Local cabaret performer Cléo had dreams to starting her own big gay cabaret, and after two smash-hit sold out shows it’s safe today those dreams are coming true.
With a selection of the best LGBTQIA+ performers WA has to offer, Cléo brings together a diverse crew with a range of skills and talents for a fabulous evening of raging queer cabaret.
We caught up with Cléo ahead of the event’s third outing to find out what to expect from the celebration.
What inspired you to start Cléo’s Big Gay Cabaret?
Back in February I produced and hosted an event at the Fringe World Festival artist bar, The Budgie Smuggler (may it rest in peace) called Cléo’s Big Gay Valentine’s Day. It had drag and burlesque performances, free candy and glow sticks, we blasted gay anthems, and it was just such a fun night, everyone stuck around and danced until dawn.
The place was packed, and so many people who didn’t have Fringe passes said they wished they could have come. Given the interest, it really just felt natural to turn it into a fully-fledged show called Cléo’s Big Gay Cabaret, and where better to put it on than The Ellington Jazz Club!
Your events bring together a wide range of talents & mediums, sexualities & gender expressions. What do you think makes a great cabaret line up?
I can’t claim to be the authority on cabaret, but for me personally, I like to book dynamic, magnetic performers who I know will take the audience on a wild ride from the moment they step on stage to the moment they step off.
There’s something exceptionally powerful about queer people who are unapologetically confident in themselves and comfortable in their skin, and that’s what I’m trying to represent on stage.
Variety is also very important, finding a good balance of performers who bring very different things to the stage in terms of their theming, music, and costumes. At the moment I am mostly showing burlesque, drag and musical performers, but there are plans in the works to include comedy and other things in future.
If/when WA’s COVID restrictions lift further and venues are allowed full capacity, I’ll also be able to book more performers and make the show bigger, which I’m looking forward to.
Tell us about the line-up for Cléo’s Big Gay Cabaret 3!
This line-up is absolutely killer, and I was so excited when each of these performers said yes!
I’ve got fresh-on-the-scene drag king Jaxon Coke, who is just the most amazing dancer and performer, I watched him win Drag Factory at The Court recently, he brought the house down, and I knew I had to have him in my show!
I’ve got the gorgeous gender-bending Flynn V, who is an iconic drag performer and dancer who also recently debuted his first burlesque act, I saw it and it was amazing!
I’ve got the brilliant and beautiful multi-disciplined performer Milo Hartill bringing you some burlesque goodness, we’re very lucky to have had her in Perth for a spell and she’ll be jetting back off over east soon, so be sure you catch her this time!
I’ve got Perth’s favourite comedy-cabaret riot grrl, the formidably talented and badass singer Jamie Mykaela, who will also be leaving this wondrous city soon, so you won’t want to miss her either!
I’ve got the unbelievable and ethereal performance artist and extremely talented costumer Ginava, who honestly blows my mind every single time I see them perform, they come from another planet that I desperately want to live on!
Last but most certainly not least, I’ve got one of Perth’s most famous, revered and longest serving drag queens, with over 20 years in the business, BarbieQ! Barbie and I share a great love of Madonna, so expect to see something Madonna themed!
I’ve also got Devan Murphy, a professional dancer who just finished a run with Cabaret de Paris, returning as my amazing stage kitten. He was such a hit last time, I had to bring him back! I deeply admire, respect and am inspired by each and every person in my cast and I am so excited to see what they each bring to the stage for this show.
Cleo’s Big Gay Cabaret 1 & 2 were a huge success – what does it mean to see the community embrace your event with open arms?
My show exclusively platforms performers who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community. As a proud lesbian myself who went through the experience of coming out as a young adult without seeing much representation of anyone like me in the media or in my peers surrounding me at the time, I think that diverse and bountiful representation is so important.
Creating a show and a space that is absolutely, unapologetically performed by and geared towards LGBTQIA+ people is so important to me. So to have received such a warm response to my show and to see so much interest in it, to have it sell out twice over, has been extremely validating for me as a member of Perth’s LGBTQIA+ community, because I felt like such an outsider when I first came into it ten years ago.
Of course, things were very, very different then. Times are changing fast, and I’m so excited to be a part of the shifting landscape, to hear the people in my cast speak about what they want to see in the show and in the wider community, and to provide a variety of different representations on stage that might help others in my community who are feeling confused, or shy, or like they don’t fit in, as I did when I was first in the process of discovering myself and coming out.
Finally, in your own words, what can people expect from the night?
A delicious mix of incredible LGBTQIA+ talent in my cast showcasing the best of Perth’s drag, burlesque and musical talent, a big gay dork of a host in myself, free lollipops and glow sticks, our special Big Gay Pink Cocktail with a camp cocktail umbrella for just $10, an afterparty blasting gay anthems where you can have a boogie with myself and the rest of the cast, and just genuine fun in a warm and welcoming environment.
I stick around and talk to as many people as I can after the show, so I’m always open to a chat!
Tickets for Cléo’s Big Gay Cabaret III on January 9th are available now from ellingtonjazz.com.au. Follow Cléo on Instagram for updates on future shows and cast announcements.
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