BASICALLY NOCTURNAL is actor, singer and producer Thomas Currie’s new show at Prahran’s Chapel Off Chapel, as part of the 2021 Melbourne Cabaret Festival. During the show, Thomas shares that he is the type to stay up late at night, completely lost in his thoughts. This something I believe we are all guilty of doing multiple times and is something that we can all relate to.
Accompanied with his band consisting of Stacey-Louise Camileri on the Synthesiser/Piano, Ben Ingarvson on the drums and Ceriden McCooey on the cello, together these talented performers combine to help unload many strange and witty stories. Some that don’t even make any sense. But hey, that’s what late night thoughts are all about!
With a setlist of arrangements by Thomas Currie, some songs are parodies, others original works, but all displaying talents where Currie isn’t afraid to inject a little bit of sass and shamelessly flash his beaming smile along the way. This was particularly evident in the number ‘Diva’ where Currie intentionally went out of tune and purposefully tried to sing badly, a moment which quite amusing and very entertaining. If anyone wasn’t sold with the show by the end, Currie also had a hilarious little story about him being both complimented and insulted in the past with his rendition of Peter Allan’s ‘Tenterfield Saddler’.
Even when Currie wasn’t speaking or singing during his original composition ‘The Dream’, he kept the audience attentive. Mind you, ‘The Dream’ is an impressive piece of work, to the point I was incredibly sad when leaving the show, as there wasn’t a way (nothing digitally at least) that I could listen to it again.
Although the show went only for 60 minutes, I believe this was enough time to showcase Currie’s abilities. His comfortable storytelling, his comedic timing and his impressive baritone vocals, which were all showcased with care. I knew nothing of Thomas Currie prior to attending this show and felt that BASICALLY NOCTURNAL was a great introduction to him, his work and he is someone I’ll have to keep my ear to the ground for anything in the future.
BASICALLY NOCTURNAL was held at Chapel Off Chapel on Saturday the 26th of June at 3pm, as part of the 2021 Melbourne Cabaret Festival.
For more information on Thomas Currie, visit: https://www.thomascurrie.com.au
For more information on the Melbourne Cabaret Festival, visit: http://www.melbournecabaret.com