The Bailey Dolls And Friends Present: The Vintage Variety Hour – Adelaide Fringe Review

The Cathedral Room, Adelaide Oval, Fri 3 Mar. The Bailey Dolls consist of Merrilyn Greer, Catherine Hearne, Leah Gauthier and Gillian Quinn, and are joined on stage by their ‘friends’ are Buddy Dawson and Sebastian Cooper, who were then supported by the musicians, The Duckies. Together they sing, dance, play, act and work hard for our enjoyment. As a group, they have worked together before, but this evenings show was let down by the sound as audio feedback continued throughout the show, showing no signs of abating. This was a real shame, as the sounds coming from the singers (when it could be heard) were beautiful. This was most noted when the singers disbursed around the room while singing pure a cappella, where we could then hear the talents of each of the individual vocalists. The Duckies – led by Emma Knights on piano, with bass player Sean Renaud, Barnabas Smith on drums, and Chris Weber on trumpet –played well, with a great solo from Chris Webber on Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. While I understand the need for musicians to be able to communicate directly with each other, I felt that it was an odd choice to have Sean (bassist) with his back to the audience throughout the performance. Likewise, the choice to keep the blinds closed on the floor to ceiling windows that would have allowed for the view of the Cathedral as a backdrop for the show, I felt, was also an odd choice. I must also admit that as I had further reviewing commitments this evening, so I only saw 45 minutes of the show, this was mainly due to a difference in the advertised starting time and the actual starting time which was approximately 30 minutes difference. However as I left the room was filled with singers and audience members all dancing about the room in a conga line, all enjoying the dance. 2.5 stars Charissa McCluskey-Garcia #ADLfringe