Velvet

Look up at the stage! Is it a circus? Is it a Cabaret? Is it a Burlesque? Whatever tag you try to place on this amazing pastiche, the overwhelming word is ENTERTAINMENT; commercial, brash, full of colour and movement and wonderful live disco music that will have you bopping in your seat.

Brendan Mclean brilliantly plays the young boy who sneaks into the decadent nightclub of the title and discovers his inner Swag with sequins. The one pure ballad of the night is his stripped back and plaintive version of ‘Staying Alive’. It is goose-bump inducing. This marvellous Indie singer/songwriter/ actor/dancer/ presenter would be reason enough to buy a ticket to this sumptuous offering.

But wait…there’s more (though no free set of steak knives). Two fabulous singer/dancers, Chaska Halliday and Rechelle Mansour, bring glamour and glitz to our favourite Disco songs; fabulous circus acts entertain us - Stephen Williams’ leather man aerial exploits are amazing, as is his S and M Domanatrix routine with Emma Goh. Craig Reid’s Hula Hoop routine is the best by far of any I have seen and he is a joy to behold, and Mirko Kockenberger (it’s apparently his real name….just perfect for the setting) is an impressive acrobat with an original striptease while doing handstands. Joe Accaria plays the club’s DJ but he’s also a fine percussionist. Who knew an electric Conga solo could be so entertaining?

The set and costumes by James Browne (no….really) are deliciously kitsch and seventies and all glamour.

And then - saving the best till last as the Disney song says – there’s Marcia Hines. If you have ever wondered about the true definitions of Star, Icon, Diva, you have only to watch Marcia Hines on stage. The voice is as good, if not better, than ever, and within 30 seconds 25 years are stripped away and the timelessness of pure talent transports us to our youth and a wonderland that was forever Boogie. Hines may not fill huge stadiums any more, but that does not diminish her talent in any way. She’s full of warmth and readily embraces her audience, and they give her a justified standing ovation for it. Her voice soars, caresses, and infuses us with rhythm, and she looks great, though I would have liked to see a black beaded costume for the last number.

Too much theatre …and even cabaret… is clever without being entertaining. This innovative mesh is very camp, and more than a little queer, but it’s a joyous spectacle for any age….and it’s impossible NOT to love it.

Coral Drouyn

Images: (top) Chaska Halliday & Rechelle Mansour (photographer Dan O'Brien) and (lower) Marcia Hines (photographer: Tony Virgo).

More Reading

Coral Drouyn interviews Marcia Hines.