Tuesday, June 23, 2015
ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL - Ray Jessel
Naughty or Nice.
Original music and lyrics by Ray Jessel with contributions by Cynthia Thompson. The Space. Adelaide Festival centre. Adelaide cabaret Festival. June 20. 2015
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Ray Jessel in Naughty or Nice |
I urge everyone to check out the
Youtube appearance ofctogenarian composer/lyricist, Ray Jessel, on America’s
Got Talent. It is not only a testament to this remarkable cabaret entertainer’s
wit and way with words, but an inspiration to all that you are never too old to
entertain , or get an amazing thirteen million hits on Youtube for his Penis Song. In his show, Naughty Or Nice,Jessel proves that a
wicked sense of humour, a flair for the ridiculous and startling originality
are the tools of trade of a master of the racy rhyme and deliciously cheeky
ditty.
The 85 year old with his splaying
shockof white hair and moustache spreading across his upper lip and whom many
still approach for late Albert Einstein’s autograph, shuffles to the piano, positions himself purposefully and within
seconds has his audience in an uproar of laughter at his original Short Term Memory Blues. With his sharp
and cheeky Jewish humour, the amazing Jessel tops his opening triumph with the
song that floored the judges on America’s Got Talent, She’s Got a Penis. And they just keep coming: Identity Theft , Naughty Or
Nice, a Kurt Weill send-up, dedicated to cabaret festival Artistic
Director, Barry Humphries and finishing up with The Shakespeare Tragedy Rag. Closing lyrics in homage to Shirley Temple sums up Jessel’s sanguine philosophy with a
final Oi Weh:
When things are dark and gloomy/I don’t let the dark get to me/But
instead I hold my head up high
I don’t wallow in self pity/Ijust sing this little ditty/Life sucks and
then you die.
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| Ray Jessel - victorious at America's Got Talent |
Songs are interspersed with
anecdote: “It’s taken me eighty five years to get from Old South Wales to New
South Wales.”. His struggle with producers when they asked him to write a score
for the film, Dennis The Menace is
told with wistful humour. Australian crooner, David Campbell has recorded his
song Whatever Happened To Melody, and
other songs have been recorded by such artsts as Michael Feinstein and Louis
Armstrong. Surprisingly, Jessel did not start performing his own songs until he
was 75 years old. He continues to write and record songs, often composed with
his wife Cynthia Thompson.
Some may compare Jessel to the
legendary satirists of song, Tom Lehrer and Alan Sherman, but Jessel is in class of his own and if you ever have the
chance to see him live, be careful not to laugh yourself to death.
ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL Eddie Perfect in Songs From The Middle
Songs From The Middle
Music and Lyrics by Eddie Perfect. Musical Direction and Orchesttration by Iain Grandage. Musicians from the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM). Originally commissioned by ANAM and preniered at the Melbourne Cabaret Festival. The Dunstan Playhouse. The Adelaide Festival Centre. Adelaide Cabaret Festival. June 18 and 20. 2015
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Eddie Perfect in Songs From The Middle Photo by billiejeanisnotmy lover brochure |
Songs From The Middle is not quite what one may expect from Eddie
Perfect. Perfect’s evocative, nostalgic and deeply personal song
cycle is as far removed from a work such as Shane
Warne: The Musical as one might expect.
Now in his thirties and with a child of his own, Perfect confronts the
truths of his childhood and adolescence in Melbourne’s suburban Mentone. He is
accompanied on stage by past and present members of the Australian National
Academy of Music under the musical direction of Iain Grandage . Perfect, as personable and engaging as ever
plays the piano and sings his own songs of life in a suburb, once the holiday
location of the very wealthy, and a haven for artists, such as Charles Conder.
Now approaching middle age,
albeit at a very slow rate, Perfect looks back on his days in Mentone. Songs From The Middle is a reflective
song cycle, wending its wat back to childhood memories of his schooldays at St.
bede’s where his father taught and where he first confronted bullying and
childhood infatuation. Through the pages of retired teacher, Leo Gamble’s
history of Mentone, Perfect discovers the other side of a suburb that he couldn’t
wait to escape. The anecdotes of his memories flow from the voice now softened
by the chords of reflection. The Nepean Highway that freed him from unhappy the
same highway that leads him back to claim his discarded history.
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| Eddie Perfect. Photo by Julian Kingma |
The magnificent orchestration
carries us along on the crest of his nostalgia in the haunting sounds of the
soulful flute, the percussive gentility of the xylophone, the whirling echoes
of the wind hose and the stirring recollections of the string section. The
orchestra carries us along on a wave of emotion that tends to overshadow the
talented composer, singer and storyteller. Perfect is the ideal narrator of his
own experience and his songs of experience resound with a universal truth that
recalls our own pasts. For an hour, I too become a part of his world, with
memories much the same in a different place and time. The schooldays crush, the
moment of sporting pride, the battle with flat box building kits from Ikea. I
am moved by his homage to Susan Morgan, the unrequited love, who sadly died
recently. Perfect’s songs, as personal
as they are, are also the songs of other lives and this honesty lends Songs In The Middle a particular
relevance.
Songs of rebellion, songs of
tenderness, poignancy and nostaligia, they all shape the world of Perfect’s
impressions of Mentone – funny, sad, insightful and accepting. Songs From The Middle does not absolve
the anger or the pain. It is not a pronouncement of penance. It is an
acceptance of the past and a journey of understanding that is mature, profound
and the honest song cycle of a man who can now claim the legacy of his
upbringing in Mentone. It is an epiphany that we all can and should make.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL - The Glenn Miller Orchestra
THE GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA
Presented by ATAAllstar Artists Pty Ltd. And the Adelaide Festival Centre. Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Festival Theatre. Adelaide Festival Centre. June 19 2015
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| The Glenn Miller Orchestra |
I’ve just had a swinging great
time and judging by the oohs and aahs from the sea of Seniors around me, the
audience was swept along on the same wave of nostalgia. On the Festival Theatre
stage, the Glenn Miller Orchestra from
Los Angeles magnificently revived the old familiar melodies of a bygone era
from Miller’s signature tune, Moonlight
Serenade to popular favourites such as George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Chattanooga Choo Choo. Seventy five
years after Miller formed his wartime orchestra, the melodies still evoke the
heart and soul of a world at war with the soaring sounds of optimism, love and
hope. Under the leadership of band leader the outstanding orchestra of
trumpeters, trombonists, saxophonist, percussionist, Bass player and pianist, The Glenn Miller Orchestra treated the
capacity audience to a bevy of familiar, hummable, foot tapping tunes that kept
the audience entranced from start to finish. The bold blast of the brass, the
rhythmic beat of the drums, the subtle accompaniment of the Bass and the
melodic tunes from the piano conjured once more the fun and laughter of the
1940s dance floors.
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| The Glenn Miller Orcheastra and the Broadway Swing Dancers |
The orchestra is also accompanied
by the stylish and energetic Sydney based Broadway swing dancers, who recalled
the elegance and sophistication of such stars of the silver screen, Gene Kelly,
Fred and Adele Astaire and Cyd Charisse to such numbers as Tuxedo Junction, Hootenanny Hoot Hoot or Little Brown Jug to name
but a few. No band would be complete without the vocalist and the orchestra is
fortunate to include the wonderful voices of Wendy Smith and a contemporary Frank
Sinatra, the likeable Mark Kopitske. With a long brown gown to match the pink
camellia in her hair, Smith captivates her audience with her rendition of Cole
Porter’s I Get A Kick Out Of You and
‘Swonderful, made famous by Fred
Astaire in the film Funny Face. With
that likeable grin, Kopitske entrances with his rendition of the Frank Sinatra
hit, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley
Square and soulfully captures the mood of World War 2 with Roses of Picardy. Far too many to
mention here, hit follows hit with outstanding musicianship from a touring
orchestra that reverently captures the arrangements of Miller, Bill Finnegan
and members of the modern Glenn Miller Orchestra.
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| Glenn Miller with trombone |
In tribute to the Anzac
tradition, the programme draws to a close with tunes from World War One, such
as Bill Finnegan’s arrangement of the 1917 composition, The Johnson Rag and the earlier Line
Buddy. Wendy Smith and Mark Kopetsky join the orchestra to sing medley of Roses
of Picardy, It’s A Long Way To Tiperary, Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit
Bag and Vera Lynn’s mournful song of irony, The White Cliffs of Dover.
To close Rick Gerber introduces
all the members of the touring performance before bringing the show to an
inevitable, regrettable close with the full version of Moonlight Serenade. To the
rousing applause of a enthusiastically appreciative audience, Gerber announces
an encore number and launches into the St.
Louis Blues March before changing tack to an original arrangement of
Australia’s unofficial National Anthem. All over the world they recognize the
song of a swaggie who steals a jumbuck and leaps into a billabong to escape the
squatter and the law. It’s a rebel close to a remarkable trip down memory lane
and a tribute to the men and women of the wartime era and the great bands of a
glorious era. Humming or remembering, the audience left the theatre after an
afternoon of unforgettable melodies, wonderful song and slick, stylish dance.
Everyone had a fantastic, swinging good time.
The Glnn Miller Orchestra will be playing in the Canberra Theatre
on June 27th. For all those who can remember and all those who love
the sound and songs of the Big Band era, this is a performance not to be
missed.
CASANOVA
Written by Mark
Kilmurry
Based on the screenplay by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Jarrad
West
Canberra REP, Theatre 3 until 4 July.
Review by Len Power 19 June 2015
You wouldn’t want to see a play about legendary lover,
Casanova, unless it was really sexy. Well,
in Canberra REP’s new production there’s more sex happening onstage than you can
shake a stick at.
Jarrad West’s fast-moving, furiously funny production has a
wild ensemble of actors performing the life of Casanova as related to a maid by
the elder Casanova, played movingly by Tony Turner. With hints of Commedia del’Arte and a jumble
of various styles mixed with modern and classical music, it’s daring and it
works.
Using the revolving stage, the delightfully busy setting,
designed by the director, provides a multitude of locations. Lighting by Kelly McGannon and sound by the
director were complex, impressive and well-executed. Costumes designed by Anne Kay were colourful,
quirky and fun.
Ben Russell, who plays the younger Casanova, commands the stage
with a charismatic, edgy and believable performance. Steph Roberts as Edith, the maid attending
the elder Casanova, projects a nicely realistic warmth and concern for the old
man. Amy Dunham as Henriette, the love of
Casanova’s life, displays great vulnerability and a moving sense of the damage
the relationship caused her. Riley Bell,
as the younger Casanova’s best friend, and Chris Zuber, as Casanova’s nemesis, also
give strong performances. The rest of
the cast play multiple roles and there is stunningly vivid character work from
everyone.
Jarrad West’s vision for this play was risky and he took
some big chances. The result is a sexy
and highly entertaining night of good theatre.
Originally published
in Canberra City News digital edition 20 June 2015 and broadcast on Bill
Stephens’ ‘Dress Circle’ program on Artsound FM from 5pm 21 June 2015.
Free the Arts from politicisation
NATIONAL ARTS GATHERING CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE HALT TO NPEA
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|
ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL - UNESCORTED
Unescorted.
Lady Rizo. Musical Direction Yair Evnine. Space Theatre. Adelaide Festival Centre. Adelaide Cabaret Festival. June 17-19 2015
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Lady Rizo . Photo by Lilac Scarf- Brochure |
She’s brash. She’s brazen and
she’s sensational. Lady Rizo brings her sexy, edgy, gutsy brand of New York
cabaret and cheeky irreverent comedy to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The girl from Oregon and Princess cruises to
Alaska turns on a powerhouse performance of original songs of love and freedom
and mish mashed versions of classic numbers from the great American songbook,
such as Cole Porter’s soulful, doleful, painful Love For Sale. Wild and wanton, her voice tears through the air, at
times terrifyingly primeval, at others alluringly beguiling, taunting convention,
and teasing with a sensual gaze or
slinky touch of burlesque.
Pregnant with child, Lady Rizo
flaunts her newly shaped figure, making the most of an audience member’s
awkward help to haul her onto the piano for a torch song rendition of Neil
Gaiman and Amanda Palmer’s ballad for the 21st. century, I Google You. Another unsuspecting audience member
volunteers, with a cheerful “Bye Honey” to his partner, to help Rizo change
behind the coloured screen in a shadow display of disrobement and sexual frivolity.
Kevin is a happy choice. Not everyone would so willingly reveal how they lost
their virginity. But it’s all in good fun before the stunning chanteuse appears
in a spangled white gown.
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| Lady Rizo |
When she sings, the roof lifts
with the sheer power of her voice. But in an instant, it is interrupted by
another humourous anecdote of the trip to the eighties in the Intercontinental
Hotel’s décor, the Dali Llama’s blessing of the wombats in the hotel foyer, the
staring ovations of bucket list octogenarians on luxury cruises and her passion
for meat pies. It’s all fun banter, culminating in a final blessing of the
audience and a communal group hum to the
Bee Gees To Love Somebody. An angel
in white, Lady Rizo, bathed in a spot, leaves the Space to the gentle hum of love,
a possible reminder of her childhood and her Hippie parents. Bathed in an aura
of healing, the audience applauds the departing spirit and, unescorted, Lady
Rizo leaves the theatre.
Unescorted is an anthem to love,
the love for her unborn child, the love for her music and the unbridled passion
of her song and the love for her first original happy love song. Wild she may
well be, rebellious and fierce, independent and strong ,but one with a lot of
love to give, laughter to evoke and the full throttled talent to
enterLady Rizotain. I would have preferred less
chat, less audience banter and more unbroken song by a singer with the voice to
rip and tear through the air and a band under the direction of Yair Evnine to
bring her unique brand of cabaret to town. But then, the comedienne is sister
to the chanteuse, and in Unescorted Lady
Rizo will wow an audience in any way she wants, wild and wicked and with a lot
of love to give.
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