Michael Griffiths to Bring Madonna and Annie Lennox to 2014 Adelaide Fringe, Feb-March 2014

After sell-out seasons in New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Hobart, Auckland, Perth and Edinburgh Fringe where he earned five stars, Jersey Boys star Michael Griffiths will be back in Adelaide with not one but two shows during the 2014 Adelaide Fringe Festival performing at Le Cascadeur in the Garden of Unearthly Delights.

Alternating nightly Michael will perform his superbly crafted cabaret shows In Vogue: Songs by Madonna and Sweet Dreams: Songs by Annie Lennox. Each night Michael imbues either 'Madge' or 'Annie' without accent, costume or wig, accompanying 'herself' at the piano, leading you on a journey through both of their tough lives and tender songs.

IN VOGUE is a gender-bending explosion. Experience this musical theatre star transform himself into the Queen of Pop. Get ready to strike a pose, get into the groove and express yourself as Madonna opens her heart! The show features 35 song references and 12 songs sung in their entirety.

Whilst SWEET DREAMS features Lennox's lyrics plumbed for new meaning, melodies reinterpreted, all peppered with candid musings and remembrances from the moody songstress herself. From the androgynous early days as one half of 80s sensation Eurythmics through to her stunning solo career, Annie shares the confessions of her triumphs and her heartbreak. Featuring unforgettable songs like Why, Love is a Stranger, Walking on Broken Glass and There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart).

Both shows, written by acclaimed writer/director Dean Bryant (Prodigal, Liza on an E, Britney Spears: The Cabaret), put the entire back catalogues of the undisputed Queen of Pop and undoubtedly one of the greatest white soul singers of all time under the microscope to find out the real stories and surprising truths behind them.

Griffiths Adelaide performances at the Garden of Unearthly Delights come direct from his debut Christmas season of IN VOGUE at London's St James Theatre as well as a double bill of both shows at the Midsumma Festival in Melbourne and a limited run of IN VOGUE at the Perth Fringe.

The hometown boy's debut at the Adelaide Fringe Festival has been a long time coming, Griffiths says "I can't wait to make my Fringe Festival debut in February. I've spent the past four years touring with Jersey Boys and have recently moved permanently back to Adelaide and the timing couldn't be better. Both shows premiered in Adelaide at the Cabaret Festival and it's a thrill to bring them both home to the Garden and being part of the whole Mad March".

IN VOGUE: SONGS BY MADONNA and SWEET DREAMS: SONGS BY Annie Lennox
DEVISED and DIRECTED by Dean Bryant
FEATURING Michael Griffiths

VENUE:Garden of Unearthly Delights - Le Cascadeur
WHEN: 14 February - 16 March 2014 (excluding 17 & 24 February & 3 & 10 March) TIME: 7pm
TICKETS: $30, Conc $27, Preview 14 - 16 February $23
Contains strong language BOOKINGS: Fringe Tix adelaidefringe.com.au 1300 621 255

Michael Griffiths: Adelaide's own Michael Griffiths graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) with a Bachelor in Music Theatre in 1999 and has a Diploma in Music Composition. He is a singer, pianist, composer and musical arranger. Michael has just completed performing as Bob Crewe in Jersey Boys. Before this he toured Australia and New Zealand in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. He is currently performing his acclaimed one man cabaret In Vogue: Songs By Madonna which was commissioned for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2011 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival which is receiving rave reviews. In Vogue has also been performed in London, New York, Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart and Perth.

He most recently wowed audiences in Adelaide with the World Premiere performance of Sweet Dreams: Songs by Annie Lennox at 2013 Cabaret Festival.

Michael performed in the Australian and Japanese tour of We Will Rock You!, appeared in the original Australian cast of Shout! and was in the original workshop for the new Australian musical Prodigal. Michael has performed cabaret at Sydney's legendary Showqueen at the Supper Club and for Kookaburra's Up Close and Musical series.

Dean Bryant - Director: Dean directed Next to Normal for Melbourne Theatre Company, Hansel and Gretel for OzOpera and co-directed The Producers and Anything Goes for The Production Company. Other directing credits include; The Last Five Years (45DS, Stables, NSW tour - Green Room and Helpmann Award noms - Best Director of a Musical), Prodigal (45DS), Once We Lived Here (45DS) and Virgins: A Musical Threesome (CUB Malthouse).

He is Worldwide Associate Director of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical (Australian, West End, Broadway, Italian and Brazilian seasons) and completed the same job on the world premiere of An Officer and a Gentleman, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and the MTC productions of The Drowsy Chaperone, Spelling Bee, Hitchcock Blonde and Urinetown.

His cabaret credits as writer/director include Todd McKenney's Songs and Stories of Peter Allen, I'm Every Woman (2013 season at the Spiegeltent, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Theatre Award - Best Cabaret), Britney Spears: The Cabaret (Green Room noms-Best Cabaret/Best Director of a Cabaret - Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney), Liza (on an E), Newley Discovered (Sydney Opera House/Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Sydney Theatre nom - Best Cabaret), Experiment: Cole Porter (Adelaide Cabaret Festival), Josie in the Bathhouse (Spiegeltent and Adelaide Cabaret Festival) and In Vogue: Songs By Madonna (Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Midsumma, NZ, Sydney and NYC seasons). With composer Mathew Frank he has written the musicals Prodigal (off-Broadway season at the York Theatre, Green Room - Best Original Score), Once We Lived Here (Green Room - Best New Musical), Virgins and The Silver Donkey as well as the songs for Channel 10's Mr and Mrs Murder premiering in 2013.

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