Courtney Act, Kween Kong, and Hans to Appear in SMASHED: THE NIGHTCAP at Sydney Festival 2024

The cast of Sydney Festival's late-night cabaret residency has been announced with a star-studded line-up set to shake up and drag up the Wharf 1 Theatre from 6-27 January. Led by inimitable cabaret queen Victoria Falconer, and showcasing some of the country's brightest and boldest drag, variety and circus acts, the show-stopping Smashed: The Nightcap promises a night on the town like no other. Alongside the fierce femme-fronted core cast of triple threats, the month-long run will also feature high-profile rotating guest acts including featured appearances by Drag Race Down Under breakout star Kween Kong, internationally awarded comedy cabaret icon and Berlin boy wonder Hans and global drag legend Courtney Act, along with other surprise guests. 

The sensational Smashed troupe will arrive back in town this January following a stand-out brunch season at Sydney Festival 2023. Transporting their daytime debauchery to nighttime revelry, this year's World Premiere new production is a cheeky throwback to Sydney's salacious cabaret dens of yesteryear. Accompanied by a rip-roaring live house band, Smashed: The Nightcap will showcase tasty cabaret talent, exquisite drag, camp comedy and jaw-dropping circus acts to surprise, delight and titillate. 

Festival Director, Olivia Ansell, said: “Nobody does a lock in or lock out better than Sydney – this city is famous for its underground speakeasys – a form of nightlife survival! Expect riotous cabaret, circus trickery and fierce drag from Australia's best. Smashed will get Sydney audiences hot and bothered – in all the best ways!”

Keeping audiences out of – or deeper into – trouble, Smashed: The Nightcap's host and musical director is Victoria Falconer, a cross-disciplinary performing artist and multi-instrumentalist with a penchant for glitter. Members of the show's changing cast line-up also include founding member of Circus Trick Tease Malia Walsh, internationally acclaimed aerialist and acrobat Bridget Rose, Polynesian burlesque ballroom princess Karlee Misi and Sydney's own high-kicking, back-flipping vocalist Tynga Williams. 

Other famous faces and favourites from across the 2024 Sydney Festival bill are also set to make nightly surprise appearances on the Smashed stage throughout January. 

Host of Smashed: The Nightcap, Victoria Falconer said: “Cabaret and variety artists in this country are some of the hottest, most jaw-droppingly multi-talented, versatile, inventive and exciting performers to witness live. There is a reason that so many incredible Australians are headlining shows around the world, constantly defying genres and expectations. I'm delighted to have lured such a high-calibre ensemble together – each night is set to be a unique, never-to-be-repeated experience. We're raising a toast to the wild ones, the rule-breakers and troublemakers over the years who know how to make a little havoc whilst also having a damn good time!”

Created by host Victoria Falconer and Hey Dowling, Smashed: The Nightcap is directed by one of Australia's most accomplished creative talents Amy Campbell (A Chorus Line, Hamilton, LEAP). Previous iterations of the Smashed production have seen hit seasons at Adelaide Fringe where they were also awarded the Spirit of the Fringe Weekly Award. 

Performing live almost every night of the festival, Smashed: The Nightcap is a staple of the festival's Thirsty Mile precinct, a full swing takeover of the historic Hungry Mile of Sydney's working wharfs. This new summer hotspot and festival hub includes theatres, bars, exhibition spaces, cabaret speakeasys and a dedicated late-night club. And for the first time ever, all eight venues in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct will be activated, with dance, art and performance presented both on stage and around the theatres themselves. 

The mainstay of Sydney's high summer season, Sydney Festival, returns from 5-28 January with a first class line-up of World Premieres, extraordinary immersive experiences, cutting-edge public art, Australian exclusives, free events, trailblazing First Nations programming and an epic live music offering, including the three day mid-city music festival, Summerground.

For tickets and info, please visit the link below.

 

SMASHED: THE NIGHTCAP

Saturday 6 January - Saturday 27 January
$59 – $99 + BF
Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1 Theatre (The Thirsty Mile)
Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Road
Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Dawes Point
 

CAST

Victoria Falconer: all dates
Malia Walsh: all dates
Bridget Rose: all dates
Courtney Act: 6-7 January and 20-27 January
Hans: 9-19 January
Kween Kong: 16-27 January
Karlee Misi: 6-14 January
Kelly-Ann Doll: 16 - 27 January
Tynga Williams: 6-14 January
 

BAND

Jarrad Payne
Abi McCunn
Nathan Barraclough
 

CREATIVE CREDITS

Director: Amy Campbell
LX Design: Priyanka Martin
Design: Sheri McCoy
Producers: Peta Spurling-Brown and John Glenn
Produced by: Hey Dowling

ABOUT SYDNEY FESTIVAL 

Sydney Festival is one of Australia's largest international arts festivals, with a stellar reputation for bold, inventive and intelligent programming. Its vibrancy reflects the confidence, creativity and vigour of one of the world's most beautiful cities. Under the curation of Festival Director Olivia Ansell, the Festival's mission is to deliver an exhilarating summer of art, drawing stories from Sydney's 65,000-year history through to its contemporary zeitgeist. Sydney Festival stages the world's best artists whilst nurturing its homegrown talent; many of Australia's most memorable theatrical productions have stemmed from its premieres and commissions. The buzz of summer wouldn't be the same without the Festival's spectacular installations, immersive experiences and live events splashed across Sydney each January.

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