EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE NIGHT-TIME PLAYGROUND RETURNS
Published: 26 July 2022
Let yourself be seduced by the beauty and grandeur of The Civic as the Auckland Live Cabaret Season returns to Auckland this year from the 14 - 25 September.
Musical luminaries, drag superstars, dance legends and performance powerhouses combine with over a hundred artists performing on multiple stages as The Civic embraces its iconic roots in this hotly anticipated festival season.
THE CIVIC MAIN STAGE
- Moulin Rouge! assembles a line-up of homegrown musical talent for the concert experience based on Baz Luhrmann’s legendary 2001 film.
- Set in the grandeur of The Civic’s main stage, Champagne & Cabaret will be hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under superstars Kita Mean & Anita Wigl’it and the pitch perfect and elegant The Madeleines. Supported by Auckland Live’s principal event partner QBE Insurance
THE WINTERGARDEN
- The Shanghai Mimi Band - an East-meets-West immersion into 1930’s Shanghai and starring Australia’s cabaret star, the immaculate Sophie Koh.
- An evening of sublime and heart-wrenching jazz standards from Aotearoa music superstar Hollie Smith with accompaniment from Nathan Haines and Jonathan Crayford.
- A nostalgic joyride with Modern Māori Quartet through 80’s Aotearoa.
- Pop/opera icon Yulia’s tribute to Edith Piaf’s iconic Paris residency courtesy of À Le Club Des Cinq.
- A celebration of musical theatre’s diverse voices with That’s All She Wrote.
- A fully fierce and ballad-belting drag show from Te-Whanganui a tara, Wellington, Fringe-award winners, The Tiwhas hit Tāmaki Makaurau for their Auckland premiere.
- ‘haka-boogie-hori’ retelling of the Māori Superman complete with glitter and rhinestones with Thoroughly Modern Māui.
- An award-winning musical journey across the world with The Voyagers.
- A wickedly hilarious and provocative cabaret show paired with whiskey courtesy of Mouthfeel.
- A one-off performance from the Lucien Johnson Quartet will see four musical luminaries delight theatregoers with their powerful and evocative sound.
THE ABYSSINIAN ROOM
- Club-a-lub-a-ling-long makes a hotly anticipated return after a successful 2021 outing.
- As do the One Eyed Jacks, performers and musicians will delight audiences with intimate interactions such as tarot readings and personalised poetry, created by a slightly isolated dog.
- Fine Fatale premieres Fever, a world premiere of the film creation from their Pasifika cabaret hosted by the Taka Tu Wops. This online event will be followed by an unmissable digital dance party with the creatives.
- Rounding out the Abyssinian’s offerings is Iconoclast – a nod to Catholicism.
THE THEATRE BAR
- Over three nights, internationally renowned Drag King Hugo Grrl presents Naked Boys Reading, which celebrates body positivity and the art of storytelling
THE PIANO BAR
- A late-night door to another world, the secret Piano Bar will once again be packed with cabaret artists, musicians, cocktails, and late-night magic, hosted by an array of performers encouraging you to harness your inner diva.
- Star in your own show band with The Burt Bacharachupps, offering a menu of Burt Bacharach hits for the audience to take centre stage, backed by your very own backing band including brass and three-part harmonies.
We are proud to showcase another incredible array of talent from across Aotearoa alongside international performers. This flagship event for Auckland Live continues to support the creative industries with four previously commissioned works currently touring to festivals around the country. This season has more 120 artists involved, and two new commissioned works making their New Zealand premiere. - Bernadette Haldane, Deputy Director, Auckland Live
From glittering-curtain-clad entranceways to bars that required a password to enter, The Civic never looks quite as fabulous as when the cabaret festival takes over. - Express
New Zealand’s most audacious performing artists are bringing cabaret back to the stunning Civic Theatre, and they’re bolder, brighter and more boundary pushing than ever. - Such a Kitsch
