Two crowd-pleasing acts at the Auckland Live Cabaret Season show off what our local performers can do.
The lowdown
The Auckland Live Cabaret Season returns after a Covid hiatus, with two new shows created by indigenous performers. You’re probably familiar with the Modern Māori Quartet, who have risen to popularity with their shows featuring standards performed with an Aotearoa-inflected twist. The Tiwhas, a trio of takatāpui performers from Wellington, are making their Auckland debut.
The good
Both these shows are a damn good time. Every one of the performers on stage can sing wonderfully, they’re charming as hell, and both groups have assembled lineups of familiar songs that will either get you out of your seat or leaning over to the person next to you and going “Oh my god, I love this song!”
As suggested by its title, the Modern Māori Quartet’s Ngā 80s is something of a mixtape of the songs from the radio of your youth (or your parents’ youth). For the first time in this context, the quartet (Frances Kora, James Tito, Matariki Whatarau and The Spinoff’s own Te Aihe Butler), step out from behind their instruments, with genuinely exciting results. The change gives the lads even more room to banter with each other and play to the audience, helping to fully sell tunes like ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ – their rendition actually made me like that song, which is something I could never previously say. Even if the pop hits of the 80s mostly make you cringe, these reimagined versions might be enough to convince you that the 80s actually rocked.
Unlike the Modern Māori Quartet, who have been a mainstay of cabaret theatres for over a decade, The Tiwhas are brand new to the cabaret stage – and they benefit from that freshness. Right from their opening number, a fully choreographed te reo cover of ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’, it’s clear that the three performers – JTHAN, Slay West and Raureti Ormond – are working hard.
The trio (with backing from musicians Kree Matthews, Tom Knowles and Hayden Taylor) are constantly working to get the audience on-side, whether with an impressive lip-sync to ‘I Have Nothing’, some startlingly quick costume changes, or cheeky demands for wine. It’s an assured debut from a group that could very well, in time, find its way into the public eye like the Quartet already has.
It’s important to note that these are indigenous performers doing their thing within what has historically been perceived as a pretty white art form. Cabaret isn’t just a lady on a piano singing sad songs any more, if it ever was; often, it’s a form that draws an audience in and sneakily, slyly shifts their perceptions. For many in the audience for these two crowd-pleasing shows, it may be the only time this year they see an indigenous performer onstage, or a takatāpui person. It feels rote to still observe that representation matters, but in spaces like these, it actually does!
The not-so-good
Honestly? It’s hard to fault either show. Neither is trying to change your life or even to reimagine what the cabaret form can do. But they ably accomplish their ambition: to give audiences a good night out with some familiar songs, flawless vocal performances and world-class banter.
The verdict
Even with a newer show, the Modern Māori Quartet exhibit more polish than The Tiwhas, who have a chaotic, fringier energy. But that’s just the kind of balance you want for a cabaret season. The 7pm show gets you in the mood with a few wines; the 9.30pm show benefits from those wines. The memories might be hazier, sure, but you’ll still remember having a great time.
Book tickets to these shows, and others in the Auckland Live Cabaret Season here.