Megan Doherty is the latest performer brought to the stage by Kate Warren’s newly formed The Factory (no doubt with apologies to Warhol, A.) The 28 year old recent graduate in musical theatre from Ballarat chose the topics of loneliness, lust and yearning to underpin her show entitled The Girl Who Won’t Grow Up, a repertoire that had Weimar cabaret strains to it without going for the whole Marlene Dietrich persona.

6pm on a Sunday evening is not usually the best time to collect a crowd but La Boheme was sold out for this last night and certainly it was keen to be swept along by Megan’s solid voice and shtick. After a slow start, her Disney song proved to be a highlight followed up not long after by Coin Operated Boy, all the while ably accompanied on piano by Daniel Brunner.

There is no doubt that Doherty has potential but more experience is needed to lift her to the fore front of similar acts in Adelaide (where queens of the genre like Sidonie Henbest presently reign.) More imaginative lighting, less use of the microphone (a perennial bug bear for this critic when attending at such a small venue as La Boheme) and a breaking down of what seemed like a glass partition between her and her audience members – more intimacy with her patrons gets rewarded – are all elements to be worked on.

But, to be sure, Megan Doherty is a talent worth following and one who will consistently entertain as she refines her performances.

Kryztoff Rating  3K

A struggling Parisian night club has sacrificed its soul to a master chef and it is all the regular cast can do to sing on as best they can in the face of this humiliation. On this flimsy premise is built a terrific cabaret show at La Boheme. Catherine Campbell, Sidonie Henbest and Jamie Jewell (as Gigi, Celeste and Jacque with a near outrageous hairdo) roam the stage and amongst their audience with great gusto making us French with lessons in speech, love and food.

Campbell in particular stars with her zany delivery but all are a delight and the master chef’s ridiculous prattle before a demise driven by a popular breakfast spread lifts the atmosphere in a room ideally sized and decked out for such a show.

Sophisticated, adult cabaret; a lovely way to round out a night doing Fringe shows; a sliver of Paris – enjoy it as you will but book soon as already many of their shows have sold out and word of mouth from last night is sure to boost sales along as well. La Chevre Noir is a delight.

Kryztoff Rating   4K

By Nicki Bullock

Finding myself in the sumptuous ultra-comfort of The Promethean for A Night of Dangerous Liasons I am captivated by the wittily charming and curvaceously gorgeous Carla Conlin. Opening with a confident and sassy rendition of ‘Whatever Lola Wants’ she sets the tone for a sensual evening, audience hanging upon her words and saucy looks as she plays the crowd with brilliant stage presence.

Asking what happens when Lola does not get whatever Lola wants, the performance looks at liasons and love from a modern and often hilarious perspective.  With songs such as ‘Masochist Tango’, ‘You Grew On Me (Like A Tumour)’ and an ode to the one night stand, the lovely fuck buddy, Carla’s search for Mr. Right, or at least  Mr. Right for Now, is highly amusing and entertaining.  Different approaches are taken, using cheesy pick up lines upon her gay admiree, lying on facebook to get a date, pretending she knows how to rock climb and the results are as funny as the approaches taken to get a date.

Carla’s interactions with the audience are  lovely; fun and friendly in the cosy space.   Charming and charismatic, she brings me to giggles and racous laughter, and daunts some male members of the audience, one man confiding to me that he would be scared to date a woman like that.  Narrator and band also contribute to a polished performance so very cleverly written.

This was a wonderful start to the evening; a celebration of powerful femininity.

Kryztoff Rating  4K

By Miriam Keane

The Cabaret Fringe Festival is now well established, with 2011 being its fourth year as an accompaniment to the Cabaret Festival. Continuing to grow, this year’s festival boasts an impressive fifty-eight shows over four weeks. While the home of the Cabaret Fringe, La Bohème, still hosts many of these acts, they are also spread out across ten other city venues, including the reinvented Tuxedo Cat within the old Elektra Building on King William Street, which proved to be so popular at this year’s Adelaide Fringe festival.

The Cabaret Fringe is an open access festival, with everybody welcome to produce their own show and register to be a part of it. As always, there is a diverse mix of entertainment on offer, with both local and interstate acts included in the programme. This year there is also a string of shows which have a very international and multi-cultural flavour to them.

Golonka and Tzigane are two local bands, presenting a double bill at Nexus Cabaret on the penultimate night (Saturday June 25^th) of the festival. They offer something a bit different from the usual local fare, with their sound heavily influenced by European Gypsy music. Golonka is a five piece group, which has been on the Adelaide scene for several years, performing both headline and support shows, and are well known for giving performances full of fun and energy. Tzigane is a more recently formed three piece, and while their music is also influenced by Eastern Europe it promises added flavours of South America. Together they will undoubtedly create a unique and entertaining evening of song.

Also on at Nexus Cabaret is the African comedy cabaret show Akuna Matata (No Problems). This will be presented as part of Refugee Week, with three performances from June 23^rd. In addition to several short skits, this show includes original music, dancing and comedy and is designed to be an upbeat evening out with lots of laughter and enjoyment for everyone.

While the pressure of producing one show would be enough stress for most people, Fred Fudara exhibits his range and adaptability by presenting two complimentary productions. Having delighted audiences with his repertoire of French songs during his regular gigs at La Bohème, as well as local events such as the French Festival, he now shows that his talent also extends to Portuguese. His new show Come Fly With Me to Rio de Janeiro is on Saturday nights at Saldechin, until the 18^th of June, and is one of a handful of free shows throughout the festival.

These are just a few of the great shows still to come as the wonderful Cabaret Fringe Festival once again fills the city’s smaller, alternative performance spaces with quality entertainment.

Charles Sanders

Jennifer DeGrassi

Last night’s vignettes of what patrons can expect at this year’s Cabaret Fringe Festival augur well for a strong season when it kicks off on Wednesday with its Royal Gala at the Promethean.

The somewhat alternative Charlie Sanders compared the evening in a striking all leather combination, delighting also with three songs from his show A Modesty Exhibit.

In a sequined evening dress rounded off with a large red rose in her hair, Jennifer DeGrassi gave us a taste of her songs about the most basic of human desires (you know – seduction, jealousy, greed etc) that she will cover in States of Desire.

Annie Siegmann

Annie Siegmann took us a part of her way En Route To Modesty Lane singing songs of humour and sadness, avec ukulele, in a style that many will enjoy from her involvement with Bird Wizdom while Flavella L’Amour started breaking us in with some of the burlesque flavour rife in this year’s program in a gorgeous flowing dress topped off with matching parasol.

Less traditional was Isaac Lomman’s Comedy Hypnosis that promises a captivating hour (which of course you may not remember) and Seb Carboncini’s Wheel of Fortune comedy act which may require his audience to be well and truly in the mood.

Seb Carboncini

Isaac Lomman

Still with those Kate Blanchett carbon tax ads now running there is every chance he will be in luck.

See all our images from last night on Kryztoff’s Facebook page at: Images from Elevate

I was excited to go see a show at this new venue. Arcade Lane is a sweet and quirky place that makes great use of one of Adelaide’s primarily forgotten spaces, the Regent Cinema. The public enter this space through the Arcade Lane, where a bar and stage are set up on the street for the enjoyment of the people. This took me back to the more grungy Fringe of old, and the East End and Orange Lane Markets, that once resided in Adelaide’s warehouse ‘wastelands’.

As the audience filed in we were asked what it is we are scared of, and this was written down on a big sheet of paper. This paper was shown on stage. The performers mixed comedy with juggling, acrobatics, dance and theatre to explore the basis of our fears, and how we can break away from them. They did this by representing metaphors of human fragility, such as running with scissors, juggling with knives, eggs and bottles, and precarious acts of balance and strength that can only be accomplished with a strong element of trust in each other. There were large light globes swinging very low onto the stage that were used as part of the act, which also added to the delicate nature of the body.

The script included discussion of what the performers fear, who they trust, and the experiences that made them that way. The musical backdrop sometimes included a recording of children talking about their individual fears. This element of fear accented the visual balance acts and juggling really well. At the end of the performance, the sheet of paper with all our fears was ripped in half, showing us that these fears are all in our minds, and that our bodies are capable of almost anything, if we wish them to be. Freefall was a high impact, highly entertaining performance.

Kryztoff Rating  5K.

The show opened with a three piece band, The Knife Waltz, taking to the stage and striking up a grungy number, setting the harsh tone for the evening; this was not going to be a classy celebration of the feminine form. Our heroine “The Assassin” (Nikki Nouveau) turned out to be the lead singer of this band and, after some rudimentary cracks of a whip, she took to the microphone with her gravelly voice. While the music was not bad, for much of the night, the lyrics of the songs were hard to discern and this might have added to the incoherence of the piece.

Enter the “Other Woman”, a sexily clad ballerina, whose entire role in the show seemed to be to dance competently around the stage while The Assassin underwent costume changes; though her fan dance was quite charming. In some of these dances she was joined by “The Deceitful Lover”, who would be the object of The Assassin’s rage. Each time The Assassin came on stage, she performed a different sort of segment; the most skillful and impressive of which was her routine using a hoop suspended from the ceiling.

The highlight of the show for me and, based on the levels of applause, most of the audience, was undoubtedly the live band. While this was an interesting, darker take on burlesque, it didn’t really meet the standard one might hope for - both in terms of sensuality and apparatus prowess.

Kryztoff Rating: 2.5K

See all Kryztoff’s previews at www.kryztoff.com and all our reviews here at www.kryztoff.com/RAW and remember also to subscribe for Adelaide’s most up to date reviews. To win free tix, join us also on Facebook and Twitter.

To see reviews of shows not covered by Kryztoff go to BankSA Talkfringe at www.talkfringe.com.au.

I am also extremely claustrophobic. Therefore I will admit that the opening ten minutes of Mothlight, which involved what can best be described as a birthing, were among the most uncomfortable in my life.

Mothlight is certainly unnerving in any event, even for those of us who don’t hyperventilate at the concept of confined spaces. Taking place in substantial darkness, this is a mesmerising display of physical exertion and acrobatics, and the breathtakingly raw intimacy of two primal characters.

While Naomi Francis’ every movement was perfectly controlled, Skye Gellman, the creator of Mothlight appeared to struggle more with the physical demands of the performance. However it is impossible to say whether his audible grunts and sighs were accidental, or an intentional enhancement of the difficulties of human physicality.

Without destroying the magic of the performance, it is difficult to describe Mothlight any further.

It is sufficient to say that this was one of the most original events I have ever been witness to, and that Mothlight is one of those Fringe gambles which can pay off or drastically disappoint you. The most unusual stage set, the mastery of the human body and the sheer originality of ‘Mothlight’ means that for most people this is likely to be a gamble which pays off.

Kryztoff Rating  4.5K

See all Kryztoff’s previews at www.kryztoff.com and all our reviews here at www.kryztoff.com/RAW and remember also to subscribe for Adelaide’s most up to date reviews. To win free tix, join us also on Facebook and Twitter.

To see reviews of shows not covered by Kryztoff go to BankSA Talkfringe at www.talkfringe.com.au.

I have a confession that will make those of you who have heard Christa Hughes live before very jealous: she has played Adelaide twice in the last six months (heading over from the East Coast for the Adelaide International Guitar Festival) and I have been in the audience both times.

With her divine voice, the woman who appears to have done it all – art house cinema star, band member of the brilliantly original band Machine Gun Fellatio in the role of KK Juggy, burlesque performer, member of Circus Oz  -turned up for a sold out show at the Spiegeltent wearing her trademark false eyelashes – and very little else.

A phenomenal blues and jazz singer, Hughes’ voice is amazing, and as somehow who has previously reviewed her work it is difficult to come up with original adjectives which I have not already rhapsodically used to describe her, such as  ‘truly remarkable’, ‘sublime’, and ‘perfect’. ‘Beer Drinking Woman’ confirmed that above all else Hughes is a consummate entertainer, taking the audience – as promised – on a tour through the ecstatic pleasure and the despairing pain that frequently accompanies excessive alcohol consumption.

Ably accompanied on piano by Leonie Cohen, who kept the music simple so that it did not interfere with Hughes’ powerhouse voice, the show was exactly what you want in a cabaret – bawdy, hilarious, groan-inducing, and masterful entertainment . Long-time fans of Christa will be delighted to hear a number of her own compositions, such as ‘Beer Drinking Woman’ and ‘Pig Flu Blues’ as well as many pieces – including a Cold Chisel rendition – which Hughes has appropriated and made her own.

The only negative was that at times aspects of the show distracted from the performance. A section in the middle of the show where Hughes acted out various scenes from classic films in an homage to alcohol went for an overly long time, wasting precious minutes in which that voice could reverb through the theatre again. Similarly, for a show which really required the audience to lounge around in comfortable booths with a bottle – or four – of wine per table, the squished confines of the Spiegeltent were not really appropriate. But these are minor details when Hughes is on stage and there are drinks to be had.

Those who are prudish about alcohol – and other mind-altering pursuits – and are easily offended should probably not go to this show. But then again – it’s not like Hughes pretends to be anything other than a beer (and whiskey. And gin. And wine) drinking woman. And if you do go – you will have a bloody brilliant time. But then everyone who has heard her before already knows that.

Kryztoff Rating  4.5K

See all Kryztoff’s previews at www.kryztoff.com and all our reviews here at www.kryztoff.com/RAW and remember also to subscribe for Adelaide’s most up to date reviews. To win free tix, join us also on Facebook and Twitter.

To see reviews of shows not covered by Kryztoff go to BankSA Talkfringe at www.talkfringe.com.au.

Paul and Christian Reynolds know how to turn on a show, to get a crowd going 19^th century style with good songs and guests, alliterations and innuendo, all at ‘enormous expense.’ Their patter is machine gun like in its delivery, they are consummate performers and the blend of young and old works a treat.

Their stars were also skilled at their trade, which all made for a rousing night of sing-a-long fun with Miss Ruby Fox the stand out. Young performers and those looking to ply a trade in burlesque can do much worse than coming along and observing how professionals do it. Older folk will revel in the much loved and at times bawdy ballads and younger patrons will richly benefit from being immersed in quality cabaret that is local and true to its roots. Oh, they also provide you with song sheets (and the chance to buy cake) so no one will feel at a loss.

We rated it 4Ks last year and see no reason to do differently this year, though some may question why not something a bit higher. Well damn it, we will go higher.

Kryztoff Rating  4.5K

See all Kryztoff’s previews at www.kryztoff.com and all our reviews here at www.kryztoff.com/RAW and remember also to subscribe for Adelaide’s most up to date reviews. To win free tix, join us also on Facebook and Twitter.

To see reviews of shows not covered by Kryztoff go to BankSA Talkfringe at www.talkfringe.com.au.