City of Belmont Afterdark Performance Lounge Cabaret Series presents Michael Griffiths Sings Peter Allen

Consummate musical theatre performer and cabaret star Michael Griffiths is doing his best to feel glass-half-full about the closure of the Perth International Cabaret Festival at the end of May. Ceasing operations because of a shortall in funding, the PICF had been Adelaide-based Griffiths’ cabaret home away from home since he became its inaugural artistic director in 2021. “It was such a wonderful opportunity where I got to hang out in the beautiful His Majesty’s Theatre for a couple of weeks each year, surrounded by handpicked cabaret artists from around Australia and the world,” Griffiths says. “It’s the best job I’ve ever had, so obviously it’s bittersweet that we kind of fizzled with the lack of funding. But we’re all so incredibly proud of what we did present. “I know that the last gala we did (in 2024), which literally was the last night of the last festival, was probably the best night ever. So in some ways, as bittersweet as it is, I kind of feel ‘Well, we did that, and it was terrific’.” Griffiths regards the ending as a terrible turn of events not just for WA audiences but for the wider cabaret community, given festivals like PICF foster an environment where artists get to collide, collaborate, and create opportunities. “It’s such a loss that our audience and our artists no longer get to nurture and continue that relationship we’ve started,” the WA Academy of Performing Arts graduate and Helpmann award winner says. Despite this, Perth audiences will still have the chance to see Griffiths on stage in July at the City of Belmont’s new pop-up venue, the Afterdark Performance Lounge. The series from July 23-28 will shine a spotlight on some of Australia’s brightest cabaret stars including Griffiths, Rhonda Burchmore, Mama Alto, and Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse. “We’d been in discussions with city of Belmont for quite a few months and it certainly looks to the casual eye that maybe one door closes and another opens, but it’s just sort of weird timing that we announced the closure and they were announcing this in the same breath,” Griffiths says. “They’re quite an independent event ,and when I said ‘yes’ to doing it, I assumed I would have been in Perth, led PICF, gone home to Adelaide, and then come back two or three weeks later. “We would have had a bit of cross-promotion and tried to be sort of sister festivals of sorts, if we’d continued. So certainly, there was a lot of goodwill between the two, but obviously ours is not to be, so now I’m just coming to Belmont. Bless them for programming cabaret.” Griffiths began his journey into cabaret at the 2011 Adelaide Cabaret Festival following a musical theatre career in touring productions such as Jersey Boys, We Will Rock You, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Shout! The Legend Of The Wild One. He fast became a Fringe World favourite through his cabaret shows In Vogue: Songs By Madonna, Sweet Dreams: Songs By Annie Lennox. and the Cole Porter-inspired Cole, and will perform his informal, off-the-cuff Michael Griffiths Sings Peter Allen at Afterdark. “I have a set list, although it’s not always set in stone because sometimes I get carried away and we just jam,” he says. “This is the sort of show that’s sweet spot is when it’s impromptu and things just happen in the moment. As the title suggests, I’m going to sing a bunch of terrific Peter Allen songs. Ones that you know, and I like to think a few that are little hidden surprises, some a bit more obscure, or there’s songs that you forget he wrote that other artists have made famous. That’s the beauty with Peter Allen.” In the spirit of cabaret, Griffiths relishes unscripted spontaneous interactions with his audience. “That’s what I live for,” he admits. “A lot of my shows are very much scripted, but this one is really relaxed and fun. I’m never going to do a concert and not mix things up a little bit, and I’m performing with Perth musos who I adore, and have played with a lot. They normally come along and play for the PICF shows, so I’m looking forward to reuniting with my mates in Perth. We’ll be a hot little trio of drums, bass, and me on keys. It’ll be a hoot.” Michael Griffiths Sings Peter Allen is at Afterdark Performance Lounge, The Glasshouse, Cloverdale on July 26 and 27. The Afterdark Performance Lounge is on July 23-28. Program and tickets at belmont.wa.gov.au/afterdark.