Rizo is love and love is Rizo
Presented by: Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed: 22 June, 2023
There are a few things that make a cabaret show a top pick at this year’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival; great musos, entertaining performer, captivating story or connection… and just a splash of glitter.
Rizo brings all of this and more to her wild show, Prizmatism. Her musos are great (reeds, guitar, drums and piano) and she has a Grammy for real street cred. She is passionate, an advocate and just that bit whacky to keep the laughs going all night long. And there is glitter. Plenty of glitter. What more can anyone need on a very wet and rainy night of cabaret?
This show is pure joy bottled up and fired through a glitter cannon. Rizo has an amazing voice with such insane vocal control it has to be experienced to fully understand. She can hold a soprano note with delicacy and then belt out diva ballads with immense force. It is impossible to discuss the show without mentioning costuming. Her amazing pant suit combos, including a full costume change on stage (definitely one for the adults folks), look amazing and also empowering at the same time. The storytelling between songs is both hilarious and introspective. What is the world coming to? How can we appreciate the privilege that is this life? This woman is both full of love and ready to kick some butt to the patriarchy, the man and societal decline all at once.
Billed as Edith Piaf meets Freddie Mercury is somewhat of a disservice to Ms Rizo. She is too unique for comparison. One could also say she sounds like a classically trained Amy Winehouse, or looks like a female Elton John. None of these quite speak to the heart that runs through all her performance. Her audience interaction is peak professionalism and courage; bringing a level of intimacy with the crowd that is accepted and embraced – sometimes quite literally.
This is what cabaret should be – don’t miss her last performance.
Reviewed by Hayley Horton
Photo credit: Claudio Raschella
Venue: The Banquet Room, Adelaide Festival Theatre
Season: Wednesday 21 June, 7pm, Thursday 22 June, 9.15pm and Saturday 24 June, 5pm
Duration: 75 minutes
Tickets: From $49
Bookings: https://cabaret.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/whats-on/prizmatism
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