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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-09 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:31): My question is directed to the Minister for the Arts—the Premier. Could the Premier tell the house about the program for the very important 2011 Adelaide Cabaret Festival?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:32): I know that many members are great fans of the Cabaret Festival, and tomorrow night I will have the pleasure, along with many of us in this place and many music lovers, of attending the opening gala performance of the Cabaret Festival. While last year's Adelaide Cabaret Festival was the most popular to date, breaking all previous box office records, I am hopeful that this year's festival will do the same. I was pleased to see that sponsorship support also increased last year.

The Adelaide Cabaret Festival has grown to become the biggest cabaret festival in the world held under the one roof, and South Australians and cabaret lovers from around the world have warmly embraced this festival and international artists clamour to be included. This year will be artistic director David Campbell's third and final Cabaret Festival. As a mark of confidence in his direction, the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust received an additional $250,000 from the state government to help David Campbell to secure what I believe is the best ever program of cabaret performances. This year's program offers 15 international shows, 32 Adelaide premieres, three Adelaide exclusives, seven Australian premieres and 15 world premieres.

The queue to buy tickets immediately after the program launch two months ago snaked around the Festival Theatre foyer, and the BASS counter did not close until 12.30am the following morning due to the very strong demand for ticket purchases. The demand for tickets has continued, so that tomorrow night's variety gala event is a sell-out, and 15 other performances are well on their way to being sell-outs. With Australia's international chart-topper Olivia Newton-John, New York's master of song Michael Feinstein, legendary Broadway stars Chita Rivera and Bryan Batt (I think Bryan Batt is in the series Mad Men), Australia's sultry singer/dancer Rhonda Burchmore, ultimate songsmith and chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame Jimmy Webb, Australia's much-loved country music star Melinda Schneider, chart-topper Leo Sayer, and Adelaide's international legend rock singer Glenn Shorrock heading up a star-studded list of Australian and international entertainers, there is little wonder that the interest is high.

In all there will be 129 performances of some 47 different shows across 16 nights, with plenty of variety to appeal to different age groups, and the festival will include a range of both ticketed and free activities. There will be performances paying homage to the great musical masters as well as musical comedy, jazz, an exhibition of Peter Allen memorabilia, masterclasses and a drag show, which, as David Campbell points out, has been programmed for the Queen's Birthday weekend.

David Campbell and musical director Matthew Carey have once again been working to inspire and help the next generation of cabaret artists in the weeks leading up to the festival. The High School Cabaret initiative this year will see students from Blackwood High School and Pembroke School presenting their own programmed cabaret performances during the festival.

I am pleased to say that box office takings this year are 8 per cent higher than they were at the same time last year. So, I urge everyone to come along and check out the 2011 Cabaret Festival program and enjoy some of the world-class performances on offer over the next three weeks. I hope members opposite will join us at the Cabaret Festival because in the arts this is real work.

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