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Happily Ever After: The Princess Fifi Way & Secret Life of a Sex Doll
The Butterfly Club
28 August 2008

Melbourne’s home of cabaret, The Butterfly Club, presents two brand new takes on love, loss and happy endings from two strong, classy and thoroughly talented women. From the Disney ending to the evils of sex, the many and varied facets of life, love and femininity are the subjects of musical exploration.

The night begins with Happily Ever After: The Princess Fifif Way, a collaboration between new voice in cabaret Fiona Elmore and seasoned cabaret producers James Simpson and Kim Edwards. Utilising plenty of Disney movie stereotypes, Princess Fifi urges each audience member to get out there and find their own ‘Happily Ever After.’

With plenty of lyrical adaptation of deeply familiar tunes, including The Little Mermaid’s Part of That World and Aladdin’s A Whole New World, the show is a lot of innocent fun, with just enough ‘cringe factor’ to get the audience involved.

Musically the show is more fun than accurate, but plenty of satirical and amusing musical moments make the ‘rough around the edges’ feel enjoyable. A sultry jazz version of The Jungle Book’s The Bare Necessities had the audience in stitches, quickly followed up by Beauty and The Beast’s Be Our Guest, a clever take-off of the ‘Disney song of interminable verses,’ of which it is a shining example.

Fiona’s natural comedic talent is used to great effect, charming her audience into plenty of interaction. A bubbly manner and infectious smile melt the hardest heart, evoking grins and giggles as her audience join with her in chanting the self-help mantras and singing the songs.

The evening continues with The Secret Life of a Sex Doll, a brand-new show by Melbourne musical master team Atlanta Coogan and Mark Fitzgibbon. Featuring Mark, one of Melbourne’s greatest jazz pianists, on the keys and Atlanta as the Sex Doll, the show explores the evils of womanising and misogyny. Following stories from the lives of women affected by violence, sexualisation and objectification, the show stands as a hard-hitting and powerful piece of theatre.

Essentially, the show follows the life of a sexy girl, and the mistreatment and difficulties that follow from her being seen as nothing more than her looks. Telling the story through song allows for a lot of emotional freedom, with various different emotions being imparted to the audience in an effective and powerful way. The repetition of the main refrain (“I’ve been assigned to set a few things straight”) brings closure to the various different stories, allowing the audience to prepare for each new emotion and feeling.

With discussion of topics including rape and sexual slavery, the show is particularly unsuitable for children, even evoking a strong sense of shame in me for the atrocities perpetrated by men on women. It was particularly effective for me in forcing an uncomfortable rethink of my attitudes, and is a stunning example of the idea that music and theatre should teach its audience as much as it is enjoyed.

Musically, the show is brilliant, with most of the songs being written by the performers. Of particular note was the hilarious Barbie, a bitingly bitter attack on the commoditisation of beauty that pervades modern culture. With a pervading sense of fun, the music is brilliantly executed, showing off the emotiveness of Atlanta’s voice perfectly.

With two completely different ways of approaching the struggle for a ‘Happily Ever After,’ The Butterfly Club presents an interesting, engaging and eventually thought-provoking night of fun, sadness and brilliant theatre.

Set List
The Butterfly Club
21 August 2008

Blending rampant punnery, great music and infectious comedy with plenty of improvisatory goodness, Set List is a brilliant new comedy show on this week only at South Melbourne’s home of cabaret comedy, The Butterfly Club.

Featuring the talents of cabaret performer Karen Muiznieks, comedy genius of self-professed ‘rock and roll nerd’ Ben McKenzie and musical stylings of muso Dan Walmsley, the show is an hour of interactive improvised music that leaves audiences in stitches.

Each of the performers (excepting their long-suffering musical accomplice, Emma) has a chance to strut their stuff on the stage, with most songs the product of a single fevered mind. While it was a concern that the songs would become tedious without the high-energy interaction on which the show depends, this approach produced such memorable moments as Karen’s ballad to a man with enviable nose hair, and an expose on the evils of the snow dome.

With so much interaction both between performers and with the audience, it was rather a shame that guitarist Emma was rather left out of proceedings, and not given a chance to show off as her stage-mates did. This did not detract from the show, though, carried as it was on the three vibrant personalities around her.

Becoming steadily filthier as both the audience and the band warmed up, this is not a show for the kids – but with the group taking on different genres including folk and jazz, it’s definitely a pleasure for the adults!

Tamara Kuldin’s Book of Hims
The Butterfly Club
14 August 2008

From the opening strains of a smooth jazz version of Blondie’s Call Me, Tamara Kuldin’s new show, Tamara Kuldin’s Book of Hims, is packed with great music, some hilarious anecdotes and an incisive wit to match. Laying bare some of her most personal and intimate moments, Tamara takes us on a musical journey through her favourite songs, her favourite men and her least favourite breakups with a wink and a smile.

In her first few numbers, Tamara plays the slightly desperate diva deliciously, with slipping straps and a sultry voice to match. Her control and vocal range serves as an impressive foundation for her bubbly theatricality. This natural showmanship is particularly evident during the biographical songs that she portrays so well. Supported by jazz panist Steve Paix and Kim May on the double bass, she warms into her audience quickly, with a comfortable, easy familiarity with the stage.

Glints and hints of stories to be told during the first section of the show made the highly structured ‘concert-esqe’ format somehow unsatisfying. It was a pleasure when, towards the middle, Tamara broke with this format and allowed herself to connect more with her audience and allow her talent for storytelling to shine through, a series of amusing and sobering tales of love, family, loss and romance. Particular mention must be made of a hilarious take on a certain member of her own family, that had me in stitches!

Tamara’s use of a wide range of music (starting at 1910 and working its way through to the modern day), and her willingness to put her own spin on well-known songs made the evening musically satisfying and a lot of fun. The beautiful rendition of the Divinyls classic I Touch Myself was fun and funny, and a fresh take on Britney Spears’ Toxic was both amusing and strangely moving. Possibly my favourite moment of the evening was a rendition of a piece from Mel Brooks current musical hit, Young Frankenstein, as Tamara suddenly morphed into an older, headstrong woman with near-pornographic microphone stand technique.

Some fantastic music, great stories and three quintessentially talented performers make Tamara Kuldin’s Book of Hims a fantastic night of insight into the world of love. And keep an eye out! Tamara may just have her eye on you…

Kiss Me Nate
The Butterfly Club
7th November 2008

Musical Theatre and Opera singer Nate Illes and his mildly irascible flatmate Julia Roper return to The Butterfly Club this week with a return season of their hit cabaret, Kiss Me Nate. Following Nate’s early life and career as a performer, the show blends music from various genres with a series of personal anecdotes to create an amusing and exciting hour of cabaret.

Trained in classical music and opera, the show has plenty of personal insight into the stories behind opera – an unexpected twist for a genre dominated by popular music and musical theatre. A stunning performance of Bizet’s Habanera (continued with a hilarious English ‘translation’) and the worldwide favourite wrk well to show off Nate’s powerful vocal talent. A sensitive and nuanced performance brings forth the humanity of the songs, so often inaccessibe to the general public.

The show does not remain in that genre, however, with the inevitable musical theatre references, often performed with more than a hint of self-derision. The performance of The Diva’s Lament (Spamalot) was highly amusing and very topical, while his performance of Jesus Christ Superstar’s Gethsemane, often considered one of the most difficult songs for a male performer in musical theatre, was strong and impressively delivered.

Interaction between the performers was wonderfully personal, with the obviously close relationship between Nate and Julia spilling out onto the stage, their witty banter bringing a new dimension to the show. Julia is not to be ignored here – she is a vital part of the performance, showing a humour and talent often missing in cabaret ‘accompanists’.

While the show was generally put together, the focus on music did mean that the stories were often relegated to second place, leaving the overall thrust of the show a little unclear. The introduction of a moral at the end seemed mildly forced, but was no less endearing for it.

Fun, exciting and pleasant to watch and listen to, Kiss Me Nate is a fantastic new production from veteran cabaret director Kim Edwards. It runs until Sunday.

As you may know, if you’ve been keeping up with my hundreds of Tweets, I’ve been finishing off my Mark Sweater. In the process, I’m currently doing the raglan decreases on the yoke, which requires both left- and right-leaning decreases.

Now, as far as right-leaning decreases go, you can’t go past k2tog, so I’m using that, but I’ve had some trouble finding a left-leaning one that I like. I was using plain ssk, but have found this new method that I like much better.

The Improved ssk
Slip 1 stitch knitwise
Insert left needle into front loop of stitch on right needle
Insert right needle into back loop of stitch on left needle
Knit them together!

This is essentially the same process as a classic ssk, but the second stitch is slipped purlwise as you insert the other needle. Because there’s less mucking around, the stitch is tighter, neater, and lies a little flatter than ssk as well!

The Divine Miss Z Sings The Divine Miss Z and The Adventures of Gypsy and Rag
The Butterfly Club
30 October 2008

This week, Melbourne’s home of cabaret, The Butterfly Club, brings two fun and sexy shows to the stage for a fun and musical night of cabaret!

The night opens with Vicki Zainal reprising her role as The Divine Miss M in a tribute to the music and performance of Bette Midler. Featuring some of her most famous songs, the show covers a wide range of Midler’s musical genius and character, with a strong influence from her vivacious and engaging stage performances.

The show covers many of Midler’s hit songs, including Beast of Burden, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and a particularly stunning performance of the immortal classic, From A Distance. Vicki’s voice suits the music exceptionally well, with a smooth and clear tone that soars through the high notes joyously and beautifully.

With a very short production period, the show suffered slightly from lack of rehearsal and nerves, but was carried through by Vicki’s amazing ability to improvise and perform, remaining in character no matter what happened. With such a wide range of music, her accompanist (Aaron Richard) was crucial, and the interplay between the two was an important source of fun during the show.

Humour is an important part of Vicki’s performance, drawing on the performance of her subject for direct jokes while also satirising her to some extent with a stunningly comedic presentation of ‘The (Goddamn) Rose’ to close the show. The light-hearted approach to the material is a good angle, leading to a fun and highly enjoyable show.

The night continues with The Adventures of Gypsy and Rag, a take on a traditional forties-style burlesque ‘show for the troops’ set for modern-day Australian troops in the Gulf. Featuring the stunning voice of Joel Bow and the burlesque talents of Pieta Farrell, the show blends Jazz, Musical Theatre and burlesque striptease for an intriguing and fun performance.

Supported by country ‘gentleman’ Gareth Buffo, the pair (along with their long-suffering pianist Tom) rehearse and perform a show to titillate, entertain and amuse their audience of ‘military troops.’ A wonderfully stereotypical portrayal of clashing performer egos holds the show together, with the battle between the two spilling out onto the stage in an amusing and realistic fashion.

Although her performance is brilliant, it is interesting that Pieta’s beauty and burlesque talents are somewhat overshadowed by her stagemates, with Joel’s easy command of the stage and Tom’s complete commitment to his character making them engaging and irresistible to an audience. That said, Pieta is hard to miss, with a wonderful set of talents that are sure to soften the hardest heart.

So with the music of one of the biggest personalities of recent times and an exciting take on burlesque performance, this week is a fantastic time to check out The Butterfly Club!

The Divine Miss Z Sings The Divine Miss M and The Adventures of Gypsy and Rag both play until Sunday.

La Femme Nouvelle
Red Room Theatre
The Butterfly Club
23 October 2008

Elenor Jane Adams returns to The Butterfly Club stage in La Femme Nouvelle, this week, an extension of her award-winning short piece F**k You Shirley Temple, which took out the inaugural Short Sweet+Cabaret festival earlier this year. Following the lives and stories of four markedly different women, the show combines music, dance and just a little sex appeal into a solid hour of exciting new theatre.

With a wide range of songs and styles, the show provides a solid vehicle fo Elenor’s vocal talents. By tackling musical theatre (including a fantastically angry rendition of Lion Tamer, from Steven Schwartz’ The Magic Show), contemporary (Carly Simon’s classic You’re So Vain) and classics (a classy rendition of If You Go Away, a reorking of Jacques Brel’s timeless Ne Me Quitte Pas), she shows off her impressive talent with a joie de vivre and elegance that is as attractive as it is spellbinding.

The four characters show markedly different aspects of the lives of women over the past hundred years, from the angry magician’s assistant who yearns to get out into the spotlight to the suburban housewife revelling in her illicit affair with her ballroom dancing partner. The four stories stand as separate narratives, with each character revealing something about themselves to the audience during their fifteen minutes of fame upon the stage.

Elenor works well with her stagemate, Vicky Jacobs (of Vicky Jacobs and the Na Na Nas fame) to lock in music as an integral part of the show. Expounding on emotions expressed in the text rather than restating them, songs often flow in and out of spoken text without pause or warning, cementing them as text just as important as the often clever and incisive monologue.

Linked together with some of the most hilariously sexy costume change scenes seen on the stage, Elenor shows off her dance prowess with joy and an impressive comedic talent. Even a positively G-rated ‘wardrobe malfunction’ on the stage was handled with a piece of audience interaction that left her audience in fits of giggles.

Fun, sexy and often hilarious, La Femme Nouvelle is a classy and clever statement on what it means to be a woman and in love. plays until Sunday.

Sammy J’s Wagon of Friendship
The Butterfly Club
May 31 2008

That lovable geek from Frankston, Sammy J, returns to Melbourne with Sammy J’s Wagon Of Friendship, a show that’s half cabaret, half comedy, and all fun.

Bringing together some of his recent work (including creations for an upcoming show based on his life at high school), Wagon of Friendship is a raucously funny evening.

Sammy’s trademark ribald humour (possibly made more amusing by the fact that his mother was in the audience) was in full swing, covering taboo topics including racism (The Black Joke), religion (The Atheist’s Prayer) and sex (pretty much everything else).

Standard topics aside, the bulk of Sammy’s comedy is highly personal, focusing on his life and experiences.

His portrayals of ‘that skinny geek who can’t get a girl’ are priceless, often drawing on experiences and stories from his high school years.

Crowd favourite The Fingering Song made an appearance towards the end of the show (including a special, unexpected verse written especially with regard to certain recent events in Australian news), along with a surprise performance from Melbourne performer Hans Shiraz.

Much of the material is new for the show, making it less polished than might be expected in a larger venue. Sammy is quite honest about the fact that he is trying out new material on a smaller audience, pointing out that some of the new stuff “might become old stuff pretty soon, if it keeps getting a reaction like that”.

Sammy’s rapid-fire speech and large volume of comedic topics do mean that his jokes are occasionally lost, often behind the audience’s laughter. His patter is so infectiously funny, however, that this only served to make me try and figure out when I could head back to the show!

I was pleasantly surprised to hear I Always Sing My Duets On My Own, which is one of my favourite musical comedy numbers, and Sammy’s take on guided meditation was painfully hilarious.

Sammy J’s Wagon of Friendship is brilliant as a more personal, intimate take on his work. By incorporating the person behind the performer into his show, Sammy J keeps the audience seated squarely in the palm of his hand.

The Mikado
Promac Productions
The Whitehorse Centre
25th March 2008

Promac Productions’ recent production of The Mikado opened (and closed) at The Whitehorse Centre Nunawading on the 15th March.

Starring Brian Hannan, Jason Wasley, Michelle Fitzmaurice and Philip Wheeldon, the reimagining of Gilbert and Sullivan’s timeless classic was a riotous success, thoroughly enjoyed by young and old alike.

The comedic magic of Brian Hannan stole the show from his first appearance as KoKo, with a thoroughly modernised script satirising contemporary Australian culture (in much the same way that the original attacked British society in the late nineteenth century).

The increasingly ‘ocker’ KoKo was showcased best in I’ve Got Them On The List, in which we were assured that Russell Crowe, double parking Volvo drivers and computer savvy children would all ‘not be missed.’

The rewrite was not restricted to Gilbert’s words, however, with rescripted performances of I Still Call Australia Home and Memory (from Cats) making an appearance.

Particularly worthy of note was the Reprise of What a How de Do, based around a besotted Yum Yum carrying out an affair with Shane Warne by mobile phone.

It is a shame, however, that the true brilliance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s work was somewhat obscured for much of the first act. Distorted sound production meant that much of the libretto was indecipherable, especially for an audience member who had not heard the show before.

Thankfully, this was remedied in the second act, with the clearer sound showcasing the talent of the performers beautifully.

While possibly not the perfect introduction to the show, Promac Productions’ The Mikado was a triumph, taking the comic and vocal gifts of the performers and presenting the audience with a hilariously funny, modern retelling that yet remained true to the tone of the original tale.

Upstart Alley V
Gasworks Theatre
January 30 2008

Upstart Alley is a small not-for-profit collective with a noble aim: to provide enjoyable, inclusive entertainment that is accessible to all, regardless of age, race or sexuality.

If the most recent event, Upstart Alley V (presented as part of the Transdestinations conference, in association with the Midsumma festival) is anything to go on, it seems that the Upstart Alley crew have gone in a different direction.

Rather than presenting an enjoyable and inclusive evening, a group of rather talented entertainers were overshadowed by a few performances that were confronting, gratuitous and possibly unnecessary.

The night opened promisingly, with a visit from ‘Maurice The Technical Director,’ host for the evening and dispenser of clever jokes relating to the inclusive nature of the night, venue, location and upcoming performances. ‘Maurice’ kept the audience thoroughly amused throughout the night, often working his act into the ends of those of previous performers to create a wonderful sense of cohesiveness throughout the evening.

Melbourne adagio duo ‘The Bastard Snowpeas’ deserve a mention for their comic acrobalance and exploration of power and gender in relationships. Their farcical performance married typically masculine strength with grace and a drag performance that truly must be seen to be believed. Unfortunately, their performance lacked finesse, and their audience were often left waiting for their next move. Despite the unpolished performance, their concept is sound, and I am sure that with some further development, we will see great things from them in the future.

The ‘celebrity’ flavour for the night was provided by singer Husny Thalib, of Australian Idol infamy. Husny provided a half-hour of overly stylised covers mixed with mildly promising original work that crossed the boundaries of Rock, Hip-Hop and Electro. Possibly the best thing about this performance was the inclusion of his counterpart Hayley, an extraordinary voice with, hopefully, a successful career ahead of her.

New Zealand’s Byrne and Erge gave a wonderful comic mime performance the story of two men finding their way in life, and trying to discover (through trial and error) what it means to be an adult man in the world. The metaphor of a race (in which one person may win, but all must finish) was beautifully carried through the piece, leaving their audience strongly empathising with the pair.

Highlight of the night was definitely Azaria Universe, a hula-hooping ‘strong man’ with the impressive ability to spin hoops on many parts of her body. With perfect timing, huge smile and long fluffy beard, Azaria is a truly talented performer in her own right, her gender politic statements regarding strength and masculinity notwithstanding.

Sydney’s Pluto Savage offered a truly shocking performance reminiscent of the glory days of Sydney drag. No lip-synching queen with an attitude problem here, but a beautifully androgynous character lamenting the dangers of a drug culture that is all too easily destroying young people the world over. Unfortunately, some of the imagery used, while particularly effective, was far too aggressive for the more delicate members of the audience, myself included.

Discouragingly, the promising (if not riveting) performances described above were tainted early on by the inclusion of Melbourne’s Madam Cavity a particularly disgusting display of public vulgarity such as I hope to never again see on the stage. Not only was Madam Cavity a thinly-veiled strip show, with very little effective pretence at plot or explanation, but any remaining boundaries of taste and respect for the body proceeded to be broken, with the inclusion of what can only be considered to be public masturbation, bringing the audience to the edge of their seats in revulsion, rather than the intended erotic fervour.

It is a shame that one single performance managed to destroy what could have been a rather enlightening evening: an introduction to the performing art being produced by some of Melbourne’s most creative young minds. While many of these artists push the boundaries of what we consider ‘art,’ those who made the greatest impact on me were those that pushed the boundaries to breaking point, beyond lines of social acceptability and good taste. Moreover, had the majority of acts not been overshadowed by the aforementioned vulgarities, perhaps the evening would have achieved its stated goal, and been one of inclusive and enjoyable theatre.