Adelaide, Australia-
Now in its ninth year, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival (Adelaide Festival Centre) promises to dazzle audiences when it opens on 5 June, 2009 under the new Artistic Directorship of Adelaide born entertainer David Campbell. Campbell will oversee the festival over the next three years.
Appearing in her only Australian performances, musical theatre icon Bernadette Peters will headline the festival, performing in the Festival Theatre on 6 and 7 June.
Bernadette Peters is among the crème de la crème of live stage performers and a multiple Tony Award-winning star. Throughout her illustrious career, she has mesmerized audiences and critics with her performances on stage, television, in concert and recordings. Her film credits include well-known titles Pennies From Heaven, Annie and The Jerk to name a few. Peters made her Broadway debut in 1967 and went on to star in a number of smash hit productions becoming one of the most sought-after stars in musical theatre. This will be a rare opportunity for audiences to see one of the finest Cabaret stars direct from New York.
What's unique about this event, is that when David Campbell was made the new artistic director, Peters was his first choice on which to launch his new role. He's thrilled to have gotten her to agree to come over to his native Adelaide and the performance is going to be filmed for both television and DVD for Australia's FOXTEL Network. The concert is being directed by her now-longtime collaborator, Richard Jay-Alexander and will be conducted by another longtime collaborator, Marvin Laird.
David Campbell has continually been described as a world-class performer since he first burst onto the New York cabaret scene over a decade ago. Since then he has continued to go from strength to strength internationally and in Australia having had platinum sales for hisSwing Sessions albums and Good Lovin. David has also starred in a number of stage roles includingJohnny O'Keefe in the record breaking rock n'roll musical Shout!,winning top musical honours at the 2006 Helpmann Awards as Best Male Actor in a Musical for his performance in Sunset Boulevardand won acclaim from Sondheim himself for his performance of Bobby in a Sydney production of Company.
The festival will open with the Variety Gala Performance on Friday 5 June, at 7.30pm in the Festival Theatre. Hosted by David Campbell the Gala Performance offers a diverse sample of the 2009 Festival program featuring local and international stars, with the full line-up revealed on the night! This gala is for one night only, nowhere else in the world will you see an array of Cabaret artists performing in a gala of stunning proportions, with tickets starting from only $25.00.
Cabaret as an artform has evolved over the years from the Moulin Rouge days in Paris, to the English music halls and the New York cabaret clubs. And so it continues, once a year in the city of Adelaide where Cabaret is celebrated, offering audiences the chance to experience small intimate performances as well as main stage extravaganzas.
In America, 'cabaret' is a misnomer compared to the way that Australian's interpret the word, and Peters will be performing with a full 28-piece orchestra. No news of what songs will be in the program for these shows, but since it's been 12 years since her last television special, we can expect that the show will be similar to the knockout shows that she's been giving across America over recent months. Peters also appeared recently at the Kennedy Center for a Birthday tribute to Ted Kennedy where she knocked it out of the ballpark singing Rodgers and Hammerstein's "There is Nothing Like a Dame" in her own inimitable style. The evening featured other highlights including Colm Wilkinson performing 'Sweet Rosie O'Grady', Brian Stokes Mitchell singing 'The Impossible Dream' and more, with President Obama and his wife Michelle in the audience.
