Teatro
Vivaldi June 9th 2017.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Remarkable
how easily it is for something irreplaceable to slip away in the name of
progress. That thought was obviously on the minds of the loyal patrons who
packed Teatro Vivaldi last night, for the penultimate performance of “The Final
Curtain”.
Those patrons lucky enough to
gain admission last night were obviously eager to savour just one more time the
special ambience, fine food and pithy entertainment for which Teatro Vivaldi
has become justly famous.
The final
performance tonight is booked out, after which Mark Santos and Anthony Hill who
have carefully nurtured their elegant venue for the last fourteen years to
transform it into one of the most glamorous cabaret venues in Australia, will
begin the onerous task of dismantling their dream.
 |
| Anthony Hill and Mark Santos - proprietors of Teatro Vivaldi |
The scarlet
walls will be stripped of the dozens of Venetian masks, theatre posters and celebrity photos that
have given the venue its unique ambiance, and the furniture and
equipment will be packed up in preparation for the painful clearance sale to take place before the wreckers reduce their precious creation to just a cherished memory.
 |
| The interior of Teatro Vivaldi Picture - Tony Falla |
True to
form, the irony of the plan by decision makers at the ANU to tear down three
iconic performance venues, the ANU Arts Centre, The Gods Café and Bar, and
Teatro Vivaldi, to replace them with a health and wellness centre, pavilions for
pop-up events and a range of new performance spaces, to encourage more off-campus visitors, was not lost on the three
performers privileged with these last performances.
 |
| Moya Simpson and John Shortis |
Canberra’s
favourite satirists, John Shortis, Moya Simpson and former Artist of the Year,
Peter J. Casey, who between them have clocked up 32 shows in Teatro Vivaldi,
commenced “The Final Curtain” with a warmly received song they composed for the
occasion, “F…k The A.N.U”.
They
followed through with more clever special material tracing the history of the
venue, before treating the audience to a selection of favourite political
songs, hilarious musical send-ups and their special brand of cheeky social
commentary, all the while deftly dispensing perfectly judged amounts of sadness
and celebration. Appropriately, they
finished the show with another specially composed tribute, “The Final Curtain”
which began with the words... “The cabaret is ended”.
After a
typical night of great food, great show and great company, it proved a timely
and sober reminder of an irreplaceable loss when Teatro Vivaldi closes its
doors for the last time tonight.
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 10th June 2017
