Cabaret Festival review: Broadway Bound (but not gagged)
Broadway Bound (but not gagged) sees Sydney-born performer Kaye Tuckerman tell the tale of her dogged pursuit of the Broadway dream in a performance featuring songs ranging from musical classics to an ABBA medley.
Broadway Bound's Kaye Tuckerman. Photo: Kurt Sneddon
Kaye Tuckerman is a singer, writer and director who has performed in a variety of musicals including Summer: the Donna Summer Musical, The Boy from Oz and Mamma Mia. She has also been involved in film-making, particularly in Nairobi, Kenya, so has undertaken quite a journey.
In this solo cabaret show, Tuckerman gives us a glimpse of her career through songs from lots of Broadway shows interspersed with patter about the difficulties faced by performers trying to make it on Broadway. She’s accompanied by musical director John Thorn’s tight and funky three-piece band, which creates a fabulous sound in the Blue Room.
Tuckerman’s patter takes us from a small girl seeing Annie who decides that she wants to be on stage to the moments when the young adult makes it on Broadway. The pathway is gruelling and there are plenty of knock-backs, but regardless of difficulties experienced, she has forged a successful career on stage and screen.
In Broadway Bound [but not gagged), the audience is treated to songs ranging from “Corner of the Sky” (from the musical Pippin) and “New York, New York” to the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” and an ABBA medley.
Tuckerman belts out a good tune – perhaps, at times, a little too loudly for the Blue Room venue. She is at her best when delivering, sensitively and movingly, the quieter ballads that reflect pain in her life, such as the loss of a loved one (“I’m Calling You”) and being rejected for a role due to an injury (“You Take My Breath Away”).
Broadway Bound is a night of entertaining songs and variety, giving audience members an insight into the difficulties of being on the road and touring a major production. As a performance about following your dreams, it may be viewed as an interesting counterpoint to another Cabaret Festival show, End of the Rainbow, which portrays Judy Garland’s rise to fame and tragic demise.
Kaye Tuckerman – Broadway Bound (but not gagged) has its final performance tonight in The Blue Room at the Festival Theatre. See all InDaily’s Cabaret Festival stories and reviews here.
