Glitzy show fails to dazzle
Cabaret De Paris, M2 Productions, Opera House, Wellington, August 25 Reviewed by Ann Hunt
Described as a Burlesque extravaganza, with ‘‘old-fashioned showgirl glamour’’, the publicist certainly got it right with the ‘‘old fashioned’’. Fortunately the showgirls are stunning.
Without its star, Marissa Burgess and the elegant dancers, the production would flounder.
Burgess, a consummate professional who embodies glamour and style, has her own entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest serving dancer in Paris’s legendary Moulin Rouge. Her three-song sequence, including a semi-strip of great showmanship, which ends with her sashaying into the auditorium and slowdancing with an older audience member, is a highlight.
Another is pole dancer Kim Miller’s aerial pole routine. Although the pole never left the ground, Miller certainly did. Her lovely, strong line and grace is a far cry from the more usual pole routines.
The lavish (and sometimes minimal) costumes, adorned with sequins, rhinestones and jewels, worn with spectacular feathered capes and headdresses, are designed by Cathie Boyd, Marissa Burgess, Bruce Scott and Jenny Cooper.
But sadly these are outweighed by Todd Patrick’s pedestrian choreography, the chest-rattling, over-amplified music and the appallingly vulgar lighting design of Jeremy Dehn. It’s not easy making the elegant old Opera House look like a tatty club, but Dehn succeeded.
Completing the cast are illusionist Michael Boyd and comedian/mime/ trampolinist, Duban Nickol.
In spite of his endearing personality and obvious trampoline skills, Nickol’s act is interminable. Frankly, there are more amusing clowns in the Beehive.
It must be said the packed house had a whale of a time and definitely appreciated the glitz and the glamour.