Cabaret full of black humour (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Cabaret full of black humour

11:00am Thursday 18th March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

ALTERNATIVE cabaret performers The Tiger Lillies are coming to entertain an audience at The Forge next week.

The trio, who play songs from the Olivier-award winning show Shockheaded Peter and The Gorey End as well as their own music, have been touring around the country and the world for 20 years.

Describing their music, Martin Jacques, who plays the accordion and ukulele, said: “We’re like a musical cabaret version of a Tim Burton film.

“There’s an element of comedy and of musical theatre. It’s like a black-humoured cabaret which is very funny at times, but also sad and beautiful with eclectic mixture of musical styles, from gypsy songs to opera.”

Jacques said the show involves a lot of physical comedy and that they are always writing new material with a theatrical element.

The show also involves a variety of quirky instruments such as the musical saw and theremin and toys as a form of percussion Jacques, who was a musician for 15 years before joining The Tiger Lillies, said: “It’s about having a playful attitude. Some musicians are very serious, but we have fun and enjoy entertaining people.

“We love finishing the show and all these people are really happy, so we’re happy, and if they buy our CD then we’re really happy!”

The musicians travel across the world with the show, and are most popular in Greece.

“We have more fans there than anywhere else!” said Jacques. “We play lots of arts and theatre festivals and the show is changing all the time.

“We get into lots of theatre projects so it’s great, and fascinating, and in between all that we fit in the Tiger Lillies. It’s a great life. We work all the time and are on a constant tour.”

The Tiger Lillies are performing at The Anvil venue in Basingstoke on March 24 at 8pm and tickets, at £15, can be booked from the box office, on 01256 844244, or online at anvilarts.org.uk.
The trio are also playing at several other regional venues, including Arlington Arts Centre, in Newbury (arlingtonarts.co.uk), at the Theatre Royal in Winchester (theatre-royal-winchester.co.uk) and at the Reading Concert Hall (readingarts.com).