Bernadette Robinson: Divas - Adelaide Cabaret Festival Review

Her Majesty’s Theatre
Fri 13 June, 2025

Diva: a celebrated, exceptional female singer. Diva is also the Latin word for goddess. It also comes with the connotation of being troublesome or difficult to deal with. Bernadette Robinson takes on the daunting task of singing the songs of ten of the more prominent divas of the last 100 years – from opera singer Maria Callas to contemporary pop star Miley Cyrus. She not only sings their songs, but she briefly inhabits the characters of each diva as she reveals key moments in their lives and their relationship to music. It’s an extraordinary achievement.

As Streisand she takes on her trademark Brooklyn accent and tells us how she taught her own mother to smoke at age 10, before launching into the classic The Way We Were. Her self-deprecating Amy Winehouse refers to herself as a dickhead in a working-class British accent before belting out the gut-wrenching Rehab. Her Piaf sounds perfectly German as she talks about men and love.

Robinson and director Simon Phillips have managed to isolate events in the lives of each diva that had significant emotional impact and bearing on their music. There is a clear pattern: each of these women struggled with aspects of life and music, and live performance and devotion from loving fans helped them cope. Even without the wonderful songs, Diva is a great piece of writing.

As Kate Bush, the first diva on the list, she ironically, provocatively, questions why a singer should sound like anybody else, and says that every singer should find their own voice! As Robinson effortlessly worked her way through the different genres of the ten divas I did find myself wondering what she might sound like singing herself. Opera, rock, musical, country – she can sing them all. I loved her Edith Piaf – in a trice it’s clear just how good Piaf was: a gorgeously plaintive and original voice laden with soul and emotion. Any doubts about why Dolly Parton is featured among this esteemed company go out the window with Robinson’s beautifully controlled vocal on I Will Always Love You. Not to mention the funny stories about being blond – again with an impeccable country twang!

Then came her portrayal of Maria Callas. Perhaps this is Robinson’s musical home. The passion, the tone, the control – heart-achingly beautiful.

Supported by a slick and unobtrusive band (keyboards, bass, drums) this was an evening of near musical perfection. In a show that covered so many musical styes it’s inevitable that there will be some songs that don’t appeal as much as others, but any shortcomings in that regard are offset by some of the best singing you will ever hear. Just superb.

This review also published in The Clothesline.

From the archives: SUN RISING - The Songs That Made Memphis (Jun 2015)

 

Space Theatre, Thu 11 Jun

Sun records holds a prestigious place in the history of early American pop music, and the Sun Rising Band have put together a selection of mostly well-known hits recorded at the Memphis Recording Studios in the 1950s. I, and many in the audience I imagine, have read the story many times, heard all the songs, and watched documentaries of this period, But seeing it recreated live on stage was much more engaging and a great way to relive those exciting times.

Sam Phillips was the main man behind Sun Records and is credited with launching the careers of many musical luminaries – among them Howlin’ Wolf, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis. Front man David Cosma narrated the stories behind the songs, and in an accidental touch of authenticity, plays a right handed guitar upside down (Some early blues players apparently did this because they didn’t know any better. I don’t know what David’s excuse is!).

Photos of all the early Sun recording stars were displayed on a screen behind the excellent band as they played their songs. Damon Smith on piano is a blues/boogie virtuoso, and Trent McKenzie is a treat to watch plucking away on his double bass. Local singer Cookie Baker provided an infectious cameo appearance to represent the female Sun stars.

Musically this show couldn’t be faulted. The band transformed relatively simple pieces of blues, pop and rock and roll into musical showcases. I wondered if the Sun singers back then had musicians of this calibre.

Towards the end the narrative was let slip and we didn’t get to hear what happened to Sam Phillips and Sun records in the long run and that was a shame. But by then most of the audience was too busy enjoying the music to notice – at least half the audience rose for a standing ovation at the close of a really enjoyable reliving of the roots of pop music.

Simply Brill - Adelaide Cabaret Festival Review

Photo credit: Claudio Raschella 

 Amelia Ryan, Michaela Burger and Michael Griffiths

[CABARET ~ WORLD PREMIERE & ADELAIDE EXCLUSIVE ~ AUS]

Banquet Room, Adelaide Festival Centre, Sat 11 Jun.

Cabaret can be many things, but what cabaret does really well is tell stories. And if the stories are important and largely unknown, then all the better. Such is the story of New York’s Brill Building. Between 1958 and 1964 it churned out an astonishing number of smash hits that revolutionised popular music at the time. There were several reasons for this, but Simply Brill stresses one reason in particular: the fact that an extraordinary number of these hits were written by women. This show could be suitably sub-titled ‘Three Broads From Brooklyn’. Those broads being Carole King (the very same Carole King who became a megastar as a singer songwriter in the ‘70s), Cynthia Weil (The Locomotion, Blame It On The Bossa Nova etc.) and Ellie Greenwich (Be My Baby, Leader Of The Pack etc).

In a wonderfully slick show Michael Griffiths, Amelia Ryan, and Michaela Burger don’t miss a beat in this storytelling and nostalgic musical bonanza. Backed up with slides and a great local band, the narration is fast paced, funny, and with just enough information to set up an appreciation of the next song. Ryan and Burger take turns as the Brooklyn broads but share much of the vocal work. Griffith spends most of the show on piano adding to the storyline and occasional doo wops, and bom boms as required, but shows his front man skills in solo renditions of songs like We Gotta Get Out of This Place. Ryan and Burger groove and jive throughout in seductive harmony with the music to stunning visual effect.

All three shared the storytelling and singing duties in an intricate, seamless show of organic joy. They were clearly enjoying what they were doing, loving the songs they were singing, and revelling in each other’s company. It was indeed brill.

Kudos to the bass player who wore a smile throughout and contributed to the good vibes! And there were good vibes a plenty. You got a very real sense of the excitement of the times and thrill that those young songwriters must have felt when they landed another hit.

And just in case you had any lingering doubts about the value of the song writing teams that worked in the Brill Building, a stirring final medley of You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, River Deep Mountain High, and Aretha Franklin’s Natural Woman sealed the deal.

Just wonderful!

(This review also posted on The Clothesline.)