Dear Divas – A Love Letter | Connections Nightclub | ★ ★ ★ ★
Whilst queuing outside Connections on a rainy Saturday with the usual, surly security and smattering of drunk chicks in ill-advised, lycra-based club-wear, one could be forgiven for thinking this was an early start to a weekend bender at Australia’s oldest LGBT+ nightclub.
Were it not for the sea of kind-faced older Australians in beige rain jackets, mid-career gay couples and mid life crises muscle-daddy / sugartwink combo’s, phones all out, scouring their inboxes for their digital tickets to a rollicking trip down memory lane – Dear Divas – by Perth musical theatre powerhouse, Peter Cumins.
After grabbing a prosecco or 6, we settled into to witness Cumins and his amazing band take us through a 20 year odyssey of the kind of vocal gymnastics and big band stylings that paved the way for so many reality TV music shows thereafter. Tight instrumentation, great musical direction and a fantastic – but severely underused – backing singer made for a great onstage team.
Blitzing the stage with his amazing talent, Peter (Priscilla, Mary Poppins, Legally Blonde – to name a few) regaled us for over an hour and a half with some wonderfully interpreted classics from the golden age of the Diva – the 90s. Delicately interspersed with cabaret audience patter and comedy moments throughout, Cumins performed with all his twinkling, glittering West End might.
The evening was beautifully performed but very ballad-heavy and occasionally dipped into Debbie Downer territory with the lack of record-breaking floor fillers like Cher’s Believe and literally anything by Shania Twain, among others.
Cumins reminded so many of us how sad our own experiences of being bullied at school in Perth were, which was both poignant and valid, but he declined to pick up the pace after such confessional cabaret, instead treating us to another (beautifully sung, professionally performed) heart-wrenching power-ballad that mirrored the teenage Cumins’ pain.
We all enjoyed hearing Cumins highly personal love letter to the women whom informed his style, but there were many iconic and talented women whom it was not addressed to, that would have made it a letter for all.
All in all, Cumins gave us a truly brilliant show with stunning musicianship, great camaraderie and well-honed Broadway sparkle to light our winter night.
Tom Pearson
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