Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett
Boulevard Theatre
from 17th October 2023
Underbelly is pleased to present the UK premiere of the multi award-winning Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett. Opening in London’s newest venue, Underbelly Boulevard, Soho, from 17 October 2023 tickets are on sale now and available from www.underbellyboulevard.com.
Following sell out seasons in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Japan and Bernie Dieter’s previous shows, Little Death Club and Berlin Underground, in London and Edinburgh, the show will play for a strictly limited 12-week run.
Award-winning kabarett superstar Bernie Dieter returns to London with Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett, an outrageous and immersive night of provocative, hilarious circus and sideshow, soundtracked by a Weimar-punk jazz band.
Bernie Dieter has cemented herself as one of the standout cabaret artists of her generation. A cross between Marlene Dietrich, Lady Gaga and Frank-n-Furter in sequins, Bernie captures the apocalyptic zeitgeist of our time when the art of human connection is more vital than ever.
Bringing together a travelling family of misfits and miscreants, Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett features the talents of Mr Pole Dance world 2022 Blue Phoenix, the powerful carnie chaos of Washington trapeze artist Adam Malone, the fiery hair hanging goddess Bella Diosa, gender-bending acrobat Joe Keeley, and the Seifert Sisters, who will have you seeing double in their breathtaking aerial duo.
Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett also features live music from the in-haus band, led by Mark Elton (Bass), Frankie South (Guitar) and Laura Williams (Drums).
The UK premiere of Club Kabarett follows sell out seasons in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Japan and Bernie Dieter’s previous shows, Little Death Club and Berlin Underground, in London and Edinburgh.
Review by Richard Lambert, 4 Stars
Bernie Dieter certainly knows how to wow an audience and get the party started! Her style is brash and confident with a powerhouse voice. Her performance, like all the performers, in this glamourous plush show is top notch.
Set in the beautiful, no-expense-spared, Boulevard Theatre and Restaurant, it’s wonderful to see this venue brought back to life – a long time coming after the pandemic locked us all down. A terrific sense of style permeates the venue and matches the adult night-time Soho vibe nestled in amongst the private booths and neon-signed shops of Walker’s Court.
Technically the show is a box-standard spiegeltent burlesque cabaret show. The rigging provides for a single-point suspension hauled vertically via pulley block and tackle by a burly stage management team. The stage is a small circular podium with a 360 deg audience – and there are many promenades of the cast inter-mingling the audience. The follow-spot operator is someone holding a powerful 3-cell LED flashlight which is able to accommodate such challenging lighting needs for these promenades.
The speciality acts are really good: pole, silks, bar, hoop, fire, razor blades. I would have liked the bar to have swung out over the audience a little further. The band were excellent however the vocal mix wasn’t quite balanced with Bernie a little drowned out at times. The costumes very sexy but I don’t think you need a trigger warning for “partial nudity” when there wasn’t actually any nudity. It was miraculous how the costumes stayed in place as the boys’ bikini’s really were “itsy bitsy teeny weeny”.
Special shout-out has to go to Joe Keeley on silks. His act was beautiful and stunning.
Club Kabarett is an amazing night out even if it does fall towards the family side of Soho decadence.
Photo credit: Craig Sugden
Adam Malone – Aerial Silks
Running away with the circus at a young Adam is bold, brash and brazen, and what he does every night with his body will take your breath away.
Blue Phoenix – Pole
Winning Mr Pole Dance World in 2022, Blue is a phenomenon on the pole. With strength, beauty and grace, he does it all in 12-inch heels.
The Seifert Sisters – Aerial Duo
These girls do it all, and they do it all together. As a duo they have toured the world wowing audiences with their incredible skills in a huge variety of disciplines.
Joe Keeley – Aerial Silks
Blurring the lines of gender and gravity, Joe is a world-class aerialist you won’t be able to take your eyes off.
Bella Diosa – Hair hanging and contortion
Bella has performed all over the world, and she is a fierce force to be reckoned with when she hits the stage.
Mark Elton – band
Mark Elton is one of the world’s leading Bassists. He has travelled extensively and played with some of the world’s greatest musicians, earning him recognition on the international music stage.
Frankie South – band
Frankie is a professional guitarist based in London UK, who’s recent work includes being the guitarist in the new Olivier Award nominated hip-hop musical ‘SYLVIA’ starring Beverly Knight at The Old Vic Theatre, and playing the Guitar 1 chair on the German production of ‘We Will Rock You’ touring across Europe.
Laura Williams – band
Laura has toured the world playing the drums for everything from River Dance to Punch drunk and the Royal Shakespeare company.
Presented by Underbelly, producers of the seven-time Olivier award-winning Cabaret and iconic live entertainment events, Underbelly Boulevard is a brand-new home for the hottest cabaret, variety and music, comprising of a 200-capacity performance venue, a rehearsal room for hire, daytime hire for events, readings and workshops, a bar and a 100-cover restaurant.
The original Boulevard Theatre site began as a sister venue to the Raymond Revuebar in the late 1950s, before becoming a small theatre in its own right, the ‘Elle et Lui’ theatre. In the late 1970’s, it was renamed the Boulevard Theatre, and was home to a wide variety of productions, most famously to ‘The Comic Strip’, but also included ‘The Collector’ by John Fowles, adapted by David Parker, ‘Infidelities’ starring Jill Bennett and Eddie Izzard’s ‘Raging Bull’ comedy club before closing its doors in the early 1990’s. In 2010, Soho Estates began an extensive regeneration of the Walker’s Court area which included the reopening the Boulevard Theatre in October 2019.
Underbelly are internationally renowned producers, whose work on the Edinburgh Fringe began in the year 2000 and has continued to this day. Their iconic purple cow, Violet, has been seen in Edinburgh, on London’s Southbank, in Hong Kong and more. Their theatrical arm, Underbelly Productions presents, produces and promotes a diverse programme of work including the multi award winning Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, La Clique Live in Leicester Square, Austentatious at The Fortune Theatre, Five Guys Named Moe at the Marble Arch Theatreand the forthcoming production of Macbeth starring Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma.
Tickets: Click here