2011 Cabaret Fringe Festival Review: Carla Conlin in A Night of Dangerous Liasons
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 10:40AM
A Night of Dangerous Liaisons
Carla Conlin with Sam Leske and band
June 18, 2011
The Promethean, Adelaide
Sultry songstress Carla Conlin takes to the stage in the smoky Promethean to deliver a very valuable message: dating can be a dangerous activity indeed.
Opening with ‘Whatever Lola Wants’ from ‘Damn Yankees’, it’s a mix of original songs (one an hilarious number about what happens if you lie about your interests and wind up on a rock-climbing date) and covers including Tom Lehrer’s ‘The Masochism Tango’, a great version of ‘Toxic’ taken furiously up-tempo at the end, and ‘Eternal Flame’ - done as an anthem for extra-creepy stalkers.
There’s also plenty of patter, audience interaction and comedy. Conlin has a great stage presence and wonderful comic timing to match her singing voice – however, not all the bits hit the mark; her partner in the dating advice skit needs a microphone of his own, and the reading out audience feedback on bad dating experiences drops the momentum somewhat, though on the night the show was reviewed it wound up (courtesy of one person’s disturbing revelation about an ex-boyfriend) being quite hilarious.
The band, led by Sam Leske on guitar/mandolin, with Alex Wignall on piano, Brett Williams on bass and Holly Thomas on drums, moves across the different musical styles with ease and never misses a beat, even with the frequent stop/start nature of the musical parts of the show.
While the show, as a whole, is enjoyable, there’s something not quite right; it doesn’t seem as balanced or as focused as it could be – there’s somewhat of a ‘work in progress’ feel to it. This is purely in terms of content, though, not performance – that aspect is spot-on. In its current format it’s still funny and very entertaining; there’s a sense, though, that a few minor changes could push it from a good show to a great one.
Reviewed by Jamie Wright. Discover his blog here.
Previous reviews by Jamie Wright:
Find out how YOU can become an exclusive Founding Patron of Cabaret Confessional.
Subscribe to Cabaret Confessional via email.
‘Like’ Cabaret Confessional on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Reader Comments