REVIEW: GERALDINE QUINN - SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT

5 out of 5 stars

The 1980s apocalypse cabaret is back to rock your Monday nights at Comedy Festival, featuring Geraldine Quinn and Cameron Thomas on keys. The show is what the 80s were really about and what it was really like to grow up in the 80s: afraid of apocalypses and impending nuclear strikes, Chernobyl, The Berlin Wall, and pretentious pop music with lyrics that don’t make a lot of sense. It wasn’t all parties, rah-rah skirts and side ponytails.

The show takes the piss out of the best of 80s classics. Armed with her feisty, hand drawn PowerPoint presentation, the audience is invited to sing along to the glorious pretentious hits of the era, like 99 Luftballons, Babushka and I Don’t Like Mondays. It’s easy to see why it has previously sold out here and at Perth Fringe World, and you’ll win a prize if you’re the best dressed in a pretentious Euro-centric 80s outfit. Audience participation is a must, from blowing up red balloons to striking your best album cover art pose. Fun is an understatement at this show, you and the rest of the audience will be belting along with the tunes, or laughing at Quinn’s suggestions for alternate or misheard lyrics, or just her general commentary about the song’s content. Add a round of learning how to ponce dance with the best of them, and a side of Quinn’s excellent facial expressions and charm and you have a hell of a show on your hands.

My one true girl crush: the fabulous, fiery Geraldine Quinn. 

Quinn is a proud, fierce, fiery performer, but still charming and fun in every way. She is a powerhouse of a vocalist: her Pat Benetar is divine, her creativity is unparalleled and she’s got moves to rip up any dance floor. She gives fantastic face, with expressions that abhor, lampoon and adore the nonsensical lyrics and ridiculous dance moves.  And she does a whole song in German! If ever I were to have a girl crush, I think Geraldine Quinn may be the one.

It’s a warm, funny and informal production that is very interactive and the audience adore. They love being up this close and personal with the performers, on a highly relatable subject to most, with majority of the audience being of music listening age in the 80s. The era is mocked, explored and celebrated

The show is infectious and the best cure for Monday-itis I’ve ever found. Based on this show, I’d take any opportunity to see Quinn’s shows, including her recent show Fox Poncing, and any appearances with the fabulous band Spandex Ballet. You can still cheer up your Mondays with Sunglasses at Night and sing your heart out at the Melbourne Town Hall until 17th April. Tickets at: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2017/shows/sunglasses-at-night

This article first appeared at: http://www.theatrepeople.com.au/geraldine-quinn-sunglasses-at-night/ on 12 April 2017.