Presented by Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival
Reviewed 9th June 2021
The Jade is the perfect venue for a Burlesque show. Its café style seating, soft lighting, candle lit tables and sage green stage curtains give an intimate feel from the moment you enter the cabaret room.
Jamie Alexandra’s show Jamie Alexandra and The Flower was fashionably late. Perhaps it was in the hope that the excited audience of fans, friends and inquisitive punters (like me) would drink more and add to the bonhomie of the entertainment.
Burlesque is a very demanding art-form and Ms Alexandra is right at home showing off her skills, to the delight of the crowd and, of course, revealing her talented self from gloves to underwear as the show progressed to its very well-choreographed ending.
The premise of the show is we all need a lot more sex education than we got at school and that probably can’t be argued against by 99% of the population so, between a few suitable songs starting with a very cool rendition of Superfreak and ending with a subtle rendition of Sexy Thing, we are treated to Jamie’s philosophy on sex education.
It’s challenging, quirky, delivered with a good peppering of expletives and very much designed to make you go away and think about your sexual identity and your attitude to the way consent is treated in different parts of Australia.
It was entertaining, the live songs were accompanied by the very talented Milush on double bass and Alex Wigas on piano (sorry, Wigas was introduced as her penis, a joke that perpetuated during the show! I hope he consented). The backing tracks accompanying the burlesque (I presume they were Jamie’s voice) were just the right tenor for this raunchy and well received show. The audience loved it.
I have a really big complaint though. I love the subtle lighting. I love the simple staging. I don’t mind being kept waiting but I need to be able to see the performer. There’s a reasonably good lighting rig at The Jade which means there could have been some light on Jamie’s face if she had staged the whole show a metre up stage with the lights on. I might have also been able to make out the flower diagram which was a blur from where I was sitting. It makes what could develop into a very interesting and entertaining show a bit of a shot in the dark!
It’s still worth strapping on your corset and getting down to see for yourself if your personal sex education needs a little top up.
Reviewed by Adrian Barnes
Rating out of 5: 3.5
Venue: The Jade 142-160 Flinders Street
Dates: Sunday 13th June at 9.30pm
Duration: 50 mins
Tickets: $25.00
adrianBookings: https://cabaretfringefestival.com/jamie-alexandra-and-the-flower/
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