Review: CLUB SWIZZLE Went Down A Treat! at Sydney Opera House

Club Swizzle is the kind of experience you see in the movies, the kind of night you move cities for, the kind of place where even the humblest ticket holder can feel like a star. Brett Haylock, producer of the indomitable La Clique and La Soiree, has brought the sparkle and fizz back to Sydney and dusted off the Opera House for a night of vintage good fun. Throw on your glad-rags, take along your lover and prepare to be swizzed...swuzzled...swoozed? I dunno, ask Amy G, she's the comedy queen 'round these here parts.

Featuring a cavalcade of the world's most talented acts in circus, burlesque, music and sheer entertainment, Club Swizzle has brought back some of the favourites from last season, but is tempting old friends with new flavours. The masterfully ceremonious Murray Hill is back to delight and pervert, so if you're not down for puckering up, pick the seats in the back! Same goes for if you don't want to get a little wet, but ultimately that's up to the talents of the performers no matter where you wind up in the house! Laurie Hagen engineers burlesque that subverts the way we think of sexualising the body at the same time teasing the senses. Alice Muntz's sumptuous swing act began the seat-edge dance that marks an enraptured audience, furthered by the saucy strap routine courtesy of the very visual Ben Lewis whose beauty was only exceeded by his strength. Thankfully audiences had the delightful Dandy Wellington to bring adrenaline down, but keep those hearts a-flutter and toes a-tapping.

To keep the highballs rolling, Amy G gave us a full cast of cabaret classics that still bring the house down. Highlight of the night was absolutely when the US expat patriotically encouraged all women to "grab back" in the face of the Trump-era. And it wouldn't be Club Swizzle without the #swizzleboys themselves, who really stole the show with their energy, camaraderie and incredible tumbling talents. They are the wow-factor, the secret sauce of this absolutely unmissable night out on the town where nothing is a sin, and so everything tastes good!

Perhaps what compliments Club Swizzle the most is that you truly don't see the wires or who's keeping count. The production team have proven themselves to be as fine-tuned as a martini on this one. Mikael Boulton and Annette Ogilvey as stage managers were definitely missed from the final bows. Marko Respondeck's lighting showed no fear in bold colours, and amplifying all corners of the club as inspired by Willie Suddon's original design. Kent Johnston's set danced about as well as all the performers, coordinated seamlessly to Michael Lira's sound, which was the one thing I wish I got to interact with more, the clearly talented but slightly out of reach Mikey and the Nightcaps, whose tunes were memorable and inventive.

Shows like Club Swizzle are a rare breed, that don't seek to overload your senses, but direct you to see and interact with the work of masters. In the era of all-episodes-available and high-saturation Snapchat filters, it felt so nostalgic to be amongst what is clearly a group of good, fun, friends and share a drink as one of them. This summer cocktail breathes fresh life into good memories, and washes away and the aches and pains of modern life, for a night of visual delights you'll be truly stirred by.

Tickets available here.
Images by Prudence Upton.

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