After a successful run at the Brisbane Powerhouse during last year’s Brisbane Festival, raucous disco cabaret VELVET made a triumphant return to the River City, taking over the Cremorne Theatre at QPAC.
Once a huge fan of the standard cabaret fare, the borderline offensive humour and the sexy-but-kinda-weird acts offered by shows like Club Swizzle, Absinthe, and La Soirée (fun as they are!), were all starting to wear me down. As a result I wasn’t too enthused about seeing more of the same. Yet in marketing itself, VELVET has done itself a huge favour, because when you offer this much fun, glitter, and talent, it’s a little hard not to stand out.
DJ and musical producer Joe Accaria takes the place of the traditional emcee, alternating between blasting tracks from his raised booth and taking the stage for incredible percussion solos, with lead vocals for the soundtrack of disco classics provided by singer-songwriter Brendan Maclean and diva Marcia Hines. Physical performances came courtesy of aerialist Emma Goh, Stephen Williams (who cabaret fans might recognise as La Soirée‘s Bath Boy), acrobat Mirko Köckenberger, and Craig Reid, the Incredible Hula Boy. Tying the show together were fantastic backing vocalists Chaska Halliday and Rechelle Mansour, who sang and danced their way through just about the entire performance – no mean feat!
For me, the highlight had to be Maclean’s stripped back version of the Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive. A haunting version of a track that, provided you don’t actually listen to the lyrics, regularly gets people on their feet, Maclean’s take on the song was a beautiful, emotional breather from VELVET’s regularly scheduled disco ball focused proceedings.
Other memorable moments included a raunchy bondage inspired scene, set to I Feel Love, and Reid’s hilarious hula hooping performance — without wanting to give too much away, don’t be surprised if the unlikeliest looking member of this gorgeous troupe turns out to be your favourite part of the night!
A smaller venue than the Powerhouse’s main theatre, the space VELVET last called home in Brisbane, the intimite Cremorne added a real air of inclusiveness to the evening. Every seat feels like you’re on the front row and every moment is an invitation to dance — an invitation that my row couldn’t deny by the end, as a standing ovation turned into a sparkling wine fuelled dance party that no one in the room wanted to end.
The reviewer attended the performance on 26th April. VELVET runs until May 15th at QPAC’S Cremorne Theatre. Tickets are available through the QPAC website.
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