La Clique | The Famous Spiegeltent - Australian Stage Online

Details: Vito Mattarelli; 29 October 2007

After only three years, La Clique has become an institution at the tail end of the Melbourne International Arts Festival. It’s home is the Famous Spiegeltent in the Arts Centre forecourt, and as it has done since it’s first season here, will be a sold out event.

Even if you have never experienced La Clique, few Melbournians could honestly say that they have never heard of it - such is its legend.

Within a theatrical setting, La Clique presents a variety of cabaret, burlesque, circus and street performances that are designed to titillate, enthral, amaze and bring laughter.

Repeat performers this season include Melbourne’s own The English Gents (Denis Lock and Hamish McCann) with their impressive, tongue-in-cheek balancing act, the ever-popular Captain Frodo who manages to manipulate (and dislocate) his body in an act that is as captivating as it is unnerving, and of course the sex god himself - the man with the incredible physique (also know as Bath Boy!) - David O’Mer. This man alone probably generates more repeat business that the other popular performers combined!

New performers to Melbourne this year include the sexy Marawa and her vast array of hoops, the offbeat Krin (from Canada’s famous Cirque Eloize) and her aerial act, the stunning Erna Sommer with a skilled and beautiful aerial performance, and the unpredictable, incredibly talented Mario, Queen of the Circus. Destined to become a Clique favourite, Mario (Clarke McFarlane) brings new life to Freddy Mercury while performing amazing juggling feats. This man is lovable and very funny.

The highlight of the new performances, however, is the stunning Cabaret Decadanse. From Canada, Serge DesLauriers and Enoch Turcotte take the art of puppetry to an incredibly high and sophisticated level. Opening the night with a show-stopping performance, their array of characters will have you gasping, shrieking and will leave you totally captivated throughout. Visually stunning and very classy, these gents are an absolute treat to watch.

La Clique’s two hour show makes for a most entertaining and memorable night out. If there was any criticism at all it could only be that in previous seasons acts were a little more risqué. This is still aimed at the adult audience, but is slightly tamer.

Treat yourself and your partner to an amazing experience, enjoy some of the finest acts of its kind, and enter La Clique.

La Clique

Venue: The Famous Spiegeltent | Arts Centre Forecourt, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne
Dates: October 25 to December 16
Tickets: $45 - $55
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 136 166 or www.ticketmaster.com.au
Visit: www.spiegeltent.net

Most read Melbourne reviews

Heathers The Musical
Capturing the essence of its predecessor, Heathers The Musical is an absurdly comic production that doesn’t just walk the line of polite society but plans to blow it all up with reckless abandon.
The Glass Menagerie | Melbourne Theatre Company
This Glass Menagerie is top shelf, and while blessed with an extraordinary cast and the highest of production values, it will not meet with everyone’s measure of how this play should be staged.
Swan | Elf Lyons
Quirks of the source – and of the environment that sustains it – are cleanly exposed in a high-energy hour of physical comedy, delivered with moments of avian grace.
Retrograde | Melbourne Theatre Company
The script is based on a true story, although this dramatisation can feel somewhat contrived, with important assertions not interrogated, and credibility stretched as a result.
The Brut Truth: A Champagne Comedy Tasting | Prétentieux vin Branleur
It feels that the show hasn’t quite worked out what point it wants to make.