After a sell-out season of A Very Good Variety Show in 2019, Perth Cabaret Collective have got the gang back together, and this time they’ve upped the ante. A Very, Very Good Variety Show, showing at The Edith Spiegeltent at Yagan Square from February 11 – 16, features a nine-piece live jazz band starring internationally renowned jazz singers Mia Matthiessen and Mark Turner, alongside comedy duo Veruca Sour and Lucy Lovegun, and the queen herself, international cabaret artist Cougar Morrison (pictured above). BRITNEY COULSON caught up with Morrison to discuss getting down with the downright weird and why audiences can expect a “bloody good time.”
A Very, Very Good Variety Show is said to have a bit of everything, but what exactly are you bringing this year?
We are bringing a rampant celebration of what makes Perth Cabaret Collective a damn good night out: big personality, big talent, big naughtiness.
After selling out the show last year and now reforming for 2020, the team has said they have reimagined what it means to be “very, very good.” What’s different, or more “very good” about the show this time round?
This year, the show’s creator Jess Herbert and the cast are bringing those “Oh one day I’d like to do this” numbers. Some are beautiful, some are downright weird, but we love them all. By doing so we are truly showing the audience who we are.
And after what I bet has been a fair share of rehearsals, are there any particular moments or performances you are personally looking forward to witnessing as part of a live performance, with an audience present?
Seeing the audience react when they hear the incredible musicians! The band consists of musicians who are the top in their fields, internationally. Perth is bloody lucky to have them and they make such sweet music. We’ve seen people be so delighted from what they hear that they can’t help but dance in their chairs.
As you mentioned the show is brought to us by Perth Cabaret Collective, what can you tell us about them and what kind of tunes can we look forward to at the show?
All the pieces are carefully selected, and when incorporating a singer and dancer the result is a true collaboration. Led by our fearless leader Jess Herbert, every audience member will recognise a very good chunk of our tunes. We’re giving you only the best: jazz hits, Broadway, and Parisian Cabaret.
So you’ve got two acclaimed jazz singers and two comedians on the line up, who of them do you think would be best at covering both roles if you had to cut staff?
I think Veruca Sour could belt out a show tune or twenty at the drop of a hat! Lucy Lovegun is theatricality personified, so I think she’d do a fab interpretive dance to a jazz scat, while I have seen Mark Turner undress himself mid song. But if someone does have to step into another’s shoes, it will be the night to be in the crowd!
You’ve been kind enough to let us know about what we can expect from the performance, but what do you expect from your audience?
We are a bunch of talented dorks who freaking love making music for y’all, so I expect our audience to come prepared to have a bloody good time!
