Britney Spears has become the popstar we love to ridicule,
from her attempts at singing live and preference for lip synching, to the
countless memes, parody performances, and misguided laughter at her shaved head
episode. We remember fondly the songs, videos and performances, but she’s an
easy target we can’t help but poke fun at – in loving jest of course.
Australian actress Christie Whelan Browne encapsulates all
of this brilliantly with her irreverent take on the singer in Britney Spears: The Cabaret, written and
directed by Dean Bryant. Through song and monologue she takes us through Spears’
life: growing up a child star, rising to fame, her struggles with relationships,
and learning to deal with the pressures of press and fan attention. It’s all
done with tongue firmly in cheek, Whelan Browne’s Spears a ditzy and crude star
with a filthy mouth, who’s not the sharpest of people but sure as hell knows
how to deliver a song. Her stories are hilarious, touching on various scandals
in Spears’ career to offer an amusing and bawdy ‘honest’ portrayal of what
really happened behind the scenes.
What’s particularly arresting, however, is actually how good
Spears’ music is. We all know the catchy hooks, the dance routines and the sing-along
choruses, but in the context of the show, her songs taken on lyrical depth –
partly down to the new arrangements from pianist and musical director Mathew
Frank. I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman
becomes a musical theatre ballad about Spears’ struggles with motherhood; Toxic a jazzy ode to sex with Justin
Timberlake; and darkest of all, I’m A
Slave 4 U becomes a tap routine performed by an overtly sexual yet utterly naïve
child Britney. It brings a neat twist on familiar songs for a more theatrical
and engaging take.
And Whelan Browne sings them all impeccably. At times she
mimics the singer’s intonation and inflections for comic effect – her “oohs”
and “babys” are almost as memorable as Michael Jackson’s “hee hees” and “chamones”
– but for the most part this isn’t an impersonation. Whelan Browne plays Spears
as a character with a squeaky, drawling voice, but her own vocal technique and
power remain intact.
There’s a running joke, for the musical theatre nerds, that
Liza Minnelli helped Spears in creating this cabaret, and her advice was to
leave the audience on a high. Yet the show’s main mission is to depict Spears
as a tragic heroine, providing a character arc that draws us into the woman
behind the songs, a gullible, fragile woman in need of guidance and support. In the
process, the light-hearted humour of the opening soon changes to melancholy with
a string of lengthy ballads that leaves the audience on a downer – in particular
the encore of Everytime, though
beautifully sung. The balance between humour and sincerity might be lop-sided,
but this cabaret remains a hit thanks to Whelan Browne’s engaging and likeable
performance.
4/5
Watch: Britney Spears: The Cabaret runs at The Other Palace until 9th September.
Top photo: John Tsiavis
Bottom photo: Jeeves