New Chapter for Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Adelaide Festival Centre is thrilled to announce television and stage favourite Julia Zemiro will be the Artistic Director for the 2019 Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
On the final night of this year’s festival, Adelaide Festival Centre CEO & Artistic Director Douglas Gautier thanked outgoing Artistic Director Ali McGregor, who passed on the baton after three successful years. She joined Douglas Gautier onstage at the Pol Roger Backstage Club to welcome Julia Zemiro to the role.
A large part of cabaret is the MC: Sassy, fiery, charming and deadly. As the host of Rockwiz for over a decade, Julia Zemiro has cajoled and charmed thousands of punters, contestants and professional musicians to move out of their comfort zones and spar, be it on TV or live on stage on five national tours.
Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2019 Artistic Director, Julia Zemiro:
“My mission has always been to have audiences and artists leave a gig feeling good.
“Nothing moves me more than watching someone singing on stage, be it from side of stage in the wings at Rockwiz… or from a commentary box in the Gods of a stadium in Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest… or indeed filming Home Delivery and busking with Billy Bragg at Barking Train Station (the police moved us on).
“I love to perform but I love to be entertained and I give good audience. What thrills me about cabaret is the combination of the political, the personal, the sublime, and the dangerous. It soars like nothing else.
“There is dread around us in the world. And we keep trying to find ways to cut through the noise. I look forward to shaping a festival for you big on ideas, emotions, languages and all things shiny. There will always be shiny.”
Adelaide Cabaret Festival Executive Producer, Ebony Bott:
“Julia Zemiro brings a freshness and exuberance to the role, which heralds a new chapter for the festival.
“Julia’s knowledge of the music industry is broad and sophisticated. She has a curiosity about how so many genres find footing in the cabaret world and brings a unique perspective to this much loved festival. We’re so excited to have her at the helm, and we’re confident audiences will love and embrace her ideas and vision.”
Julia’s career has seen her host television shows Home Delivery, Eurovision, Good News Week, Totally Full Frontal and the upcoming All Together Now – to name a few.
She trained at the Victorian College of the Arts and honed her skills through Bell Shakespeare in schools, musical theatre improv and sketch comedy to become one of Australia’s most loved hosts. Julia starred as Bronya of Eurobeat the Eurovision musical on a national tour. As if in preparation, she then went on to host and commentate the real Eurovision Song Contest for eight years with Sam Pang on SBS.
The announcement of her appointment concludes Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2018, which delivered 53 shows over 16 days and nights. This included more than 40 sold out performances across the festival.
Adelaide Festival Centre CEO & Artistic Director, Douglas Gautier AM:
“Adelaide Cabaret Festival is the biggest and best cabaret festival of its kind in the world, and the 2018 program was the most exciting and diverse yet. During her three years at the helm, Ali McGregor has brought international superstars to Adelaide and presented more local artists than ever before.
“This year’s program featured 20 world, 10 Australian and 11 Adelaide premieres and produced more than 40 sold out performances. We are very proud of what Ali has accomplished in the role and wish her every success in future endeavours.”
Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2018 Artistic Director, Ali McGregor:
“This year’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival has topped off a wonderful three years in the role of Artistic Director. This has been the most challenging and rewarding job of my career.
“Being able to give artists I hugely admire a stage to perform on, see them bring their A game and have audiences love them is a joy that has never failed to thrill me. Working at Adelaide Festival Centre has been nothing short of an honour.
“To work alongside a team of producers, publicists, designers, marketing, technical crew, stage managers, front of house staff, dressers, bar staff that are all uncommonly good at their job, who all work ridiculous hours to get this many shows into the program and who make us performers look, sound and feel good. And most importantly to have had, this year, more audience members come up to me in the hallways and foyers than ever before to express their love for particular shows and for the whole season.
“And to have had a letter delivered from a 13 year old future cabaret star who has been coming to the festival for the last three years ever since we took our roadshow to Port Lincoln. Well, that was just the cherry on top of an already overflowing ganache of cabaret heaven.
“Thank you to everyone who has worked so tirelessly and to the most open-minded, intelligent, loyal audience I have ever had the pleasure of curating for and performing to. Thank you from the bottom of my gin-soaked heart.”
The program featured more than 300 artists including Broadway royalty and two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone in Don’t Monkey with Broadway and Tony Award winning and Golden Globe nominated co-creator of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, John Cameron Mitchell.
Adelaide Festival Centre commissioned three shows this year and produced seven including Ali McGregor’s celebrated Yma Sumac the Peruvian Songbird.
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