With a charismatic smile to win you over and a voice to captivate an audience, Tyran Parke shoots right at the heart of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival with show Compositions: A Musical Close-Up.
Five years in the making, the collaborative event was orchestrated to premiere in Adelaide last night. Starting with the work of his brother, award-winning photographer Trent Parke, Tyran approached artists including Eddie Perfect, Stephen Schwartz and David Shire and asked them each to write a song inspired by one of the images. With the help of the Adelaide Art Orchestra, led by Vanessa Scammell, he has brought these songs to life with a presence that is irresistible.
For the audience, there is only one thing to do: sit back and enjoy the journey through the cheeky smiles, contagious emotion and warming sincerity.
From quirky show tunes to dark tales of disappearance, the show seemed to pass too quickly and there was an unmistakable air of disappointment from the audience upon realising there was no encore.
Trent Parke’s breathtaking photography, projected on a screen on-stage, led the project and supports the performance; images conveying everyday stories and emotion share the spotlight well with Tyran.
At times, the performance was a little more “showtime” than the images deserved, but for the most part it was a respectful balance of photography, songwriting and performing.
You might like
Also featuring were special guests Gareth Keegan and Markia Aubrey, as well as illustrations by younger brother Grant Parke and additional photography by Narelle Autio.
Compositions: A Musical Close-Up is a rare and generous collaboration of world-class artists successfully sharing a performance across mediums, and it’s perfectly placed in the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. I hope this is just a teaser of what these brothers may get up to in the future.
Compositions – A Musical Close-up is at Dunstan Playhouse again tonight (June 20).
More Adelaide Cabaret Festival reviews
Review: Sugartits – so wrong yet so right
Subscribe for updates
Review: Meow Meow paces and purrs
Review: The cabaret charisma of Capsis
Review: Surrender to the Strangeness of Rramp
Review: Chaplin: A Life in Concert