Adelaide embraced Amelia Ryan's show, Storm in a D Cup, which was a big hit at the 2016 Adelaide Fringe. Since then, however, something life-changing has happened to her; she has become a brand new Mum, as she explains in, The Breast is Yet to Come. With her new-found role, Ryan's tales of debauchery have now turned domestic, and her once sequined gowns have become "spew rags", but Ryan, well, she takes it all in her stride as she succumbs to the ups and downs of motherhood, using it for cabaret fuel much to the delight of her audience.
Wearing a blue caped dress and carrying a swaddled Humpty Dumpty, Ryan emerges through the audience to the stage and, in moments, had her audience captive.
For a woman who has had little to no sleep a night, and can't remember the last time she drank a cup of tea while it was still hot, Ryan had the most incredible energy, enough to rival that of her childless counterparts. Throughout the show, she shared stories about her life, so that her audience could walk away feeling better about their own. This is Ryan's way of paying service to her community.
Ryan is the mistress of parody. Her ingeniously rewritten lyrics to well-known songs are witty and satirical and, with her top-notch vocals, she delivers each song with such gusto that the atmosphere felt much more like a nightclub than a matinee. Her beautiful face and voice brought each song to life in ways that only she could. She was accompanied on keyboard by Helpmann award winner, Michael Griffiths, an extremely talented performer in his own right, who also shares the stage with Ryan in their cabaret show Livvy and Pete, who added greatly to the show.
Ryan is a consummate artist who played to all corners of the room and, in the most poignant moments of the show, most notably when she sang songs penned by her own hand, the emotion in the room was tangible as I looked around and saw many a misty eye. It must be said here that this was no easy feat, with the unfortunate noise bleed from other venues, which does happen at Gluttony, but Ryan didn't let it faze her nor her audience as she continued to connect with all there, from her heart, and through her voice.
There were many highlights in the show, too many to mention here, but one, which must be noted was, when the audience were delighted to meet the person who elicited such creation from Ryan in the first place, her baby son Archie, whose stage debut was met with rapturous, albeit brief, applause.
Since becoming a mother, Ryan's world has categorically changed and Adelaide audiences are the better for it. Ryan is truth, reality, song and theatre, wrapped up in a powerhouse voice.
The Breast is Yet to Come has two more shows, on the 10th and 11th of March at 4pm at the Spiegel Zelt, Gluttony. Take some friends along, it makes for a great afternoon out.
Reviewed by Fiona Talbot-Leigh, Sunday 25th February 2018.