TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT
CABARET
***
WINNER OF BEST CABARET ACT 2006 FROM
AUSSIETHEATRE.COM ***
Statement Cabaret
Lounge, Sydney
22 & 23 September 2006
Teatro Vivaldis
Restaurant, Canberra
9 & 10 September 2005
"Smart, witty and
knowing with superb musicianship. In one way or
another they manage to lampoon just about every
cabaret show you have ever seen or ever likely to
see"
Les Solomon, Agent
"They hold a mirror up to the world of
cabaret... and it shatters!"
Phil Scott,
Performer
"This show is so
cringe-makingly bad, it's brilliant"
The Daily Telegraph,
Sydney
"Outstanding and
one of the funniest things you will see"
Stage Noise
"...amateur..."
Sydney Stage
TEN THINGS I HATE
ABOUT CABARET explores some of the more
annoying aspects of Australia's slowest growing
art-form: the bad cabaret act. From the
utterly hellish business of audience involvement,
to a tuneful critique of self-sermonising in
song, TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT CABARET
is an hilarious study of all the things that make
us cringe when someone decides to pick up a mike,
stand under a spotlight and put on a show... all
about themselves! Featuring a mix of Broadway
tunes (oh, yes, of course) and contemporary
melodies, TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT
CABARET is an exceptionally entertaining
evening of comedy and music, and should not be
missed by anyone who hates (or loves!) show
tunes, catharsis, and over-emoting! (or overly
self-praising press releases).
Note: Luke
Barron's alter ego is Brayden Bracksell, a brash,
arrogant performer who thinks he is a star... the
audience however, think differently...
TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT
CABARET - REVIEW
The Daily Telegraph, 9
October 2006
by Marea Donnelly
This show is so
cringe-makingly bad, it's brilliant. Singer Luke
Barron's original homage to bad cabaret
shamelessly lampoons the over-blown egos behind
so many awful shows.
From his alter-ego Brayden
Bracksell's opening number, I Get A Kick Out
Of Me, Barron's excellent voice lends
credibility to a farcical exploration of the art
of cabaret.
His graceful and
long-suffering accompanist, pianist Peter
Rutherford, explores the 10 characteristics of
bad cabaret performers. The understated
Rutherford is a perfect supporting act.
Despite the concept, which
Barron co-wrote, he says he doesn't especially
dislike cabaret, but suspects some cabaret
artists are in the wrong business.
Barron and Rutherford, both
graduates of the Western Australian
Academy of Performing Arts, are
also appearing in THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE.
Their elegant act explores
Bracksell's career from his first stage
appearance in a talent quest at the Wenkinyaroom
village Odd Fellows Hall. The young Bracksell
came second to Jack Hughman, who went on to
become a successful international performer.
Slugging back wine and pills
from his first step on stage, Bracksell's
repertoire includes Turn On Those Sad Songs,
Memories, When A Man Loves A Woman,
To Dream The Impossible Dream and Oh,
What A Beautiful Morning.
In an ugly beige nylon
jacket and brown pants, topped with a bad wig,
Barron displays great comedic ability with
limited stage props.
Rutherford, an accomplished
pianist, is left unnamed for the entire show as
he lists the 10 things he hates about cabaret
performers, leading into his own lament, Cellophane
Should Have Been My Name.
Rutherford's list includes
artists who self-sermonise, whinge, indulge in
insincere attempts to build audience
participation and try to add a moral to the show.
Defying the worst aspects of
cabaret, Barron and Rutherford display infectious
good-natures, while their duets are performed in
perfect harmony.
TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT
CABARET - REVIEW
Stagenoise.com, 28
September 2006
by Damian Madden
TEN THINGS I HATE
ABOUT CABARET would have to be one of
the funniest shows I have had the pleasure of
watching recently. Not only is it an entertaining
evening of song and music, it is also a very
tongue-in-cheek look at the present state of
cabaret (particularly in Australia) and the
domination of young performers within the field.
The show features self
proclaimed cabaret star Brayden Bracksell (Luke
Barron) and his long suffering pianist (who is
referred to as such) Peter Rutherford. Peter
provides a commentary on the annoying aspects of
cabaret as Brayden, desperate to please and
impress his audience, proceeds to go for all of
the clichés.
Anyone who has seen a few
cabarets can appreciate the 10 things (well
actually 11) mentioned in this show and see the
humour in them. I have seen many young
performers, barely out of arts school themselves,
wanting to share their life stories with
audiences. While some certainly have a good story
to tell, others really struggle to draw from what
is a relatively ‘normal’ life. It is
from this that TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT
CABARET (written by James Millar) gets
its ammunition.
Luke Barron does an
incredible job as Brayden, he sings and acts well
and is totally convincing as the oblivious star.
Peter Rutherford plays effortlessly and sings
well, providing an excellent counterpoint to the
over the top Barron/Bracksell. If you get a
chance check out this show, it is outstanding and
one of the funniest things you will see. Even if
you aren’t aware of all of the clichés you
will get a kick out of TEN THINGS I HATE
ABOUT CABARET.
BROADWAY DREAM TURNS TO
NIGHTMARE - ARTICLE
The Daily Telegraph, 22
September 2006
by Marea Donnelly
It isn't that song-and-dance
man Luke Barron especially dislikes cabaret,
merely that some cabaret artists are perhaps in
the wrong game.
"It's more I wanted to look at the
experiences and the life of a cabaret performer
who thought [he] was a star, but was really
pretty abysmal," Barron says of his new
show, TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT CABARET.
Arriving in Sydney after a three-night run in
Canberra earlier this year, the show puts Barron
on stage with pianist Peter Rutherford to perform
a mix of Broadway hits and contemporary melodies.
Rutherford effectively narrates the life story of
Barron's character, cabaret performer Brayden
Bracksell.
"Bracksell falls into all the traps...
forcing [the audience] to participate, he gives
his heart and soul -- but is abysmal."
HE
MIGHT HATE CABARET, BUT LUKE'S THE STAR OF THE
SHOW - ARTICLE
MX, 21 September 2006
by Lynette Miller
Luke Barron has a love/hate
relationship with cabaret. He hates the
patronising audience participation and
over-emotive performances, but loves performing
it himself.
"At one stage I sing a
five-song medley and end up breaking down at the
end and crying," he said.
The real star of TEN
THINGS I HATE ABOUT CABARET is Barron's
prima-donna alter ego, Brayden Bracksell.
"Its about the star on
stage that does everything wrong. I thought it
would be a bit stark to put someone up on stage
who thinks they are a star, but they
aren't," Barron said.
The show is a blend of
comedy and music, featuring Broadway tunes and
contemporary melodies. Brayden's brash and
melodramtic approach leaves the audience aghast
at his diva-like antics. Despite loathing of bad
cabaret acts, Barron wants people to enjoy his
performance.
"I secretly try to
bring my love for cabaret into the show... I love
the fun of cabaret," he said.
HALFWAY ON CABARET ACT
- REVIEW
The Canberra Times,
September 2005
by Peter J Casey
...Barron's appalling
Brayden Bracksell took the stage, [and] was much
more assured. Among the 10 things that
Rutherford, Bracksell's long-suffering fellow
performer and accompanist, hates about cabaret,
are, No 6 - guys
who sing show tunes and pretend to be straight
- and, my favourite, No 9
- adults being patronised by a
juvenile. There was a superbly
indulgent medley of Empty Chairs at Empty
Tables, Why, God Why? and Roy
Orbison's Crying, and a deliberately
obscure arrangement of The Rainbow Connection.
Bracksell's attitude to audience involvement is
that they should know all the hardest lyrics, and
his crotch-to-the-fore rendition of I Get A
Kick Out Of You (naturally, he sings
"me") should be further from reality
than it is. Having skewered so effectively the
condescension that taints many cabaret acts, it
would be wonderful if Barron and Rutherford could
fashion a second act (and put it second) that
commits none of the 10 sins they rightly hate,
and instead shows us what we love about cabaret.
MORE
TO LIFE THAN CABARET - ARTICLE
The Canberra Times, 24
August 2005
by Ron Cerabona
Luke
Barron and collaborators explore the good and the
bad sides of cabaret entertainment, Ron
Cerabona reports.
At
its best, cabaret is an intimate form of
entertainment in which performer and audience
form a rapport and genuine emotion is shared.
Then there’s the other side. Flagrant
over-emoting, self-indulgent and pointless
anecdotes, pompous “life lessons” being
imparted – all these and more are the
hallmarks of a certain kind of cabaret
“artiste”. Former Canberran Luke Barron
has experienced his share of these, and they are
the focus of TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT CABARET
which has its debut season at Teatro Vivaldi
on September 9 and 10.
Along
with pianist Peter Rutherford and writer James
Millar, Barron has created a show in two halves.
The first half features Barron as obnoxious
Brayden Bracksell, an amalgamation of various
performers he’s seen over the years.
Bracksell
talks about his life as a rich, privileged kid
who’s never had to work a day in his life,
and his act is an object lesson in many of the
things that make cabaret annoying.
“There’s
the deliberately obscure arrangement, taking any
old song and changing everything – chords,
structure, melody – its off the wall,”
Barron says.
Kylie
Minogue did it with Locomotion, he says,
transforming it from an upbeat number to a sexy,
seductive song. Barron – as Bracksell –
does something similar to Over the Rainbow
in his act.
Another
pet peeve is the cabaret artist who presumes to
use a show tune to advise people on how they
should live their lives. The Impossible Dream
from MAN OF LA MANCHA, is an obvious
example of this, and is employed as such in the
show.
The
over-emotional artist, who breaks down crying in
his or her act, is another satirical target, and
Barron skewers Bracksell and his ilk with a
medley including Why, God Why? from MISS
SAIGON, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,
from LES MISERABLES and Roy Orbison’s
Crying.
There’s
also quite a bit of friction between Bracksell
and his accompanist, mirroring real-life tensions
that occur in such partnerships.
“My
character is a bit of a diva – he can’t
stand his partner getting the limelight,”
Barron says. He hopes he isn’t too much like
the obnoxious Bracksell.
For
all the juicy details, and the rest of the 10
things, you’ll have to catch the show,
but this demolition job on the more annoying
aspects of the arts is only half the story. In
the second half, having “set up all the
traps”, Barron and Rutherford then see if
they can avoid them in the second half as they
both perform songs that have inspired and
influenced them. Among Rutherford’s numbers
are Piano Man by Billy Joel while
Barron’s selection includes Your Song
by Elton John.
“It’s
not so much about me as about the music,”
Barron says. That doesn’t sound like
something an egomaniac like Bracksell would say,
so presumably the actor is safe from turning into
his creation, at least for now.
Barron,
27, was born in Holland while his father worked
there for the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade but grew up in Canberra, where he was an
enthusiastic participant in local musical
theatre.
He
says his biggest year here was 2000, when he
played the roller-blading robot Ariel in RETURN
TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, the heroine’s
lover Oscar in SWEET CHARITY (gaining Canberra
Area Theatre Award nominations for both)
and the lead role of Arthur Kipps in HALF A
SIXPENCE.
For
Barron, acting was more than a hobby, and he
moved to Sydney to study for a year before being
accepted into the Western Australian
Academy of Performing Arts, from which he
graduated last year with a Bachelor of Arts in
Music Theatre. Since then, he’s been
auditioning for stage and television roles and
working on short films to broaden his experience.
He was here recently for G-String’s
production of RENT – THE MUSICAL,
helping to guide the production with his
knowledge of the professional staging of the show
and his interest in stylised images and movement.
He
hasn’t forgotten the initial grounding in
theatre he received here though, and has returned
to perform at season launches and now, in TEN
THINGS I HATE ABOUT CABARET, which he hopes
to take to Sydney and Melbourne after the
Canberra season.
