Master’s Curious Delirium
Bird Wizdom @ Nexus Cabaret
9:00pm, Sat 26 Feb 2011
Bird Wizdom’s performance in last year’s Fringe was a revelation – great songs, a great band, a wonderful sense of humour, and a wonderful front-woman. And cello.
Unfortunately, this year’s effort misses the mark. Quite considerably.
Let’s start with the good bits first – I still think Anya’s great. She’s got a wonderful voice, a commanding stage presence, and her songs are – overall – really quite clever. And trombonist Doctor Bones tells a truly awful shell story ending with an appalling “Michelle” pun that still makes me smile.
But that’s about it, really. Master’s Curious Delirium lacks the cohesion and self-awareness that made Violet Rapscallion so much fun, and the staging is a bit of a mess. Worse still, despite the fact that I think I saw cellist Melanie Pryor in the opening dance number, there was no cello to be had in the entire performance. Booooo.
Still, the smaller onstage ensemble means that the focus falls squarely on Anya… but I don’t think she can shoulder the weight of the entire performance by herself. Yet. So I left this performance somewhat disappointed, but not discouraged: it will be interesting to see where this songstress goes in the future.