The City of Sydney Cabaret Convention 2001: An Overview

The City of Sydney Cabaret Convention 2001:
Developing Young Talent
Sydney Town Hall
Sydney, Australia

In past years, I have reviewed each evening of the convention separately, but this year, because I was one of the judges, you are spared my running commentary. Having already dealt with the winners of the Convention in this report, I would like to write about the important mission of The City of Sydney Cabaret Convention: developing young talent. In my final report I will discuss a number of the artists who participated in the four showcase evenings of this festival and compare the quality of performance to my experience last year.

One of the major differences between Sydney's convention and its more established counterpart in New York is its emphasis on developing young talent. Because Australia does not have an established history of cabaret performance, one of the aims of this festival is to provide less experienced artists with the opportunity to see the seasoned professionals in action. In previous years, organizers of The City of Sydney Cabaret Convention have brought a few artists from the USA, such as Julie Wilson, Fred Barton and Elena Bennett to perform and act as judges. Although this allowed our performers a fleeting opportunity to experience the craft of these people, it did not give the young Australians a chance to network and compare notes with established local talent and learn at first hand about "the business."

Early in the planning for this 2001 convention, the decision was made to revert to the original format of presenting Australian artists to headline this event, as was the case when this festival was originally organized five years ago. This year, twelve distinguished artists performed during the four showcase sessions and the Gala Cabaret finale. In addition, there were also performances by the winners from last year's convention. The event organizers also decided to utilize judges who were familiar with the Australian "scene." Thus, Toni Lamond and I were selected. Due to illness, Ms. Lamond had to withdraw at the last minute; in her place, the organizers were fortunate to gain the services of Margi de Ferranti, the winner of the first City of Sydney Cabaret Convention 1997.

The performers who participated represented a strong cross-section of established artists from the ranks of Australian cabaret. In her role as host for the showcase and Gala Cabaret evening, Geraldine Turner repeated her success of acting as convention compere in 1998. In addition, Ms. Turner performed a number of selections at the Gala, including "If" (Styne/Comden & Green), "The Hostess With The Mostest" (Berlin) and "I'm Still Here" (Sondheim). Ms. Turner is a cabaret icon of long standing in Australia and her presence as convention host provided the sort of inspiration, lightness of touch and showbiz savvy that was ideal for assisting the young artists.

Three Australian artist with considerable performance experience abroad took part in the convention. The most unusual talent is Mary Schneider, described by American shock jock Howard Stern as "the Ella Fitzgerald of yodelling." Her talent is unique, very much a "niche skill," but her effect on audiences at the Gala was pure showbiz magic. With her combination of talent and comedic skill, Ms. Schneider had the initially sceptical cabaret audience enchanted. Renee Geyer also performed at the Gala. Ms. Geyer is one of Australia's finest blues singers who has returned to work in Australia after twenty years of performing in the USA. I found her performance curiously unmoving because of her lack of contact with the audience, but I was in the minority.

Rounding out this trio of great Australian performers was Jeannie Lewis. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Ms. Lewis has developed a performing style that encompasses elements of folk, rock and cabaret packaged in such a way as to "push the envelop." Her set provided the finale of the last showcase evening. Once again, Jeannie Lewis proved to be a magician with a performance that seemed to begin in an improvisatory fashion with seemingly random elements that she brought together with extraordinary power. She ended her set with a superb rendition of the spiritual "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" and was rewarded with a large ovation. This performance was an object lesson in how the singer can become the song.

Appearing during various sessions of the convention were a group of five young and upcoming cabaret performers who have been working steadily for the past 6-10 years. Leonie Page has worked in musicals and cabarets, as well as fronted bands. Ms. Page, the first celebrity act of the convention, treated the audience to a rousing selection of theater and cabaret music, including "My Man" (Yvain/Willemetz/Charles/Pollock) and "Guess Who I Saw Today" (Grand/Boyd).

Margi de Ferranti, my colleague co-judge, performed later in the week. The first winner of the City of Sydney Cabaret Convention, she has steadily built a reputation in Sydney cabaret and theater. In reviewing her cabaret show "Dear Marjorie" I noted a new depth of maturity in her vocal work. This was evident in the group of songs she performed at the convention, including "Playbill" (Bucchino), "Don't Get Cocky" (Woods) and an emotional rendition of "And I Am Telling You I 'm Not Going" from DREAMGIRLS (Krieger/Eyen). Both Ms. Page and Ms. de Ferranti provided an object lesson for their less experienced colleagues in choice of repertoire and vocal expertise.

The three men in this group of upcoming performers are Tim Draxl, Trevor Ashley and Paul Capsis. Draxl is clearly a young man with considerable drive to succeed. In a very short time he has recorded two CDs and performed in the USA, winning a MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs) award for his NYC Debut. While Tim Draxl's performance at the convention was highly polished, there was also a sense of slickness to his work; only his rendition of "One Hand, One Heart" (Bernstein/Sondheim) seemed heartfelt.

Trevor Ashley, though only 21, has been performing in Sydney clubs since his mid-teens, as well as assisting other performers with unique arrangements of hard-to-find material. I have reviewed two of his cabaret shows in as many years. For his appearance at the convention, Ashley performed excerpts from TREVOR! THE ARENA MEGA MUSICAL. Though I had serious concerns about this show when I first saw it, I was delighted to see how much funnier and more relaxed his performance has become. No doubt, Trevor Ashley's experience performing this show in New York and London has been of immense benefit. On the basis of this show-stopping performance, I would love to see the complete show again to reassess my previous concerns.

Paul Capsis, the final artist in this category of young performers is by far the most difficult to characterize. Capsis is an extraordinary talent who has managed to "push the envelope." His work has been described as "electro cabaret" as it encompasses everything from rock to pop to traditional standards. Capsis, with a voice of immense range and power, has created a series of uncanny vocal impersonations of Judy Garland, Janis Joplin and Liza Minnelli for various shows he has written and appeared in during the past decade. At the convention, Paul Capsis performed a bracket of songs a la Marlene Dietrich. His unique mixture of send-up and homage included "Big Spender" (Coleman/Fields), "Money Makes The World Go Around" (Kander/Ebb) and "Black Market" (Hollaender). Without doubt, Paul Capsis is an original who deserves to be heard and seen overseas.

Peter Cousens, Derek Metzger and Phil Scott, the final group of celebrity artists who performed at this year's convention, have been demonstrating their craft for twenty years or more. Peter Cousens, a relatively recent convert to cabaret, has starred in many of Australia's large-scale musical theater productions during the past two decades, most notably PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, SHOWBOAT and COMPANY. His rendition of "Leading Men Don't Dance" (Waldrop/Friedman), "Younger Than Springtime" (Rodgers/Hammerstein) and "Life On Earth" (Carnelia), though somewhat low-keyed, were models of musicianship.

Derek Metzger, an import from New Zealand, has featured in many musicals, as well as cabaret. His show NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT has been very successful. In addition Metzger has recently released his first CD. For convention audiences, he performed a set of four songs: "Nothing Can Stop Me Now" (Bricusse/Newley), "From This Moment On" (Porter), "As Seen On TV" (Stillman) and "Don't Cry Out Loud" (Allen). Each number managed to showcase Metzger's skill as a performer.

The final artist in this category of "old pros" is Phil Scott. I have written at length about his work in cabaret and revue. This performer has been demonstrating his skills as composer, concert pianist, singer, author and satirist since the 70s. Scott's work is a rare combination of Nichols & May, Flanders & Swann and Tom Lehrer that makes his appearances essential viewing for aficionados of cabaret. Audiences were fortunate to see him twice during the showcase evenings and were thrilled by his rendition of Sondheim's "Pretty Little Picture" and "Four Black Dragons." Like so many great artists, Scott has the ability to make an extraordinary performance seem effortless.

In addition to being able to listen to and learn from this phalanx of cabaret role models, young performers were once again afforded the opportunity to attend a Master Class given by Kerrie Biddell, one of Australia's finest teacher/practitioners of cabaret. Last year I devoted a full report to this unique experience so my remarks will be brief. Biddell has the rare ability to listen to a performer and assess matters of interpretation, vocal technique and performance skills all at once. In short, she is that rare combination of performer and pedagogue. With unerring accuracy (and considerable charity on one occasion this year), she took four singers through repertoire they had selected and highlighted areas of concern. The audience was packed with many of the performers who had already participated in the four showcase evenings. Doubtless they learned a great deal from this contact with Kerrie Biddell.

So far I have spoken about a number of performers who were most visible to audiences for fulfilling The City of Sydney Cabaret Convention 2001s mission of talent development. However, there is one more person to applaud for fulfilling this valuable function: Ron Creager. For the past three years, he has served as music director for this festival. For the most part, his role consisted of little more than supplying accompaniment for artists who did not have a musical director. Having minimal contact and rehearsal time with performers, this was a difficult and sometimes thankless job, and, more important, a waste of Creager's considerable talent. As a musical director for more than three decades here and in the USA, he had far more to offer.

This year, Ron Creager was integrally involved in convention planning from the very beginning. He participated on the panel that selected 42 acts from nearly 150 submissions. This accomplished, Creager contacted each performer to discuss their performance requirements. For those in need of an accompanist, Ron Creager insisted on meeting each of them for individual coaching sessions, providing these young performers with his knowledge in order that they would have the best possible opportunity during their showcase appearances. On a number of occasions, he guided singers to reconsider their material and assisted them in shaping interpretation. I am certain that Ron Creager's efforts were responsible for the high level of accomplishment from the many young performers seen at this year's City of Sydney Cabaret Convention 2001.

In my last report, I will discuss a number of fine performers who were seen in the four showcase events. In addition I will talk about difficulties I experienced in acting as a judge, rather than a reviewer.

David M Schwartz

Reports of the 2001 Sydney Cabaret Convention

Daily Reports of the 2000 Sydney Cabaret Convention

Daily Reports of the 1999 Sydney Cabaret Convention

Daily Reports on the 1998 Sydney Cabaret Convention

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