Time for Coffee in a Café with Culture

The Café Culture series seems to go from strength to strength and on Friday 12^th May it returns to its latest and arguably best venue, the Albert & Co Function Centre at Bellevue on the Lakes.  

This performance is in the do not miss category and entitled “Red Dress & The Sugar Man”.

Normally acts are sourced from the big smoke and lured into country Victoria, but on this occasion we will be hosting another regional act but from north of the divide, in fact from Beechworth, a place of history, honey, a bakery (I had to get food in somehow), and home of award-winning Australian blues/roots singer and songwriter, solo artist, and cabaret performer Marisa Quigley.

“I am delighted to have Marisa in the 2018 program. She is a powerhouse of talent and is destined to great things” said Mary Souness, manager of Just Shows To Go, the touring company responsible for delivering the Café Culture series to regional Victoria.

Marisa Quigley and Sunday Best will perform Red Dress and the Sugar Man

Now before we get into the performance stuff, might I suggest that you arrive good and early and enjoy the gastronomic delights from Albert & Co, and even sample a beverage or two before or during the intermission of the show. As I said, Café, Coffee and Culture, it has a certain ring to it.   More about food later………I just had to!

Back to the performance then, for the first half of the program Marisa has intelligently constructed and written the knock out cabaret show “Red Dress and The Sugar Man”. The show is a beautifully well-balanced combination of live music and performance poetry. Marissa applies her strong, smokey singing voice as her band “Sunday Best” tastefully present the evocative music of Tom Waits to create a world of desire, doubt, temptation, and desperation. You do not have to be familiar with the original versions to appreciate the result.

Now add the extra layer. Marisa has very cleverly strung the songs together with original, captivating performance poetry to guide us from song to song and tell the tragic noir-style tale of Romeo and Rosie, teasing out the characters and taking us deeper into their worlds. It is this wonderfully imaginative and expertly presented story telling element of the show that sets it so far apart from a tribute show. 

The second half of the program the audience will hear Marissa and her band perform some of her original songs. Her song-writing influences are as diverse and her songs spanning the gamut from haunting to heartfelt to hilarious. With her charismatic stage presence and powerhouse delivery, the husky-voiced chanteuse has drawn comparisons with Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt.  Her irreverent wit and a deft lyricist, Marisa has audiences in stitches one minute, moved to tears the next. An eclectic blend of blues/roots and alt-country/folk, a wink and a nudge, a tickle and a poke, her act is soulful, fun, endearing and highly entertaining. Marisa has been described as “Possibly the blackest white woman since Janis Joplin”.  

Additionally, Marisa Quigley will lead a one hour songwriting and/or performance poetry workshop on Saturday 12 May 2018 which will take participants through a relaxed, step by step approach to song writing and/or performance poetry. 

Marisa Quigley and The Sugar Man will be live at Albert & Co Function Centre, Bellevue on the Lakes, 201 Esplanade, Lakes Entrance on Friday May 11, 2018 at 7pm.  

Purchase your tickets for this show, or a great value discounted Season Ticket.  Tickets for the show or workshop are available at Lakes Entrance or Bairnsdale Visitor Information Centres or online at www.eastgippsland.vic.gov.au/forgetheatre. For further information: Andrea Court - (03) 5153 9500 or 0408707543  Put a note in your dairies ( ok then in your phones), for Friday 7^th September for Dr Crask and his swinging Elixer Band then on Friday 30^th November Bollywood comes to town, singing dancing and a colourful even exotic end of year treat.  Grab a copy of the East Gippsland Arts Program from any Service Centre or Visitor Information Centre.

Now just to return to my favourite subject, and you may just have noticed the foodie images above, last but by no means least, give Mum a treat and make a booking for a Mother’s Day lunch at Albert and Co.      Sit back, relax - Enjoy.