Side Story was groundbreaking at the time. How exciting was it to be in it?

“It was very exciting to work with geniuses like Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Peter Gennaro and Sondheim. 

Is Anita a favorite role?

“It is the role that changed my career.” 

Why does she love musical theatre?

“There is nothing better than song, dance and the story, and connecting to a live audience every night.”

Image is if Chita Rivera in Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Photographer: Catherine Ashmore.

For Chita Rivera's tour details, visit http://www.showtune.com.au/home.htmll

As well as Chita Rivera, Cabaret Festival Leading Ladies include Rhonda Burchmore and Australian country music star Melinda Schneider. Ms Rivera will perform selections from her most celebrated musicals including numbers from West Side Story, Sweet Charity and Chicago in My Broadway. Rhonda Burchmore interprets the musical journey of Julie London in Cry Me A River The World of Julie London. Melinda Schneider performs Doris Day – So Much More Than the Girl Next Door.

Leo Sayer delivers all of his greatest hits in The Show Must Go On and 45 Years of Song sees Australian music industry legend Glenn Shorrock of Little River Band fame reminisce on a career spanning almost 50 years.

A variety of shows pay homage to some of the greatest musical masters. Paul Capsis Make Me A King is Paul’s personal homage to his musical heroes and influences, exploring the rich legacy of his favourite 20^th century torch songs. Tim Draxl will performs Freeway The Chet Baker Journey. Bert LaBonte puts his spin on the king When I Fall In Love The Nat King Cole Story. And Local Adelaide boy Michael Griffiths performs In Vogue: Songs by Madonna.

The Cabaret Festival continues to act as a platform to showcase new artists to the genre: Mark Vincent who won the third series of Australia’s Got Talent will perform his first ever solo show Diciassette (17). BBC TV’s Daniel Boys will make his Australian premiere in So Close, performing an array of songs from the world of musical theatre and pop, alongside some lesser-known gems taken from his best-selling debut album So Close.

Carrie Rawlings is a sublimely talented pianist/vocalist who will take you on a whirlwind, emotional journey into diversity through the songs we grew up with on A.M. radio. Don’t miss this world premiere When I Was Young I Listened to the Radio.

The Magnets make their Australian debut in Adelaide. A six-man sound machine that make all their music with their mouths, six distinctive voices creating unique sounds that rivals any band with guitars and keyboards.

And 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.

Not for the faint hearted Amy Housewine makes her Cabaret Festival debut in a show that dishes the dirt Back to Crack and get deep and dangerous with cabaret’s punk pin-up Storm Large in Crazy Enough.

Ansuya Nathan in Long live the King documents her life from India to Elizabeth. Robyn Archer presents The Other Great American Songbook – with songs by Brecht/Weill and Eisler written in the USA, and ending with Dylan & Pink.

In Waitressing, and Other Things I Do Well, Gillian Cosgriff performs the self-penned songs that won her the Julie Michael Award for Musical Cabaret and the Showcase Award at Annual Sydney Cabaret Showcase. Under the direction of David Campbell Blokelahoma! stars 23 year old rock tenor and 8^th Annual Cabaret Showcase winner Toby Francis.

Our Hit Parade, starring Kenny Mellman, Bridget Everett and Neal Medlyn, inspired by the famous American musical sketch series, Your Hit Parade 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, as Michael Dalley and his cast stab their acerbic wit into the eye of the great Aussie dream…realty.

Aussies flying the flag at this year’s festival include Leah Flanagan who will regale us with tales from after dark in Midnight Muses It Begins to Tell. Mike McLeish premieres The World is Winning, a confessional cabaret chronicling life after the glory of the wildly successful Keating! Alexis Fishman is Erika Stern, darling of the Berlin cabaret in Der Gelbe Stern (The Yellow Star) and popular leading man Simon Burke will appear in Something About Always, a brutally honest show sharing the moments that have made the man.

Ali McGregor’s Late-Nite Variety Nite Night is variety at its best and well-loved singer, soap-star and novelist Jane Clifton explores what it’s like to be home in Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home.

Get up close and personal as Rachel Beck and Ian Stenlake perform More Than Words, a hilarious look behind the scenes of this beloved showbiz couple. Check out our review of their Brisbane performance - link

Back by popular demand is the charismatic New Yorker Mark Nadler who reprises last year’s hit FREE performance in the Piano Bar, Broadway Hootenanny.  Or catch Nadler celebrating the first half century of his life, reliving the songs and events of the year in which he arrived on planet earth in the world premiere of Crazy 1961.

After four sold-out seasons at the Sydney Opera House, Sydney’s most delicious drag queens are heading across the desert with their critically acclaimed show, Drag!Mikey Robins and Margarita Pracatan (of Clive James Live fame) perform live in the Piano Bar where Mikey interviews Cabaret Festival guest artists and Margarita will be singing and playing as only she can.

A big hit at last year’s Festival was ‘Late Nights in the Banquet room’, this will continue including performances by USA’s Tuba Skinny, an authentic mix of traditional jazz and old blues from the 1920s and ‘30s and The Jitterbug Club: a bastard contemporary Harlem Jazz club.

High School Cabaret an initiative introduced last year by David Campbell, aims to help cultivate and encourage the next generation of cabaret artists. David Campbell, in addition to Musical Director Matthew Carey, will mentor a select group of creative arts students from Pembroke School and Blackwood High School to produce a series of cabaret performances to be showcased in this year’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

Catch a glimpse of the creative process at work at one of this year’s Masterclasses with Dean Bryant and Neil Gooding as they talk you through Getting your act together and taking it on the road. Not to be missed will be Jimmy Webb’s Q & A The Songwriter’s Songwriter, a rare opportunity to sit down with the Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The Performing Arts Collection is proud to present a stunning collection of Peter Allen memorabilia never seen before in Adelaide,The Peter Allen Exhibition.

Sing Your Own Musical is back with Michael Morley and friends for another sing-along around the piano.

Full program details available at www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au

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