Right To Party | Babushka
Right to Party is an entertaining, animated and colourful mash up of an 80s dance party for children under 10. The stage is set up with reflective curtains, blow up balloons, instruments, and costumes to match. It is situated right in the magnificent Brisbane City Hall, with organ pipes sitting majestically in the background. Singing your favourite classic pop tunes, crazy lighting to get you moving and wild dance moves to keep your little ones entertained throughout this one-hour show extravaganza.
Talented singers & writers Alicia Cush, Laura Coutts & Judy Hainsworth belted out ballads, remixed some oldies and danced through new top charting hits. They did a killer rendition of Queen, even took a good smash at Beastie Boys and Sang some justice into Pink’s ‘Get the party started’. I wasn’t overwhelmed by their Hip Hip, Soul & R&B covers - as a lover of these genres, artists such as Aretha Franklin and Lizzo bring a type of energy and sense of resilience in their voices that it’s hard to really enjoy them done by others. With black music it is more than just voice, it is years of complex adversities that carry a certain kind of weight in their songs, stories, the richness in their voices so even though the trio’s highly trained vocals are impressive, song choices could be more thought out in respect to this. The little ones didn’t mind at all as they danced the day away, eager to interact with the show while accompanying guardians were bobbing their heads in enjoyment.
The message of having the right to party weaved the musical together with displays of kicking up a fuss because things aren’t going right for you, or you’re just not in the mood – although it was cute and funny, my question is - was it making an impact? Having small children in the palm of your hands I was really hoping to hear some messages of empowerment and strength. Resilience came up a few times during the show but not as I hoped it would, it was almost stigmatized as a trait you don’t want or ought to be upset about. I was slightly confused about that and why. Babushkas ‘the right to party’ is a new show stemming from this fantastic production company, so with shows ever evolving and developing, I hope that future versions of this vibrant piece of work develop some more powerful messages being conveyed to the future generations of tomorrow.
The staging was delicious, sparkly disco balls reflecting lights onto the silver curtains as the cast move to and from and across the stage. Large colourful blow up props sit comfortably within the set, bright and bold objects scattered neatly around the three microphones that accommodate the stellar trio. Add some big hair, fishnets and big socks to top off the vibrancy the cast portrays and a dance party worthy lighting show. The production was kaleidoscopic.
The show was an energetic, fun day of karaoke with your cool aunties dressed up in their flashy gym attire. The performers took us through the years with crazy song choices and bedazzled us with superb skills on their chosen instruments – Saxophone under warm silhouette-like lighting, cute Ukulele and a rad Keytar. My ears welcomed their smooth tones and soft harmonies.
This performance packs a whole lot of talent, the audience not letting any comedic moment go astray as they giggled away while bouncing on their seats eager for the next time the kids can boogie, which they collectively joined in for the last number. When directed, every person in the audience rushed to the front of the stage and danced like their lives depended on it. This show fulfilled its mission to entertain and party rock with the young ones and give some much-needed entertainment and non-restrictive dancing during the school holidays.
