I'll send Ceberano my love if she sends Adelaide the goods!
I love this Festival, I've had some of my favourite cabaret moments there ... Paul Capsis singing The Man with a Child in His Eyes by Kate Bush, Barb Jungr singing Sarah by Bob Dylan, 1927 doing the Deadly Gingerbread Twin, Meow Meow going men'l, Camille singing Nick Cave, Eddie Perfect losing it in front of a hundred oldies and making their grey hair stand on end. They're all moments for the heart record memory and many of which I've nattered on about myself in these very pages. These acts all came to the Festival under the directorship of Julia Holt.
Good Artistic Director = Good Times
While I don't think that Festivals should remain creatively stagnant, I do believe that they rest and fall on the talent of their creative leadership. Julia Holt was clearly good at getting in good talent to the Festival. While David Campbell, the most recent artistic director, has been good at getting in numbers - both people and money - I can't say that I've had any such great moments in the two years of his directorship. It's sad, because we all love it when good talent comes to town, but it's also relatively predictable. We are, after all, ridiculously lucky when they are here. It's not our god-given right to be surrounded by fabulousness, but it is rather wonderful.
The word on the street
The appointment of Kate Ceberano adds another layer to this conversation. There are those worried about whether she can market the festival and those worried about whether she can get quality acts. My favourite cabaret blog - Cabaret Confessional (which I RSS here) - has put an honest opinion forward. I'd like to call it controversial, but I'm sure we'll see much of the same over the next year or so.
My response to the Cabaret Confessional article is thus:
"I expect the concerns in the article about marketing will be offset by Ceberano's celebrity. Regarding the content of the Festival ... I share The Cantankourist's concerns ... Campbell's celebrity didn't do anything for the quality of the acts. I hear you Lena, but the last two festivals were a drag for talent. I want to be exposed to the edgiest and the best, not the glitziest and the best sequinned ...
I'll send Ceberano my love, if it sends Adelaide the goods!
x"
This is what Adelaide Street Mag - Rip It Up - had to say about the appointment.
