★★★★☆ Cabaret boy band extraordinaire prove that no one can match ‘the Lady Gaga of easy listening’.

Artspace, Adelaide
June 19, 2016

Formed decades ago on a trip to Melbourne by the narcissistic diva to ensure that her music lives on, cabaret boy band extraordinaire Friends of Barbra consisting of Michael Smallwood, Luke Gallagher and Nigel Ubrihien gushed their way into the hearts of an audience of show queens, matriarchs and barely a straight man to be seen.

A witty original Three queens in the room bitching set the scene for the history of Barbra or The Ballad of Babs set mysteriously to The Rhythm of Life. While the originals ended there, and the hits came thereafter, the songs were structured cleverly for laughs and theme and the vocal arrangements were quite complex at time for the boys’ solid tenor voices that blend beautifully as Barbra would expect. The boys were resplendent in their Barbra coats and we even had a Barbra 100 power ballad wheel to assist in the song choice.

The boys only just managed to conquer Woman in Love with their testicles intact. Combining Evergreen with The Love Boat was brilliant and might set lawyers’ tongues wagging. The Rainbow Connection seemed to be a ring in, but Nigel was a fetching Kermit. Spin number 2 gave us Babs’ famous duet with German power diva Donna Summer Enough is Enough complete with German lyrics. While they aren’t Babs songs, the theme from Sesame Street and the Brady Bunch classic Sunshine Day seemed appropriate memories that light the corner of my mind. I loved the vocal precision and the inspiration generally that saw the boys substitute Babs for jazz and give us Babs Hot (Victor Victoria), All that Babs (Chicago) and Babs Baby (Thorouhgly Modern Millie) with each member singing one of the numbers simultaneously.

For those of you who managed to survive Yentl to its conclusion and thought you’d never hear the overblown A Piece of Sky again (Barbra can you hear me), yes, they did it, but thankfully in a very abridged way. Finishing with the duet with Judy of Get Happy and Happy Days on the Judy television special that helped launch Barbra’s career, the boys showed us that no one can match ‘the Lady Gaga of easy listening’.