June 25, 2011<\/p>\n
Cabaret Festival 2011
\nAdelaide Festival Centre
\n until June 25. <\/p>\n
Batt on a Hot Tin Roof
\nBryan Batt
\nFestival Theatre Stage
\nJune 24.
\nThe Basement, Sydney
\nJune 30. Bookings : ??<\/p>\n
Jimmy Webb
\nDunstan Playhouse
\nJune 25.<\/p>\n
Michael Feinstein
\nFestival Theatre
\nJune 25.<\/p>\n
After three weeks the 11th Adelaide Cabaret Festival has ended with plenty to sing about. And in their third , and final, year as directors, David and Lisa Campbell have increased interest, even on last year\u2019s record, with estimated attendances this time of 95,000 with 35 performances sold out. David Campbell has proven a beacon to performers and composers, especially from the US, many of them known to him \u2013 headliners like Bernadette Peters, Natalie Cole and amazingly, on stage introducing his songs with singers form New York and London, Wicked creator Stephen Schwartz. <\/p>\n
This year saw legends Olivia Newton-John and Broadway singer and dancer, Chita Rivera, the original Anita from West Side Story, in her late seventies and still spellbinding with songs from Sweet Charity, Cabaret and Kiss of the Spider Woman. Also, songwriter Jimmy Webb, who was barely twenty when he began writing hits for Glen Campbell, Johnny Rivers and the Fifth Dimension. <\/p>\n
Alone at the piano Webb reminisced about his meetings with remarkable men (and women) with vivid accounts of Waylon Jennings, Judy Collins, Richard Harris and \u201cMr Sinatra\u201d. He is an accomplished raconteur – funny, outspoken, and still in some wonderment at his accomplishments and good fortune. He told stories about being in County Cork with hell-raiser Richard Harris and driving up to Mullholland Drive in his battered VW beetle for an audience with Sinatra. From the many songs he could have chosen \u2013 he chose well : The Moon\u2019s a Harsh Mistress, Galveston and, of course, we finished with the cake out in the rain and the majestic chords of MacArthur Park. <\/p>\n
David Campbell has brought his own signatures to the festival \u2013 especially that neo-retro sharpness and precision that characterizes current New York cabaret style. Bryan Batt, known to TV\u2019s Mad Men fans as insouciant art director Salvatore Romano, delivered an excellent show (splendidly accompanied by pianist Michael Lavine). Batt on a Hot Tin Roof is in part based on shows presented in his native New Orleans after the Katrina disaster.<\/p>\n
Batt is a marvelous performer: witty, smart and most engaging. He told lively stories of his Southern Belle mother, sang familiar songs from Steve Goodman, Petula Clark, Cole Porter and Bacharach, and new work – Pete Mills\u2019 Way Ahead of my Time (The Caveman Song) and William Finn\u2019s Infinite Joy. The highlight was a funny but poignant letter from a young lesbian fan for whom he sang I am What I am from La Cage aux Folles. <\/p>\n
There could have been no better closing show for the festival than Michael Feinstein\u2019s Sings Sinatra. With the 17 piece Adelaide Art Orchestra in hot form behind him, Feinstein was at his virtuosic best with a fresh, vivacious take on the Great American Songbook. Luck be a Lady, All the Way, a Gershwin medley, naturally – the show was dazzling from start to its New York, New York finish. The Cabaret festival is on a high. <\/p>\n
Murray Bramwell<\/p>\n
\u201dYour table\u2019s waiting : laid-back legends put festival on a high\u201d The Australian, June 27, 2011, p.16<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
June 25, 2011 Cabaret Festival 2011 Adelaide Festival Centre until June 25. Batt on a Hot Tin Roof Bryan Batt Festival Theatre Stage June 24. The Basement, Sydney June 30. Bookings : ?? Jimmy Webb Dunstan Playhouse June 25. Michael Feinstein Festival Theatre June 25. After three weeks the 11th Adelaide Cabaret Festival has ended with plenty to sing about. And in their third , and final, year as directors, David and Lisa Campbell have increased interest, even on last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-22","category-archive","category-cabaret"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1745,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions\/1745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}