Edinburgh Fringe 2017
Low Down
Best Cabaret Winner Adelaide Fringe 2017. Obscenely intelligent, beautifully filthy, and rib-crackingly funny, Australia’s Cabaret superstar Reuben Kaye is what happens when you tell your children they can be anything.
Review
Reuben Kaye is terrifying, terrifyingly fabulous!
Backed by a Three piece band ‘the K Holes’ Reuben Kaye masterfully manipulates the crowd into a shimmering frenzy of hope and glitter.
Everyone is welcome here, everyone is welcome to be the best most fabulous version of themselves. Kaye struts onto the stage with style, substance but most importantly honesty. You wouldn’t take to him so much as an audience member if he didn’t. He jokes about his upbringing with notes of sadness and the underlying truth that growing up in Australia as a ‘poofta’, suffering violent attacks from the object of his desires was horrifying but only served to make him the astonishing creature he is today.
He bitches with a twinkle in his eye about the stage and his team not being good enough all the while being deeply respectful of them, as long as the spotlight stays firmly on him.
There is audience participation but just enough to make you feel special but not overwhelmed.
I can’t believe I’ve got this far down the review without mentioning the singing which is faultless and enough to make Judy Garland wriggle in her grave with jealousy. The nuance and colours in his vocals added to the sticarto snaps of silence left the audience in stitches under the disapproving glare of his be-spidered eyes.
The band themselves were excellent and the lighting and sound as dramatic as Kaye deserves. Even the point where he asked for a follow spot and was offered a torch was hilarious and effective. That is the beauty of this show and Kaye himself, it doesn’t try and be perfect, in fact it shines a spotlight on the flaws making them even more beautiful for the focus, the sweat shake being my favourite example.
My only complaint is it wasn’t long enough. This hour and ten show only left room for one costume change and three pony tailed microphone changes which frankly was nowhere near enough. This meant that the show itself didn’t have enough of an arch for me which have flourished through no doubt if allowed another twenty minutes or so.
If you are a fan of Caberet then this show is for you, if you are a fan of incredible singing then this show is for you, if you are a fan of genuine delight and leaving the theatre feeling like a shinier version of yourself then this show is most definitely for you.
