A Few of My Favourite Men for one night only in Sydney

 

 

So y’all might have noticed I don’t post too much publicity here ahead of events anymore. This is because

 

a) I am time poor

 

b) I am poor

 

We bloggers and writers take time to write stuff – the sort of time that you spend doing your job that pays you by the hour – and sometimes, like when there are bills to pay and artists to treat on Hastings Street, we need an incentive that is a little more inspiring than, “I’d love you to share this with your networks”. However, there are times when I’m happy to copy and paste stuff for a cause or a company I feel strongly about (otherwise you can enquire about my rates to promote your show or special event. I thank you). The Corrilee Foundation is a fave of mine.

 

 

Our good friend, Tanya Lee, has always done incredible work with The Corrilee Foundation (you’ll remember One Night In Emerald City, which gave me another chance to work with the professional Sydney cast of a David Williamson play in our favourite destination to make and stage a show, Noosa), and this month she’s staging an extra special event, featuring a few of her favourite men on stage together for one night only, next week on August 12 at the basement, Sydney.

 

So far the impressive line up includes Wil Anderson, Mikey Robins, Tim Rogers, Tony Squires, Dave Field, Geoff Morrell, Terry Serio, Jeff Duff, Peter Northcote, Dario Bortolin, Lloyd G & Greg Agar. 

 

The Evening will include Auction Items and Raffle Prizes.

 

Join Tanya Lee and a few of her favourite men for an evening of live music, banter and awesome images from Tony Mott

 

 

All funds raised will assist the Mirabel Foundation in its vital work to support children orphaned or abandoned due to parental illicit drug use.

 

The Mirabel Foundation was established in Victoria in 1998. It is the only organisation in Australia specifically addressing the needs of children who have been orphaned or abandoned due to parental drug use.

 

The tragedy of drug‐related deaths is compounded by the children left behind. Children without family may find themselves in foster care, sometimes separated from their siblings. Many go into the care of extended family (kinship care), usually with elderly grandparents who have little or no financial or social support. These are Mirabel children.

 

Mirabel is currently supporting over 1400 children and young people, the most profoundly overlooked casualties of substance abuse in our society.

 

“My Daddy is always sick and his medicine makes him sleepy.” Tahana, 3 years

 

Tahana is 3 years old and has recently moved to live with her great aunt Ruby. Her Mum is in prison for drug-related crime and her Dad is unable to care for her due to his addiction to drugs. Tahana knows a lot for a 3 year old and has remarkable survival skills. She can find a way to reach food in the highest of cupboards and can work the DVD player like a teenager.

 

Ruby was asked to care for Tahana when Child Protection found her wandering the streets looking for food. Ruby is committed to the long-term health and happiness of Tahana and says that she wants her to have a normal childhood. She has started attending Mirabel’s kinship carer support groups where she has met lots of people in a similar situation to herself.

 

Tahana and Ruby spent a cherished weekend together at Mirabel House where they strengthened their relationship away from the stresses of day to day living. They are looking forward to the next Family Day where Tahana can begin to make friends with children just like her – friendships that Ruby hopes will continue when Tahana is old enough to join Mirabel’s Recreation Program and Therapeutic Children’s Groups.

 

 

You can support the amazing work the Mirabel Foundation do with kids like Tahana and have a terrific night out with friends when you join Tanya Lee and a few of her favourite men at the basement next week.

 

Book tickets here

 

 

 

 

Your Theatrics International Cabaret Contest Winners 2015

 

Eleven finalists took to the stage at the 2015 Your Theatrics International Cabaret Contest (YTICC) Grand Final at The Basement in Sydney last Saturday night. Heat winners from Adelaide, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Melbourne, Auckland, and Sydney came together to compete for the chance to win a career changing prize package.

 

Judges for the evening included Adelaide Cabaret Festival Executive Producer John Glenn, Noosa Long Weekend Artistic Director Ian MacKellar, Ballarat Cabaret Festival Artistic Director Graeme Russell, Tasmania Cabaret Festival Executive Producer Lucinda Wilson, Founder and Executive Director of Grayboy Entertainment Graeme Gillies, and Principal Sponsors and YTICC Patrons Ron and Margaret Dobell, who collectively had the unenviable task of deciding on a winner from the talented pool assembled.

 

After an exceptional evening of cabaret, Adelaide entrant Michaela Burger won the judges vote and became the newest cabaret sensation in Australasia, with Melbourne entrant Noni McCallum taking the runner-up title for 2015.

 

Contest Producer Jeremy Youett said, “The heats this year were incredibly strong across the board and the judges at the Grand Final truly had their work cut out for them as a result! It was incredible to see so many talented artists continuing to develop and present a vast array of ideas and styles across Australia and New Zealand and especially to see the growth of artists who returned to the Contest from previous years”.

 

The full line-up of additional finalists included Adelaide winners David Gauci, Brisbane winner Judy Hainsworth, Sunshine Coast winner Jenny Wynter, additional Melbourne winners Bethany Simons with Peter de Jager, from Auckland, Cherie Moore with Robin Kelly along with Sydney winners Jaimie Leigh Johnson, Ben Hudson, Shondelle Pratt, and Dash Kruck.  Previous contest winners Sheridan Harbridge and Marika Aubrey co-hosted and performed during the evening, which also included special performances from previous contest winners Nick Christo, Toby Francis, and last year’s winner Melody Beck.

One of two winners from the Adelaide heat held on January 5^th, Burger’s eight-minute cabaret snapshot presented audiences with an excerpt from her show, Exposing Edith.  The show explores the life of Edith Piaf through her songs and experiences, and audiences can expect to hear re-imagined, contemporary re-workings of Piaf’s music in her solo show, including favourites such as La Vie En Rose. Burger and collaborator/guitarist Greg Wain are now preparing to tour the show extensively in the coming year as part of their prize package. Runner-up Noni McCallum presented the audience with a hilarious and touching insight into what it’s like to be a woman in her thirties looking for love, incorporating You Can’t Hurry Love and The IKEA Song, among other interludes.

The major prize package includes the opportunity for the winner to present their show at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, with flights and accommodation for their appearance to the value of $3000 contributed by The Ron and Margaret Dobell Foundation, a booking on an Australia/Pacific cruise ship courtesy of Grayboy Entertainment, a cash prize of $1000, a photographic package from Blueprint Studios valued at $1000, a music theatre and cabaret music package from Hal Leonard, as well as tour publicity from AussieTheatre.com which will spotlight the creative process as Burger continues to develop and tour her show throughout the year. The runner-up takes home a $500 cash prize, and a photographic package from Blueprint Studios valued at $500.  Each act will also be extended various performance opportunities from our Major Festival Partners including the Cabaret Festivals of Adelaide, Melbourne, Ballarat, and Queensland, as well as the Festival of Voices in Tasmania and the Noosa Long Weekend Festival, which all guarantee flights and accommodation.

Wrecking Ball

 

 

Wrecking Ball

Brisbane Powerhouse

Visy Theatre

May 28 – 31 2014

 

Hannah Montana is dead.

 

The postmortem is inconclusive. Natural causes? Or hot-mess murder gone platinum?
Childhood friend Miley returns home to Nashville for the wake. Forget the funeral, it’s the party she’s come for.
In this open letter to you – her pouters and doubters – Miley takes a sledge hammer to Disney dreams, teen idols and tabloid fantasies.

 

This is one eulogy you’ll kill to see.

 

Wrecking Ball hails from the creators of the critically acclaimed Rumour Has It: Sixty Minutes Inside Adele and is the ultimate coming of age party, starring Naomi Price.

 

We saw Wrecking Ball at Brisbane Powerhouse in May. This is the new show from brazen creative team, Adam Brunes and Naomi Price; the perfect precursor that night to Rhonda Burchmore’s Vinyl Viagra.

 

Wrecking Ball came at us hard and fast…gently, and left me feeling like I knew Miley – and Naomi – a little better.

 

 

Look, I’m no Smiler but I’m a big fan of our super talented friends, so when Adam Brunes and Naomi Price told us after the final Adele show last year that the subject of their next creative process was to be Miley Cyrus I tried to be optimistic. In truth, I was skeptical, and more than a little scared for them. Miley? Really? Was Brisbane ready to twerk? Was there even an hour’s worth of material to Miley’s story? Well of course there was, and there’s more – much more – to this show than the token twerk. It’s quite an unexpected result.

 

In the hands of less intelligent, less compassionate creatives we might suffer through a cheap, crass parody. Instead, we’re treated to deeper insight into the imagined world of Miley, and what we can only imagine might be a very real part of Price’s world.

 

Wrecking Ball somehow avoids delivering an over simplified slut and strut success story, opting instead for a sensitive exploration of what makes Miley tick. And twerk. A rather unorthodox premise establishes that Hannah Montana is dead and we’re all in attendance at her wake in a barn with a band dressed in denim and cowboy boots. Brilliant! And we love the band! (Mik Easterman, Andrew Johnson, Michael Manikus, Jason McGregor and Rachel Everett-Jones. In Rachel’s absence this weekend, Georgie Prestipino will be appearing).

 

 

But what actually is it about Naomi Price? Her voice is perfection, her booty is hot, and her allure is electric to say the least, letting us in on a whole new level of energy and sophistication, regardless of the role. And she’s a master of mimicry without losing anything of herself. I’m not sure how she does it. And I don’t think it can be taught. However, what Price offers is a masterclass in what I’ve been hashtagging #neocabaret. No, it’s not the dark, gypsy, gothic Diabolical Streaks style (it doesn’t need to be); it’s a brand new and bold cabaret, which sets its own ground rules and then sets out to break them.

 

 

So many moments are suggestive of this intuitive new approach to “cabaret”, its traditional shape, form and feeling, but let’s use just one. Achy Breaky Heart, rather than being the pinnacle comical moment, is presented as the moment of Miley’s father’s heartbreak. We know the opening to the song and I feel the full house collectively cringe, but we feel compassion rather than pity, and we’re struck with sympathy rather than hilarity. It’s a magical moment, a mood changer, and Brunes and Price do it every time. (In Rumour Has It: Sixty Minutes Inside Adele it was most noticeable in Daydreamer).

 

This show is an unusual expression of celebrity, challenging us to accept and forgive the quirks rather than judging and condemning them.

 

Wrecking Ball will return, it will tour, and already, in its debut, this show has reinforced Naomi Price’s place at the top of the Australian cabaret tree. At the same time, we’ve found new respect for Miley Cyrus along the way. Hannah Montana not so much.

 

For one night only, catch Naomi Price as Miley Cyrus inWrecking Ball at The Basement, The Arts Centre Gold Coast 8pm TONIGHT!

 

 

Your Theatrics International Cabaret Contest Finalists Announced!

 

Not one but TWO Queenslanders will perform on Friday night at The Basement in Sydney! Jessica Papst, winner of the Brisbane heat and Jenny Wynter, winner of the Melbourne heat! I think it’s fair that we still claim her!

 

THIS GUY

 

Jeremy Youett is the guy behind Your Theatrics International Cabaret Contest. It was fun to catch up with him in Brisbane and inspiring to chat with him about how far this contest has come, and how it’s helped not only its winners, but performers who have been involved in the many heats.

 

Sydney heat winners Melody Beck, Sarah Gaul, Brendan Hay, Monique Salle, and audience vote winner Ben Hudson will be joined by inaugural Adelaide heat winner Candy Chambers (aka Jamie Jewell), Brisbane winner Jessica Papst, Melbourne winner Jenny Wynter, Auckland heat winner Joanna Millett and wild-card Ivy Lucille.

 

Prizes this year include the opportunity for the winner to present their newly devised solo show at The Noosa Long Weekend Festival, Slide Lounge Cabaret Festival, and the cabaret festivals of Adelaide, Melbourne, Ballarat, Queensland, and Tasmania respectively. Each gig includes the flights and accommodation for the artist and musical director. The winner also receives a website for their show, headshots and $1000, courtesy of the Ron and Margaret Dobell Foundation. The Foundation will also provide flights and accommodation to the value of $3000 enabling the winner to travel to the United States to present their show at the prestigious New York Musical Theatre Festival.

 

The Grand Final will be held at The Basement in Sydney this Friday 17 January. The judging panel for the evening includes Producer of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival Torben Brookman, Artistic Director of the Noosa Long Weekend Festival Ian MacKellar, Ballarat Cabaret Festival Artistic Director Graeme Russell, Entertainment Producer of Slide Lounge Jeremy Brennan, and Executive Producer of the Tasmania Cabaret Festival Lucinda Wilson. Previous contest winner Sheridan Harbridge and acclaimed Australian musical theatre performer Michael Cormick will co-host the evening, which promises to be an exceptional evening of entertainment that will also include special guest performances from previous winners Bradley McCaw and Toby Francis, as well as cabaret performer Cath Alcorn and entertainer extraordinaire Trevor Ashley.

 

Each contestant’s fate will be decided by a combination of judges’ scores as well as an audience vote, so by voting for your favourite performer, you could help them become the next winner, securing the largest prize package in YTICC history!