Escape the chill and enjoy a season of fun and scintillating performances by some of Melbourne’s hottest cabaret artists, featuring fabulous music, feisty women, unforgettable stories, and lots of laughs. Grab your friends and make a night of it!
GRRRL POWER
Friday 23 May
Over eight decades, girl bands have harmonised, danced and fought their way into collective consciousness. Using pop music as their weapon, generations of rebels paired Riot GRRRL energy with songwriting genius (and some marketing prowess) to put feminism and female empowerment into the mainstream.
Four powerhouse performers - Chelsea Wilson (Hit em like Ali), Fem Belling (boy from Oz), Parvyn Singh (The Bombay Royale) and Francoise D'Argent (Fossey) - join together in this high-energy show featuring all-female music groups from the past 80 years, with songs from the US, UK, Australia, India, Cuba, South Africa, and Japan.
It sure is raining women in this nostalgic, witty, and surprisingly important trip down memory lane.
"Four powerhouse performers...much sing-along fun."
Artshub ★★★★½
geraldine Quinn: Broad
Friday 20 June
Quinn grew up idolising fabulous, bold, brassy (mostly ginger) older women. Now she's becoming one.
Agnes Moorehead. Rhonda Burchmore. Vivienne Westwood. There is something heady about those brassy broads we grew up admiring. But what happens when these camp inspo glamour heroines feel a bit close to your own sagging jawline? Well, you get to write your own ridiculous story and paint your own ridiculous face in a cabaret about how anyone can find their inner Endora.
Whether you want to unlock the Auntie Mame inside you, polish your brassiness or if (like Quinn) your knees just aren't working anymore, and you need to be near someone who understands; all are welcome in The Broad Church.
“The sort of electric thunderclap that inspires audience members to hoot out loud and bump the air with their fists in empowered solidarity, it lays down the gauntlet for the moment to beat”
Time Out ★★★★★
“Her uncanny knack for handling everything from torch songs to musical comedy is both impressive and jaw-dropping.”
Theatre People ★★★★★
“GQ cuts an audacious, commanding presence. And with every powerhouse song, supercharged by the fire within, she reminds the audience of all she has to offer.”
Chortle ★★★★
cabaret unscripted
Friday 18 July
Prepare to be dazzled, delighted, and utterly disarmed by Cabaret Unscripted, the unique and hilarious improvised musical comedy adored by critics and audiences alike.
Fresh from wining a prestigious Green Room Award for 'Outstanding Musical Direction', this dynamic duo is always at the ready to bring their spontaneous magic to the stage. This isn't just any cabaret; it's your cabaret.
Talents Isabella Valette and Greg Lavell creatively craft an electrifying evening of improvised music, comedy, and cabaret charm, weaving audience suggestions and stories into the show.
Step into a world of 1930s cabaret, where razor-sharp wit meets stellar musicality in a thrilling, unpredictable adventure that will leave you in stitches and amazed at the sheer talent unfolding before your eyes.
"Laughter and astonishment - felt in abundance during this wild ride of edge-of-your-seat improvisation and audience interaction. Grab your tickets now!"
Melbourne Fringe Cabaret Judge
"There is deep craft here - Isabella Valette and Greg Lavell are two musical improvisors who are flying. Cabaret Unscripted is top of your game stuff'; songs, character, audience involvement all on the fly, hilarious, authentic and alive. Smart and true to the form."
Melbourne Fringe Cabaret Judge
"Fabulous chemistry between the two performers, ridiculous dancing, over the top musical numbers, super singing and musicianship."
Melbourne Fringe Cabaret Judge
The Exotic Lives of lola montez
Friday 29 August
In 1855, Lola Montez toured the goldfields with "the most libertinish and indelicate performance that could be given on the public stage" (Sydney Morning Herald, 1855). She horsewhipped the editor of The Ballarat Times (for a bad review), swung down mine shafts with champagne in hand, and escaped arrest dressed only in her jewels.
Finucane & Smith's Lola is a joy ride - a mix of breathtaking storytelling, sultry divas, and jaw-dropping burlesque, steeped in Australian history. Starring triple Best Actress winner Miss Caroline Lee (a direct descendant of Lola herself), burlesque goddess Maple Rose, operatic darling Piera Dennerstein, and Parisian club kitten Iva Rosebud. Written by Patrick White Playwright Award Winner, Jackie Smith.
“Kaleidoscopic, audacious, spectacular...an exhilarating and unforgettable experience”
What The Show ★★★★★
“A fabulous tour de force performance.”
ArtsHub ★★★★★
“Mischievous, devilish and flirtatious”
Stage Whispers