Adelaide’s own musical theatre and cabaret superstar, Michael Griffiths, will be hitting the stage at the newly refurbished Regal Theatre on October 17 to present a night of cabaret featuring the music of Cole Porter and Peter Allen. I recently caught up with Michael to discuss this performance and his career.
In 2011 Michael made the shift from performing in musicals to solo cabaret shows. After 15 years of musical theatre, why the shift to cabaret?
“There is something about the military precision of eight shows a week in musical theatre; you can’t negotiate the performance, you’re paid to do the same thing. Cabaret was this wonderful antidote for me. I was at the right age and I’d been doing eight shows a week since I left drama school in 1999. I did my first Adelaide cabaret show in 2011. It was this wonderful breath of fresh air and an opportunity for freedom, doing the things that I love – singing, telling stories and being in front of an audience. It was also the hardest thing I had ever done. It’s very exposing, but thrilling. It’s just you on the stage.”
Since 2011, Michael has written and performed countless cabaret shows that pay tribute to iconic and influential people in the music industry, including Kylie Minogue, Madonna, and Annie Lennox. Prior to this, Michael was in a string of jukebox musicals, shows that are created out of the songs of a particular artist. Michael believes that it possibly was his casting in those musicals that lead him to write his cabaret shows around pop icons.
“I had done four jukebox musicals and arguably they all celebrate an artist’s success, specifically Shout – The Legend of the Wild One, the first musical I did. That was a bio on Johnny O’Keefe. I did We Will Rock You, and whilst that wasn’t about Queen, it certainly told a story with the songs. I was also in Priscilla, another jukebox musical, so I think that my training and sensibility was very much to use pop music to tell a story. That was inherently the way I thought about things. Now, I’ve become tired of bio-shows and I don’t plan to do another one. I would just prefer to not know exactly what I’m going to do on stage and that’s what I get excited about now – not knowing the script.”
On Saturday October 17, Michael will be performing a cabaret evening as part of the Regal Theatre’s relaunch, and he is excited to get back on the stage and in front of a home-town audience.
“This will be my first solo performance since March. I’ve done a few little things, such as variety nights, schools and master classes, but this will be my first solo show in Australia this year. The last time I did a solo show this year was in New York in February, with the virus all around me and not knowing it. I was doing my Cole Porter show in The Green Room 42 and that was last time I performed solo.
“It’s going to be a fun night. I’ve been into the theatre and it looks gorgeous. There will be a focal point on Cole and Peter, but I’m going to mix it up and throw in some other things as well. It’s going to be relaxed and casual, and also unpacking 2020, because I don’t think you can do your first live solo show and not acknowledge the year that’s been with some humour.”
Over the years, Michael has written two shows that feature the music and life of Cole Porter and Peter Allen. His show, Cole, even won him the Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Performer in 2016.
“I was studying a subject at WAPAA called ‘Music Theatre History’ and I remember in my first year studying Cole Porter. I wasn’t an expert on him and the idea was suggested to me at a dinner party. The show was pitched to Barry Humphries for an Adelaide Cabaret Festival and he said, “Yes! Do that!” So, when he gave me the green light I spoke to Anna Goldsworthy, a friend of mine who is a writer – we went to school together at Pembroke a million years ago. It was a lot of work as I didn’t know a lot of Cole’s materials. I had to learn them from the ground up. Cole’s music is hard. As a pianist I was really challenged and wasn’t confident. Here I was, pretending to be an expert in Porter’s music and life and I couldn’t even play it! But once I learned them, I realised how fabulous his music is. It is so rich. He was an absolute genius of his time. His music is so dense harmonically, that sometimes you find it changing harmonically on every beat of the bar.”
Peter Allen’s music is such a rich source. As a self-proclaimed musical theatre nerd, I think one of my favourite quotes ever comes from The Boy From Oz, where older Peter talks to his younger self: “Tell your life as a story and it will be a real adventure.” I was curious to hear Michael’s view of Peter’s music.
“What is lovely about Peter is how he is a storyteller in his songs. I think that is what sets him apart. Tenterfield Saddler is always a song that people request and that song is the story of his life. It has a strong beginning, middle and end, which you see in most of his songs, and that you don’t always find in pop music. Peter’s music sits somewhere a little more theatrically, his stories and songs taking us away for that moment in time. We escape into his world.”
As part of his performance on October 17, Michael will be performing with his favourite Adelaide musicians, as well as a few surprise guests.
“I’ll be working with my local musos, who I’ve been working with increasingly over the last few years and love working with. There will be Felicity Freeman on bass and Josh Baldwin on drums. Both are highly skilled and trained, and are seasoned Adelaide musicians. These days, whenever I can, I use a band, especially for Peter Allen’s music because you need that percussion to get up and dance for a bit. It will also be the first time I’ve sung Cole Porter with a band. I love the calibrating process and sharing the stage with others, especially after doing so many one man shows. It’s still a bit of a novelty for me to share the stage with other performers in a cabaret setting. Also, I will be joined by some special guests on the night – some of my friends, who are exceptional performers, will be getting up with me.”
A Grand Night At The Regal with Michael Griffiths is for one night only: Saturday October 17 at 8pm. Grab a ticket and see Michael perform in what is sure to be a magical evening of music and entertainment in the intimate setting of the refurbished Regal Theatre.
Click here to book tickets.
Interview by Ben Stefanoff
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