After being well-received last February, Be My Cabaret - a mix of song, sketch, drag and clowning - returned with fresh acts, running for two nights over last weekend, produced again by Justine Malone and Nathan Peter Grassi, both of whom also perform.
The fact I had never before been to a cabaret, coupled with the branding for Be My Cabaret - a glamorous woman donning a black top hat, eyeliner, and a leotard peeking out from behind a red curtain - led me to expect something saucy, more in line with the drag-and-burlesque blends of Oxphwoard. What I received leaned more sweet and silly than sultry, a range of acts united in their life-affirming warmth.
Our emcee was comedian Chloe Jacobs, of the Oxford Imps and Undercover Comedy. ‘This is very much a Sunday night crowd’ - she aptly observed. Though the theatre was mostly full, the audience was muted. Jacobs teased us out of our shells with jokes about body image and dating, then crowd work which kept circling back to the dire state of the world, from history repeating itself, to the current environmental crisis. It was appropriately laidback, gallows humour for winning over a tentative crowd. As the show went on, Jacobs treated us to a reading of some of her adolescent Twilight fan fiction, the content of which is so iconically cringey it formed the backbone of her first solo show, Twilight: Breaking Down.
But anyways, back to the cabaret. The structure of the night was a big strength - rather than having, say, a performer deliver their three sketches back to back, performances were separated and woven throughout, which gave the show a satisfying sense of momentum and cohesion. For the sake of clarity here though, I will discuss each act individually.
The first act was a loving drag king homage to Wham!, split into four sections - each starting with a song and leading into a sketch. Justine Malone played a fabulous George Michael, who’s comic timing with Ralph Watson’s Andrew Ridgely was side-splitting. The details were delightful, from the duo’s iconic ‘Choose Life’ T-Shirts, to instantly recognisable tributes to George Michael's later looks, and a million puns and references. The song covers hit the perfect balance of rousing and hilarious - the performances sincere/good enough to get us shimmying in our seats and silly enough to get us laughing too. But what made the sketches memorable was their genuine heart - following the pair from childhood friendship: dreaming of stardom and arguing over what was for tea, to pop stardom, through their musical separation and eventual reunification as friends. Malone’s solo show last year, I’ll Be Back, managed the same trick - genuine poignancy wrapped in clever quips, pop culture references and bravado.
Taking a straightforward and sincere approach, Ankur Sabharwal brought his guitar and melodic emotive voice to two lovely covers, “Nothing Compares 2 U” in the style of Sinead O’Connor, and “If” by Bread—the plaintive, soft-spoken covers made for a gorgeous, captivating rest in between the more hectic performances.
A trio of talented performers, - Glen Young, Laura O’Mahoney, and Hope McNamara Sear - gave a terrific exploration of love and marriage across three songs from different musicals. Glen Young’s brought great charisma to the adorably jittery “Tonight at Eight” - a song from She Loves Me about obsessing over a date later that day. Laura Mahoney, meanwhile, nailed the technically challenging ‘Not Getting Married’ from Company with charisma and humour, accompanied by impressive soprano interludes by McNamara Sear. The latter then took the lead in the final song, “If You Hadn’t But You Did” from ‘50s musical Two on the Aisle, which sees a spurned lover getting her vengeance with a sassy, Chicago-esque glee.
In the middle of the show, we were treated to a clowning act by Chris Michael, under the guise of ‘A Message From Our Sponsors’. Michael’s silent performance used miming from spinning and catching his hat to pretending his hands were trapped inside his suit jacket. The act was a collection of pratfalls and intentionally failed tricks and incorporated audience participation. It was silly, engaging and technically impressive, though I think it may have been a bit overlong for this reserved audience, who cheered and booed along obligingly. I imagine with a more rowdy and (perhaps tipsy crowd), the giddiness could have built on itself. But it was still a wonderful change of pace.
Shout out to Nia Williams as well, whose piano playing added great atmosphere to multiple acts.
Finally, two highlights of the show closing out the first and second halves, came courtesy of co-producer Nathan Peter Grassi.
Prior to Grassi’s first piece, he had flitted onstage periodically in a grey jumpsuit and cap, unobtrusively sweeping up props from just-finished performances. This sowed seeds for when Chloe Jacobs announced apologetically that the final act of the first half had dropped out. Naturally, ‘Rudy the Cleaner’ jumped at his chance at a big break. In a silver spotlight, Grassi incorporated all his cleaning props - broom, rags, spray bottle - in a stylish and hilarious burlesque routine to “Chains” by Tina Arena. Stripping down to a white vest, Grassi’s routine was ironically the dirtiest piece of the night, and the raunch was a great, rousing palate cleanser to take us through to the intermission.
This was bookended by the altogether far more bonkers second performance, itself possibly a callback to last year’s Cabaret, entitled The Lonely Heart (Part 2) Back in the Habit. Dressed in a cotton pajama shorts-and-vest set dotted with red hearts, paired with an incredible oversized heart-shaped headdress, Grassi stormed the stage to deliver a mock-lecture, beset with (intentional) technical difficulties, from misprinted pages to an absent projector screen. This then eventually turned into a supremely irritated recitation of “Don’t Call Me Baby” by Madison Avenue, which then segued into a demonically possessed, red-lit performance to “Padam Padam” by Kylie Minogue. It was somehow weirder (and more fantastic) than it sounds.
All in all, this was a deeply sweet, textured, big-hearted night out that benefited from excellent pacing and structural choices. I’m already looking forward to next year’s iteration.