Lady Rizo: Red, White and Indigo

Lady Rizo from New York joins Riot from Ireland and the burlesque boys with Briefs as the first acts of the Sydney Festival’s cabaret program in the Spiegeltent in Hyde Park.

She was here in 2012 (when she fell in love with her current man, an Aussie) but this she bills as an Apology Tour for what’s happening now in the States.

Blonde, in heels and silver lame, she’s a saucy mix of wanton and home philosopher.  Her thoughts can ramble and her bouts of audience involvement are pretty predictable. They punctuate, however, an impressive line-up of mainly original songs which she powerfully delivers with a theatrical jazzy edge. 

Backed with a four-piece band, she dedicates to Hilary Clinton the rousing song, Give Me a Reason to Love You, and reaches high with I am a Woman.  Americans, she complains, have so much bravado they have no time for education; they are lost, she sings, to the gods of fame and guns.

Midway she changes to an even more glittering, now gold gown; Lady Rizo is definitely not short of charismatic languor.  But by end her theatrical punctuation is a little loose and gags don’t always hit home.

Her liberal thoughts and improvisations around America are entertaining but they swing between being heartfelt and banal – but then Americans are often like that!  

Martin Portus