Reviews

For those who can’t get enough of Stephen Sondheim, masterly musician and lyricist, and Anthony Warlow, Australia’s greatest baritone performer – well, you’d better get your skates on and head for Sydney’s Darling Harbour. There, at the end of Vivid, you’ll find a brilliant concert version of the epic Sweeney Todd, before it moves to Melbourne for another 6 performances. 

We are all familiar with the Dami Im, winner of the fifth season of X Factor Australia, whose debut single “Alive” reached number one on the Aria Albums Chart andwho represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song “Sound of Silence”. There she won the jury vote, coming second overall with a total of 511 points. But how much do we know of the real Dami?

In an extremely compelling evening of song,Dami Im – My Life in Songs explores her story as a Korean immigrant and her climb to success.

This is a strange one. The first night audience assembled, ready to laugh or gasp at a new play by Mark Kilmurry, Artistic Director of the Ensemble. He welcomes them, explains in character that this is London in 1959, that we are to see two radio plays performed in real time. He introduces his fellow actors (Georgie Parker and Daniel Mitchell) and the Foley Artist (Katie Fitchett) who will provide all necessary background sounds, from door-bangs to footsteps in the gravel. Audience primed, ready for fun, so off we go!

An afternoon with an old friend. That’s the way the performance by Philip Quast felt in his Adelaide Cabaret Festival show Philip Quast Uncut. From the moment we hear a disembodied whistle and his approaching beautiful tones singing “The Gypsy Rover”, as an audience, we are along for the ride. It was clear there was much affection in the room for this homegrown star. He made the local audience feel special by even singing a rendition of “Adelaide’s The Home For Me”from On The Wallaby by Nick Enright.