We work with irreverent and playful sorts who reinvent popular tunes, tales and tropes, who use considerable skill and artistry to entertain, push boundaries around gender and sexuality and, most importantly, to tell a story.
The jewel in our crown is Lady Sings it Better, our four woman cabaret troupe, who sing songs penned and sung by men, turning them upside in a feminist, high-femme explosion of sound. After a month-long season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2012, performing at Gilded Balloon, Lady have been hitting the Australian festival circuit, performing at Adelaide Fringe, Sydney Mardi Gras, and Sydney Comedy Festival, soon to be appearing at the Melbourne Fringe.
In March 2012 and 2013, we produced seasons of cabaret for Sydney Mardi Gras, featuring a variety of local queer musicians and their collaborators, blackcat lounge. The blackcat lounge took over the Sidetrack Theatre in Marrickville from Feb 14 – March 10 2012, and then graduated to The Factory Floor in 2013, featuring international cabaret sensations Frisky and Mannish.
In 2013, we produced a sold out launch event for 55Upitty, an online project celebrating the stories of older LGBTQI women.
We also produced, Beauty and the Bastard: A Spoonful of Disney, the brainchild of Sydney musicians, Maxine Kauter and James Edgar Francis. These two (and their band) toured to the Adelaide Fringe 2012.
…and we produce HOMAGE, a cabaret tribute night, at which a selection of young queer musicians play HOMAGE to their GLBTQ musical heroes, from Etheridge to di Franco, Village People to Queen, Ricky Martin to the Indigo Girls, Antony to the Gossip…
In the past, we’ve produced events with ali & the thieves, who recently returned from touring Leonard Cohen Koans to the New York International Fringe Festival.
blackcat productions collaborates with:
- Brett Every, local queer musician and regular performer at Lady Sings it Better gigs. blackcat productions is collaborating with Brett to produce Homage, a recurring cabaret tribute to GLBTQ musicians past and present
- Tim Hansen, composer. Tim, a former MD for Lady Sings it Better, continues to arrange music from the group, all the way from the Big Apple, where he is studying composition at New York University
- Dr Joe Twist, composer. Joe is a former MD for Lady Sings it Better.
- Kelfi & Fikel, comedy duo Fiona Pearson and Kellie Higgins
- Maxine Kauter Band, performers at HOMAGE
- Manger, performers at HOMAGE
- Girl Most Likely, performers at HOMAGE
- Holly Go Brightly, performers at HOMAGE
- Pilot Darcy, performer at HOMAGE
- Tom Sharah, performer at HOMAGE
- Lauren LaRouge, performer at HOMAGE
- Hayley Thorncraft, performer at HOMAGE
- Kate Duffy, local musician often invited to perform at our events
- Jess Maynard, former singer in Lady Sings it Better
- Viv McGregor, photographer
- Sean Ellwood, photographer
- Kerry Fluhr, photographer
- Shell Horn, graphic design
- Emily Spencer, graphic design
- Cameron Power, video editor
