Simply Brill - The Women Who Defined Rock ‘N’ Roll

Simply Brill describes it perfectly. Amelia Ryan, Michael Griffiths and Michaela Burger are excellent examples of world’s best cabaret performers in this lamentably short season of this world and Australian premiere show, showcasing some of the women (and men) who shaped 1960s rock’n’roll.

Each of these three performers have well established and diverse performance careers and they bring their experience, and polish, to this show in spades. Fresh from her success at the Adelaide Fringe, leggy blonde Ryan has spent the past decade writing, producing and touring cabaret and comedy shows across Australia, London, Edinburgh and New York. WAAPA graduate and Helpmann Award winning actor, performer, pianist, singer and Adelaide Cabaret Festival darling Griffiths is pianist, performer and MD in this show and it is obvious that he is no stranger to working with Ryan. Pocket rocket actor, writer and singer Burger, and winner of the 2015 International Cabaret Contest, is an Adelaide Fringe and Cabaret multi award winning performer who is also well known for her one woman stage show Exposing Edith, about the life and songs of Edith Piaf. The combination of these three cabaret stars is hard to beat and each brought their strengths to this 75 minute celebration of the rock’n’roll era that shaped the modern music world.

The title is clever because it is really about 1619 Broadway, New York, the Brill Building, that from 1958 to 1964 became the hothouse for singer songwriters who, for the first time embraced the newly powerful and influential post war group called ‘teenagers’. The Brill Building was where music entrepreneur Donny Kirschner nurtured the musical talents of later legends Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Ellie Greenwich, Neil Sedaka, Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, each of them creating songs about liberation, newly found sexuality and love. Many of these songs have become timeless classics and as Griffiths pointed out, have either poignant words or invented nonsense words like du bop and do wha diddy diddy, but for a ‘certain generation’, many of whom packed out the final night’s show, remain eternal earworms with lyrics and music that that we can mindlessly, but faithfully sing along to.

Each of the three performers stars on their own, but their harmonies were beautifully written, fun and well balanced. Mention must be made of the small, but very talented, sound team. It would have been easy as the three performers are so different, for the voices not to complement, but from Burger’s powerhouse voice to Griffiths warm, often subtle harmonising and Ryan’s sweet, true vocals, the sound delightfully complemented the songs and the show’s beautifully written tight patter.

The list of songs included is impressive and extensive and each performer’s strengths were harnessed. Again, the three were generous in including featured vignettes by the very talented backing band, none of whom outshone the others, but for me, Kyrie Anderson on drums made my heart beat a little faster. Cleverly, slides, as a backing, ensured that the audience knew the song names, dates and writers and this assisted the audience in understanding the show’s message about the genesis of women gradually wresting away some of the then male domination of the music industry.

The three performers each ‘became’ one of the featured performers and Ryan was delightfully witty singing Carole King’s, ‘Oh Neil’, the answer song to Sedaka’s, ‘Oh Carol’. It is hard to believe that it was not until 1960 that the Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by Gerry Goffin and Carole King was the first hit for an all-girls group and with Ryan and Burger’s duet, it was a toe tapping, hand clapping hit again. Comfortable with any centre stage, Griffiths fronted Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann’s ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’, allowing the girls to do a costume change into sparkling metallic, so perfect for the 60s.

Cleverly woven into the show is a detailed pop music history lesson with songs, just the right amount of choreography, reminiscing and cleverly arranged music. Medleys allowed many songs to be chronicled and the final deeply melodic ‘I Can Hear Music’ allowed all three performers to come together. Of course there was the unexpected but beautifully rehearsed encore that allowed each of the three to shine when presenting a song each. My lasting memory? There were too many fabulous musical moments to pick one, but I do know that the gentleman from Goolwa, to whom Ryan lovingly sang ‘Leader of the Pack’, may be there, centre front for every show in this trio’s next cabaret outing.

Jude Hines

Photographer: Claudio Raschella