Opening Gala

Back for its eighth year, the Melbourne Cabaret Festival opened with a glamourous gala evening on Tuesday June 20. Emceed by artistic director Dolly Diamond, and featuring seven performances from the festival, including Dolly herself, it was a tantalising taste of what this year’s festival has to offer.

The evening showcased all the unique charms of cabaret. Great songs, live comedy, audience interaction and an adults-only rating (wink wink). It was great fun to get out of a regular theatre environment, especially when the performers mingled with the audience after the show.

Artistic Director Dolly Diamond said while in previous years the festival featured international acts, she has focussed on home-grown talent.

It’s an “All Australian cabaret festival” she told the audience, cheekily adding “Even though I’m from a different part of the world… Deer Park [Melbourne outer suburb]”.

Not only is Dolly having her inaugural stint as AD, she’s bringing her The lady is a tramp show to the festival. Beloved by Melbourne audiences, she combines her razor sharp humour with soulful vocals, choosing songs that empower women.

Danielle O’Malley’s You’re My World – the Story of Cilla Black offered a satisfying visual and vocal impersonation of the British starlet, peppered with historical insights. Broadway fans will relish Queen of Broadway – the Ethel Merman Story. I particularly enjoyed her medley of songs from Annie Get Your Gun.

Australia’s Boys of Motown was a sleek rendition of classics such as ‘Get Ready’by The Temptations. The festival is a rare public performance for the group – our chance to see them without being stuck on a cruise ship for 10 days.

Priska was introduced as an “up and coming” artist. The weird and endearing performance juxtaposed a bird-inspired costume and non-verbal communication with a classic crooner song for the finale.

Acapella group Ginger and Tonic brought a contemporary twist to the evening with their performance, ‘For Love or Money’. They wittily touched on awkward topics usually only discussed in advertising – insurance, superannuation and female fertility.

Melbourne cabaret lovers would be familiar with Queenie Van de Zandt, who brought us such memorable performances as the bearded lady in Smoke and Mirrors, created by Craig Ilott and iOTA. Her show Blue: the songs of Joni Mitchell gave touching insights into the iconic artist.

Each performance had me grooving along in my seat and wanting to see more. Full festival details at melbournecabaret.com

Sophia Dickinson

Photographer: Sanjeev Singh