1998 SYDNEY CABARET CONVENTION - NIGHT 4

Please note, this program is not sponsored by the MABEL MERCER FOUNDATION, and should not be confused with that organization's annual Cabaret Convention held each October in New York City.

My friends were back at out table near the stage again for the night's festivities. Before I tell you about the evening, it might be useful to tell you something about the venue where most of the events are being held, the SYDNEY TOWN HALL. This is our equivalent to your City Hall where the Sydney municipal government (Lord Mayor, City Council, etc) has its offices. In addition, there are two public spaces where events can be staged.

The main hall is the Centennial Hall where orchestral concerts and recitals are held (where, for example, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performs and where visiting groups such as the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus performed last February during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival). This will be the location for Saturday evening's CABARET GALA. The majority of events for the Cabaret Convention have been held in the Lower Town Hall, a large space that is often used for trade shows and smaller commercial events. The hall has been curtained off and turned into a restaurant with tables seating 10 each with food and drink service throughout the evening. All in all it is a fairly intimate space. It will be interesting to see how the Centennial Hall is fixed up for the big finale.

But enough of this; let's get on with the show. When we arrived, there was still lots of talk about the talent and the means by which the organisers had made their selection for acts to be included in the Convention. Apparently, everyone was required to submit audio or video tapes of performances, as well as biographies and repertoire.

Tonight, for the first time in this series, there was an attempt to organise the evening around types of performance. The twelve acts consisted mostly of comedy, impersonation and singing. However, there was one extraordinary and outrageously funny juggling act by a performer named Tim Tyler who works under the name of Mr PP, a sort of version of Rowan Atkins' Mr Bean. He does oral ping pong ball juggling and egg balancing!! Yes, quite outrageous with no music at all, but a huge hit with the crowd. But it is definitely NOT cabaret.

The impersonators -- there were three in all -- did combinations of stand-up comedy and vocal takeoff (Shirley Bassey, Diana Ross, etc). In addition, there was an instrumentalist who played a variety of instruments (including "Rock Around the Clock" on bagpipes -- are you ready for that!!) for his act. None of these acts worked for me, nor did they seem to impress the crowd as appropriate for the Convention. This was Variety Show stuff, but definitely NOT CABARET.

Of the mainstream cabaret performers, there were four good acts worth a mention: COSI FAN TUTTI FRUTTI (soprano Nadia Piave and pianist tenor Glenn Amer blending show tunes and opera in a quite sophisticated presentation), Nikki Bennett (a young woman with a great voice who performed two songs from an unproduced musical and is worth watching in the future), Samantha Leith (a great belter who reminded me of the West Coast performer Sharon McKnight) and the team of Alex Harding and Jason Stephenson (performing Harding songs from two of his musicals). Each of these acts demonstrated great talent.

The knockout performer of the night was TREVOR ASHLEY, an 18 year old who did a very funny bit of specialty material and a quite special version of Kander and Ebb's "Maybe this Time". This young man was the clear crowd favorite of all the acts and the only performer of the evening who seemed to emulate a "cabaret sensibility," that desire to make each song a small slice of life set to music which the audience was invited in to share. He is at the start of what should be a great career if he can find the opportunities here to refine and broaden his craft.

The star turn was PAUL CAPSIS, an Sydney favorite who performs music associated with the likes of Garland, Janis Joplin, Bette Midler and uses his voice to suggest their unique sounds. It was a very rock-flavored finish for the evening. Tomorrow night is the last showcase and that will feature the great JUDI CONNELLI as the star turn. Definitely worth waiting for. After that will be a late night show called RISQUE. More of that soon.

David Schwartz

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