2014 Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival

Cabaret Companion by Linh

The Adelaide Cabaret Festival has a younger sister festival called the Cabaret Fringe, where anything goes anywhere! This independent arts festival is a creative brainchild of brothers Paul and Adam Boylon with Jay Robinson in 2008, and has expanded to become a companion cabaret alternative to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

The cabaret culture and music is celebrated in the same way with a diverse array of artists performing in Adelaide during June but there are points of difference. Firstly, most of the venues for Cabaret Fringe are smaller and informal, therefore enhancing the intimacy and participation experience for the performers and audiences. Secondly, the Cabaret Fringe is more risqué and more than cliché with their performances that push the boundaries of musical conventions, also using music and song to comment on social/political issues in a tongue-in-cheek manner.

The Adelaide Cabaret Fringe has more than thirty cabaret acts throughout June with local and national artists providing more than burlesque in bow ties and black hats. This year’s programme has some unexpected surprises that do not fit the usual mould of cabaret as it is the eclectic nature of cabaret that encourages variety and something different.

The local artists at Cabaret Fringe include Megan Doherty in Dirty Thirty, Zephyr Quartet, Jamie Jewell as Candy Chambers in 50 Forever and Hew Parham in Giovanni’s Buono Voyago Fiesta. Interstate artists include Joanne Sutton in Fill Her Up, Selina Jenkins as Beau Heartbreaker and Amy Bodossian in Salvation Amy.

There is something different to tempt everyone at the 2014 Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival and is certain to put a smile on your face and keep it there after the show ends.

2014 Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival details:

Where:

La Boheme, Adelaide Town Hall, Ayers House, Hartley Playhouse, Nexus Cabaret, The Star Theatres, The Blue Bee Room, The Popeye, The Promethean, The Soul Box, The Whitmore Hotel, The Marion Bowling Club and The Alliance Francaise

When:

1 - 29 June 2014.

Tickets:

Price varies for each performance.

There is no physical Box Office for the Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival to buy or collect tickets.

Book online for individual shows via the ‘Shows and Tickets’ tab http://www.cabaretfringefestival.com/shows-2/

Contact the Cabaret Fringe team if experiencing problems ordering tickets online

Email: info@cabaretfringefestival.com

Telephone: 08 82430001

Mobile Phone: 0406 980 962

Please Note: There may be problems when ordering tickets on mobile devices such as iPads or other tablets so the Cabaret Fringe team recommends using a laptop or desktop computer.

This is due to the possible incompatibility of some browsers with the online ticketing system for the Cabaret Fringe.

*All details are correct at the time of publishing.

2014 Adelaide Fringe Festival; Freya Bennett: The Marvellous Reject Girl, music review

Melbourne-based singer, songwriter and artist Freya Bennett. Image: StarNow.

Marvellously Mellow by Linh

Freya Bennett is a Melbourne-based singer, songwriter and artist who made her Adelaide Fringe Festival debut at a pop-up venue called Tandanya Firefly, which is within the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute of Australia. Her show is titled The Marvellous Reject Girl, which is also the name of her debut album, and features all the songs, spoken word story and some of the photography from the album. The Marvellous Reject Girl is quirky and interesting blend of songs, spoken word, photography and a bit of astronomy.

Freya Bennett promotional photograph. Image: StarNow.

Bennett sings and plays the keyboard, while wonderfully supported throughout by a band comprised of cellist Helen, Nathan on drums and Harry the guitarist. Bennett’s singing voice is soft and mellifluous and she maintains the same sweetness and gentleness while reading the story about the marvellous reject girl and her cat named Mint. The story is written by Bennett’s friend Stefanie Markidis and it is cleverly woven into the show to link with the songs and the photography by American artist Sophie Pelligrini which is projected onto a large screen above the stage.

Night scene photography by Sophie Pelligrini. ©Sophie Pelligrini.

Capturing a contemplative and serene moment. ©Sophie Pelligrini.

All the songs from the show are beautifully sung and have common themes of loneliness, sadness, rejection and self-acceptance, but without sounding dreary or slow. The melodies are whimsical and the lyrics are optimistic, with an uplifting feel reminiscent of indie pop or soft rock ballads. 

Pelligrini’s photography is a mix of colour and black and white images, from night scenes to intimate moments and urban streetscapes, that are made more intriguing with some astronomical magic on the screen’s top left hand corner (audience’s right hand side). A large white ball hangs from the ceiling above the stage in front of the screen, and a projector reflects the photographs onto the screen. The large white ball blocks some of the photography, casting a black shadow onto the screen’s top left hand corner. This creates a lunar eclipse effect onto the screen and colours the white ball with parts of the photographs, making the ball look like the planet Earth. In other words, the projector acts like the sun, the white ball as Earth and the black shadow as the moon. This is apt as the performance was at night and lunar eclipses occur at night, thus creating a dreamy or romantic atmosphere for the show.  

Freya Bennett performing at the 2014 Adelaide Fringe Festival with her band members cellist Helen, drummer Nathan and guitarist Harry; featuring Sophie Pelligrini's photography onscreen with the lunar eclipse effect. Image: Facebook.

Freya Bennett and her band at the 2014 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: Facebook.

Bennett is a rising singer and songwriter to watch for in the future.  She is currently writing songs and collaborating with other artists for her second album. She is also a saxophonist, so it would be fun to hear her play saxophone on a few of her upcoming songs. Bennett also is an artist who designs, paints and draws for music albums, greeting cards, gifts and websites. She is a multi-talented and creative collaborator whose music reflects her own aspirations and personal goals in her life to bring people together with music and art.

Self-portrait by Freya Bennett. ©Freya Bennett.

Follow Freya Bennett on Twitter:

@freyabennett9

Like Freya Bennett on Facebook:

The Marvellous Reject Girl

Freya Bennett on YouTube:

Freya Bennett Music

Freya Bennett StarNow profile:

Freya Bennett Artist

2013 Adelaide Fringe Festival: Michelle and the Gentlemen’s Club (The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel)

Left to right: Alex Wignall, Chris Neale, Max García-Underwood, Milush Piochaud and Michelle Pearson. Image: Ali & Rocky Feo of Photografeo.

Dynamic Debut by Linh

Adelaide singer/songwriter Michelle Pearson has been entertaining audiences for the last fifteen years, but has always been a support act or team player in stage musicals, revues, concerts and cabaret performances. In 2013 at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Pearson made her debut as a solo singer and she was fantastic. Backed up by an orchestra and a rock band, plus a trio of backing vocalists, Pearson rocked the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel with her powerful vocals.

The venue was packed to capacity with some audience members having to stand throughout the show. Pearson was apologetic for the inconvenience in the lack of seating but showed her appreciation that so many people turned up to support her debut show. The show was divided into two parts, the first being classic rock, jazz and soul ballads and the second was musicals, cabaret and contemporary songs. Pearson shared some hilarious moments in her life that included how music shaped her personal tastes and how some songs have helped her overcome personal crises. Pearson never disappoints when it comes to belting out her favourite Cold Chisel songs like her rendition of the song ‘Flame Trees’ or grooving with her backup singers in a soulful rendition of Dusty Springfield’s ‘Son Of A Preacher Man’.

In the second part of the show, Pearson enthralled the audience with her musical theatre talents for the song ‘On My Own’ from the musical Les Miserables. She will also be performing in the upcoming musical The Little Shop Of Horrors in April 2013 at the Shedley Theatre with her backup singers, so she sang a rollicking number from the musical with them. Musical theatre songs continued as Pearson beautifully sang a gentle and stirring duet with Mark Oates called ‘With You’ from Ghost: The Musical that was adapted from the film.

Pearson has shown she has the confidence and talent to be a solo singer and performer in her own right, and she has more shows during the Adelaide Fringe Festival for those who enjoyed her performance and wishes to see her in a variety of shows. Check out the 2013 Adelaide Fringe Programme Guide or visit the website for more details.

Michelle Pearson’s Music Channel on YouTube:
Michelle Pearson Music

Like Michelle Pearson on Facebook
Michelle Pearson

2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival review; Ali McGregor-Something Old, Something New

Ali McGregor brings her show Something Old, Something New to the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: www.alimcgregor.com


Something Scintillating by Linh

Operatic soprano, cabaret/jazz/burlesque performer Ali McGregor is a frequent visitor to Adelaide, bringing her shows to the Adelaide Cabaret and Fringe Festivals in the past. After her critically-acclaimed show Jazz Cigarettes, Ali McGregor returns to Adelaide with her latest concoction of Something Old, Something New. McGregor could only squeeze in a weekend of two matinee performances due to her hectic schedule being a mum to her baby girl and currently is in the middle of rehearsals for the operetta The Merry Widow.

In McGregor’s sold-out show Jazz Cigarettes she was smoking hot, but in Something Old, Something New she is scintillating. Her show brings together some popular jazz standards with mash-ups of contemporary pop songs and blues. Between songs, Ali would engage with the audience in her current frustrations about being unprepared for the unusual wet weather in Adelaide, her love of blues singers such as Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and her childhood interpretations of songs which now, as an adult, still has a long-lasting effect on her.

McGregor’s opening number The Man I Love, is delivered with titillating sensuousness and could be a heartfelt dedication to her husband and comedian/presenter Adam Hills (who is stuck inside a hotel room nursing a dreadful cold), while her next song is a jazzed-up homage to Soft Cell’s hit Tainted Love. McGregor dedicated Little Girl Blues by Nina Simone, to her little girl, delivering the song with soothingly smooth vocals and tenderness.

Other highlights of her show include a Santana-inspired rendition of Madonna’s single La Isla Bonita; a wildly outrageous and sexed-up rendition of Britney Spears’ Oops I Did It Again; I Was Made For Loving You by Kiss gets the blues treatment, and a fantastic mash-up combining Fly Me To The Moon with Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.

McGregor was superbly supported by a trio of masterful musicians, with Matthew Carey on the piano, lovely Alana Dawes keeping the harmonies flowing on the double bass and Barnabas Smith held the rhythm and beats on percussion/drums. Although this was a matinee show, there were still some younger audience members who enjoyed most of the eclectic range of songs. Something Old, Something New is another showcase for the wonderful vocals of the talented and gorgeous Ali McGregor who will soon be completing her album Jazz Cigarettes in the next few months.

The season for Something Old, Something New has concluded.




Visit Ali Mcgregor’s website:
Ali McGregor

Follow Ali McGregor on Twitter:
@thealimcgregor

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Ali McGregor on Facebook

2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival review; Felicity Ward – Honestly (preview)

Hilariously Honest by Linh

Felicity Ward opens up and bares her soul in her new comedy show Honestly. Image: laughingstock.com.au

You may have been to Felicity Ward’s (The Ronnie Johns Half Hour, Good News Week) previous shows like Ugly As A Child or Felicity Ward Reads From The Book Of Moron, but in her latest comedy show, Honestly, Ward opens up her personal treasure chest of emotions and insecurities for laughs. Honestly, as her show title, possibly sums up her approach to life, love and laughter.
Ward’s show is a blend of stand-up comedy, characterisations, impersonations, music, singing and audience participation. Metaphorically stripping herself of all inhibitions, Ward shows she has all the self-confidence and comic ability to deliver laughs with plenty of flair and great comic timing. No story is too private to share and no-one is safe from her eagle eyes scanning the audience during her show.


Honestly is riotous fun and is as entertaining for the audience as it is cathartic for Ward about her personal moments of humiliation and rejection by a teenage crush, her skin-peeling experience, some handy advice from her family members, and the reason behind her skinny figure.
The highlights are when Ward tackles technology in creative and engaging ways with the audience. Expect some form of participation (a volunteer from the audience is required) in her anti-synthesised vocals segment in a backlash against the weird synthesised voice pioneered by Cher in her hit song Believe. The use of an iTunes app plus crazy lyrics by Ward as she duets with a willing participant is a fabulous spectacle.

Mostly during her show Honestly, we discover why Ward is the way she is and how she has come to accept her flaws and weaknesses. Honesty is the best policy and Ward shows it’s also a sure-fire method to generate laughter and not to take yourself too seriously. Your adventures at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival would be incomplete unless you include Felicity Ward’s Honestly on your itinerary.


Follow Felicity Ward on Twitter:
@felicityward



Be Felicity Ward’s fan/friend on Facebook:
Felicity Ward on Facebook


Buy Fringe Tickets:
Adelaide Fringe Ticketing




WHO: Felicity Ward - Honestly

WHAT: Comedy, music, interactive segments/audience participation

WHERE: Le Cascadeur in the Garden of Unearthly Delights

WHEN: All shows start at 7:30pm
Previews – 16, 17 February
Cheap Tuesdays: 22 February and 1, 8 March
Regular price shows: 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 February and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 March

PRICE: Cheap Tuesdays – All Shows $20
Regular Prices - Adults: $25
Concession: $20

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour

Fringe Music - Ali McGregor's Midnight Lullabies; review

Acclaimed Australian opera superstar, soprano Ali McGregor returns to the Adelaide Fringe Festival with her new show Midnight Lullabies with special guests.

Following her sold out shows La Clique - A Sideshow Burlesque , and The Opera Burlesque last year, she's certain to be a Fringe favourite.

Ali McGregor's Midnight Lullabies with special guests is at the Bosco Theatre in The Garden Of Unearthly Delights until March 27.


Angelic and Awesome Ali by Linh

A former principal soprano with Opera Australia, Ali McGregor is a rare shining star in the music industry. Her beautiful voice effortlessly soaring above and beyond the high C's then plunging into the deep and dark depths of gravelly growls in contemporary music.

In her debut solo show, Midnight Lullabies with special guests, Ali illuminated the Bosco Theatre tent in The Garden Of Unearthly Delights with her sparkling personality and radiant voice. Accompanied by the talented drummer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Hendry, Ali performed wonderful renditions of Radiohead, The White Stripes , Tom Waits, George Gershwin and Hugo Wolf.

Ali began Gershwin's classic Summertime in it's original sweet operatic tone before smoothly seguing into the jazzy version without missing a beat.

Her token operatic song was to be performed with a pianist on an electronic keyboard, however due to unforeseen circumstances, she had to make a backing track featuring Len Vorster on piano. Nevertheless, Hugo Wolf's Das Verlassene Maglein (The Forsaken Maiden) was superbly sung in German, with her exquisite vocal expression bringing alive the sadness and sincerity of the maiden in the song.

The multi-talented Ali also sang while playing her autoharp, which she likes to call the zither, receiving thunderous applause and cheers following her gorgeous version of Tom Waits' Midnight Lullaby, her brilliant vibrato and sex appeal in The White Stripes' In The Cold Cold Night, and pushing her vocal abilities to its most outrageous and impressive boundaries in Radiohead's Creep.

In each show Ali has a special guest to share the stage, and on this occasion it was the affable comedian Adam Hills. Adam recited Banjo Patterson's Clancy Of The Overflow by memory, accompanied by Ali on zither as she sang The Church's Under The Milky Way Tonight. The result was a stirring blend of well performed prose and soothingly harmonious singing.

Ali McGregor is a consummate performer whose voice is refreshingly flexible, ravishing in operatic or contemporary mode, and her energy and enthusiasm makes her a joy to watch.