Hayden Tee in Bad Guy: Taking Bad To The Limits ~ Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2022 Review

[CABARET ~ AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE ~ Aoteoroa/NZ] Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, Sun 18 Jun. Hayden Tee can wow an audience with his velvet voice. After years of performing in musicals such as Les Misérables and Matilda he knows how to milk the layers in his voice and how to bring out the story in the song. Having made a name for himself performing as the bad guy or villain in shows from the West End to Broadway he is today wanting to explore what it means to be bad. He alerts us to the origin of some of the clichés surrounding ‘badness’ in literature and musical theatre, and how these stereotypes have hurt members of the LGBTQ+ community and created one dimensional characters. Hayden Tee wants to challenge those pre-conceptions. Today’s repertoire of songs chosen to examine his theme include pop songs such as Neil Finn’s Into Temptation, and Billy Eilish’s Bad Guy, but not all these songs sit easily with his singing style. However his excellent interpretation of Radiohead’s Creep shines new light on the lyrics. Tee is outstanding when presenting songs from musicals. With his piercing eyes (perhaps the real reason he is chosen so often as the villain!) and excellent timing and diction he brings to life the humour implicit in Miss Trumbull’s The Smell Of Rebellion from Matilda. Today’s highlight is his stunning performance of Inspector Javert’s Stars from Les Misérables. Bringing both power and the tragic vulnerability of the character to the fore it is easy to see how he has performed this role in productions throughout the world. Applause is long and loud. Hayden Tee has a wonderful voice and is a warm and engaging performer. He is worth watching out for. 4 stars Cathy Tune #TheClothesline #AdCabFest Image courtesy of Claudio Raschella