I'll Break My Own Heart.

Think of cabaret, think of burlesque – then forget the bump and grind! From the moment Rose Grayson sashayed on stage in her cut-away tux-and-tails, black satin and lace corselet, top hat, high heels and fish-net stockings, she radiated burlesque vamp, but in a very classy way, darling. The long-awaited Tasmanian premiere season of I’ll Break My Own Heart, the sexy cabaret show that wowed audiences at Sydney Fringe Festival last year had arrived. Sliding her way through a series of known and not-so-known songs by Frederick Hollander, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Durwood Douché, Kurt Weill, Neil Hannon, Brothers Four, Tom Lehrer and Leiber & Stoller, Rose Grayson is a commanding singer/dancer/interpreter of character. Love and/or lust are the linking themes, presented in song through a series of memorable and offbeat characters. I'll Break My Own Heart offers audiences a hilarious, irreverent and often moving celebration of the human condition. The woman is gorgeous to look at and the moment she sings, you’re hooked. The big songs for me were Tom Waits’ “Little Drop of Poison”, “People Ain’t No Good” by Nick Cave, and “Masochism Tango” by Tom Lehrer. Her version of Leiber & Stroller’s “Is That All There Is?” was fabulous. Rose Grayson interprets other people’s music with more kindness than they may do for themselves. Her version of “Misery Is the River of the World” by Tom Waits is more accessible and understandable to the audience than one would expect of this angry song of disillusionment.  Classically trained Rose Grayson also writes gritty cabaret songs, with three of her compositions sitting well in the line-up. Director Andrew Kotatko controlled the pace and mood beautifully, pianist and composer Peter Dasent the perfect accompanist and musical director. A warning: don’t expect coy love songs or sentimental rubbish; expect sexy, searing, soulful, funny cabaret.

Merlene Abbott