Reviews

Birdland

By Simon Stephens. Directed by Leticia Caceres. MTC. Southbank Theatre Melbourne. 6-27 June, 2015.

Birdland, it is suggested in the program notes to the MTC production, is a contemporary take on "be careful what you wish for" - the cost of fame, the corrupting effects of success. Main character Paul is a rock singer catapulted to stardom and we watch as his career unravels. To this end, the program also includes a couple of interesting articles on how fleeting fame is for young rock bands and a meditation on how Matt Damon copes with celebrity.

Last Orders

National Institute of Circus Arts. Directed by James Brown and Helene Embling. 39-59 Green Street, Prahran. 11-20 June, 2015.

This exceptional show is nothing less than extraordinary. The performances are astonishing, thrilling and breathtaking; a stunning sequence of stylised gesture, movement and mime is craftily married with raw, physically demanding acrobatic feats. The showcase for the 2015 graduating class provides the opportunity to savour the impressive talent of these future stars. The experience is beautifully orchestrated from beginning to end, punctuated with cheeky humour which generates belly aching laughs. Each act exhibits daring, not just in its physicality, but also in its pace and rhythm.

Tex Perkins and the Dark Horses

Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Adelaide Festival Centre. Dunstan Playhouse. June 10 & 11, 2015.

Tex is a star. No two ways about it. He owns any stage upon which he steps. He practically devours any microphone he is given. A Tex Perkins show is one that will probably always have a ready and waiting audience, and deservedly so, for the man has built up a tremendous reputation and an enviable back catalogue, with multiple distinguished bands and classic albums under his belt.

The Song was Wrong

Written and directed by Melissa Cantwell. Perth Theatre Company. Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA. Perth WA. 4-20 June, 2015

The Song was Wrong, written and directed by Melissa Cantwell, is a gorgeously gentle, sweetly told story, that provides much food for thought and is a pleasure to watch.

This full-length show possibly has only fifteen minutes of dialogue stretched throughout the evening and Perth Theatre Company's production relies strongly on movement, striking stillness and choreography to move the action. Largely allegorical and relying strongly on metaphor, there are many questions not firmly answered and it leaves much to the interpretation of the audience.

Frisky & Mannish

The Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide. June 10-12, 2015

British musical comedy duo Laura Corcoran (vocals) and Matthew Floyd Jones (piano and vocals) latest show as Frisky & Mannish is an affectionate ribbing of pop-music’s goofier aspects.

Marney McQueen - Hair To The Throne

Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Space Theatre. June 7 & 8, 2015.

NIDA graduate Marney McQueen has made a name for herself as the chameleon of cabaret, so it was no surprise when the very sexy and cheeky Rosa Waxoffsi joined us to share her tales of life, from growing up in Leningrad to immigrating to Australia to become the much sought after bikini-waxer to the stars. McQueen brings this sassy individual, full of confidence and quick wit, to life and the results are hilarious.

Dee Dee Bridgewater & Irvin Mayfield with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra

Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne. June 7, 2015

The final night of this year's Melbourne International Jazz Festival brought us Dee Dee Bridgewater and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) with trumpeter Irvin Mayfield at the helm as musical director. With a setlist embracing jazz standards like What a Wonderful World, iconic blues shouters like Saint James Infirmary, and even spirituals (Come Sunday, performed as a tribute to Mahalia Jackson), the evening gave us a rich assortment of musical treats, performed by a tightly-honed orchestra with arrangements that brought back the spirit of the big band era.

Michael Griffiths - Cole

Banque Room, Festival Theatre, Adelaide. Adelaide Cabaret Festival. June 7-8, 2015

A confessional cabaret performed “in character”, “Cole” sees local musical theatre star, Michael Griffiths, assume the role of witty songwriter, Cole Porter, who penned some of the most enduring standards in the Great American Songbook – “Anything Goes”, “Under My Skin”, “Night & Day”, “Every Time We Say Goodbye”, “Let’s Misbehave” among them – whilst wrestling with various personal demons.

Love, Love, Love

By Mike Bartlett. Directed by Denny Lawrence. Red Stitch Actors Ensemble, St Kilda. 2nd June – 4th July, 2015

If you take a good (but not great) play by a young contemporary playwright, and combine it with a good (and often great) ensemble of  actors, plus an experienced director like Denny Lawrence, the audience is assured of, at the very least, a night of entertaining and challenging theatre.

David Gauci: It Was Worth The Weight

Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Artspace. June 5 & 6, 2015

David Gauci is perhaps Adelaide’s best kept secret. A powerhouse of a man, full of personality and self-effacing humour, he is what cabaret is all about. Accompanied by the young and very talented Josh Belperio, Gauci taps into the dreamer in all of us. With an eclectic mix of songs from musical theatre to the classics, he makes them relevant to the young boy with a dream who simply did not ever give up.

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