Weekend of Guilty Pleasures
This weekend Guilty Pleasures Cabaret & Burlesque Festival brings a tongue-in-cheek mix of dark cabaret, burlesque naughtiness and vaudeville hilarity to two venues in Brunswick Heads.
The Memorial Hall, transformed into a 1930s joint with tables and velvet curtains, will have the Poinciana crew serving classy drinks and snacks, while outrageous performances with a wicked edge offer something different to the Shire. The Memorial Hall will also host two daytime workshops where you can release your inner cabaret star. The other venue, Brunswick Picture House, has pulled out all the stops to deliver a red-hot Cheeky Cabaret extravaganza featuring the woman who was crowned the World Queen of Burlesque in Vegas back in 2012, Miss Imogen Kelly. Brunswick Picture House also features two shows by the divine Ali McGregor. The lineup for both venues mixes the best of local, national and international talent to offer urban sophistication in the Shire’s relaxed beauty.
Friday night’s It All Began in Paris show features Australia’s favourite singer of French variety music, Louise Blackwell. Louise brings her sellout show to Bruns, delivering a musical odyssey that transports you to the romance, heartache and passion of Paris dives and back alleys.
Catch internationally acclaimed burlesque star Miss Bettie Bombshell perform a mix of her incredible acts at Guilty Pleasures – a different outing for each night of the festival – before she heads off to perform at the Burlesque Hall of Fame 2017 Miss Exotic World, reigning Queen of Burlesque Competition in Las Vegas. (She’s also holding a special Saturday workshop for girls and boys who’d like to learn her secrets.)
Local Arianne Schreiber has sung with George Michael, Jesus Jones, Trigger, and her own act Smash the Box. She’s singing Billie Holiday’s blues, just for Guilty Pleasures. Brendan Hay – the inflatable song-and-dance man, Australia’s Got Talent finalist and MC of Sydney’s Slide Bar – is bringing his all-singing, all-dancing show. Fresh from a stint at Melbourne’s Comedy Festival, where they bagged a Best Newcomer nomination, Brisbane act The Travelling Sisters are bringing their unique mix of absurd comedy sketch theatre to the Memorial Hall. Dolly Cakes rocks the cheesecake tease and slow-winking humour. Genuinely captivating and charming, Dolly is a pinup girl with a wicked glint in her eye.
An extravaganza of sleaze, art, and bent out-there delight, Saturday night’s show Pleasures that Do Not See the Light of Day sees The Bertie Page Clinic, Glitta Supernova, Parissa Bouas, and our local fave Suzy Leigh onstage. And they are just some of the late-night sensations that Saturday has to offer. Mandy Nolan will make you wet your pants laughing with her outrageous wit. Can you think of anyone you’d rather hang with to deconstruct Mothers Day hilariously? Meanwhile, Matthew Semple, the ‘more Minchin than Minchin’ comedy singer and composer whose observations have been compared to Ben Elton’s, will have your face aching and your mind engaged. Sunday also offers a healthy dose of bellydance and Tahitian dance, as well as Class Act Follies’ Parisienne-showgirl burlesque. You’ve never seen so many exotic hips and feathers in one place before. Louise Blackwell stays with the Paris vibe, bringing part II of A Night in Paris to Bruns, with songs from French legends like Jacque Brel, Charles Trenet, Serge Gainsbourg and Edith Piaf. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. To see the program and book tickets, go to www.guilty-pleasures-fest.com.au.
Stop Adani film
Guarding the Galilee is a 30-minute documentary on the battle to stop the biggest coal mine in Australian history, the Adani Carmichael project. Following the screening will be a short discussion and there is an option for a comity dinner and then Federal Films will show their regular film La La Land. From 5.30pm at Federal Hall.
Film opportunities at Deadlock
Local jobs for local film crews is one of Screenworks’ top priorities. Which is why they are thrilled that Every Cloud Productions has announced they will be filming their new TV drama series Deadlock in the northern rivers in July.
Screenworks have devised the Deadlock Attachment Program, which will give up to nine young screen practitioners the opportunity to work alongside experienced practitioners on the production of Deadlock.
To fund the Deadlock Attachment Program and get young local screen practitioners working on the production, Screenworks is seeking philanthropic support from local businesses, organisations and investors.
They need $45k to make this happen, and all moneys donated are fully tax deductible. Donations to Screenworks’ Deadlock Attachment Program can be made at https://www.givenow.com.au/northernriversscreenworksdeadlock.
For more information about Screenworks’ Deadlock Attachment Program, go to www.screenworks.com.au/deadlock.
Mothers Day encounter!
Arts and crafts, music and drumming, mini-dance party, Mothers Day present making and more. Family Day at Encounter is a creative play day for kids of all ages… and parents too! Cafe open all day for coffee, treats, kombucha and lunch. Creative gift shop, gallery and courtyard open for browsing and catch-ups. Plus a special celebration for all the amazing mummas out there! Pop into Encounter Byron (formerly Kulchajam) in the Byron A&I Estate on Saturday 10am–3pm. $10 per child. Parents and guardians FREE! All children must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets available at the door. Info and contact at www.encounterbyron.com.
Faludi & Coyote
In what promises to be an unforgettable evening of conversation, insight and emotion, Byron Writers Festival is presenting a double bill on 31 May: two events in one evening with bestselling author Susan Faludi followed by acclaimed author and storyteller Ivan Coyote. The first event at 6pm is with Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Susan Faludi, whose astonishing memoir In The Darkroom was named 2016 New York Times Book of The Year. It also won the prestigious Kirkus Prize for memoir in late 2016. Starting as an investigation into the life of her estranged father, ‘the grievance of a daughter whose parent had absconded from her life’, the feminist writer discovered that her 76-year-old father had undergone sex reassignment surgery. Faludi’s struggle to come to grips with her father’s metamorphosis takes her across borders – historical, political, religious, sexual – to bring her face to face with the question of the age: Is identity something you choose, or is it the very thing you can’t escape? Ivan Coyote will take to the stage at 7.45pm. Ivan is the award-winning author of eleven books, the creator of four short films, and has released three albums that combine storytelling with music.
A natural-born storyteller, ‘Coyote is to Canadian literature what KD Lang is to country music: a beautifully odd fixture’ (Ottawa Express) and often grapples with the complex and intensely personal issues of gender identity as well as family, class and queer liberation. Presented by Byron Writers Festival, 31 May, Byron Theatre, Byron Bay.Tickets: Members: $30 single session / $40 both sessions. Non-members: $35 single session / $45 both sessions. Bookings: byronwritersfestival.com or 6685 5115.
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