A choir of angels found in the depths of saucy cabaret – that pretty much sums up Boon-esque, a show that straddles the line between romance and satire. The show is dedicated to the romance novels of Mills and Boon, taking the audience through every iteration of the genre; the show features scenes from historical romance to military romance to medical – yes, of course – romance. Divided between two groups, the sultry Le Tableaux Burlesque, and the musical Bobby and the Pins, the show manages to expertly convey exactly what Mills and Boon novels are all about.

The show is introduced by the stunning Ginger Leah Rye, who immediately launches into an interpretive piece of a medieval Boonery. Aided by nothing more than a voice-over, Ginger sets the tone for the show immediately, letting the words of Mills and Boon drape over her as her clothes come off. Ending with the last caress, voices come from behind the audience. Four faces look up from the back of the theatre, pale from reading lights, but before you can question what they’re doing, they sing.

And it is magical. From their rendition of Mr Sandman, beautifully harmonised, to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, featuring a surprisingly complex costume change involving a travelling trunk, the audience was left spell-bound. Even with the occasional technical disruption, their singing held the show together. That’s not to say that the rest of the show didn’t have anything to offer, of course – the smooth bopping of Bobby and the Pins was simply that good.

Aside from a few mishaps involving sound and lighting, the show was fine. The show perhaps suffered from first night jitters, as some songs and acts weren’t as smooth as they could’ve been – so from this point on, the performance should only get better.

The subject matter, though at first odd, begins to grow on you, and by the end of the show you’re almost begging to pick up a copy. Thankfully Boon-esque provides for that need, not only with the performance , but the books they provide as well.

Now that’s dedication to a theme.

Boon-esque runs until October 13th at the 86 B. Tickets are $25 full-price and $22 concession.

Jim Jam Presents: Biscuits and Impro has the finest selection of biscuits and milk that I’ve seen in any fringe festival show – but that’s not the sole reason to go. With an impressive array of improv comedy presented throughout the night, the show’s responses to audience suggestion caters to your every need, whether they be banana revolutions and underpants men or Robin punch-ups and embarrassing stories.

Introduced by Harley Hefford, the show features a trilogy of improv performances from a large cast of young performers, including Brenton McCollough, Peter Hayward, James O’Donaghue, Cameron Jackson, Slow Dan and Loretta Crouch. (Not that the performance actually needs to be a trilogy, but the structure provides a nice feel at the beginning of the show. As Harley says in his introduction, “Things always sound better in threes.”)

This trilogy began with a story told by a single member of the cast based on suggestions by the audience. The twist for this particular improv was that the story would shift from cast member to cast member depending on who was being pointed at by the audience. As such the story would change, jumping from one character, to another, until – if at all stopped by stuttering or a different failing of the cast – a large cry of “DEATH” would be uttered by the crowd leading to the “death” of whoever had made a mistake.

The show continued on with this basic formula of audience participation, performance, and twist admirably for the entirety of the night. Throughout the rest of the “trilogy” of performances, the cast took part in a number of other improv games, including “word limitations”, “slave and master”, and “the understudy”. Presenting new skits and twists at the end of every scene, the Jim Jam Impro group does an excellent job at keeping the mood of each new game fresh and interesting. Although the comedy was noticeably slow at the beginning of the show, by the end of the night the troupe was definitely within their element in producing decent comedy on the spot. Hopefully as the production continues and the actor’s confidence grows, so too will the show’s accessibility, and their comedy talents will start to shine in the performances sooner rather than later.

Jim Jam Presents: Biscuits and Impro runs until 13 October at Hares and Hyenas. Tickets are $15.

In Spontaneous Broadway: Jubilee, the quips are quick, the songs are fun (if not to the standard of Andrew Loyd Webber), and the mood jolly. Reminiscent of theatre sport productions, the showimmediately brings both the comedy and musical talents of its performers to the forefront.

Maintained by the welcoming host Russell Fletcher and the musical director John Thorn, Spontaneous Broadway presents a range of performers, from comedians like Cal Wilson, Andrew McClelland, and Emily Taheny to Broadway (or should that be Ozway?) celebrities such as Marney McQueen and Brent Hill.  The show and its performers change night-by-night, providing that you will always see, as Fletcher points out in his introduction, “The first and last night of your chosen musical.”

The emphasis, as with most spontaneous shows, is on how well the cast can react to the audience’s suggestions. In Spontaneous Broadway, those suggestions are five of the audience’s song title suggestions, randomly chosen. From there each of the performers gives a short sample of each song, going on to embellish it into a musical if the audience’s appreciation is high enough.  As such, each night will be as different as the people who see the show.

In the show I attended on 30 September, the selection went from a musical about preventing the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (based on the song “Sickie’s on the Train”), to Jesus Christ Timetraveller (“I Woke Up One Day to Find Myself Dead”), to settle eventually on the song “You Want to Wax What?!” – this last song from a musical whose name escapes me because I was laughing too much to write it down.

The performance by each of the cast is excellent; each performer was given a spotlight with each song to highlight their own particular humour, voice and musical style – to great effect. Each of the performers worked well with each other, supporting with quips, harmonising duets and providing ludicrous plot and characters (a special mention goes to Che Guevara, King of Russia).

The show itself will never be polished, either as a fully-staged musical or as a comedy routine, but the show is not about that. It’s an improv, spontaneity show, brimming with comedic genius that manages to do well at providing a night’s entertainment from a single piece of paper.

Spontaneous Broadway: Jubilee runs until 7 October at the Lithuanian Club. Tickets are $28 full-price and $22 concession (Tuesday sessions $20).

With that there’s a nervous end to the applause. A curtain opens on a man with a ukulele; he looks the audience up and down, introduces himself and starts singing.

…..

The act ends and the audience with tears in their eyes clap again.

“Actually what I really meant was that Archer’s going to melt your heart and steal it away, that’s what I get for going to a state school.”

There’s a hearty laugh.

“Now who’s up for some more Vaudeville?”

This sums up An Awful Lot Of Vaudeville - seemingly harsh, but once you get into it a really nice (and wonky) production. And it’s the best cabaret performance I’ve ever seen. Well it is the only cabaret show that I’ve ever seen… but yet it was enough to have me lusting for more.

The show consisted of a variety of acts from the circus antics of Aerial Menx, the magic of  Anthony Demasi, the soulful blues of Archer, the burlesque of Lola the Vamp (or if you see the show in October Gypsy Wood), to the main attraction of the Miss World Exotica 2011 performance of Mark Winmill. That’s not to leave out the wonderful MC Shivannah who strung the performances together with a charm that grows with each act. Each of the members of the ensemble are incredibly talented and could easily have a show to themselves, yet here they combine to create a showcase of talent teaser, a snippet of everything.

In all the acts were entrancing, the thrills high, and the burlesque (or should I say boylesque) saucy enough to leave yourself questioning your sexuality. With that in mind some viewers may feel uncomfortable with the risk-aye portrayal of both the female and male form, but the show is definitely about more than just sex.

You could critic the informal presentation, and the occasional stage mishap (of which there were only three), but that would be ignoring the entire charm of this cabaret – fun. Every time a mistake did occur, the performers would ease back into their act, acknowledging the mishap humorously and continue on.

For first time viewers of the burlesque, vaudeville and cabaret, this is a gentle introduction into the so called “dead art,” which will leave you grinning. There isn’t anything that could offend; it’s just plain old fashioned tantalizing fun.

By all accounts it should have gone well.

But it didn’t, instead of a kooky scientific fantasy reminiscent of Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett (authors who present theories and hypothetical constructs as living breathing characters); I was presented with a tangled tale as tortured as Adam, the physic student’s stitching skills.

Adam struggles with a physics essay to the point where Time, and eventually the other forces of the universe, intervene causing a tear in time-space. This plot has potential, but lets down its premise due to a lacklustre direction, and a failure to stage these incredible characters (the physical forces) in their own light. Both Adam and Time, played into extreme caricatures of nerdiness and haughtiness, overshadow other characters of the play such as Space (played by the writer Daljeet Singh), or Relativity (Jeremiah Thomas Brown), who despite their small stage time, presented much better.

There were parts that I liked: the character of Light/Joey (played by Cat Leonard), the pun-ny banter between Relativity and Light, the representation of World of Warcraft (an online video game) with shadow play. Yet this wasn’t enough to keep the weave flowing. There were still too many holes left to tie up.

The lengthy stitching of the time-space tear, the distanced treatment of physics, the unexplained importance of stitching (I’m assuming string theory), all take away too much from the positives of this play. With increased length and a renewed emphasis on physics this play would definitely be improved.

Two other criticisms:

From the fourth row to the back it is difficult to see the stage, as often the characters were sitting down.

Also the production while advertised as a 60 minute production went only for 30 minutes.

Despite this I heartily recommend a visit to http://www.flamingparasol.com for potential viewers, as while the play may be flawed, the concept is brilliant.