Scandalous Cabaret is a fusion of Circus, Comedy and Cabaret all rolled into one travelling act in a tent. With a larger cast of twelve performers they advertise their show as a ‘hybrid’ adults only Circus, that delivers a sensually themed collection of acts.
The performance contained many old favourites from the Circus arts however with modern twists. We see the Unicycle, but also a miniature version, a three-wheeled version and a two-story off-centred version. Juggling is another classic, but performed with bounce, movement and up to 7 balls at once.
The absolute standout of the act was the talented Trapeze artist who also performed an aerial act with chains and neck spinning. She was mesmerising, with incredible strength and fluidity of movement. A great commendation is needed for the choreographer of the acts, as every performance had amazing flow of movement and contained many transitions.
The choreography knew when to contrast stillness and movement, and constantly used symmetry between the aerial artists. This was evident across the board, including a contortion routine that contained so much elasticity and smoothness of movement. Another standout was a fire performance containing skin transfers and fire eating. This act had great transitions and practical use of fire palms, bubbles and wands with excellent variation between these things.
The individual circus acts were to an incredibly high standard, where it seems that achieving a continuum would be within their grasp. The dance choreography had a very classic jazz style and made little interludes between acts, which was not unwelcome. There was mention of tracking ‘gossip’ surrounding relationships as a story-line for the performance, but this was quickly forgotten.
It would be nice to see this story-line develop more or play a more active role in the way things are staged. We did get a nice classic jazz number that was sung quite well, it would be nice to see more showcasing of vocal talents in their line-up in the future. The song choices and comedy included in the show feel a little crude and immature, not giving a high-class cabaret feel to the show. It would be good to see the staging and theming evolve to better showcase the fantastic talent contained within their cast.
Overall, Scandalous was not very much so, but a great showcase of fluid choreography and talent. It still proved an entertaining time with nice reinventions of older circus acts, and a large cast of professionals.
Scandalous Cabaret runs 15th November – 14th December.
To book tickets, please visit https://scandalous.com.au/
This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.
