Cabaret In The Glen

Cabaret In The Glen is a five-day festival showcasing some of the best cabaret from Australia and around the world.

Including many of Australia’s most acclaimed cabaret performances and artists, Glen Street Theatre will become an exciting treat for crowds with entertainment, music, art, theatre and conversation spread over two live stages.

Michael Griffith is one of many talented artists who will be performing not only one, but two shows at the festival. His Helpmann award-winning show Cole is based on the life of Cole Porter and his extraordinary songs.

“Cole is much more traditional and straight forward, I’m Cole Porter for the show and it’s a biography that explores his life and gives his songs a context about where they may have come from, from the things that were happening in his life,” Griffith said.

His next show In Vogue is an accumulation of Madonna songs which have been adapted and transformed to suit piano. Griffith explained,

“In Vogue is a Madonna tribute, but not what you’d expect… I don’t impersonate her but I do sit at the piano – it’s almost like being in a parallel universe where Madonna happens to be a gay man in his 40s just wearing his pants and a shirt and not dressing up…”

Both his shows are fun and full of humour, but his main hope is that audiences will “leave with a really strong appreciation for the artistry of both of these artists… I mean they’re genius’ in different ways – Cole was an extraordinary lyricist and musician and Madonna is someone that’s always had a nose for what was popular and current.”

Keeping his shows unique is that for In Vogue, audiences would never have “heard the songs in this way, I strip them back and literally rearrange them, whereas with Cole, its more about me doing them the way they were written, so I’m certainly not reinterpreting Cole Porter, I’m being faithful and showing things about his life that we didn’t know.” Griffith concluded.

Oct 18-22. Corner of Glen Street & Blackbutts Road, Belrose. $22-$105. Tickets & Info: www.glenstreet.com.au

By Jade Morellini