blackcat lounge season highlights

Before time rushes away from me and our little cabaret season is but a distant memory, I thought I’d youtube-spam you with some of my favourite blackcat lounge moments.

The season had highs and lows, torrential rain and sunshine, tiny paper boats and pink balloons, big crowds and small. But one consistent wonder was the talent of the artists we assembled at The Sidetrack. I was thrilled to watch wonderful performance after wonderful performance.

Here are a few of my faves:

iOTA takes to the stage to sing unplugged with Brendan Maclean (read a wonderful review of the show by our photographer, Viv McGregor, here)

Maxine Kauter singing iOTA’s ‘Come back for me’ at HOMAGE:

Brett Every and Jeremy Brennan perform ‘The Night is Not Long Enough’:

Tom Sharah and his brother give Adele a run for her money:

Ali Hughes and Virginia Re sing ‘Northern Lights’ at Brett Every’s Leap Night:

This week at the blackcat lounge!

We’ve got surprise (or not so surprise) guests, cute boys, sassy ladies, and tickets flying out the door!

This week kicks off tomorrow night, Wednesday 29th, for Brett Every‘s Leap Night. Brett surprised a highly amused blackcat boys audience by performing his entire set in full medical scrubs. So we don’t really know what to expect! Except that Brett has told us we’ll get 10 men in an hour! And he’s bringing a hoarde of talented musicians along with him including Lauren Allison, ali hughes, Virgina Re and Jersey Boys’ Jeremy Brennan! BOOK HERE.

Thursday night will be star-studded, for Brendan Maclean‘s solo outing. Foolish Brendan made the mistake of thinking I could keep a secret when he told me his pal (yeah that one he performed with at the opera house) might join him on stage for a song or two. Brendan’s star is on the rise, and so it’s no surprise tickets are fast selling for this all ages show. BOOK HERE.

Friday and Sunday are Lady madness. Lady Sings it Better sold the first full house of the season, playing to roaring crowds last Friday night. Reviews have sung our praises, audience members have come back twice and we’ve sold a bunch of Lady t-shirts after the show…all par for the course in our quest for world-domination! BOOK HERE.

blackcat lounge is nearly over… if you haven’t come along to a show yet, you’re missing out!

Next week… ali hughes & leonie cohen, Lady Sings it Better, Lauren LaRouge and HOMAGE…

blackcat lounge week 1…

Where to begin? After our massive opening night party, the crowds got sadly smaller but the shows got better and better.

Wednesday’s Lady Sings it Better opening night was a hit, receiving not one, but two wonderful reviews, from Star Observer and Time Out. They said “it’s thrilling to see a bunch of strong, talented ladies on stage turning the magnifying glass back on the male performers who hold so much of the power in the music industry.” and “The strength of the show lies in the diverse range of voices… each of the five women has her own unique charm which is balanced with the others.“

Then came  Thursday and the debut of ali hughes’ beautiful new show, ~ down in the deep ~ The audience sat enthralled through a mix of hughes’ originals and spectacular covers of Nick Cave, Jane Siberry and Jacques Brel. When a member of the crowd called for an encore, ali rose to the occasion with her rousing jazz version of the Sesame Street theme tune! ali and the band will be doing it all again on March 6, so don’t miss out.

Friday brought out the boys to see Tom Sharah, Brett Every, Martyn Madoui and Brendan Maclean. Brett surprised us all by performing his entire set in full doctors’ scrubs (it’s a long story) leading this producer to cackle with glee through much of the set.

On Saturday at HOMAGE, Lauren LaRouge claimed to be the least talented performer in the room, but she decided it was ok, cos she had the most feathers. Wearing decidedly more demure ensembles, Tom (and his mega cute brother Oscar) Sharah, ali hughes and Brett Every all sang gorgeous covers of famous GLBTQI artists. Maxine Kauter Band closed the night, and her solo rendition of iOTA’s Come back to me brought on the tears which had been brewing since Phoebs and I took to the stage for our opening night speech on Tuesday.

Sunday’s Spoonful of Disney gave us the smart-mouthed bastard James Edgar Francis trying to convince us that gays should be campaigning not for marriage, but for the right to be multi-national mining companies…all while singing haunting Disney covers with our poster girl, Maxine (though to call them covers does a disservice to the beautiful hour of music the two have created with their band).

Which brings us to now!

We’re looking forward to an exciting week ahead with Tom Sharah on Wednesday, Lady Sings it Better Thursday and Friday (we’ve cancelled HOMAGE Feb 25). We’re having a blast down at the blackcat lounge….the only thing missing is you!

Book now: sidetrack.com.au

Where are ya, homos?

Tonight I had the immense pleasure of sitting in the audience for the premiere of ~down in the deep~ ali hughes’ offering for blackcat lounge. Now I know it’s a busy season, but we should have had more people in the house for the beautiful show. It was an honour to have been part of bringing this wonderful show to the stage, even in a non-creative producery way.

We’ll circulate some clips later in the week, but just take my word for it, she’s fucking talented and the show is warm, open, musically diverse, moving, gentle, brave and hugely generous of spirit. Book here for its second outing on March 6: sidetrack.com.au

If boys and Friday nights are more your style, come on down tomorrow night for the blackcat boys. For just twenty bucks you get Brendan Maclean, Brett Every, Tom Sharah and Martyn Badoui. All gorgeous, all talented, all performing snippets of their solo shows for one bumper night of musical goodness.

The $20 fun doesn’t end. You can get Maxine Kauter Band, Brett Every, Lauren LaRouge, Ali Hughes and Tom Sharah on Saturday night for HOMAGE, singing covers of famous GLBTQI musicians.Check out previous homage love:

Then on Sunday, catch the awesome Beauty and the Bastard: A Spoonful of Disney for their one Sydney show before they head off the Adelaide Fringe Festival next week. Adelaide have already pre-booked over 100 tickets. Don’t embarrass yourselves Sydney. Get down to the Sidetrack and give ‘em a good send off.

Book ahead or just rock up to 142 Addison Rd Marrickville at 7.30pm!

Oh what a night!

One down, nineteen to go! The blackcat team had a blast last night, playing a jampacked 65 minute cabaret showcase to a packed Sidetrack Theatre. Also eating bucketloads of pastizzi, cookies, sushi and fruit and throwing back a whole lotta Barefoot Wine! (Thanks Adrienne!)

Check out the pics of the night in Star Observer and SX Mag.

It doesn’t end here though. We want a full house like that every night. This week, tickets are just $20 for Lady Sings it Better (tonight!), ~ down in the deep ~, the blackcat boys: Brendan Maclean, Tom Sharah, Brett Every and Martyn Badoui, HOMAGE: a queer cabaret tribute and Beauty and the Bastard: A Spoonful of Disney.

Book NOW at sidetrack.com.au, tweet @lady_sings_it and #blackcat, find us on facebook and please, spread the word!

What a Lady, what a night…

xxx Maeve and Phoebe