Virginia Gay at The Famous Spiegeltent

"We were packed in tight with a sold out tent; though, thankfully, the civil and slightly alternative Melbournians still had enough room for their glass of red or gin and tonics. And right from the word go they wanted to hear the dirty pretty songs Virginia had to offer." Reviewer, Angus Cameron

"Virginia Gay displayed a knack for moving between comedy and heartfelt going from a comedy routine to a microphone-less number in which the audience were almost utterly silent." Reviewer, Angus Cameron

More dates for 2011 to be announced shortly. For the latest updates join Dirty Pretty Songs Facebook fan page click here.

 

2011 Cre8ion Upd8

Cre8ion capped off 2010 with a bang, once again delivering the Art Direction for Sydney New Year's Eve with the theme "Make Your Mark". The city, VIP Dawes Point, Lord Mayor's Picnic, Lord Mayor's Party and the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylons transformed into Watermark, Bookmark, Landmark & Hallmark for the guests around the harbour.

Making our mark in 2011, Cre8ion has been invited to project manage Vivid Sydney for Events NSW. Vivid Sydney is set to become the pre-eminent international festival of light, music & ideas engaging with the creative industries.

Cre8ion is also managing Foxtel's broadcast of the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade for New Mardi Gras.

In the coming weeks Virginia Gay will be singing real pretty songs dirty in Dirty Pretty Songs in The Famous Spiegeltent at The Arts Centre, Melbourne on the 11th of March. For those who like their cabaret filthy, then this is a show not to be missed.

Later in March it's the wacky duo Paul 'Flacco' Livingstone & Marty Murphy presenting their one-man shows in Double Exposure across regional NSW. This tour is supported by Arts NSW.

The Fabulous Frances Faye in Australia featuring Nick Christo is touring NSW in July. Dressed in a tuxedo, Christo re-creates, without imitating, the essence of Faye, who influenced performers Bette Midler, Reg Livermore and Peter Allen. Sizzle to a cocktail of swinging jazz with the LB Little Big Band, serving finger-snapping shakers like Fever, Shimmy Like My Sister Kate and The Man I Love.

 

Cre8ion - A Finalist in the 2010 Australian Event Awards

Cre8ion was a finalist in the 2010 Australian Event Awards for Best Achievement in Design for the delivery of Art Direction on the 2009 Sydney New Year's Eve events.

Sydney New Year's Eve is the benchmark for other events whereby a marriage between the production, technical and creative is achieved. There is no other annual Australian event, which achieves such a cohesive wholistic approach of consistency.

Cre8ion is proud to have been part of such a dynamic team in the delivery of the 2009 Sydney New Year's Eve and congratulates the other finalist - 2Fish and the winner of this category - The Electric Canvas.

 

Your Event Is Our Creation

Cre8ion can deliver your event from a small intimate cocktail party to a large scale extravaganza. All aspects of your event can be delievered from the perfect venue, exquisite catering, first class entertainment to a themed space to meet your requirements.

If fine attention to detail and the delivery of a unique, sophisticated and professional event is essential to you, then contact Cre8ion to discuss your next event and allow us to add the magic.

Contact details click here

 

The Fabulous Frances Faye in Australia

"MY NAME is Frances Faye and I am gay, gay, gay." Nick Christo's sharp tribute to the underrated American actor, singer and raconteuse makes it clear she was that and plenty more besides.

Born in Brooklyn to working-class Jewish parents, Frances worked in Prohibition-era nightclubs from 15, became a recording star in the 1930's and was notorious on the cabaret and supper club circuit for her sharp repartee and risque material. She was bisexual but, unlike many of her industry peers, made no attempt to hide it. "I'm not pretty but i'm neat," she would quip. "I'm so neat you could eat off me." Va-voom.

Christo keeps a large photograph of Faye - captured mid-song and sporting big hair, big eyebrows and a string of pearls - on a table nearby. The mini-shrine keeps her presence firmly in the room. "She was a wacky parody of homosexuals, Jews, lesbians and mostly herself." Christo tells us. "She was garrulous, fun frenetic... she looked like a sequined piece of driftwood."

Dressed in a sharp black suit, Christo makes no attempt to impersonate Faye.

There are no frocks or wigs. Instead, he deploys her arsenal of winks, shimmies, swivels and his own big voice to channel the over-the-top show queen.

Supported by a tight three-piece band (Luke Byrne, Dominic Jones Diaz and Dave Manuel), Christo captures her snappy way with jazz and pop standards (Just a Gigolo, Night and Day) and her aching blues and ballads (Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen, The Man I Love).

You're going to have a great time sir, whether you want to or not," promises Christo in character. And you do, you really do.

Review Sun Herald

 

Belvoir's Double Exposure

This comedy is a double header comprised of Flacco's "Beyond The Pale" and Marty Murphy's "Happy and Clean".Murphy relies on voice characterisation and mime to deliver a hilarious back story schtick explaining how he became a B grade movie director after beginning showbiz as a failed multi-instrumentalist in the local RSL club band.

The fifty munute performance is well-paced, the script lean and punchy and the jokes hit the mark most of the time. Murphy's understated physical comedy works well with his highly developed vocal work.

Never once did he falter as he cut between over twenty characters in the wonderfully circuitous narrative. This guys is very funny. His portrayal of a bagpipe player in the line up of John Farnham's "You're The Voice" is pure gold. It brought tears to my eyes. I enjoyed the working class Australianness of the characters which he managed to deliver with affection and a kind of respect that is often missing in the Kath Kimmism approach.

The routine was neither especially happy nor I am pleased to report, clean. Murphy spins a lovely yarn around some backdoor action at the tradesman's entrance that has the audience in stitches. Murphy could be the love child of Rowan Atkinson and Carl Barron. Watch out for him.

Paul Livingstone's comic alter ego Flacco has been stalking the nation's stages and airwaves for at least twenty five years. His show has the kind of looseness that comes with long experience but runs the risk of tipping over into complacency.

His fifty minute 'high brow' preamble is a neat idea full of the acerbic wit and the semantic shenanigans Flacco fans have come to know and love. Livingstone is very comfortable on stage which makes it easy for an audience to trust him from the get go and take the journey. Like Murphy he is possessed of considerable physical skill and can send an audience into fits with a ripple of his rubber face.

This was a less convincing performance than Muphy's, if comparisons must be made, simply because of its fluid improv which at times falters. But the Downstairs audience lapped it up and left the theatre reciting Flacco jokes they would later tell their friends. This is one of the signs of a good comic.

Review by Boris Kelly

 

New CD Launched by Barbara Luna

Barbara Luna's latest CD has been launched in Australia. Ruta Tres (Route 3) is a legendary road that traverses Argentina and ends at the tip of Patagonia. For Barbara this road is an image in the journey of her life, journey of her soul and it was on this road that Ruta Tres was born.

 

 

 

Barbara Luna, A Hit! At David Campbell's Adelaide Cabaret Festival

The irresistible rhythms of Latin America pulsate through the songs of Barbara Luna and her band. It's an act you would expect at Womadelaide - where she appeared 8 years ago - and there's almost too much energy to be contained within the Space Theatre. Not to mention no space to dance: sitting at tables seems too passive a response to music with so much bodily energy.

Barbara Luna is a dynamo on stage. But in quieter moments she can summon up intense emotion, as she did in a smouldering rendition of Una Noche Mas and, suprisingly, in the Jimmy Hendrix classic Little Wing. Whether slow or fast, her songs traverse familiar emotional territory - the joy or pain of love - eternal themes that Latin music continues to thrive on. Backed by an excellent band, Barbara Luna brought vitality and passion to her songs, the most memorable being Amanece, Amor Traicionero and smouldering sensuality of Suave.

Review by Stephen Whittington

 

Ita Buttrose Reminisces About Australia's Golden Era

The Dora Fay Davenport Show - How To Achieve Domestic Bliss had a huge success at four venues during NSW Seniors Week 15-22 March, 2009. Over 1,000 people attended performances in Gosford, Epping, Campbelltown and Bondi Junction. Seniors Week Ambassadors and public figures Ita Buttrose, Stuart Wagstaff and Pat Woodley all attended performances much to the delight of patrons who cheered uproariously as their favourite celebrities joined in onstage to participate in the show. The year is 1957 and television has just arrived in Australia. It is the first episode of a lifestyle TV show hosted by the gracious and charming Mrs. Dora Fay Davenport played by Jenny Hope, a former radio celebrity who offers advice for the modern woman about everything from stain removal to social approval. Her debonair celebrity newsreader friend, Mr. Clarence Cartwright played by Nigel Sutton, accompanies Dora. The show is a 90 minute live theatre performance, designed as a piece of reminiscence theatre to evoke memories of 1950s Australia, with Seniors as the target audience.