Choir of a Man review

Choir of a Man has nine men gathering at their local pub for singing, dancing and good times, all as they down a pint or two. Created by Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay, the show has been performed around the world since it premiered at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.

The nine performers display great camaraderie and the direction and choreography by Freddie Huddleston ensures that the confines of the pub are used creatively and refreshingly with each song, while also making evident the familiarity these men have with each other.

Black Widow review | Melbourne Fringe Festival | The Butterfly Club

What do you do when you are a half-woman, half-spider searching for love while fighting your lust for blood? Write a cabaret about it. In Black Widow, Isabel Knight explores the highs and lows of finding a connection with someone as she is forced to live the life of an arachnid. This might not be the best time in Arachne's existence but Knight easily gets the audience tangled up in her seductive web of sex, love and death.

Knight's performance as Arachne - who in Greek mythology is transformed into a spider after insulting the Goddess Athena - is absolutely captivating and fascinating to watch. Her vocal cadence is brilliantly used to build the drama and the intrigue of her life and she remains consistent with her speech patterns. Knight presents a number of well-known songs and reimagines the lyrics to tie in with Arachne's life. She displays a great range in her singing ability, from pop ballads to rock to cabaret classics, with the standouts being James Blunt's "Goodbye my Lover" and Chicago's "When You're Good To Mama."

Riley Nottingham Needs Your Help review | Melbourne Fringe Festival | Jimmy Watson's

Riley Nottingham is sick and tired of making choices. So he's not making them anymore. In Riley Nottingham Needs Your Help, Nottingham enlists his audience to guide him through life like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel while he sings about his anxieties and worries as he plays the piano.

Our first decision is determining what outfit Nottingham will wear by raising our flash cards with an angel or devil emoji. Will it be the bad boy black outfit or the sweetly innocent light blue outfit? From there, we follow Nottingham through a variety of situations where we compel him to go with either option A or option B. The concept is interesting but there is a lack of adventure and risk in the scenarios we are introduced to and there's low stakes throughout the entire show.

Once review

Darlinghurst Theatre Company's Once has had three sold-out seasons over three years, and it is now Melbourne's turn to discover why this decade old musical is still a hit with audiences. The story centres on two lives that are drastically changed after a chance encounter between a struggling Irish musician and a Czech piano-player, both of whom are living in Dublin. What follows is a love story that gives them the confidence to take risks and grow, but whether that will be together remains to be seen.

A show like this relies heavily on the chemistry between its two leads so it's fortunate this production has Toby Francis and Stefanie Caccamo reprising their roles from previous seasons, as sparks fly from the second they appear on stage together. This repeat casting has allowed the two to really identify who these people are, and to be extremely comfortable and self-assured in understanding their character's vulnerability, drive and emotions.

Happy at Times review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

Musical comedian Sarah Gaul is on a mission to improve her happiness levels. But what does it take to actually be happy? With Happy at Times, Gaul performs a number of delightful songs and shares her unique perspectives with her audience on how we can all increase our happiness ratio.

Gaul radiates warmth on stage and her personality shines through as she makes sure she greets everyone as we enter and take our seats. She is personable and friendly and when she recreates her passport and drivers license photo IDs she becomes someone we could sit there and listen to all night and still be entertained.

Songs from the Heart in the Hole of my Bottom review (Melboourne International Comedy Festival)

Sometimes a little bit of nostalgia is all you need. And thanks to Aiden Willcox and Isaac Haigh's Songs from the Heart in the Hole of my Bottom we are taken back to the New York jazz scene in 1973. With plenty of musical numbers, witty banter with the crowd and wonderful improvisation between them, it's an evening where you can forget your troubles and just get happy.

Willcox and Haigh are in their element in this setting. They were definitely born in the wrong decade as they show their love and affection for the people and the music of this period. Their costumes, physicality and vernacular are very specific and it's clear they have put in a lot of research into the genre and theme to create an authentic experience.

Silly Love Songs review (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)

If ever there was a show whose title delivered exactly what it said it would, it's Stew Walker's Silly Love Songs. Armed with a guitar and an arsenal of dad jokes, Walker sings his way through a number of songs around love that reflect his unique perspective of being married for 35 years.

Walker has a warm stage presence and the premise for the show is interesting, especially as it's not often you hear a straight, white, older male sincerely discussing love and relationships. Through a mix of original songs and parodies, he covers a variety of topics mainly about how things have changed in dating since he got hitched, so there's songs around consent, dating apps and even a love pentagon.

I Really Don't Care - Melbourne Cabaret Festival review

Melania Trump. The First Lady of the United States of America. The wife of Donald Trump. A model. What else do we know about her though? Presented as part of the Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Ron Elisha’s I Really Don't Care is a confessional cabaret in which Melania shares her inner most thoughts, desires and dreams, without concern for any repercussions.

Performer Kate Yaxley puts in a strong effort in her portrayal, but you can’t help but notice how terribly miscast she is for this role. While I don’t know Yaxley’s age, she is far too young to be playing a woman nearing 50 years of age and her appearance – particularly her hair colour and style – does not match that of Melania’s. Yaxley’s Melania is animated and lively, something we don’t see from her in public and while it’s fine to do this, some explanation as to why she is like that needs to be clearer. If you’re going to create a piece of theatre on a living person, (unless it's explicitly stated why) there needs to be some resemblance to that person, and in this case both appearance and personality do not match what we have seen and come to know about the First Lady.

Any Moment - Melbourne Cabaret Festival review

It’s always exciting to witness new Australian musical theatre being staged, and it’s even more of an experience seeing a production build towards its debut. Presented as part of the Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Bradley McCaw’s concept performance of Any Moment was an opportunity for the creative team and cast to try out some of the songs from the musical and have a play with the musical arrangements. 

Any Moment is set to take place over 24 hours beginning at midnight on New Year’s Eve as we follow the stories of several individuals from a single town. As this is a concept performance focusing on the music, we don’t really meet any of the characters or explore any narrative thread, but the songs chosen do give a good insight into the lives that they lead.

There’s plenty of Aussie humour in the songs, with a nod to The Castle in the opening number "Twenty More Till", and a later one where a character expresses how much he loves a woman in “Top Shelf”. “The Door” duet is a touching moment and can see this being a winning number once we get to know the characters. While it’s not confirmed which songs will be in the production, it will be sorely disappointing if this is not included. With musical direction by Shanon Whitelock, there’s a variety to the style and genre of songs McCaw has penned, including “Coming in From The Suburbs” which allows for the different types of people that reside in this town to be shown.

Creatures of the Deep - Melbourne Cabaret Festival review

Our oceans are dying and no one seems to care, but Picked Last For Sport is here to change that. With an aim to create environmentally sustainable and educational theatre, the company brought their award-winning documentary style cabaret Creatures of the Deep back for a short run during the Melbourne Cabaret Festival. Through some delightfully charming original songs and marvellously designed props, our Jacques Cousteau-esque narrator and his four unpaid interns dive deep into the ocean to introduce us to the various sea life that exist down below.

The performers - Jake Edgar, Cat Sanzaro, Ryan Smith, Sean Sully and Sarah Wall - have strong voices and ensure the songs they take the lead on are ones that will bring maximum use of their vocal range. Wall is particularly impressive with her sultry pink meanie jellyfish number, as is Sully's acoustic rendition on what it's like being a pregnant male seahorse.

Untitled No. 7 - Melbourne Fringe Festival review

We all want to succeed in life. We all have goals and desires we would like to achieve and to be recognised as successful by our friends, family and society. But how do we measure this? By the size of our property? By how many letters come after our name or perhaps the number of children we have? In Untitled No. 7, Telia Nevile explores the mentality we have on success and our fear of failure.

The show is set up as part fairytale, part poetry and part something unexpected. We are introduced to our heroine Darling, who is searching for a golden key that will open the door of possibilities and opportunities for her. While this is a story we've all heard before, Nevile's masterful use of language and words throughout, lift this story to become something fresh and exciting. It's also great to see how much she has developed as a writer and performer since her 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival award for Best Emerging Writer.

Untitled No. 7 - Melbourne Fringe Festival preview

At the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Telia Nevile won the Best Emerging Writer award for Poet Vs Pageant. In 2018, she returns to the Festival with a new show called Untitled No. 7, where through a mix of poetry, cabaret and performance art, she takes an offbeat look at what it means to fail and how success is measured.

There is an incessant need in society to define ourselves by our careers, relationships and successes, which Nevile is keen to challenge, beginning with the name of her show. "I've always loved how visual artists don't need to name their work, and that the non-name they choose to give it - Untitled - leaves the meaning of the work completely open to interpretation," she explains. "It doesn't define anything, and this whole show is all about defining things and then learning how to redefine, or un-define, them. I picked the number 7 because figuring out life and success and failure and ambition is always a work in progress, so you've got to go through a few drafts to get it right."

Suburban Gothic review

Cabaret doesn't get more macabre and twisted than in Suburban Gothic. There is definitely "some spooky shit going down" in this show, but what makes it even more unnerving is that it is all apparently taking place just down the road from where you live - or even closer to home... 

What initially seem like charming and innocuous cabaret songs, soon turn grim and morbid at the masterful musical hands of writers Karlis Zaid, Mark Jones and Karin Muiznieks. The songs cleverly expose the darker underbelly of the suburbs in wry and witty ways, with no topic taboo.

On A Night Like This: The Erin Minogue Experience - Midsumma preview

There is not a household in Australia that is not familiar with Kylie or Dannii Minogue. Whether you love them or loathe them, they are two of Australia's biggest celebrities. But little is known about the other Minogue sister, Erin. The youngest sibling has often been overlooked and overshadowed when it comes to musical talent by her older sisters. Presented as part of Midsumma Festival, On A Night Like This: The Erin Minogue Experience explores the life of the Minogue sister who never existed, based on an entirely untrue story.

Lizzie Moore has been performing as Erin Minogue since 2014 when the show premiered at Adelaide Cabaret Festival but she's been a fan of the singers for a lot longer. "The Minogues have been part of my life since I was little," she says. "I have strong memories of my older sister dressed up as Dannii on Young Talent Time (me as Courtney Compagnino), wearing a very cool oversized black jumper from Dannii's K-Mart range, driving around the streets of Melbourne singing to Kylie's Impossible Princess album, dreaming of being Simon Cowell's not so secret love affair (made that one up. What were you thinking, Dannii??!!)"

Reefer Madness review

Reefer Madness was originally a 1939 film intending to dissuade youth from smoking cannabis and highlighting the risks linked to this "pastime". In 1999, Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney opened their musical version of the show in Los Angeles and 17 years later it is presented by RL Productions, and the entire time watching, I kept wondering - why?

While I understand the tongue-in-cheek humour and the satirical nature of the cult show, I simply cannot find any laughs in rape or domestic violence. I will admit that I am not familiar with the film and unsure to what extent it makes these references but stating women will be raped if they are stoned and watching a female character being physically and verbally assaulted by a male - and played for laughs - is not on. Yes, you can argue that it was in the musical's book (from 1999), but these issues are so problematic for today's audience that I felt this production needs to consider and address this in some way.

Bijou: A Cabaret of Secrets and Seduction review

We've all made choices in our lives or been in situations that we've lamented over. In Bijou: A Cabaret of Secrets and Seduction, we are taken back to 1933, into Bar du Papillon where Bijou, shares her memories of secrets, sorrow and love through story-telling and song. 

Chrissie Shaw has selected a variety of songs and music authentic to the era and her voice perfectly encapsulates the emotions experienced with each song, from anger to sadness to joy. While I don't understand a word of French, when Shaw breaks into French vocals throughout the show, her body language, facial expressions and tone still allow the meaning behind the song to be conveyed. Accompanying Shaw on piano is the highly talented Alan Hicks, who plays - and sings - with aplomb and is very much at ease in his interactions with the audience.

Mother's Ruin: A Cabaret about Gin review | The Butterfly Club

It’s no accident that a cabaret show about the history of the sordid spirit, gin, would instantly have attracted my interest. After all, who wouldn’t be interested in a cabaret show that deals with sexism, misogyny, colonialism and propaganda? That’s right, the history of gin covers all these issues and with Mother’s Ruin: A Cabaret about Gin, not only are we educated on these but also remain constantly highly entertained.

Performers and co-creators, Maeve Marsden and Libby Wood have joined forces with Sydney based gin aficionado Elly Baxter from The Ginstress, who has been writing about gin since 2012. This collaboration allows the audience to hear more of the lesser-known facts of gin, ensuring we are always interested and intrigued by what is being revealed.

#FirstWorldWhiteGirls review

It's been two years since Melbourne was graced with the presence of Tiffany and Kendall, two affluent white girls who have some major problems to deal with. Problems like 2-in-1 shampoo and being invited out but having to decline because their phones are still charging. Inspired by the hashtag #FirstWorldProblems, Judy Hainsworth and Kaitlin Oliver Parker are back with their comedy cabaret #FirstWorldWhiteGirls.

This trust fund princess and day-drinking trophy wife express the difficulties they regularly encounter through a number of entertaining original songs, each one expressing not only their ignorance of the world but also the extremities of their privilege. Frighteningly enough, there are times when the things they say easily remind us of someone we know, or even ourselves. When they announce to the audience that "we are you", they could in face be correct, regardless of sex, race or gender.

Dogfight review

Dogfight, based on the 1991 River Phoenix film, revolves around the actions of three marines on their final night in a small town in 1963, just before they are to be deployed to Okinawa, and then on to Vietnam. While the trio come from seemingly similar backgrounds, they are friends bound by circumstances of war. Over the course of this night, these bonds are tested, especially when Eddie meets the naive and innocent Rose.

The original production of Dogfight, with book by Peter Duchan, premiered in New York in 2012 and won the Lucille Lortel Outstanding Music Award as well as being nominated for a number of others. However, so much of the show feels outdated, and unfortunately there is nothing new or especially engaging being offered by this story – whereupon even those who are not familiar with the film itself can see exactly how things are going to pan out.

A Lady's Guide to the Art of Being a Wingman

A wingman is a mate you bring along with you to parties or bars in the hope of "picking up" women. While the responsibility of a wingman can vary, the ultimate goal is to make the male look like he is a great catch and that the woman in question would be crazy to not fall for his charm. Despite so many hints and tips on being a wingman and scoring with the women, there is very little advice on what it means to be a good wingwoman, but The Desperettes are here to fix that.

Adorned with their large pink beehives hairstyles, The Desperettes (Natasha York, Belinda Hanne Reid and Lisa Woodbrook ) are coming together for A Lady's Guide to the Art of Being a Wingman, where they highlight the double standards that women face when it comes to dating. "We started writing it because we found the idea of women using "pick-up artist" techniques hilarious, but we quickly realised that hearing women using cheesy pickup lines and talking about how they're going out with the sole purpose of getting laid is still shocking for a lot of people, and it shouldn't be. It's about empowering women, regardless of age, appearance, sexual preference etc, to embrace their sexual side and have fun," Reid tells me. "With this show, we combine masculine mannerisms and suits with the hyper-femininity of bright pink beehives and girl-group choreography to try to subvert the gender norms."