Adelaide Cabaret Festival – Meow Meow: His Master’s Choice

The undeniable Queen of Kamikaze Kabarett has, upon the request of new Cabaret Festival curator, returned to Adelaide to stupefy audiences with her audacious, vivacious, and brave cabaret style. Meow Meow’s ability to romp through Weimar repertoire while simultaneously fascinating and frightening audiences makes for an enthralling evening. His Master’s Choice­ is such a show – a show that breaks the shackles of cabaret tradition.

The Adelaide Cabaret Festival program indicates that His Master’s Choice is sung in German, some French and English. Meow Meow moves skillfully between languages, singing some passages in German and some in English. She jokes about some aspects of the show being lost in translation – you’ll have to believe her that ‘in German, that line is hilarious’ – but her vocal skill and performance, in many ways, negate the need for understanding the lyrics.

Meow Meow’s patter (mostly in English… unless you are being sworn at in German) is a highlight. Her stage presence is immense, and she manages to engage the audience (both figuratively and literally) for the entire show. Her support crew – a very talented musical duo – are also well within Meow Meow’s comedic reach. Her vocal skill is clearly amazing and provides a very sturdy musical foundation on which to create a unique and exciting cabaret show.

In a show that may challenge some audience members, Meow Meow breaks free from the shackles of traditional cabaret. My heart rate was elevated throughout the entire 70 minute performance – partly because I was praying not to be summoned for audience participation, but also because Meow Meow possess the unique ability to keep audiences captivated and on the edge of their seat despite not really understanding what’s going or what they’re listening to. So unique. So exciting.