Michael Griffiths – Cole
Written by Anna Goldsworthy. Presented
and performed by Michael Griffiths. Le Cascadeur. Garden of Unearthly Delights.
Adelaide Fringe Festival 2016
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
 |
| Michael Griffiths as Cole Porter |
In the Le Cascadeur of the Garden
of Unearthly Delights, Griffith seems a long way from his sell-out show at last
year’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival, and a keyboard may seem a poor substitute for
a stately grand, but nothing can detract from this artist’s immense talent and
enchanting rendition of evergreen favourites such as Anything Goes, Let’s Do It,
Be A Clown and Night and Day to name but a few of the songs that Griffiths covers
in the show.
The songs are linked by a running
narrative, written by acclaimed classical pianist and author, Anna Goldsworthy,
and at times Griffiths veers from the text to give the songs a local flavor.
How do the Tour Down Under, the Elder Park Rotunda and Fruchocs get into the
lyrics of You’re the Top? But then, Cole
Porter was no stranger to parody. Cleverly interwoven between numbers,
Griffiths as Cole relates the stories of his life, inviting at times the
audience to join in and greet his two damaged legs, Geraldine and Josephine, or
sing along with the chorus of Another Opening to Another Show. His style is
assured, friendly and oozing with charm. His digressions are always in perfect
character as he curses the planes that pass overhead, asks for the air-conditioner
in the muggy tent to be turned on or chats with the audience in the small tent
as a drop of rain falls through the cloth roof or someone drops something with
a clang. Cole is intimate cabaret and
the audience is swept away with Griffith’s relaxed and easy performance.
A life of Great Gatsby extravagance,
gay philandering, showbiz hits and lifelong pain after his legs were crushed by
a toppling horse reveal a man of complexities, whose love songs fill the heart
with joy (Deluvely), longing (Night and Day) or pain (Love For Sale). Griffith keeps his
audience up to the mark with incidents in Cole Porter’s life – his marriage to
loyal Linda, his passionate affair with Boris, his terrifying fall from the
horse and his Broadway successes (Another
Opening to Another Show).
“The song is a person.” Cole
Porter says, and the legendary songwriter and brilliant lyricist could not hope
for a better exponent of his talent, his humour and his passion to bring that
person to life. It is to Griffith’s credit that, in a tent, and on a keyboard,
this talented interpreter could play his audience like a rhapsody and hold them
for an hour under his spell.
Griffith is a star who would shine on any
world stage night or day. Cole is a cabaret
treat!