The George and Svetlana Show

By Paul Knox for Arts Hub.

Following the production of the commedia dell’Arte Alarm! for the 2008 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Debbie Zukerman and Celeste Markwell have reprised their characters, George and Svetlana Pantalone for a take on cabaret with a touch of improvisation.

The characters, originally conceived for irreverent social commentary, are fish out of water in a cabaret setting. Add to this two performers who are not particularly accomplished singers, and George and Svetlana saunters along a precarious tightrope of cabaret that relies more on its comedic content than its musical appeal.

Whereas for others this may have been a misstep, Zukerman and Markwell manage to turn deficiencies into charm, re-inventing the Pantalones as an old show-business couple at the end of a long tour, barely able to paper over the cracks of a failing relationship. The songs range from typical cabaret to an enchanting re-arrangement of a Ben Folds classic, all introduced (or interrupted) by partially improvised comedic vignettes that almost always hit the mark.

The performers are supremely confident with their characters and, whilst this incarnation may have lacked some of the punch and more bawdy action that made Alarm! particularly enjoyable, they entertain comically, musically and physically. A highlight of the show are the two dance numbers that take advantage of the significant height difference between Zukerman and Markwell and give them a chance to throw each other around the tiny Butterfly Club stage. They are also an opportunity for “Guy on the Piano” (played by Dave Barclay) to shine; a talented pianist, he also lends his polished vocal talents to these sections.

In The George and Svetlana Show, director Robin Davidson has created a quirky, punchy and fun evening of entertainment. The performers seem to enjoy themselves as much as the audience who chuckled along with them throughout. In cabaret, who could ask for more?

The George and Svetlana Show runs until the 31st of May at The Butterfly Club, 204 Bank Street, South Melbourne. Book now

Multi-award winner Jacob Diefenbach returns to 'Face The Music'

GREEN ROOM AWARD WINNER

JACOB DIEFENBACH

RETURNS TO “FACE THE MUSIC”

The Butterfly Club (204 Bank St, South Melbourne)
Thursday – Sunday, 25-28 June 2009, 9 pm (except Sunday, 8 pm)

Brisbane-based cabaret performer, Jacob Diefenbach – recent winner of the Green Room Award for “Best Original Songs” in the cabaret genre – returns to The Butterfly Club, Melbourne’s iconic house of cabaret, to present “Facing The Music”.

Diefenbach’s Green Room win came hot off the heels of receiving the “Best Cabaret” gong at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in October last year, and a nomination for “Best Musical” at the Matilda Awards in Brisbane earlier this year.

Things may be moving fast for 25-year-old Diefenbach, but even so, his latest offering, “Facing The Music”, is a sobering wake up a call for working musicians.

Jacob confides, “I’m not quite Lindsay yet.”

Diefenbach, whose influences range from “Bach” to “Britney” (though you’ll hear less of her in his lyrics), has been creating a stir with his electric live performances.

“Facing The Music” is a darkly comical and shamelessly self-referential look at what it takes to ‘make it’ in the music biz. Jacob admits that his latest show is his greatest step into the world of cabaret to date, playing the struggling / eternally insecure and self-questioning artist – at once desperate to please, jaded, reflective and, at times, hysterical (“It's not much of a stretch”, he concedes).

“Coming out as a musician was, in many ways, harder than “coming out” in general.”

“I thought I had it figured out – thought I’d graduate from law, become a top human rights activist and settle down in some pretty, inner-city suburb. Yeah, it didn’t turn out that way.”

“Facing The Music” traces Diefenbach’s personal journey to make music a part of his life.

In August, Diefenbach heads into Lunchbox Studios, under the guidance of Powderfinger’s Darren Middleton, to record his third CD release.

LISTING INFO
Dates / times: Thursday – Sunday, 25-28 June, 9 pm (except Sun, 8 pm)
Venue: The Butterfly Club, 204 Bank Street, South Melbourne
Bookings: The Butterfly Club's secure bookings site - www.thebutterflyclub.com
Ticket price: $22 full / $17 concession and for groups of 8 or more
Duration: 60 minutes approx
More info: Listen to the title track at Jacob's myspace site

The show ten years in the making!

Sunday 19 April at 2.00 pm (one performance only!)

Bookings for this event is via the comedy festival website.

Your host is the voice of the Sydney Olympics and SBS, Robbie McGregor.

Featuring:
Tim Minchin (Perrier Award Winner)
Colin Lane (Lano & Woodley, Perrier Award Winner)
Sammy J and Randy the puppet
Yana Alana
Wes Snelling
Mark Jones and Karlis Zaid from The Beautiful Losers
Dan Ilic from Beaconsfield The Musical
Ali McGregor
Geraldine Quinn
Jon Jackson
Karin Muiznieks
James Simpson
Joanne O’Callaghan
The Butterfly Glee Club

Post show drinks at The Butterfly Club, 204 Bank St, South Melbourne from 5.00 pm.

Venue: The Hi Fi, 125 Swanston Street, CBD. Click here for directions.
Bookings: comedyfestival.com.au or call Ticketmaster on 1300 660 013
Ticket price: $45 full / $38 concession and for groups of 8 or more
Date / time: Sunday 19 April at 2.00 pm
Duration: 2 hours approx

Review: Dave Graney Live in Hell

Review by Lachlan Bryan, Arts Hub, 27/3/09

Dave Graney is nothing if not self-aware. In a way, it’s what his new cabaret Live in Hell is all about – but it’s also the reason why, tonight at least, the show didn’t quite live up to its premise.

A curious figure, Graney has carved himself a niche as an always quirky, innovative and at times even schmaltzy singer and songwriter in Australia and Europe over the past twenty-five or so years. His efforts have earned critical acclaim and at times popular approval.

Live in Hell is the sequel to Point Blank (which debuted in 2006) and it examines the journey of ‘the performer’ once either success, popularity (or even just a hint of either) has taken hold. The show asserts that at such point the performer descends into a living “hell” – not necessarily presided over by a devil but undoubtedly populated by demons of some description. Through a mixture of song, semi-improvised storytelling and a series of pop-culture (particularly pop-music) references, Graney and his band (including leather-clad wife and long-time collaborator Clare Moore) attempt to illustrate this central idea – with the help of absent performer ‘friends’ as loosely connected as Jim Morrison and Chad Morgan.

I wasn’t particularly enamoured with Graney’s song-writing tonight – but I really do like the way his mind works. His concept of hell is indeed thought provoking, and presumably the result of much self-analysis. To the small audience of mostly middle-aged musical contemporaries it may have all seemed like something of an ‘in-joke’ at times. But there is more to it than that, and from amongst the self-deprecation emerged a critique not only of the way we as an audience devour our entertainers, but also the way the performers set themselves up for a fall by pursuing continued relevance and simultaneously hankering after the glories of ‘back in the day’.

But this leads me back to Graney’s self-awareness. It seemed to me that Live in Hell is a character piece, yet Dave was not completely playing the character. Instead he was caught somewhere in between – unsure whether to immerse himself in the role and suspend disbelief or simply descend into self-parody. Too often he chose the latter – and by doing so he became less convincing and exposed weaknesses in the production that may have gone unnoticed if driven by a more committed performance.

I can’t help but feel that the venue also contributed. The Butterfly Club is wonderful, but it allows for only the most skeletal, minimalist production. This particular piece would, in my opinion, benefit greatly from a little more ‘smoke and mirrors’, and a more defined “fourth wall”. The concept behind Live in Hell deserves expansion and elaboration – it really seems to me to require the theatricality only hinted at by Graney’s shimmering purple shirt and trouser set.

I think the show will get better over the weekend as Graney and co. become more comfortable with the material. It’s an ambitious project with lots of potential, and Graney has the charisma to pull it off. Certainly worthy of stronger production and a longer season.

Dave Graney Live in Hell
At The Butterfly Club, South Melbourne
Dates: Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 March (three performances)
Time: 9.00 pm
Ticket price: $27 full / $22 concession and for groups of 8 or more
Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com
Duration: 60 minutes approx