The Three Women of Sass-e Present Meddlin’ with Songs From Piaf to ABBA – Cabaret Fringe Review

Star Theatres, Sat 13 Jun From ‘60s girl groups to swing classics, Edith Piaf and ABBA, the ladies of Sass-e brought their three-part harmonies to a delighted audience at the Star Theatres in Hilton. The show is designed to tell the story of this country SA singing trio after a decade together, with the stage set up to evoke the kitchen they met in. Brief skits in which they act out initial phone calls to one another, meet-ups, and later on address the audience regarding their material were interspersed with the main draw of the show, their cabaret medleys of century-spanning crowd-pleasers. Bedecked in matching blue and white dresses, the ladies of Sass-e started out with a spirited rendition of, The Java Jive and then discussed their love of girl groups, launching into a medley including The Ronettes’ Be My Baby and The Shirelles’ Will You Love Me Tomorrow? Next was a brief chat about the Supremes’ origins with Motown to introduce a medley including, Stop In The Name Of Love, You Can’t Hurry Love and Baby Love, ending with a cooing outro harmony. Then it was off to the swing era, mixing up takes on Duke Ellington’s It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) and Glen Miller’s Chattanooga Choo Choo with the more recent Caro Emerald’s That Man. The group’s voices blended well together with the recorded accompaniment and the choreography was casually adhered to at times, but the audience didn’t seem to mind. A lovely three-part rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah was a highlight, putting the ubiquitous song into a welcome new context, and the promised Piaf and ABBA medleys brought the show to a climax, with the capacity crowd enthusiastically applauding the curtain call. Matt Saunders