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A Cabaret- Blues in the Night in Melbourne, Australia

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I booked my accomodation via Booking.com
I booked my airfares via Your Trip, Your Way at Expedia.ca

I happened to be in Melbourne, Australia and was invited to an opening night of ‘Blues in the Night”, a performance inspired by the works of Eva Casssidy. This charity performance was organised by the Australasian Chinese Theatre Company(ACT) and was truly amazing all because of the magnificent voice of this sweet pint-sized, half-Chinese girl, TEGAN JONES. She has a voice that is (to me) strong, powerful, tender, melodic and passionate which I feel just sits well with any audience.
I was moved emotionally and I felt chills running down my spine as she projected her powerful repertoire of songs to the audience. She really took my breath away with her mesmerizing voice. She sang songs (made famous by singers like Cyndi Lauper, Bill Withers, Simon & Garfunkel, Judy Garland, Mike Jagger etc) which were beautifully re-arranged by the late Eva Cassidy.
Of course, I cannot expect any less of Tegan’s voice as I read from the programme that she has been singing since two years of age. Although Tegan is working as a full time urban planner, she still finds time to pursue her passion, that is, singing in cabaret shows. She tells stories of each of her songs that she is going to sing and how it affects her and why she had chosen the song. It is truly a beautiful piece of art.
I also found out that she has performed in numerous musicals since the age of 15 including Godspell, Guys & Dolls, The Threepenny Opera. Jesus Christ Superstar, Do or Die, Fame, Wonderful Day, Les Miserables and many more. No wonder……

My favourite songs that Tegan sang that night was Over The Rainbow, Ain’t No Sunshine, Wade in The Water, True Colours, Time after Time and Wild Horses. She sang a total of 15 songs during the whole evening.

In between songs, Tegan shared with the audience about the life of Eva Cassidy and her love of music. Eva released three small albums before her tragic death (cancer) in 1996 at age 33. Nowadays Eva Cassidy has numerous top selling posthumous albums credited to her name and her music regularly appears on television, films and mp3 players worldwide.

Tegan was accompanied by a very talented guitar player, Will Mcmahon. He is not only good looking (well, he is an actor after all!) but he is very talented in playing the guitar as well – I can just sit there listening to him playing the guitar all night long.

The ambience of the night is vibrant with audience of both young & old. Everyone relaxed around groups of tables and chairs, lit up with tea candlelights under tents (as we all know Melbourne is known to have 4 seasons in one day!). The night was a bit chilly but there are portable heaters like the ones you sit under café/restaurants. It is still best to rug up. The entry fee is only $15 and this is by far the cheapest entertainment night out I ever had in Melbourne. This charity event organised by the artistic director of ACT, Dr Moni Storz, is certainly a great success in my books.

My time spent in Melbourne is truly more memorable by having this wonderful opportunity to listen to local singers who are true to themselves and who sang from their hearts.