Behind Blackcat Lounge

Blackcat Lounge isn't drag and it ain't burlesque. It's playful, concept-driven, gutsy live music, performed by some of Sydney's best queer musicians and their collaborators. Founder Maeve Marsden talked to CHERRIE about how it all began and what we can expect from this year’s season.

How did Blackcat Lounge begin?

We've been producing cabaret act, Lady Sings it Better, since 2009. As Lady's success grew we met other cabaret performers and musicians and started collaborating on other shows, or offering production support and management, assistance with marketing or budgeting, networking etc. The more amazing artists we met, the more we wanted to produce an event which showcased them all. As we focus on women and queer artists, Mardi Gras was a great fit. We also felt sometimes the live music element of Mardi Gras can be a bit lacking.

What’s the idea behind it?

We took a broad interpretation of cabaret, so you won't get night after night of the burlesquey cabaret popular at the moment. For us cabaret is about the concept and the story, about using music to convey an idea and about confounding audience expectations about popular music, about laughter and sass and pushing the envelope a bit. We wanted work that grew out of the queer community, with queer themes or aesthetic, though each act includes collaborators from all over the sexuality spectrum! Casting such a wide net means we have great variety in style, themes, performers and concepts.
 
Who will be performing and can you tell us a little bit about them?

Our main act is Lady Sings it Better, which I perform in along with 4 other women. We cover songs by male musicians, turning them on their head as only an all girl cabaret group can. We've got the fab and famous Brendan Maclean for a night, as well as cabaret star, Tom Sharah, who's the handsome fellow on our posters. ali hughes, jazz singer from ali & the thieves is creating a beautiful show, down in the deep, with jazz pianist, Leonie Cohen. Brett Every, who came up with HOMAGE concept last year will be performing a show of his originals and some covers, with some great guest performers, such as Jeremy Brennan (from Jersey Boys) and ali hughes. Then we have Lauren LaRouge, our burlesqueiest cabaret performer; she's performing her show, Lost L'Amour which was a huge hit at The Vanguard last year. And finally we have the absurdly wonderful, Beauty and the Bastard: A Spoonful of Disney. This show queers Disney in all the right/wrong ways and is in the midst of an Aussie tour, having done Sydney Fringe last year.

What’s behind the passion to promote live music for you?

As a performer myself, I like the added excitement of working as a producer / promoter as well. It gives you a greater depth of understanding of the industry. I work with my business partner, Phoebe Meredith, who is the managerial brains of the operation. For us, music is such a wonderful way of bringing people together and such a joyous art form. We keep discovering such talented people in Sydney's arts scene and we don't understand why they aren't yet touring the globe! So for us, we get such satisfaction out of the opportunity to work with these people.

Photo: Viv McGregor
 
Blackcat Lounge: A Season of Queer Cabaret, Feb 14 - March 10, The Sidetrack Theatre 142 Addison Road, Marrickville, Sydney, www.sidetrack.com.au