Boom Boom at the House of Casa BlahBlah | The Rechabite | til Dec 21 | ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
The creators of international festival favourites Blanc de Blanc and LIMBO are back with a brand new, and on-brand, cabaret feast.
Strut and Fret have built a reputation on their superb spiegeltent-filling fusions of cabaret and circus, assembling casts of incredible talent from across Australia and around the globe.
Boom Boom at the House of Casa BlahBlah is no exception, transporting audiences amongst the throes of a salacious, cinematic soiree that allowed theatre-goers a singular first look at the newly renovated Rechabite Hall in the heart of Northbridge.
Boom Boom initially appears to be a nod to the variety shows of the 1960s, with ringmaster Caudio Carneiro portraying a particular kind of sleazy host that smacks of a twisted Austin Powers.
Though as the party descends deeper into a tipsy haze, the party jumps through musical eras from Donna Summer to Fedde Le Grand, making the audience almost feel as though we’ve stumbled upon an extravagant theatre after-party and the stars are still in costume, ready to kick on and show off.
The show’s scintillatingly frantic pace had viewers craning their necks to see where the spotlight would fall next, as the talent appeared on stage, sprawled from the railings and flying above our heads from number to number.
Singing, lip-synching, dancing, or performing death-defying acrobatic feats, Boom Boom brings all of the ingredients for a delicious cabaret circus. Aerialist David Marco spends more time in the air than on the ground, Cirque du Soleil alums Felix Pouliot and Oscar Kauffman invoke plenty of gasps with their jaw-dropping skills, and Rechelle Mansour and Melanie Hawkins sing and dance through the night with the local lady of hoops Jess Mews and Briefs fave Louis Biggs.
Boom Boom at the House of Casa BlahBlah is a mouthful, but it’s worth the extra syllables to get your pals along to this rambunctious romp of a show and join the party.
Boom Boom at the House of Casa BlahBlah is at The Rechabite until Saturday 21st December. For tickets and more information, head to boomboomblahblah.com
Leigh Andrew Hill
