Reviewed Friday 10th June 2011
http://www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au/index.aspx
Venue: Festival Theatre, one night only
David Campbell said a brief “hello” then handed over to the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Simon Burke, who entered to sing All I Care About is Love, with the assistance of the cast of Drag, and then to get the show rolling. Burke has his own show in this festival, Something About Always, that is sure to be most entertaining.
The Magnets were the first guests, described by Burke as a ‘sonic phenomenon’, which they quite correctly say on their publicity. This group of six men provide all of the instrumental sounds with their voices, as well as sing, but more of them later as I will be reviewing their show. Suffice to say that the audience cheered loudly and they proved a great start to the evening.
David Campbell directed Blokelahoma, with last year’s 8th Annual Cabaret Showcase winner, Toby Francis performing, and he was next up to sing Queen’s The Show Must Go On in a powerful rendition that ended with the audience exploding into applause and cheering.
Robyn Archer then appeared, back in her home town again, to sing Hard Times, Come Again No More, an a capella number from her show, The Other American Songbook, followed by another from Kurt Weill, Lonely House. It is the premiere of this new show and is one not to be missed. My review will be coming soon.
Daniel Boys was next and this popular performer sang the title song from his show So Close. This was a warm and gentle number that, once more, generated lots of applause. This should prove a rewarding evening.
Gillian Cosgriff, whose show is titled Waitressing, and Other Things I Do Well, sang one of her own song, the hilarious The Song of Songs. As she works her way through the songs the lyrics explain what the sections of the song are, what she is including in them and what she intends the audience to get from them. Her deconstruction of both form and content was extremely clever. I will be reviewing this show later, as well.
Blackwood High School and Pembroke School are the two this year appearing in High School Cabaret and both made an appearance, showing that we have plenty of talented young performers coming up here in Adelaide. After they each performed separately they were joined by Burke and, after a reference to his early career in children’s television on Play School, they joined forces for a joint number.
Carrie Rawlings, who impressed last year when making a guest appearance with Stephen Schwartz, gave us a rousing version of Jimmy Webb’s MacArthur Park that had the audience clapping along enthusiastically. Jimmy Webb, of course, also has a show in this Festival.
Glen Shorrock moved the evening into a lively rock mood, singing a familiar song from his show covering his 45 years in music. The audience has an involvement in, Reminiscing, from his time with The Little River Band, waving light-sticks provided for the purpose. He was of course, a big winner with the crowd.
David Campbell then came up on stage for some witty repartee with Simon Burke leading to comic vocals in song.
Finally, the Festival headline act, and the moment many had been waiting for, Olivia Newton-John appeared to sing Xanadu, one of her many great hit songs, with a reprise added to satisfy the huge applause and ovations.
This evening of spectacular and diverse performances sent the audience out chattering in glowing terms of all that they had seen, and this is only the start.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Arts Editor, Glam Adelaide
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