Entertainment News

Great 80s TV Themes Trivia Challenge

Get ready for the Great 80s TV Themes Trivia Challenge! Be entertained by The Butterfly Glee Club under the direction of Vicky Jacobs, and compete for some sensational trivia prizes.

And remember, if you’d rather be a star of the show than an audience member, you can come and sing with The Butterfly Glee Club on Wednesdays at 6.30 pm.

“A rad singalong choir” – The Pun

Friday 2 and Friday 30 June at 9.00 pm
Tickets: $7 – what a bargain!
Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com
Duration: 45-50 minutes
(more…)

Buster Daniels in NANCY BOY

Buster has arrived to put the sweat and grime back into manly love for the Midsumma Festival. From top to bottom Buster comes out ahead in his sexually-seditious cabaret ‘NANCY BOY’, cautiously accompanied by jazz-icon Mark Fitzgibbon on piano.

Gay or straight there is no avoiding the wet patch as this rabid pansexual goes down on the big issues: when will the pink polo with the up-turned collar die its final grisly death? Exactly how close are scientists to discovering the genetic link between vapid homosexuals and anything related to a Minogue? And how do you have your way with five bi-curious plumbers while simultaneously making them all feel special and needed?

This is bareback cabaret at its most infectious.

Thursday 26 January to Sunday 12 February (performances Thur to Sun), all shows at 8.30 pm

Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

* touring to Sydney 22 – 25 February at Bar Me, bookings tel 02 9368 0894

Mark Jones, Adam Murphy and Karlis Zaid are BEAUTIFUL LOSERS

The cult show that will give new meaning to Friday nights. Mark Jones, Adam Murphy and Karlis Zaid are back with a ‘Black Friday’ version of their award-winning show*, BEAUTIFUL LOSERS. Portraying a veritable carnival of losers and the misunderstood that includes vampires, truckers, gravediggers, psychiatrists and ‘victims’, BEAUTIFUL LOSERS features the music and words of Kevin Bloody Wilson, Nick Cave, Sting, Lou Reed, Randy Newman, Tom Waits and more. Take a trip to the dark side of human nature. Expect frequent coarse language.

“Very intelligent cabaret … sit up and take notice” – Joel Crotty, The Age

* 2005 Melbourne Fringe Festival ‘Best Cabaret’ award.

Every Friday from 3 February to 24 March, excluding Friday 24 Feb, all shows at 10.30pm

Tickets: $25; $20 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Viva la Diva

Purists be warned, if you take your opera straight, stay home and listen to the CD. But if you fancy a musical cocktail with a classic edge then head down to The Butterfly Club for a sensational session of soulful singing! Join with Fleur Millar and Patrick Lawrence as they conjure a cast of colourful characters in celebration of La Diva! Be seduced by sublime tunes as Fleur Millar and her ever-obliging accompanist rise to the challenge of a duet for one and a half, and revel in opera without the boring bits!

Thursday 2 – Sunday 5 February, all shows at 6.30 pm.

Tickets: $15

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

ecstacy + GRACE (playreading)

By James Martin Charlton

Once upon a time, Davy had visions of a better world. Now he competes. Living in Amsterdam, managing Blackjack’s Porn Shop with his German skinhead lover, Kai, Davy reckons he is doing just fine. Then Rae appears from England to bring it all back home. But will that be enough to save Pullet, the 13 year-old boy on Davy’s payroll? Davy: “We traffic in narcotics and children.” ecstasy + GRACE is a mythic but starkly realistic work dealing with the extremes to which the human spirit can aspire, or sink to.

Brought to you by Fly-On-The-Wall and The Butterfly Club as part of the Midsumma Festival.

“Powerfully thought-provoking and emotion-stirring” – London Theatre Guide

Saturday 4 February at 2.00 pm

Tickets: $12

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

The Butterfly Glee Club

It’s Cabaret for Choir. This is a chance for singers to join together and make beautiful music. Are you singing for your singing teacher every week but no one else? Did you once sing, but no more? The Butterfly Glee Club will get you reading music, singing in harmony and singing out! Under the musical direction of the gorgeous and talented Vicky Jacobs, The Butterfly Glee Club will establish a rich repertoire, from the heavenly to the downright naughty. Come and be part of this revolution of song.

Every Wednesday from 8 February to 5 April, 6.30 pm start

Tickets: $55 for a 10 week membership. $7 for casual members. Members receive $5 discount to 8.30 pm show.

Bookings: Telephone 0419 547 740 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Ben Clark and Caitlin Fowler

Two mini shows for the price of one! Ben Clark and Caitlin Fowler present two 30-minute cabarets.

Ben Clark: from Hong Kong to America, from a 44-inch to a 32-inch waist, from opera to Australian Idol, and from the small country town of Mernda to the big smoke, Ben has finally arrived! He’s loud (trust us!) and here to make an impact. A night with Ben and his stunning tenor voice will leave you wanting more.

Caitlin Fowler: In her cabaret debut singer / songwriter Caitlin presents ‘What came around’. Having caught the theatre bug at age four, songwriting and performing are on par with breathing for this Geelong bred nineteen-year-old. Experience the lies and truths that this newly black-haired beauty has prepared especially for you!

Thursday 9 February to Sunday 12 February, all shows at 6.30 pm

Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Paul L Martin in SUBURBAN GLITTER

British cabaret icon Paul L Martin brings his unique show SUBURBAN GLITTER to Australia for one night only. Celebrating 15 years performing in cabaret in London, Paul never fails to deliver a fantastic night out with his intimate, often moving, and always very funny evening of entertainment. He has performed in the world’s premier cabaret venues including The Whoopee Club in London, Don’t Tell Mama in New York and The Supperclub in Rome.

“A most enjoyable evening…highly amusing” – Boy George

“The best night out I’ve had in London” – PopBitch

Saturday 11 February, 10.30 pm

Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

NEW BOY (playreading)

Adapted from the best-selling novel by William Sutcliffe.
Mark is a 17-year-old who is anxious to finally get his sex life jump-started. When ‘new boy’ Barry, who has the face of an angel and the body of a god (and the name of a plasterer!) begins classes at Mark’s all boys school, the two become fast friends. This new relationship allows Mark the opportunity to experience his hormonal aspirations vicariously through Barry’s exploits. Through it all, the two boys develop a very close bond that could ultimately change the course of their lives.

Brought to you by Fly-On-The-Wall and The Butterfly Club as part of the Midsumma Festival.

“Adolescent desire, burgeoning sexuality, loss of virginity and cross-generational sex, all deftly handled in a cracking script” – The Guardian

Saturday 11 February at 2.00 pm

Tickets: $12

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

SNEAK PREVIEW

The creators of the 2005 comedy hit show BROKEN at The Butterfly Club are back to bring you a “Sneak Preview” of upcoming shows in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Hosted by Mel Sargeant and Josh Earl, the room will showcase Melbourne’s best comedians flashing their pre-festival bits for your enjoyment.

Every Wednesday from 15 February to 5 April, 8.30 pm start

Feb 15 line-up: Anthony Menchetti (www.anthonymenchetti.com); Andrew McClellend (www.somewhatsecret.so.funpic.org); Sammy J (www.sammy-j.com); Danny McGinlay; Justin McGinlay

Feb 22 line-up: Nelly Thomas (www.nellythomas.com); Justin Kennedy (www.justinkennedy.com.au); The Bedroom Philosopher (www.thebedroomphilosopher.com); Adam McKenzie; Duff

Tickets: $15; $12 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Sharon Sclarr in THE TRIALS AND ERRORS OF A PARISIAN PRINCESS

Born in Melbourne yet emotionally bred in Paris, Sharon Sclarr summons the glamour of early twentieth century jazz with her captivating voice and kooky, melodramatic comedy. Think moonlit river soirees, silent film stars minus the silence and Weill mixed with a touch of Bernstein and Brel. As a cocktail of comedy, neuroticism and glamour, THE TRIALS AND ERRORS OF A PARISIAN PRINCESS is bound to leave you feeling trés chic and deliciously bamboozled. Accompanied by David Bramble on piano.

Thursday 16 February to Sunday 19 February, all shows at 7.00 pm

Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Emma Powell is DUMPED!

Have you ever suffered from a state of physiological collapse, marked by a weak pulse, coldness, sweating, irregular breathing, and a craving for chocolate and ice-cream? Then you’ve been dumped, deserted, discarded, forsaken, neglected and cast off too!

“Not only can she belt out a tune but she knows how to entertain and illuminate words. Her delivery encapsulated what Cabaret should be…” Bryce Hallett – Sydney Morning Herald

Accompanied by the undumpable Mark Jones

Thursday 16 February to Sunday 19 February, all shows at 9.00 pm

Tickets: $22; $20 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

David Foster in DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO BALLARAT?

Love will take you where you don’t want to go…

Join David Foster as he relives his first love affair with the help of old friends – including Dionne, Dannii, ABBA and Simon & Garfunkel – in this not-so-innocent cabaret. David turns the classic city guy meets country boy story on its head. His characters Dave from Adelaide and Ben from Ballarat deal with the tyranny of distance and coming to grips with their gay identities in this hilarious and poignant love romp.

Thursday 23 February to Sunday 5 March (performances Thurs - Sun), all shows at 7.00 pm

Tickets: $20

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Sally Bourne is KIDDING AROUND

Having worked with Madonna, Judi Dench and Julie Andrews, Sally Bourne feels ready to tackle the most demanding diva of them all – her inner child. Although this is something not contemplated since performing the title role in the original Australian production of Annie in 1978, she believes it’s time to put the child out of her misery! Come see Annie all grown up but still kidding around. Accompanied by the masterful Dean Lotherington on piano, this is an outstanding evening of comedy and song.

“Sally Bourne absolutely storms the stage” – What’s On in London

Thursday 23 February to Sunday 26 February, all shows at 9.00 pm

Tickets: $25; $20 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Kim Smith is MADLY ADORED

Directed by Martin Croft.

Kim Smith returns for one night only to unleash the brooding menace of his comically maleficent kabarett stylings. In unveiling the devious and unforgiving nature of his latest designs on terroristic ‘Kimperialism’, Kim Smith makes public the intimate workings of an all singing, almost political mastermind. Featuring the incomparable Victoria Jacobs on piano, MADLY ADORED is something of a vaudevillian star vehicle, comprising the musical genius of Hollaender, Arlen, Kander and Ebb, LaChusia, and Eisler among many others.

“(A) new breed of cabaret star” – MCV

Friday 24 February at 11.00 pm

Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

The Butterfly Club
204 Bank Street, South Melbourne
Tel 9690 2000
www.thebutterflyclub.com
Wednesday through Sunday from 6.00 pm til late

Imagine going to a concert where instead of seeing a piano concerto, you see a car concerto that features two dancers animating two real vehicles to tell an urban love story.

Dead Horse Productions presents Concave City at the Meat Market on February 10 and 11. Featuring new works from emerging and established composers the event incorporates film, dance, cars, a string orchestra and miniature changing cityscape.

Dead Horse invited composers Brett Dean, Anthony Pateras, Kate Neal, Wally Gunn and Biddy Connor to create works for Concave City. The company has also collaborated with designer Phillip Naughton of design Inferno to construct a miniature, changing cityscape within Meat Market¹s Main Hall, and includes a large projection screen, to be moved throughout the performance. Small, mixed ensembles, a string orchestra, harpsichord, two cars, prerecorded sound-scape and new short film will all be featured in an extraordinary show.

Kate Neal, Artistic Director of Dead Horse Productions, says that in addition to supporting composers and encouraging new works, the company wishes to dismantle preconceptions about what constitutes a performance. “The show is full of surprisesŠ”
Dead Horse will present Concave City as one cohesive show rather than a series of pieces. By presenting Concave City in the Meat Market they aim to create an extraordinary experience for the audience. At the concert..

a monolithic screen slowly rolls back, revealing more and more of an indoor cityscape where players are perched on risers, like the tops of skyscrapers, performing new works inspired by urban skylines.

images are screened to the sounds of amplified harpsichord, electronica, and processed manic laughter

a car concerto (conducted by Brett Dean) and two dancers animating two amplified vehicles tell an urban love story

Wally Gunn, Composer and Member of Dead Horse says “the title Concave City parallels the chaos and confrontations of a city with those of within us: our internal cities. This also explores the idea of cities within cities, like Russian dolls. For example, we enter a city building to find, in miniature, the skyscrapers and streets of the city outside. It is also suggestive of a city in decline, portraying a groaning, metallic mess, slowly imploding.”

Kate Neal and Wally Gunn established Dead Horse Productions in 2003 to present and promote new Australian music composition. The company¹s primary objectives are to support composers and encourage the creation of new work. The company aims to create an extraordinary experience for the audience, and, as a result, hopes to attract a larger and broader audience to new music.

Concave City Program and details:
Kate Neal (AUS)
“Concave City” and “A Love Story For Two Cars”
String orchestra and two amplified cars (conducted by Brett Dean) and dancers

Wally Gunn (AUS) “The Hive” world premiere
Viola, percussion and tape

Arnoud Noordergraaf (NDL) “Pong” Australian premiere
Amplified harpsichord, electronics and film

Biddy Connor (AUS) new work world premiere
Two bass clarinets, trombone and video

Brett Dean (AUS) “Etuedenfest” Victorian Premiere
String orchestra and cameo harpsichord solo

Anthony Pateras (AUS) new work world premiere
Recorder, viola, trombone, harpsichord and percussion

Kate Neal (AUS) new work world premiere
Dead Horse Band (viola, Cello, Drums, Bass, Guitar)

Date: Friday February 10 and Saturday February 11
Ticket Price: $20 & $18
Time: 8pm
Venue: Meat Market, 42 Courtney St, North Melbourne
Bookings: 03 9687 4053

After international acclaim, Australia’s premier neo-burlesque performance troupe, the Voodoo Trash Dolls are finally bringing their Grotesque Burlesque show to Brisbane.

The Voodoo Trash Dolls will be bringing their voodoo up from Melbourne to perform at The Rev on Friday 30th December as part of the F#&K New Years Eve Party, with Brisbane bands Minus Life, Pussywhipped Satan, Imagine Nation and Brisbane burlesque performer Miss Lash.

As well as DJ’s joining in on the fun, there will be prizes for punters for costumes and lots of giveaways.

Recently nominated for a Rainbow Award, the Voodoo Trash Dolls are charging the way in cutting edge burlesque performance and bringing a modern, funky and raunchy twist on the traditional style.

They have performed with some of Australia’s leading neo-cabaret ladies, including their recent escapade to Sydney where they worked with Machine Gun Fellatio’s, Christa Hughes. They have recently shared the stage with leading performers such as Moira Finucane (The Burlesque Hour), Azaria Universe (The Candy Butchers), Imogen Kelly and Mistress Josephine.

Raunchy dance routines, angle grinding, singing, mad butoh acting and custom designed costumes that often reveal more than they cover are topped off with spectacular music and wild props - you’ve never seen anyone get so comfortable with their whitegoods!

All the dolls are professionally trained performers (with some teaching their fortes) who have spent years performing in various troupes, often with each other and have toured nationally and internationally on many occasions. The Voodoo Trash Dolls, founded in 2004 is the latest and greatest incarnation for these Melbourne-based performers.

Bookings for the Voodoo Trash Dolls have been continuous with much national interest and rumors of an international escapade in 2006.

“The Voodoo Trash Dolls have dragged the [burlesque] genre into the 21st century.” Sunday Magazine, The Herald Sun.

“Burlesque has made a comeback in the new millenia. Leading the charge are Melbourne troupe, the Voodoo Trash Dolls…the audience is not only titilated, but entertained.” The Brag magazine.

“The girls really have set the Australian scene for cutting edge and truly modern burlesque.” Beat magazine.

“Exotic, erotic and neurotic…would certainly leave Messrs DeSade and Masoch squealing with delight…the Voodoo Trash Dolls’ bawdy performance is a must see for anyone looking to unleash their inner absinthe swilling, clove-cigarette smoking burlesque patron, and isn’t that all of us?” ‘Buzzcuts’ (RRR and Beat magazine).

“[The Voodoo Trash Dolls] will induce you into a mouth watering state of delight.” Inpress Magazine.

“The Voodoo Trash Dolls are creating mayhem at Cherry Bomb.” The Melbourne Star.

“The Voodoo Trash Dolls had Cherry Bomb bar absolutely pumping.” BNews.

LISTING INFO

F#*K New Years Party
Friday 30th December 2005
The REV
Fortitude Valley
Starts at 7pm

Tickets $15
$3 Imported Beers in the Beergarden from 5-8pm, aswell as a free sausage sizzle! Yes - the dolls may get the sausages sizzling!

January sees the introduction of The Butterfly Club hosting two separate shows nightly, Wednesday to Sunday. Crazy move? You be the judge! All we know is that Melbourne is bursting with amazing talent just waiting for a spot light to be pointed on them. Who are we to stand in their way?

In other news, The Butterfly Club is no longer where jockeys go before the big race. We had all these slim, short, suited guys seeing our shows during the Spring Racing Carnival. These whip crackin’ little guys were using our shows as a steam room! To shed the odd unwanted kilo – and so did our performers and audiences. With the aid of suitable air conditioning the long running battle with overheating in our performance space has been licked.

Reuben Krum is OUT OF LINE

Inside his head there are lots of voices. Loud voices. Restrained for far too long, Reuben Krum steps OUT OF LINE to let rip a wry holocaust about Jesus guilt, the unkinder cuts of Jewish life and Attention Deficit Disorder (left unmedicated for far too long). This graduate of VCA’s Music Theatre course combines songs by Bucchino, Sondheim, The Smiths and Tom Lehrer with collision-course stand-up comedy.

Friday 13 to Sunday 15 January at 8.30 pm

Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Melanie Thomson in GOING OUT TONIGHT

GOING OUT TONIGHT portrays the events that unfold as a young woman arrives home from work one evening and begins to get ready for a night out on the town. As the performance traverses between monologue and musical interlude, the central character communicates the memories that make her laugh, those that keep her warm at night and the ones that haunt her. Is she ready yet? Is she really going out tonight?

Wednesday 18 to Sunday 22 January, all shows at 6.30 pm

Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders (see this and TICKETS TO OURSELVES at 8.30 pm for $30; $25 concession-holders)

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Fiona Hanrahan and Andrew Hall are selling TICKETS TO OURSELVES

They always dreamt of careers in the theatre…

They should have been more specific.

Born from years selling tickets to other people’s shows, TICKETS TO OURSELVES is a cabaret of frustrations: Of unrealised dreams, of boring jobs and of customers who are often, frankly, just dumb! Now there are no refunds, exchanges, holds barred or punches pulled, so if you’re going to buy a ticket, you’d better know what you want, ‘coz we’re through taking crap.

Part of the Midsumma Festival.

Wednesday 18 to Sunday 22 January, all shows at 8.30 pm

Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders (see this and GOING OUT TONIGHT at 6.30 pm for $30; $25 concession-holders)

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

LUCY FISHER

Young West Australian singer-songwriter Lucy Fisher brings her unique blend of folk, blues and rock to Melbourne. With an addictive voice and a swag of instruments at her disposal, her original songs range from haunting piano-based laments to uplifting, raw rock tunes. She moves from piano to guitar with ease, blows a mean blues-harp and is a virtuosic violinist. Her broad talents have led to stage time with Tex Perkins, Nick Barker and ‘Things of Stone and Wood’ frontman Greg Arnold, and have taken her to Blues and Folk festivals around Australia.

“This girl is beautiful, talented, sassy, intelligent and deeply, fundamentally musical. What’s more, she related to me.” Tim Minchin

Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 January at 6.30 pm

Tickets: $10

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

BLOWING WHISTLES (playreading)

By Matthew Todd, hosted by SBS World News Reader Anton Enus

An acclaimed drama about searing love, sex and gay pride. Nigel loves his hedonistic lifestyle – he has a long-term boyfriend, goes clubbing and has lots of sex in their open relationship. Jamie, his partner of ten years isn’t sure things are so great… The night before Pride, the couple discover Cumboy_17 on Gaydar.co.uk. They plan for a night of casual sex but their young guest has a very different agenda… Blowing Whistles is a blisteringly honest account of a modern gay lifestyle.

This playreading is brought to you by Fly-On-The-Wall and The Butterfly Club as part of the Midsumma Festival.

Saturday 21 January at 2.00 pm

Tickets: $12; $10 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Buster Daniels in NANCY BOY

Allow us to introduce Buster Daniels: reformed altar boy and avid gerbil enthusiast. Numb from the sanitisation of all things queer, Buster puts the sweat and grime back into manly love in a three-week season for the Midsumma Festival. Featuring songs by Joe Jackson, Guns N’ Roses, Johnny Cash and Daniel Maloney, this is bareback cabaret at its most infectious.

Thursday 26 January to Sunday 12 February (performances Thur to Sun), all shows at 8.30 pm

Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

THE MASTER’S BOY (playreading)

By Phil Willmott, Directed by Mark Lee

The simmering obsessive lust of Strindberg’s Miss Julie for her serving man, Jean is translated by award-winning author Phil Willmott into a sultry gay master / servant encounter. For a few chaotic days in 1926 Britain’s working class went on strike and upper class youths took over the jobs they’d abandoned. A blistering sexual power struggle ensues amongst the filth and grease of a depot at midnight between a striker and the wealthy young man attempting to drive his bus. The Master’s Boy is both a fascinating period piece and an exploration of gay lust and love as a weapon of subjugation.

This playreading is brought to you by Fly-On-The-Wall and The Butterfly Club as part of the Midsumma Festival.

“Gutsily written… taut production” – Time Out

Saturday 28 January at 2.00 pm

Tickets: $12; $10 concession-holders

Bookings: Telephone 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

The Butterfly Club
204 Bank Street, South Melbourne
Tel 9690 2000
www.thebutterflyclub.com
Wednesday through Sunday from 6.00 pm til late

Buster Daniels, the coruscating star from Murrambateman, has announced an ambitious Melbourne / Sydney tour of his very own cabaret, Nancy Boy, accompanied by Mark Fitzgibbon on piano.

In what may be one of the first direct tests on the Federal Government’s sedition laws, Buster Daniels will perform in a three-week season in the Melbourne Midsumma Festival, and then one week in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Arts Festival.

Buster is rumoured to be in private talks with the Attorney-General’s Department to allow him immunity from the sedition laws. “It’s true. In the show I do incite a call to arms against the imperialist aggression of the West, but I do it in a loving, caring, mercenary way,” he said.

Featuring songs by Joe Jackson, Guns N’ Roses, Johnny Cash and Daniel Maloney, this is bareback cabaret at its most infectious.

“I embarked on my career in cabaret out of protest,” says Buster. “I was protesting against the phalanx of anonymous pretty gay men who had sought out the medium to tell a very grateful audience (mostly composed of Mum, Dad, Bestest Friend and Aunty Janice) their very limited life story in dated song. I began to ask myself; what business does a 21 year-old from Paddington have singing about a Trolley Car? Not to mention the execrable versions of those songs written by Mr Sondheim often for aging menopausal divas at the cross-roads of THE CHANGE”.

Buster Daniels was born and raised on a farm in the semi-rural town of Murrambateman, a hamlet on the outskirts of Canberra. “My up-bringing was idyllic. Summers were spent shearing, delousing, neutering … Ah, Papa took such pride in his appearance.”

“But I must admit, I became miserable on the farm. It was very isolated and with the droughts, the floods, and all that economic uncertainty depression was rife. It seemed every other week a farm owner was found hanging in his shed, which always confused me because to commit suicide in Murrambateman is a rather redundant act,” he said.

But now Buster has moved far away from his in-bred roots to light the stage of Melbourne’s most intimate performance venue, The Butterfly Club, and at Sydney’s most venerable venue, Bar Me. “Oh, I adore both of those places, I really do. They’re both so intimate and the audience is so close to the stage that on a clear night I can often make out some of the gentlemens’ religions!”

So what is Buster’s show about? “Well, I’m looking at the big issues with this show, like how do you have your way with five bi-curious plumbers while simultaneously making them all feel special and needed? I’m also asking the questions that really need to be asked like, when will the pink polo with the up-turned collar die its final grisly death? Who keeps employing Jeannie Little as an “entertainer”? And exactly how close are scientists to finding the genetic link between homosexuality and anything connected with a Minogue?”

There are also some fond reminiscences too. “I dedicate a section of my show to a man who was a seminal influence in my life, Fr Aloysius. He was a catholic priest at Marist Brothers College Canberra who instructed me in religious education and sometimes – if I was particularly fortunate – in physical education. He was a very hands-on sort of teacher. Very kinaesthetic I think we say now. This fine man taught me the difference between right and wrong and how to manipulate the line in between. An art used deftly himself later in a Court of Law. Fr Aloysius did indeed take me under his wing…he took me under a lot of things in fact…”

Buster’s look and manner are quite distinct, although it has been said that with his soft-spoken voice and deconstructed formal glam he has a little in common with drag artistes. “Oh no! I don’t understand the grotesquerie of drag, actually. I mean why would an audience spend an evening watching a sexless alien jump around in garish costumes to old Cher songs, when they can stay at home and watch the DVD of Cher doing that herself?”

And what of his performance style? “Well I have been compared to many but I think I’m happiest with being described as a cross between Julie Andrews circa Victor/Victoria and a rabid, pansexual Alsatian.”

Melbourne

The Butterfly Club
204 Bank Street, South Melbourne
Dates: Thursday 26 Jan to Sunday 12 Feb (performances Thur to Sun)
Time: All shows at 8.30 pm
Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders
Bookings: Telephone 03 9690 2000 or online at www.thebutterflyclub.com

Sydney

Bar Me
154 Brougham Street (corner of William Street) Kings Cross
Dates: Wednesday 22 Feb to Saturday 25 Feb
Time: All shows at 10.00 pm
Tickets: $20; $15 concession-holders / $30; $25 with light meal
Bookings: Telephone 02 9368 0894

2006 MIDSUMMA SATURDAY AFTERNOON PLAYREADINGS @ THE BUTTERFLY CLUB, SOUTH MELBOURNE

Do you like the idea of relaxing on a Saturday afternoon, with a drink in your hand and have a wonderful new play read to you by some of Australia’s leading actors? After last year’s sell-out season, Fly-On-The-Wall and The Butterfly Club returns with the 2006 Midsumma Saturday Afternoon Playreadings – four international gay plays by four gay playwrights over four consecutive Saturday’s.

Saturday, 21 January @ 2.00pm

BLOWING WHISTLES
By Matthew Todd

An acclaimed drama about searing love, sex and gay pride… Nigel loves his hedonistic lifestyle - he has a long-term boyfriend, goes clubbing and has lots of sex in their open relationship. Jamie, his partner of ten years isn’t sure things are so great… The night before Pride, the couple discover Cumboy_17 on Gaydar.co.uk. They plan for a night of casual sex but their young guest has a very different agenda… Blowing Whistles is a blisteringly honest account of a modern gay lifestyle.

Saturday, 28 January @ 2.00pm

THE MASTER’S BOY
By Phil Willmott

The simmering obsessive lust of Strindberg’s Miss Julie for her serving man - Jean is translated by award-winning author Phil Willmott into a sultry gay master/servant encounter. For a few chaotic days in 1926 Britain’s working class went on strike and upper class youths took over the jobs they’d abandoned. A blistering sexual power struggle ensues amongst the filth and grease of a depot at midnight between a striker and the wealthy young man attempting to drive his bus. This play is both a fascinating period piece and an exploration of gay lust and love as a weapon of subjugation.

Saturday, 04 February @ 2.00pm

ecstasy + GRACE
By James Martin Charlton

Once upon a time, Davy had visions of a better world. Now he competes. Living in Amsterdam, managing Blackjack’s Porn Shop with his German skinhead lover, Kai, Davy reckons he is doing just fine. Then Rae appears from England to bring it all back home. But will that be enough to save Pullet, the 13 year-old boy on Davy’s payroll? Davy: “We traffic in narcotics and children.” ecstasy + GRACE is a mythic but starkly realistic work dealing with the extremes to which the human spirit can aspire to, or sink to.

Saturday, 11 February @ 2.00pm

NEW BOY
Adapted from the stage by Russell Labey
>From the best-selling novel by William Sutcliffe

Mark is a 17-year old who is anxious to finally get his sex life jump-started. When “new boy” Barry, who has the face of an angel and the body of a god [and the name of a plasterer] begins classes at Mark’s all boys school, the two become fast friends. This new relationship allows Mark the opportunity to experience his hormonal aspirations vicariously through Barry’s exploits. Through it all, the two boys develop a very close bond that could ultimately change the course of their lives.

Produced by Robert Chuter & Alan Rance for Fly-On-The-Wall Theatre

The Butterfly Club, 204 Bank Street, South Melbourne, 3205

Saturday, 21 & 23 January
Saturday, 04 & 11 February

2.00pm sharp

All tickets $12.00
Note: Plays contains high-level sexual content and explicit language.

Bookings: 9690 2000 [Limited seating!]
info@thebutterflyclub.com
www.thebutterflyclub.com

Bar open [30 minutes prior and throughout]
Smoke Free
No wheelchair access (unfortunately!)