The Cabaret Room

What happens when every document, every bathroom, every community seems to want you to ‘decide’, and none of the binaries seem to fit? ARTEMIS: UTTER MESS creator and performer, Artemis Munoz talks about her one-enby show, armed with its original music, humour, and big heart, to break out of (tick)boxes and into self-acceptance.

Ellen Grimshaw and Alice Stewart share with listeners a story of all the girls in the world – the ones you’re lucky to know, the one’s you’re yet to meet and the ones you’ll unfortunately never meet! JUST US GIRLS WHAT’S A GIRL? celebrates our grief, our wit, our individualism, our incredible ideas, and our smart-ass-sexy-ass-big-ass-small-ass-white-ass-black-ass-turquoise-ass stories!

Luke Belle reminisces about the good old days through a wacky lens in I’M NOT EVEN MAD ABOUT IT. Growing up in country Victoria with a truck driving step dad whose military parenting techniques made Luke long for the times where finger knitting and pressing flowers with nan were an afternoon treat…suddenly the lowlights become the highlights.

Jem Nicholas‘ one-woman show, CHILD’S PLAY is an endearing adventure that draws together epic archetypal characters to make you laugh, cry, and feel truly connected to the self, held warmly in the over-sized and slightly pointed claws of a big, black wolf. See physical theatre and animal work like you’ve never seen before in a new Australia play that is fabulously alive and ambitious.

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Brendan Wan joined the Cabaret Room to talk about his show, SWEET & SOUR DILEMMAS.  This hilarious heartfelt one-act play, created and performed by Brendan, centres on Chef Chung, owner and head chef of the Happy Dragon Chinese Restaurant in regional Victoria.  After emigrating to Australia a few years ago, the reality has not met his expectations and now faces an important decision – should he stay and endure the hardships as an immigrant or go back to where he came from?

Jess McGuire and Emma Smith are hosting the OFF OFF OFF BROADWAY KARAOKE during Melbourne Fringe.  Expect a rapturous night of collective euphoria, where the character arcs are dramatic, the lyric videos are still pretty random, and everyone becomes a star performing songs from the great musicals of all time….in karaoke form!

WRATH, writen and directored by Liam Maguire, is a deliciously satirical rollercoaster that threatens to go full pelt off the rails. What is the cost of “making it?” What do we sacrifice in staying silent?  Who do we become on the brink of our humanity? This subversive trip down the rabbit-hole promises a no holds barred attack on the powers that influence us. Delectably black and shamelessly irreverent, this new work from an explosive ensemble is not to be missed.

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Jack Lynch says ‘there’s a Sylvia Plath quote for every occasion’ and CONFESSIONS FROM A BELL JAR is evidence of that. Jack joins the Cabaret Room to talk about his show, how it has developed over time and what he hopes the audience will get from the production.

Sunanda Sachatrakul’s debut solo show, HOW GAY AM I? is a comedic storytelling about coming out and ‘what if’ scenarios. Sunanda is an adopted, 3rd generation Punjabi who was raised in Thailand. She asks what would my life had been if I was adopted in England? If I was raised in the orphanage? Sunanda talks about her background, the art storytelling and creating structure within stand-up comedy.

FANTASTIC BREASTS (AND WHERE TO FIND THEM) is a ‘nerdlesque’ romp for Harry Potter fans. “Dumbledaddy has summoned the trio for a very important mission. Someone has let lose multiple dangerous and saucy magical creatures and they’re threatening to expose more than just the Wizarding World…” Luna Envy and Rosie Roulette join the team to talk about the inspiration for the show, the creative process and the acts that form this ‘Potter Parody’.

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In the Cabaret Room this week, we spoke to Teddy Darling who hosted a fabulous WEAR IT PURPLE DAY CABARET at Hares and Hyenas, to raise awareness about queer mental health.  Tash York speaks about her latest show BADASS, a parody of songs, improvised raps, hilarious true stories & a whole lot of heart.  Jacci Pillar‘s show TICKETS ON MYSELF is a critical social intersectional commentary on the joys of not being normal, because normal is so last century.  And Cabaret Room co-host, Colin talks about the latest round of FUNNY MUSIC MONDAYS hosted by PickUp at the Butterfly Club.

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This week the Cabaret Room features live recordings from music theatre and cabaret shows, many recorded in the amazing New York City cabaret venue 54 Below.

Music in this episode includes: Rock and Roll Nerd (Tim Minchin), Hand In My Pock (Annaleigh Ashford), Martha (Norbert Leo Butz), Before the Parade Passes By (Sierra Boggess), Let It Sing (Billy Porter), Starry Eyed and Video Games (Laura Bernadi), Falling Slowly (Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp), Nights on Broadway (Patti Lupone), Seeing You (Andy Karl), One Song Glory (ArronTveit), Mamma Will Provide (Kecia Lewis), and Who Will Love Me As I Am (Sideshow Original Cast).

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I HAVE DREAMED is a pathway to Adrian Li Donni‘s dream. The show is a fundraiser to support his move into opera by studying at the Wales International Academy of Voice in Cardiff. Far from being a minor step, Adrian talks about how performing opera is different and the support he has received in getting his show up and running in Melbourne.

Lucy Gransbury‘s cabaret show DRAMA premiered at Adelaide Fringe last year and picked up a Best Cabaret Award to boot. Drama is a non-boring cabaret representing the “biggest juxtaposition in life: I want to be really famous actor but in reality my life is really boring!”

Music in this episode includes: Summertime (Audra McDonald), If I Didn’t Believe in You (The Last 5 Years), Love vie en rose (Adrian Li Donni), Seeing You (Groundhog Day), and You’ll be a Newfoundlander (Come From Away).

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We feature COME FROM AWAY once again in this episode – the musical inspired from the events of the morning of 9 September 2001 when the terror attacks took place in New York. Darren catches up with Beverly Bass who was an American Airlines pilot who was instructed to fly her plane off course to land in Gander Newfoundland located on the east coast of Canada. We also hear from Natalie Barr who was on air the night when September 11 was unfolding in the United States; Claude Elliott who was serving as the Mayor of Gander at the time; and Chloe Dallimore and Janice Goudie who walked the red carpet on the night.

Musically we feature Not For the Life of Me (Sutton Foster), Never Tear Us Apart (Ali McGregor), Full Circle (Phia), Welcome to the Rock (Come From Away), Down With Love (Sutton Foster), Darkside (Tim Minchin), and Do The Work (Prince of Broadway).

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Lulu McClatchy popped into the Cabaret Room to chat about her upcoming show, SUPERGIRLY. Lulu talks about the show, what audiences can expect, and working with ‘Bradley Cooper’ and Elton John. The show is a breast cancer fundraiser.

Darren attended the opening night of COME FROM AWAY and chatted with a couple of special guests on the night. On the morning of the September 11 2001 terror attacks, a number of passenger planes were diverted to Gander, located on the small Canadian island of Newfoundland. Diane Davis was a Gander resident who answered the call to take care of the 770 people whose planes were diverted to the small town. Kevin Jung was returning from Europe with his partner (also named Kevin) and had their plane diverted to Gander. They talk about their experiences on the day, how it has changed their life and how they have become involved with the Come From Away musical.

Music from Moulin Rouge, Come From Away and Priscilla.

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The 2019 Helpmann Awards were recently held in Melbourne for the first time, at the Arts Centre on St Kilda Road. Recognising distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in the areas of musical theatre, cabaret, opera, classical music, and dance (to name a few), the Helpmann Awards also incorporate the JC Williamson and Sue Nattrass Awards for outstanding contribution to the Australian live performance industry.

Darren hit the red carpet and chatted to Lucy Durack, Blake Bowden and Joel Granger, Bobby Fox, John Wood, co-hosts Susie Youssef and Mitchell Butel, Muriel’s Wedding the Musical composers Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall, Rhonda Burchmore, Esther Hannaford and Matt Lee.

Music in this episode includes: Disco Inferno (Saturday Night Fever), Stick it to the Man (School of Rock), Blackout (In the Heights), When Willy Met Oompa (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and A True Friend (Muriel’s Wedding).

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To mark the 50 year anniversary of the landing on the moon, Ross Daniels presents an anthology of character sketches through a feel-good tale that blends sci-fi, satire and music. One Small Trip centres on a cut-rate Australian space agency that has “decided to return us to the moon. Thing is they’re only sending people they think are expendable.”

Out Cast Theatre production, Bitch, Antigone is a wicked retelling of the Greek classic by Sophocles. Steven Dawson chats with the Cabaret Room about writing the play and where the for this play came from. The play has several diversions from the original as “three desperate, confused actors attempt to claim the glittering prize at the Dionysian Drama Festival without killing each other first or launching into Barbra Streisand numbers”.

Music in this episode includes: My Husband Makes Movies (Tina Arena), Zing went the Strings of my Heart (Caroline O’Connor), Pure Imagination (Rhonda Burchmore), Call Me Irresponsible (Dave Campbell), Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me) (Anthony Warlow), Maybe This Time (Tina Arena), Blue Skies / Let’s Face the Music and Dance (Lucy Maunder), and Lily’s Eyes (Anthony Warlow)

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