cabaret - Whats The Show

Colour and Light: The Art of Sondheim

21/09/2025 Adam Miller🥉

Colour and Light: The Art of Sondheim Rating

★★★★★

Click if you liked this article

Buckle in. There is going to be a lot of hyperbole in this review. When something is this good, how else can you describe it?

Colour and Light: The Art of Sondheim, presented by Watch This at Theatre Works, is less a musical revue and more a velvet-draped love letter to the genius of Sondheim. It’s the kind of show that slips under your skin, reshapes your idea of what cabaret can be and sets a new standard for how theatre should be made.

Theatre Works is perfect venue for this show. It balances epic with intimate, using the high ceiling to hang long luscious drapes but keeping the audience close enough that we felt every word on the stage. Designer Rob Sowinski has conjured a stage that feels like a plush, lived-in lounge room (art deco drinks trolley and all) with a circle of tiered staging, bathed in the soft glow of vintage table lamps. It’s intimate and luxurious.

What follows is a breathtaking journey through Sondheim’s songbook. Yes, the big numbers are here, but so are the deep cuts and the “why-don’t-more-people-sing-this?” gems. I’m sure Sondheim diehards will know that he wrote songs for the 1990 film, Dick Tracy, but I had no idea and it was a revelation to hear music from the soundtrack on the stage. The show flows with purpose and precision, thanks to the clean, intelligent direction of Melanie Hillman and Dean Drieberg, whose love of the material radiates through every moment. The loose thematic arc is shaped around Seurat’s artistic principles of Order, Design, Tension, Balance, Harmony. The structure gives the evening clarity without ever feeling constrained or contrived. This is cabaret at its best.

And then there’s the music.

Dr Trevor Jones, who arranges, musically directs and performs from the piano, is the beating heart at the centre of the piece. His arrangements are stunning. They are lush, showy when needed, simple when called for and always with a focus on the emotional truth of the songs. This is some of the finest musical storytelling I’ve heard on a Melbourne stage and reminds me why, when done well, musical theatre is one of the greatest art forms ever.

Johanna Allen is a master of her craft. Her ability to navigate the razor-thin line between vocal fireworks and emotional restraint is unmatched. She brings a knowingness to the stage that draws the audience in and lets us share the humour and pathos in all of her delivery. There are countless moments she channels such precision and ache that you could feel the entire theatre holding its breath. This is vocal acting of the highest order.

Vidya Makan broke my heart multiple times across the night. There’s an emotional directness to her performance that’s magnetic. Her choices are always fresh, never predictable and she elevates everything she touches with nuance and grace. Her I’m Still Here was a stand out moment in a evening of stand out moments. She gave us an exquisitely rendered journey from introspective calm to triumphant exuberance with countless little gut-punches along the way.

Nick Simpson-Deeks, as ever, delivers with polish and pinpoint clarity. He finds the architecture in each song, builds it, then knocks it down with a smirk or a sigh. It looks effortless, but this has to have been crafted and perfected over years. His Send in the Clowns has ruined every other version for me. Honestly. It needs to be bottled and prescribed to every aspiring performer and every audience member. It is good for the soul.

Jacob Rozario brings vibrant charisma and thrilling musicality. They shift gears effortlessly from the ridiculous to the sublime and their voice is an instrument of total control and warmth. There wasn’t a moment when their performance wasn’t a captivating blend of playful, detailed and vocally dazzling. His delivery of Can That Boy Foxtrot will stay with me for a long time.

Colour and Light: The Art of Sondheim elicited a palpable love in the room, not just for Sondheim, but for collaboration, for precision, for joy. The audience left buzzing, visibly moved and audibly delighted. As for me? I’ve already booked to see it again.

This is one of the finest tributes to Sondheim I’ve seen anywhere in the world. Don’t miss it.

To book tickets to Colour and Light: The Art of Sondheim , please visit https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2025/colour-and-light.

Photographer: Ben Fon

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Absolute Trash

19/09/202519/09/2025 Mark Hobgood🥉

Absolute Trash Rating

★★★★★

Click if you liked this article

Bawdy, bendy and bootylicious.

Glitter Martini have brought Absolute Trash down from the Gold Coast for a short run at the Sydney Fringe, following sparkly five-star reviews at the Adelaide Fringe.

We live in a world surrounded by trash. Bin juice, trash pandas, floating garbage islands, and the toxic waste dump that passes for social media. When was the last time you said that your life is a dumpster fire? (Confession: last Wednesday for me.)

Absolute Trash gleefully up-cycles our garbage mountain planet with eye-popping circus, wacky comedy and bawdy cabaret.

It’s nice the get the word bawdy out of the house. It’s usually stuck at home doing debauched crochet while the sexier words like saucy and spicy get invited out to play.

If you want to, you can take it easy, sit back and watch, but part of the joy of a Glitter Martini show is their love of playing with their audience. You are invited to share your trashiest stories by text at the start of the show.

Director and performer, Darcie Rae, loves creating a real feeling of connection between the audience and performers. She has fashioned a joyous audience-driven, interactive experience that uses comedy to disarm you as it seductively draws you into the show.

Natrasha Binit, the Duchess of Debauchery, the Queen of Trash, is your incomparable compère for the night. They’re taller than Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch but they share his love of trash and trashy things, with a green plastic wig and a Chanel little black bin bag dress.

Trent Charles, as Natrasha, is the beautiful mutant lovechild of Cara Delevingne and a Monster High doll. You know, in a good way.

Tangly contortionist Bendy Elle spends the show upside down, in the air, inside out and tied up in knots. While smiling impishly.

It’s not every night that nimble and sculpted aerial artists like Miss Amy May and Darcie Rae take to hoops and trapeze, sharing a stage with puppet bin chickens.

I will go to my grave remembering the look of sheer disbelief on an audience member’s guide dog’s face as it stared up at two puppet bin chickens dancing, with squeaky rubber chickens, to Burt Bacharach, ably puppeteered by Charlie Love in platform PVC boots.

That is a sentence I never thought I’d write. And the rubber chicken can-can is a weird, wild and wonderful thing that you need to experience in the flesh.

Absolute Trash ticks all your sustainable boxes in a consensual way you weren’t expecting.

Glitter Martini’s Absolute Trash is part of the Sydney Fringe, playing at Fool’s Paradise, The Bunker, Entertainment Quarter until 21 September

To book tickets to Absolute Trash, please visit https://sydneyfringe.com/events/absolute-trash/.

Photographer: Josephine Carter, Taylor Scott

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Twisted Tales

16/09/2025 Steve Willems🥈🦉

Twisted Tales Rating

★★★★★

Click if you liked this article

Does Jessie, the cowgirl from Toy Story 3, prefer a buzz or a woody? Could Elphaba and Galinda actually be lesbian lovers, and who says that Ursula is a villain, especially when she holds a legally binding contract! She’s just misunderstood. These questions and more are explored in Twisted Tales, the extremely NOT child-friendly cabaret show at the Sydney Fringe Festival, fresh from their success in Adelaide.

Guided by the hilarious and charming Magic Mirror, Twisted Tales uses well-known children’s characters as the basis for a cabaret of acrobatics, music, and burlesque. The premise on the tin is to explore the twisted truths and hidden realities of classic fairy tales, but that’s not really accurate. Modern Disney movies and children’s stories (most of them not actually fairy tales) merely serve as a thematic launching pad for the bright costumes and various acts in a fast-paced mixture of rebellious mischief and wicked mayhem. My favourite was the Cinderella story. I won’t spoil it, but the twist here was both hilarious and genius. The show’s tongue is firmly in cheek, the cast seemingly having as much fun performing as the audience is watching. There is plenty of course language, adult humour, and exposed flesh, so again, the show is 18+ and not suitable for children.

The space was cavernous but somehow still intimate, the whole audience sitting close to the action and feeling involved and connected. A leaking roof and a large storm outside merely proved a small distraction from the glitter, flesh, and laughter. Some of the acts felt repetitive, such as the multiple burlesque numbers merely changing performer and costume but effectively doing the same thing all over again, but they were still fun and cheeky (literally) so it didn’t really matter. Everyone was having a great time, constantly laughing, clapping, whistling, and hollering in support. And isn’t that the point?

Also, a shout-out to the stage crew. Off to the side I could spot a few people clad in black trying to go un-noticed, working all night hoisting the performers up and down on various acrobatic apparatus, pulling hard on ropes with choreographed precision. It didn’t look easy.

Twisted Tales is part of the Sydney Fringe Festival and playing at The Bunker, Fool’s Paradise, Moore Park Entertainment Quarter until the 21st of September.

To book tickets to Twisted Tales, please visit https://sydneyfringe.com/events/twisted-tales/.

Photographer: Georgia Moloney

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

A Clever Tour de Force, Full Of Surprises

28/07/2025 Adam Miller🥉

The Forgotten Songbook Rating

★★★★★

Click if you liked this article

Stepping through a light haze in Chapel Off Chapel’s Loft, into the twilight world of The Forgotten Songbook instantly transports the audience to bygone era of music-making. The set, dressed simply but evocatively with a piano, a few furniture pieces and faded posters of long-forgotten musicals like Vienna Days and Girl Leaves Boy, conjures a smoky dive bar in the middle of nowhere and everywhere. It’s the perfect frame for a show that unearths the dazzling, almost unbelievable, fragments of composer Wilbur Weissman’s lost career.

What follows is a two-act whirlwind of longing, misfires and brilliance, pulled together by a creative team whose passion for Weissman’s story pulses through every beat.

Emerson Hurley’s compositions form the heartbeat of the show. Sitting at the piano with a relaxed command, Hurley not only plays with casual virtuosity but delivers a score that is tuneful, witty and remarkably affecting. His pastiche writing honours the Tin Pan Alley style while crafting songs that feel entirely fresh. “I’ll Never See Memphis Again” is one of the evening’s most poignant moments, unveiling emotional depths in both character and composition that stop time. Hurley may be at the beginning of his career, but The Forgotten Songbook suggests a voice with the sophistication of a modern-day Gershwin, or dare I say Weissman? Either way, he has the originality to stand on his own.

Co-writer and producer Dylan McBurney brings theatrical structure and dramaturgical clarity to this sometimes chaotic rollercoaster tale. The narrative, full of unexpected turns (a hippo attack??) never wavers in purpose. It’s comedic and poignant in equal measure, an impressive feat that speaks to the balance and restraint of McBurney’s work.

In his debut as director and choreographer, Mikey Halcrow crafts a staging full of flair and control. He uses stillness to great effect, allowing quieter moments to resonate and leans into the physicality of the performers to heighten the absurd and the powerful beats. The rapid pace never falters, but the show knows when to let a moment land and when to let the music speak for itself.

Karla Hillam gives a stellar performance. Channelling the style and swagger of a classic torch singer, she moves with elegance and sings with great versatility. Her character work is razor-sharp, shifting styles and personas with impressive precision. Her natural chemistry with co-star Jonathan Guthrie-Jones anchors the piece. Together, they deliver both belly laughs and broken hearts.

Guthrie-Jones, in turn, feels like a Hollywood leading man of yesteryear brought to life. His rich, beautifully controlled voice wraps itself around the material with ease and his performance is laced with charisma and genuine vulnerability.

Together, the cast form a dynamic double act (or trio including Hurley at the piano), effortlessly slipping between satire, drama and song. Their rendition of The House Un-American Activities Rag is a showstopper. It’s choreographically tight, musically rich and laugh-out-loud funny.

The Forgotten Songbook is more than a showcase. It is an excavation of talent, myth and memory. In a country where new musical theatre often struggles to find space, this piece deserves to travel far beyond its opening weekend. Don’t miss it and don’t miss seeing the work of any of this team in the future.

To book tickets to The Forgotten Songbook, please visit https://chapeloffchapel.com.au/show/the-forgotten-songbook/.

Photographer: Kristopher Wardhana

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Connect Online