Hot sounds and cool crooners: Brisbane is in for a treat when Swing On This transforms The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent into a big-band swing club from 7-11 September.
A quartet of leading men from Australia’s stage and screen swing through a repertoire of jazz and big band classics, interspersed with surprising takes on crowd-pleasing contemporary hits.
The tuxedo-clad foursome, made up of Ben Mingay (Home & Away, Wonderland, Dirty Dancing), Matt Lee (So You Think You Can Dance, Mary Poppins), Luke Kennedy (The Voice Australia, The Ten Tenors) and Michael Falzon (Evita, Rock of Ages), deliver a dashing performance sure to delight.
Their scorching setlist spans the musical spectrum from nostalgic favourites Frank Sinatra and Cab Calloway, and modern minstrel Michael Bublé; to more offbeat musical choices from The Proclaimers, INXS and even John Farnham.
Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold cautioned audiences to wear their dancing shoes.
“Ben, Luke, Matt and Michael are consummate entertainers and really embody the charm and cheekiness of the big-band era,” Mr Berthold said.
“Swing On This is one of those exuberant shows The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent is renowned for hosting and I have no doubt enthusiastic audiences will get swept up in its energy.”
The all-singing, all-dancing entertainers inject a playfulness into their repertoire of swing classics and “well-swung” interpretations of rock and pop songs from the past four decades.
They have fun with the music – and each other – to recapture a bygone musical era and reinvigorate it with liberal dashes of contemporary charm and cheeky irreverence.
A six-piece swing band accompanies the quartet on The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent stage.
Swing On This plays The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent from 7-11 September.
Brisbane Festival opens the doors to 23 days of revelry, revelations and romance from 6 – 28 September 2019. A full program of theatre, music, dance, opera, circus and major public events is available at www.brisbanefestival.com.au.
Swing On This
7-11 September 2019
The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent, Treasury Brisbane Arcadia
www.brisbanefestival.com.au
