Cabaret Archives - Matilda Marseillaise

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Mama Alto’s Follies Girl promised an hour of “vaudeville delights transporting audiences to a classic era of mid-century glamour reinterpreted with contemporary queer flair” in a stage spectacular inspired by the Folies Bergère, the Ziegfeld Follies, and the golden age of MGM movie musicals. I had expected, perhaps incorrectly, that a show celebrating the vaudeville arts would have more dance with its song, and more variety acts to make it vaudevillian and more like the follies.

Mama Alto Photo: Claudio Raschella — Photo: Claudio Raschella

Mama Alto enters the stage adorned in a black sequinned long dress, paired with a black feather-boa, and black feathered head-dress. Sadly, for the audience there weren’t many costume changes – just the addition of a purple transparent gown with fluffy cuffs later in the show. Again, the follies were known for their opulent costumes.

It was from when the giant teacup appeared on stage courtesy of her showboys, that Mama Alto truly shone. She said that Dita Von Teese has her famous champagne glass, Australia’s own Brief Boys have their champagne coupe, whereas for Mama Alto, her favourite drink is a big cup of tea. The tea was the perfect setting for her to perform Nina Simone’s “I want a little sugar in my bowl” and Vera Lynn’s “Be like the kettle and sing“. That leads to a very comical moment where she decides to sing like a kettle – i.e. whistle as she wanders through the audience. She says “if you had told me as a child that I would be paid to whistle and sing…”

Mama Alto Follies Girl Image: Claudio Raschella — Image: Claudio Raschella

When Mama Alto was good, she was great, but sadly the first few songs and the encore number let her down. It seemed to take her a while to warm up – her pitch was off initially but then she settled in and wowed us all with her talent. By the end of her second song. Louis Armstrong’s 1964 “Hello Dolly”, she impressed us by finishing with a sustained, long note.

It was her enchanting stage presence that kept the audience engaged through those earlier moments. For those unfamiliar with Mama Alto, she is very funny. She is clearly comfortable with the audience telling us her shows are “not scripted, I just talk to the audience and hope for the best”. We wouldn’t have known if she didn’t tell us. A few songs in she realises she hasn’t introduced herself and declares that “it’s too late to go back now” and “For those who don’t know, shame on you.”

In Follies Girl, Mama Alto is occasionally joined on stage by her showboys, one of whom was performing in Ziegfield Boy later that night. They performed a fan dance early in Follies Girl, with fuschia feathered fans and wearing nothing other than a jock-strap. Later, in a tribute to the trope of always having a song to do with the moon in the follies, Mama Alto sings Moon River while one of her boys appears on stage wearing nothing and holding only a crescent moon for decency – and as to why the men “because feminism” she declared.

Occasionally, Mama Alto appeared to be channelling Meow Meow – amusingly stopping before the end of a song to ask the audience if they’d like a big or a small finish to the song, and later asking her boys to help her out to the teacup, only to lie there and not move to help assist them at all.

Mama Alto is accompanied by a pianist, Alex Wignall, who has a few moments where he really gets to shine particularly with his piano solo in Round Midnight. The set list appears to be much more heavily inspired by the MGM musicals than by Folies Bergère or Ziegfeld Follies. However, there was a nod to the Folies Bergère with a performance of the song of the same name mixed with Puttin’ on the Ritz.

Mama Alto is clearly very talented but the bookends of her performance of Follies Girl at Adelaide Cabaret Festival sadly let her down last night. If it weren’t for those parts of the show, we would have given this 4 croissants.

3.5 CROISSANTS

Matilda Marseillaise was a guest of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival

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Check out the Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2023 program here

Reading Time: 4 minutes

M’Ap Boulé is a powerful show combining story-telling with song from Sydney-born Haitian- Australian Nancy Denis. Throughout the 90 minute show, Nancy shares her experience of being born in Australia to Haitian parents and her combat for acceptance of her as she is, and who she loves.

M’Ap Boulé Nancy Denis — Photo: Claudio Raschella

The title of the show M’Ap Boulé is Haitian Creole for “I’m on fire”. It is an uplifting and joyous performance. Nancy Denis is a potent story-teller who takes the audience on an emotional ride from laughter one moment to tears welling in our eyes in another and back to laughter again. However, she’s not just a poetic and potent story-teller, she has an incredible singing voice too.

Nancy Denis is joined on stage by Kween G, an MC and hip-hop artist, Victoria Falconer on keys and musical saw, and Mick Stuart on drums. The music we hear throughout M’Ap Boulé was composed by the late Carl St Jacques. The rapport between Kween G and Nancy Denis when performing front and centre together is wonderful and heart-warming.

The set is simple but effective – candles adorn white blocks of different heights across the back of the stage. This together with the lighting helps visually convey the warmth we feel from M’Ap Boulé. Denis has several costume changes – opening the show in a low-cut jumpsuit, and later sliding into a strapless orange flouncy dress.

Denis doesn’t shy away from asking the mainly white audience confronting questions such as when was Australia established as a nation? And what is terra nullius? What about the stolen generation? An awkwardly catchy tune about genocide (gen to the side, gen-o-cide) may be stuck in your head long after the show has finished.

Nancy’s pride in her Haitian background is clear from the outset of the show with the audience being invited to stand for the National Anthem – it being the Haitian one of course! She wears the Haitian flag on her shoes and her back. However, she wasn’t always proud to be Haitian – sometimes she craved the acceptance of her white-skinned schoolmates and the attention of white boys. All in an effort to assimilate.

Since the young age of 3, Nancy Denis knew she came from warriors – her father told her about Haiti becoming the first black Republic and the murders her ancestors had to commit to free themselves from slavery. She tells us that as a 3 year old she could only relate the good and bad to Mustafa and Scar in Lion King but her father made sure that she understood that the killing of French soldiers was justice.

Knowing her ancestors fought so hard for their freedom from slavery and their independence has shaped Nancy Denis and has always been present with her in her struggles. She embraced their strength and heard their voices even in her darkest hour.

Her fall into the depths of despair is potently described through a song in which she asks that you:

“save me, save me from myself

catch me, catch me

hold me, hold me”

For talking about a topic so many still shy away from, Nancy Denis’ courage must be commended. There is a lot of hope and happiness on either side of the despair and sadness in M’ap Boulé and Nancy Denis poetically speaks about emerging from the cage of safety. This is powerful, potent story-telling and a sharing of hope and joy. We can’t recommend M’ap Boulé highly enough.