Madame Martha’s Parisian Cabaret is a campy, quirky, delightful emotional roller-coaster ride, that will hit you in all of the feels, over a truly captivating hour of queer joy.
What better place for my first theatre review than my beloved Old Fitz, which I fell in love with with “Cut Chilli”, and have since frequented as a viewer, and even performed in their “Senseless & Fitz” Shakespeare night. The vibe is funky and atmospheric. The bartender very accommodating of requests for a “lemonade top up” when I realised that Negronis may look cool, but taste rather vile.
The welcome is warm as we enter the theatre. The set is very much in line with Parisian cabaret. Deep burgundies and mixed glass lampshades, doorways adorned with “show lights”. I sit in the second row, knowing all spots in this delightfully intimate theatre are a winner.
Then our beautiful trio enter; graceful, careful, flowing and enchanting as they fill they space with their bodies and soon their harmonic voices. With Meg Hickey having absolutely no limits to what can be achieved with those vocal pipes… and an accordion to boot. Their costumes are gorgeous and each artist moves with their own unique elegance as they dance and sing a rendition of “Bad Guy”.
It becomes clear their physical freedom, poetic exploration and musical gifts feed off the shared talent of the trio and their reverie is only broken by the omnipresent, fearsome watchful eye of “Madame Martha”.
The choreography is stunning. Every movement is full-bodied and intentional. There is a collective heart between this troupe that keeps you captivated, entranced and SAFE as deep themes are tackled through the many facets and layers of “cabaret” with a touch of Vaudeville. Be prepared for tits and tips (well, more than that, but I couldn’t resist the alliteration). The actors bare themselves both literally and figuratively on the stage with full abandon and celebration of their forms.
My eyes filled with tears as Iva Rosebud delivered a deeply moving “What Makes A Man A Man” taking us on a heartfelt musical journey.
Jens Radda is giving “Mother” energy and keeping the three of them connected and intertwined throughout.
The crowd favourite was clearly the extraordinary “Pink Pony Club” where the harmonies slayed, and the audience were ready and rearing when it became clear we could now sing and clap along.
This show lets you all the way in and touches you in deep places. It was a delight!
For a one-night-only performance on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, I had the opportunity to enjoy the presentation of The Countertenor—Bach’s Holy Spirit in the sacred surroundings of the Cathedral of St Stephen.
By going along to witness this performance of The Countertenor, I also discovered that a Countertenor is the male equivalent of a female alto singer. The Cathedral of St Stephen in Elizabeth Street is a very beautiful place to set a show featuring mainly Johann Sebastian Bach’s Baroque music. The venue’s reverent atmosphere and remarkable acoustics made it the perfect setting for a program steeped in spiritual and musical traditions.
Madeleine Easton is the Artistic Director of Bach Akadamie Australia and an extremely talented violinist. She has brought Reginald Mobley, an American Counter Tenor, on a tour of Australia, along with several other talented musicians: Simone Slattery (violin), Heather Lloyd (viola), Anthea Cottee (Cello), and Neal Peres Da Costa.
Together, they breathed life into J.S. Bach’s most religious works, some of which are universally considered to be among the greatest works the world has ever heard. Along with Bach’s existential works, Indigenous Australian composer Troy Russell was commissioned to write a piece inspired by Bach, which was also performed on the night.
The program title references the Lutheran theological belief that the alto voice represents the Holy Ghost—a voice that Bach reserved for some of his most heartfelt and moving compositions. The evening’s performance featured a selection of these sacred pieces, showcasing the purity and emotional resonance of Reginald Mobley’s voice, whose background also includes gospel and jazz.
The lyrics were all in German, but if you wanted to know what the words meant, they were written in English alongside the German in the programme. Madeleine Easton has done a wonderful job of arranging the music to suit the ensemble she presented. Classical music lovers filled the space, enraptured by the performance, and gave them a well-deserved standing ovation at the end of the evening.
The evening’s repertoire included:
Cantata BWV 170, aria 1: ‘Vergnügte ruh’
Obbligato Sonata No. 2 in A Major, BWV 1015
Cantata BWV 82, aria 3: ‘Schlummert ein’
Largo and Allegro Assai from Sonata no. 3 in C major, BWV 1005
Agnus Dei from Mass in B minor, BWV 232
Aria from BWV 201: ‘Aufgeblasne Hitze’
‘Clans’ by Troy Russell, arranged for solo violin by Madelaine Easton
The Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir Rating
★★★★★
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“Try connection, try love, try understanding: it will fill your hearts with joy and change your life!” This plea from the heart of Morris Stuart, Artistic Director of the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir (CAAWC), could be the catchcry of this unique ensemble. The values of connection, love and understanding underpin the choir’s history and allowed two seemingly disparate cultures to find a common ground in singing. German Lutherans arrived in Hermannsburg/Ntaria, NT, in 1877 bringing hymns of faith. They collaborated with Western Arrarnta people to the translate the hymns into Western Arrarnta language. The old musical form from overseas merged with the old language of the interior, and both were preserved in a new form by four generations of Western Arrarnta women, some of whom are singing in the choir today.
The significance of this preservation, particularly for a threatened Aboriginal language, is revealed in Naina Sen’s documentary “The Songkeepers” (2017), available on SBS, which followed the CAAWC’s 2015 journey to Germany to sing sometimes forgotten hymns to the churches that originally sent them, in the languages of Western Arrarnta and Pitjantjatjara 140 years later.
The CAAWC performed at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Sunday 23rd March to a very supportive audience. The choir of 25 members (including four men) have a very distinct sound due to the thick, guttural, nasal quality that is the preferred vocal timbre of Aboriginal musicians. The hymn arrangements from the time of Bach to early Romantic period take on a new life with this tonal quality and use of Central Australian Aboriginal languages. Every song was infused with joy and there was an artlessness about the performance that engaged me in its honesty.
Most of the sacred songs were Lutheran hymns with lyrics translated into Western Arrarnta or Pitjantjatjara. With Aboriginal languages increasingly endangered, this choir and its members are living history. To be able to sing for us in their first language is a privilege that has had to be fought for. It is a continuing conversation about culture and language preservation that the choir invites us to have. Artistic Director, Morris Stuart, reminded us that Areyonga/Utju’s 50 years of bilingual education program in the NT had to be fought for, even to the point of involving the Human Right’s Commission.
I was particularly interested the two sacred songs in the repertoire that were original compositions. One was written in 1921 by Western Arrarnta elders, Moses Tjalkapurta and Johannes Ntjalka in the style of a traditional ceremonial chant (3- line chant) with modern harmonic elements. Some of the choir members are their descendants.
The other original song was “Godanya” written by Carolyn Windy, her niece Petrina Windy (both choir members) and Adelaidean Holly Webb. It celebrates the Holy Trinity – God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To me this song was the highlight of the evening. The influence of hymn was there in its strophic form and diatonic harmony. However, the synergy of words and melody was remarkably seamless and the simple homophonic texture gradually grew into a wall of sound, unified and balanced, with no unnecessary movement. There was a power in its compositional simplicity that moved me. The choir was particularly of one voice in this song – my guess is that it must be one of their favourites – like one person breathing. In a later conversation with Morris Stuart, he agreed that it is the choir’s “tour de force”. It is more original songs like this that I look forward to hearing in the future.
Apart from the early Romantic style hymns and original sacred songs, we were treated to a Bach Chorale conducted by teacher, linguist and author, David Roennfeldt, as well as two German rounds with Western Arrarnta lyrics by Lily Roennfeldt.
There was also a short set of three more familiar songs which were beautifully supported by collborative pianist, Marten Visser. The audience were taught Western Arrarnta words to Kumbayah and invited to sing along. Waltzing Matilda showcased the choir’s storytelling ability and humour. But the most memorable was “We Are Australian”, sung in Western Arrarnta language. We were invited to simultaneously sing the last chorus in English and the connection between choir and audience was palpable. We rose to our feet to give a heartfelt standing ovation.
For me, the word that sums up the CAAWC and this performance is connection. At one point, Stuart asked for the house lights to come up so they could see who they were singing to. They waved to us as they exited the stage singing, and we waved back, our hearts filled with joy, and then went out to meet them in person in the foyer.
The Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir is made up of members of six remote community choirs from Ntaria, Areyonga, Titjikala, Mutitjulu, Docker River and Mission Block, Alice Springs. This tour is produced by Margot Teele from Andrew Kay and Associates Pty Ltd and includes Nuriootpa, Womadelaide, Bunbury, Perth, Canberra, Melbourne, Brunswick, Sydney and Bateman’s Bay.
A balm in a troubled world, the Live at Yours concert at the Melbourne Recital Centre, featuring Yamen Saadi and Simon Tedeschi, offered the perfect balance of virtuosic excellence and relaxed charm.
Live at Yours is an organisation born out of the necessities of the Covid era, originally focused on bringing intimate performances from top-quality artists to lounge rooms across Australia. Delightfully, they have managed to maintain that personal, accessible style as they expand their audiences into concert halls. The evening was compered by Live at Yours founder Vladimir Fanshil, who also served as page-turner for Tedeschi. His casual, conversational manner was immediately disarming and set the tone for a fun and friendly evening, drawing the audience into the world of the artists.
The program of music was expertly chosen, featuring works that famous composer and violinist Fritz Kreisler had either composed, arranged or performed. Kreisler’s works tended to be short and virtuosic, keeping the pace of the concert humming along. The 90-minute performance felt like 30-minutes and the standing ovation at the end of the night showed that the audience would have happily stayed for another 90.
Kreisler’s music showcased the impeccable technical prowess of Yamen Saadi, Concertmaster for the Vienna Philharmonic. Despite being (just) 27, Saadi has already performed across the globe in venues and festivals such as Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie, Rheingau Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Pau Casals Festival, Jerusalem Festival and Schloss Elmau. Saadi played on the 1734 ‘Lord Amherst of Hackney’ Stradivari violin, previously owned by Fritz Kreisler, and the sound of the instrument was undeniably exquisite. However, it must be said that Saadi could have made a cigar box with strings pulled across it sound exquisite, given his musical mastery.
It almost goes without saying that Simon Tedeschi’s playing at the piano was magnificent. Nobody would have expected any less, given his reputation as one of the world’s most thoughtful and expressive pianists. In this performance, Tedeschi certainly did not disappoint, and the audience was treated to a masterclass of collaborative excellence as the piano and violin shone together on the stage. Of particular note was Tedeschi’s control and lyricism in Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 3, a fiendishly difficult piece that Grieg himself debuted in 1886.
When attending concerts given by artists at this level, you can often feel the pretension and self-importance oozing off the stage. Let’s be honest: this is usually earned, given the tremendous talent of the performers and the phenomenal work they put into reaching the top of their industries. However, when you see a magical performance from artists such as Tedeschi and Saadi, which prioritises musical storytelling and connection with the audience, you realise just how good a concert can be.
I couldn’t fault this show. The talent was abundant and effortless, and the presentation was confident and engaging. I eagerly look forward to seeing more from Live at Yours and their stable of artists. This is Yamen Saadi’s debut tour of Australia, and I certainly hope it will not be his last.
