If you haven’t already seen A Saucy Little Secret, you need to get down to the Ellington Jazz Club. This remarkable piece of cabaret theatre by Melanie Bainbridge follows the lives of five women (Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Gladys Bentley, Ethel Waters, and Alberta Hunter), who broke into 1920’s and 30’s music scene in Harlem.
Five of Australia’s premier jazz, soul and blues musicians (Di Shaw, Libby Hammer, Ofa Fotu, Natalie Gillespie and Harry Deluxe) pay homage to these women and their lives. The audience is taken back to 1920’s Harlem and given an insight into the trials and tribulations of the brave women who were so progressive in their attitudes towards race and sexuality. The show is backed by an amazing band of Perth’s best musicians, and set against projections of artistic renditions of the time period.
It’s rare to see a cabaret show so well suited to a queer audience here in Perth, and I wholeheartedly feel that everybody should take the opportunity to see it. There’s something for everyone: Flamboyant characters, lesbian lust, cross-dressing, songs about unrequited love, and characters who tell you to ‘let your feathers be whatever colour they are… no apologies’. I’d love to see this show play to a sold out queer audience, where references to ‘clambakes’ are more than well received!
The show starts at 6 (doors open at 5.30) every night between Tuesday 6th August and Sunday 11th August.
Claire Alexander
