Hayes Theatre Co Cabaret Season 2014

For six weeks from June 2 to July 13, 2014, Sydney’s Hayes Theatre Co is turning into an exclusively cabaret venue.

Hayes Theatre Co will play host to experienced masters of the craft of cabaret including as Mark Nadler, David Campbell and John Bucchino, Rhonda Burchmore and Donna Lee; up-and-coming young stars like Tom Sharah, Gillian Cosgriff, Brendan Hay, Matt Gilbertson, and Hilary Cole; and even a show where the two worlds meet – Phil Scott’s collaboration with Blake Bowden, Mario.

Michael Griffiths brings his award-winning interpretation of the songs of Annie Lennox, while Elise McCann examines the appeal of Lucille Ball to 1950s America. Johanna Allen showcases the songbook of Harold Arlen, and Toby Francis lifts the curtain on a very different songwriter, rock legend Jim Steinman.

Hayes Theatre Co’s cabaret season includes the world premieres of five new cabaret shows, and the Sydney premieres of six more.

The theatre is also collaborating with Queenie van de Zandt on a two-week Cabaret Winter Workshop during the season.

“From veterans to newcomers, popera to pop music, Hayes Theatre Co‘s cabaret season offers a diverse and invigorating range of experiences,” said Richard Carroll - Hayes Theatre Co board member and producer at Luckiest Productions.

Cabaret Season Details

Luckiest Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents\

Elise McCann in Everybody Loves Lucy (World Premiere
)

Lucille Ball was the Queen of American comedy for decades. After years paying her dues in B-movies, she won the public‘s hearts and reigned supreme as television‘s biggest star in I Love Lucy - the most popular sitcom in American history.

Elise McCann (Mamma Mia, South Pacific) presents a tribute to a true trail-blazer. Including much-loved songs from Lucy‘s time on the air.

June 4 – 6, 2014

With Nigel Ubrihien. Directed by Helen Dallimore
. Written by Elise McCann and Richard Carroll, Dramaturge: Merridy Eastman. Musical Director: Nigel Ubrihien

Hans in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents

Hans: Like a German (Sydney Premiere)

After a smash hit run at the 2014 Adelaide Fringe playing to packed Spiegeltent crowds, and a blockbuster sell-out season of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Hans is heading to Sydney!

Join Hans, his band The Ungrateful Bastards and dancers The Lucky Bitches for an evening of hotpants, feathers and accordions.

With more eyeliner than Cleopatra and more drama than an episode of the Real Housewives, Hans will make you feel Like A German as well with his unique brand of in your face cabaret.

June 6 & 7.

Working Management in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents

Johanna Allen in The Songs That Got Away: The Music of Harold Arlen (World Premiere).

Take a stroll to 1930‘s Manhattan. Pull up a chair at the Cotton club. The music of Harold Arlen drifts in and reigns supreme...‘Stormy Weather, The Man that got Away, Blues in the Night, Get Happy, One for my baby, I got the World on astring, The Old Black Magic and the songthat is etched into our hearts like no other.... ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.’

Johanna Allen showcases the catalogue of Arlen’s songs, ranging from his most famous ballads to the sassy depths of the melancholy blues. Allen explores the music he wrote and the women who sang it.

June 7  & 8.

Musical Director - Michael Tyack

Director - Stuart Maunder

Rhonda Burchmore in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents

Rhonda Burchmore’s Vinyl Viagra (Sydney Premiere)

The fabulous Ms. B will unleash the ̳Vixens of Vinyl‘ making temperatures soar and hearts pulse.

Channelling the sex appeal and songs of divas from Marlene Dietrich, Shirley Bassey, Cher and Chrissy Amphlett to Madonna, Kylie, Beyonce, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga with just a hint of Berlin cabaret - mixed with the boldness of burlesque - the sultry Ms. B invites you to an adventurous evening of sublime sensuality.

Songs like ̳I Touch Myself, ̳Private Dancer‘, ̳Roar‘, ̳Wrecking Ball‘, ̳Locomotion‘, ̳Back to Black‘ and more will feature in this devil-icious fantasy.

Written and directed by Dean Bryant. Musical Director - Mathew Frank

June 11 - 13

Hilary Cole & Highway Run Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents

Hilary Cole in OCDiva (World Premiere).

Hilary Cole — star of Squabbalogic‘s hit shows Carrie: The Musicaland The Drowsy Chaperone — recounts her obsession with... well, most things.

Featuring music that ranges from Stephen Sondheim and Jerome Kern to The Beatles and Blondie, Hilary tells the story of her obsessive nature and what it means to find solid footing in the midst of a manic existence.

June 15, 22, and 29.

Luckiest Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co present

David Campbell Sings John Bucchino (Sydney Premiere)

David Campbell and Broadway composer John Bucchino have performed across the globe together over the last twenty years. In this deeply personal and intimate show, Campbell andBucchino return to the stage to talk about their lives, careers and the songs that have bound them together.

John Bucchino‘s songs have been recorded by everyone from Liza Minelli to Art Garfunkel and Kristen Chenoweth

June 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 & 28.

Musical Director - John Bucchino

Hayes Theatre Co presents

Gillian Cosgriff in This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things (Sydney Premiere).

Following her successful debut show,Waitressing... and Other Things I Do Well, Gillian Cosgriff is doing less waitressing and more of the otherthings. These may include: drinking, text messages, profanity, sex,grammar, hangovers, and Band-Aids. Her hilarious original songs willmake you glad these things haven‘t happened to you.

After graduating from WAAPA in 2010 with a Bachelor of Music Theatre, Gillian wrote her debut show, Waitressing...And Other Things I Do Well, which played in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

June 19 - 21

Donna Lee & Neil Gooding Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents

Donna Lee Sings Petula Clark

Donna pays tribute (not an impression or impersonation) and takes us on a journey through the career of one of the most enduring performers of our time, Miss Petula Clark, which includes her hit songs plus songs from her film and stage appearances.

June 22 & 29

Directed by Neil Gooding

David M. Hawkins in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents

Mark Nadler in I’m A Stranger Here Myself (Sydney Premiere)

In I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Mark Nadler explores the depths ofthe European expatriate experience.

Using songs by German and French artists - Kurt Weill, Friedrich Hollaender, Lotte Lenya and Marlene Dietrich (to name a few) - who through their music express the declarations of identity, the resistance in the face of terror and the hopes for survival.

Nadler examines the lives of these artists as well as those of ordinary German citizens caught up in one of the most intriguing periods of the Twentieth Century.

June 24 - 27

Michael Griffiths in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents

Sweet Dreams:
Songs by Annie Lennox

Michael Griffiths IS Annie Lennox. From the gender bending early days as one half of Eurythmics through to her stunning solo career, revisit unforgettable songs like Why, Walking on Broken Glass and There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart). Winner Best Cabaret Adelaide Fringe 2014.

July 2 – 5.

Writer/Director - Dean Bryant Musical Director - Michael Griffiths

Highway Run Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents

Toby Francis in Love and Death and an American Guitar (World Premiere)

Set just a few years after the release of iconic rock album Bat Out of Hell, Love and Death and an American Guitarlifts the curtain on the genius responsible for the album‘s success, composer Jim Steinman. Written and performed by award-winning cabaret artist Toby Francis with Musical Direction by Andrew Worboys, Love and Death and an American Guitarsees Steinman return to the writing desk in an effort to complete his stage adaptation of PeterPan – a rock opera entitled Neverland.

Taking place against the backdrop of Steinman‘s struggle with a lack of public and professional recognition, unpaid royalties, and lost friendships - and boasting a collection of some of the biggest rock songs of all time - Love and Death and an American Guitar is an epic yet intimate glimpse into the life of one of music‘s greatest treasures that is not to be missed.

July 4 - 6

Musical Director - Andrew Worboys

One-Eyed Man Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents

Tom Sharah in That ‘90s Show (World Premiere)

You CAN feel the love tonight! From the Backstreet Boys to the Spice Girls, Bill & Ted to Romy & Michelle - the 1990s was a decade of big pants and tight dance moves. It was also the decade that nurtured and formed award-winning cabaret star Tom Sharah, who brings his tight pants and big dance moves to this totally bodacious night of cabaret.

Tom Sharah (Que Sera Sharah, It’s Raining Me) takes the audience on a ride through the decade that created him - with guilty-pleasure songs (minus the guilt), and outrageous childhood stories in his own unmistakable style.

July 6 & 13.

Musical Director - Nigel Ubrihien

One-Eyed Man Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co present

Blake Bowden & Phil Scott in Mario (Sydney Premiere)

For a short while the American tenor Mario Lanza was the greatest star of the

1950s. One of the first superstars, his records topped the charts, he was the darling of Hollywood, and everyone fell for his charm and that beautiful voice. Ten years later, Mario was all washed up, dyingmysteriously at the age of 38.

Blake Bowden (South Pacific) sings up a storm as the stormy Lanza, while writer/satirist/pianist Phil Scott fills in the gaps, playing various characters in the singer's life. Directed by Eamon Flack, this show re-creates an era of memorable music, murderous mafiosi and Louis B. Mayer.

July 9 - 12

Conceived by Blake Bowden and Phil Scott Written by Phil Scott. Directed by Chris Parker

Brendan Hay in association with Hayes Theatre Co presents

Cruello de Vil in Dance with De Vil

Dance with De Vil, a collaboration between Sydney based
comedian Jared Jekyll and emerging cabaret artist Brendan Hay (best known as Australia's Got Talent's Valère), delves into the delicate tale of the damaging effect of being the only descendant of infamous socialite and fashionista, Cruella de Vil.

The story revolves around Hay‘s new alter ego, Cruello, and the
mystery surrounding his sudden and somewhat unexpected re- emergence into society. High Fashion meets Fetish, Cabaret meets Glam Club Kids. Be prepared for many a song, many a dance, full musical accompaniment and perhaps even an interview with the Queen of Fur and Mother herself...

Dates July 10 - 12

Musical Director - Benjamin Kiehne. Written by Jared Jekyll & Brendan Hay

Hayes Theatre Co, Amazon Woman Enterprises and Queenie van de Zandt presents

Cabaret Winter Workshop

Devise, produce and perform your own cabaret show.

The Cabaret Winter Workshop is a 2-week course designed to help up and coming cabaret performers to attain the unique skills needed to devise, produce and perform their own cabaret show.

The workshop will conclude with performances on June 14 at Hayes Theatre Co as part of its annual cabaret season.

Hayes Theatre Co, 19 Greenknowe Ave, Potts Point

Bookings and more information: www.hayestheatre.com.au