Musical
Director:
Michael Pensini
Teatro
Vivaldi – Canberra
24th October 2015
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens.
It’s
important in intimate cabaret to have a few runs on the board and a good
backstory. Rhonda Burchmore has both in spades. She’s done it all. One of
Australia’s most enduring entertainers, she’s shared the boards with famous co-stars
including David Atkins, Eddie Bracken, Mickey Rooney, Ann Miller and Anthony
Newley.
She’s rubbed
shoulders with Prime Ministers and Presidents including a memorable encounter
with Bill Clinton. She’s racked up countless appearances on television shows,
and in a succession of high profile cabarets. Burchmore has the songs and the stories, and
was happy to share them with those fortunate
to be in her audience for her latest cabaret show “Broadway Baby” which she
premiered in Canberra’s little cabaret jewel-box
, Teatro Vivaldi, between a season of “Into the Woods” in Brisbane, and
commencing rehearsals for “Jerry’s Girls” in Melbourne.
Living up to
her nickname , “The Glamazon from Down Under”, Burchmore cut a striking figure
as she took the stage at Vivaldi’s, her tall slim frame clad, head to toe, in
shiny black sequins, her skirt slit to the thigh to reveal the famous legs, and
a mane of flaming red hair framing her face.
Her opening
song “Broadway Baby” set the tone for the night and within minutes, she had the
audience eating out of her hand, quickly seduced by her friendly, open manner
and refusal to take herself too seriously. As a special compliment to her audience, always
the true professional, Burchmore treated them to another equally glamorous outfit
for the second half of her program.
Although “Broadway
Baby” has some references to Burchmore’s own career, it’s not especially
autobiographical, focussing more on her love of the Broadway musical. There are songs from shows in which she has
appeared, including “Every Day a Different Tune” from “Sugar Babies” and “Dancing
Queen” from “Mamma Mia”, but also songs
from shows in which she has not performed such as “Kiss
Me Kate” , “Chicago”, and “Sweet Charity”.
Whether
singing Rodgers and Hart’s “Blue Moon” perched gracefully on the grand piano,
strutting the stage Fosse-style for Kander and Ebb’s “All That Jazz”, manipulating
a chair suggestively for Razaf and Hill’s “If I Can’t Sell It”, or simply
standing centre stage for a spell-binding version of Jerry Herman’s “I Am What
I Am”, the warmth, style and panache which have kept Burchmore at the top of
her game are always evident.
So are her considerable
skills as an engaging raconteur as she regales her audience with a succession of
often outrageous back stage stories which she includes as preludes to many of
the songs. Thus her revelation that Ann Miller had presented her with a pair of
her tap shoes while they were working together in “Sugar Babies” provided the
perfect segue into a sparkling rendition of “Too Darn Hot”, which Miller had famously
performed in the movie, “Kiss Me Kate”.
There are many such
moments scattered throughout the show, but perhaps the most unexpected and memorable
inclusion, and the one which most effectively showcased Burchmore’s artistry, was
a superbly sung interweaving of Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” with Sinead O’Connor’s
“Nothing Compares To You”, impeccably accompanied by Michael Penseni.
Apart from being an
entertaining evening of stylishly performed cabaret, “Broadway Baby” provides
an unmissable opportunity to spend an intimate, often revealing, evening with one of
the country’s most admired and accomplished performers. If it comes your way,
don’t miss the opportunity to experience it for yourself.
This review also appears in "Australian Arts Review"
