BEFORE PUNK, THERE WAS … CABARET

What good is sitting alone in your room? Come join the fun at the cabaret!

If you’ve never taken up Liza Minnelli’s invitation before, well, now’s your chance as the inaugural Sydney Cabaret Festival hits town. Originating in Paris in the late 1800s, cabaret really took off in 1920s Germany in response to the rise of fascism. The Sydney version features international star Jennifer Holliday plus local favourites Jonathan Biggins and Tim Draxl, and promises “variety, comedy, jazz and more belting than you can poke a stick at”, according to artistic director Trevor Ashley.

Green Room Award winning cabaret performer, Reuben Kaye (pictured) is one of the festival’s headliners. Described by one British theatre critic as “the evil love child of Liza Minnelli and Jim Carrey”, Melbourne-born Kaye has spent the past decade performing in Berlin, London, Paris and Amsterdam.

“Some people think cabaret is a somewhat twee, possibly passé art form,” Kaye says. “But actually, it’s vibrant, dangerous, exciting … It was the inspiration for the punk movement. There’s nothing quite like the thrill of being in a room with a performer letting loose, new each night and dangerous.

“Cabaret is brash and in your face,” he adds. “But most of all, it’s a hell of a lot of fun.”

• Sydney Cabaret Festival will play at venues across Sydney from 5-14 July. sydneycabaretfest.com