Theatre - Cabaret Decadanse - The Studio
No doubt by now you’ve heard at least something about Cabaret Decadanse. Touted as a cross between Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Moulin Rouge with puppets, the show is an off-beat explosion of adults only humour and puppetry, all set to a groovy, jazzy soundtrack.
When I first saw the show advertised, I thought it sounded fab. A little bit quirky, a dash of cabaret and a whole lotta camp – how could you go wrong? I got my first glimpse of the brilliance of the show at Hats Off Meets The Stars Come Out last weekend where they did a couple of spot numbers, including a white afro’d diva puppet doing If You Could Read My Mind and a tawdry, stripperish rendition of Let Me Entertain You from the musical Gypsy. After watching the guys work their magic with their puppets for these two numbers, I was hooked. I was convinced I was going to laugh my ass off and enjoy a night filled with disco and some glimpses of hot man flesh as the puppeteers themselves are not unattractive – always a nice bonus!
The show delivered some laughs and it certainly had its moments but unfortunately it didn’t hit the marks of these first two numbers. Perhaps they only use those for special occasions because they weren’t in the full length show, to its detriment. That being said however, they did display an array of characters, some more successful than others, but all of them entertaining. There was Mauve, the hilarious bee showgirl whose womb you could have inspected had she been a real person, there were Jazz and Jave, the two gossiping middle aged female crows who sang about their relationship woes with the hilarious I Think He’s Gay. There was Lorraine, the black feather laden showgirl diva who started out performing classy Nina Simone type numbers and later ditched the feather boa and released her long african braids, flinging them around her head while shaking her bare tits like a possessed witch doctor. Yes, I’m still talking about puppets here.
These characters were all performed by the two male puppeteers who interact with the puppets and are as much a part of the show as the puppets themselves. Watching the guys was extraordinary – their facial expressions, body movements and unwavering commitment to their performance had me wondering who enjoyed the show more – the audience or the puppeteers.
There were other characters as well who were sandwiched between the aforementioned, but they just didn’t capture the audience as successfully as the others. There was Conrad the French transvestite, who was just too overused considering he was really quite dull, as was Amfitriona, the MC who spent the show parading around the stage singing in French and didn’t seem to have a purpose in being there.
At one point in the show the professionally made puppets were ditched for Siba, who was little more than a sock puppet with elastic arms reminiscent of Elmo from Sesame Street, proving that you don’t need expensive puppets to out on a good puppet show.
Overall, this was really entertaining but there were some flat spots and after the first glimpse I was lucky enough to get, I couldn’t help being a little disappointed with the full length show. Had they used the numbers I saw, or some other more upbeat campier songs instead of the often maudlin French numbers, I think it would have been much better.
In saying that though, I would still recommend these guys to anyone who likes cabaret, likes things a little bit different and is looking to be taken away for an hour or so to a land ruled by puppets.
Cabaret Decadanse is showing at The Studio, Sydney Opera House until Saturday 23 February.
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Christian Taylor
said ages ago