Interview with Sharon Kirschner

 

Cabaret Confessional had a chat with Sharon Kirschner, who will be performing her new cabaret show at The Butterfly Club next month.

What prompted you to explore the idea of ‘SANITY IS OVERRATED!’?

People often call me eccentric and a little crazy. To quote my friends, 'Shaz is anything but vanilla...she's more like rainbow flavoured ice cream with ALL the toppings'… I began exploring what some people considered 'sane'... and found sometimes that it just meant boring.  So I started to think about the different areas in my life, and what made me who I am with all my different quirks.

What is your cabaret background or what angle do you come to performance from?

I have done a few cabarets over the past few years, mostly 10-30minute shows. I come from a personal storytelling angle. All my shows come from personal experiences and anecdotes.

Do you consider yourself foremost a singer, an actor, a comedian, a dancer or something else entirely?

I am an actor first and foremost.  I also love storytelling and comedy, and just really like to sing and dance as well, which makes cabaret my perfect performance style.  I get to tell funny stories while singing, and sometimes dancing while I do it.

I did a little online research and gather that you may have been involved in a cabaret workshop series. Could you tell me a little bit about how that works and what you gained from it? 

I did a cabaret workshop at St Martins Theatre in South Yarra in Melbourne about 5 years ago with Mark Jones (one of Melbourne's best cabaret writers and performers).

It was a 7-week course with 8 members, and I think we met twice a week for a few hours. We learnt what cabaret was, the techniques and structure involved in a cabaret show, and worked towards putting on a 10 minute (3 songs each) show, which we performed for 3 nights at the end of the workshop. It was an amazing experience and expanded my knowledge of performance styles.  I had never before seen a cabaret show, and now it is one of my favourite styles to both perform and see.  

For me cabaret is essentially an intimate performance space, where there is no fourth wall, and the interaction is direct between the performer(s) and the audience. It is storytelling and comedy through song and patter (chitchat). 

Who and what influence you?

Life! Mostly my daily life and the interactions and people I meet, and events that happen.  I really like observing people and human interaction and relationships. I am inspired by people's stories and lives.

Are there cabaret performers you admire and have learnt from?

Bette Midler would be my favourite - what a phenomenal performer! She is an actor foremost and this is what I think makes her sung performances truly amazing.  Another would be Bernadette Peters. I think Weird Al Yankovic is hilarious.  And from Australia, Mark Jones, Melissa Langton, Eddie Perfect...to name a few. Basically anyone who is happy to take the piss out of themselves.

Outside the specific world of cabaret, what do you listen to, read, watch or do that inspires you?

I have a really eclectic taste. I really enjoy a bit of everything. I guess it depends what mood I'm in.  Music ranges from the 80's, R&B, house music, music theatre to opera. With film, T.V and Theatre, I also like a mixture. Other than comedy (I love laughter), character based work is probably my favourite. Something that really affects me emotionally (good or bad) and makes me think.

I havent had the chance to actually visit the Butterfly Club as yet.  Could you describe what it is like?

The Butterfly Club is quaint, intimate and quirky.  It is pleasantly strange and attractively old fashioned.  It's a bit like being in a little intimate underground bar that feels a bit like you're in your grandmother's antique nick nack filled living room.

SANITY IS OVERRATED!

Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October

Thursday – Saturday 7:00 pm Sunday 6:00 pm

Tickets: (03) 9690 2000 or click here