Razzle Dazzle Festival Triumph at Noosa Alive
Echoing laughter, music, applause and more: Noosa Alive was bursting with culture and celebration for all tastes and senses, as Helen Flanagan discovered.
The stars aligned with a bumper 10 days of sheer delight when a multiplicity of stages, from The J, Noosa Main Beach and restaurants to Noosa Arts Theatre and the Noosa River stage, played host to a plethora of genres from opera, comedy, movies, food, books, plays, music, song, dance, and splashes of celebrity and glitterati.
The mellifluous tones of the seriously talented The 7 Sopranos wowed the opening night audience with Australia’s best voices performing show tunes from Funny Girl and The Sound of Music to the breathtaking Puccini’s O Mia Babinno Caro, Bizet’s Torreadore and Delibe’s beautiful Flower Duet from Lakme. Encore!
In absolute contrast was the intelligent and brilliantly funny Tom Gleeson with Gear, a bunch of stories from his life, with an honesty factor of roughly 98%. Topics included dodgy opinions, the downside of political correctness, merits of Volvos versus electric cars, and admitting his love of revenge served cold. His tale of justice served for the nasty neighbour, and the awful Alfonso, an American TV host looking for funny comedians, were just glorious, as were stories of the Edinburgh Fringe and a run-in with the now infamous Russell Brand and Katy Perry. Hysterical!
To say Harry Milas’ sleight of hand Close Encounters was masterful is an understatement! Up close, it was still impossible to see how he deceptively manoeuvred the cards, even when he shows them with the face cards turned upwards. With a volunteer either side, he was able to pass four coins from the hand of one into the palm of the other. Magic! He ended with a trick involving two Rubik’s Cubes, which was completely spellbinding!
“You’ll never look at a cardboard box the same way again” was the promise – and according to children at The Box Show by Junkyard Beats, it was a clever production with important messages about recycling and caring for the planet. It was also thoroughly entertaining and witty, with brilliant performances including drumming on old bin lids, cardboard boxes and plastic buckets. Incredible!
The Bendigo Bank Marquee on Noosa Main Beach had three days of amazing acts under consecutive cloudless winter skies. Seaside Vibes offered everything from rock covers, country, DJs, a Taylor Swift Beach Party, classical and opera, flaming drumsticks and sparking angle grinders, plus some close-up magic work, it really was a case of when too much culture is barely enough!
“Twilight Classics on Noosa Main Beach was a magical night, and always is,” commented MC and Podcaster John Caruso. “There was a gorgeous sunset, an outstanding dinner from The Ohana Group, plus strings and powerful, soaring voices from talented entertainers.”
The evening’s highlight was the extraordinary trio of Tarita Botsman, Natasha Veselinovic and James Shaw with a dynamic blend of trio, duo and solo acts, featuring captivating music from the hit Netflix series Bridgerton, much-loved tunes from Barbra Streisand, numerous musical numbers, and operatic classics. Bravo times three!
Words & Music, with inimitable actor and director John Bell AO OBE, and Simon Tedeschi, a highly acclaimed classical pianist, was a sneak peek into life behind the curtain. Remarkable!
It was a full house at Slow Food Noosa’s Film With Food at Pomona’s historic Majestic Theatre, with chefs Matt Golinski, Josh Smallwood and Francois Poulard creating a menu to reflect the theme of the delicious French film The Taste of Things.
At Rickys River Bar & Restaurant Sensational Seafood with Estampa, a world folk jazz band was on the menu; Noosa Waterfront hosted its classic Italian Long Lunch; and Sunshine Coast Screen Collective’s Sunny Coast Showdown rolled out the red carpet for the showing of seven short film and documentaries all produced in the region.
Literary events included the talented Chris Masters, Chris Hammer, Jodi Rodgers, William McInnes and a Crime Forum Panel with Michael Robotham, Candice Fox and JP Pomare; and the Queensland Ballet was on-point for its 11th consecutive year at Noosa Alive!
Front and centre, focusing on the majority of acts and shows at Noosa Alive was photographer Ian Waldie.
“They were all brilliant,” he effused, “most of all, Meow Meow – a complete hoot from start to finish. A slightly unhinged diva singing wartime cabaret, often in German, ordering masked men to their knees on stage, with a bit of casual theft from audience members and a crowd surfing finale I’m sure no one saw coming. Outstanding!”
For the finale in the Lions Park beside the Noosa River, Damien Anthony Avery-Rossi hosted the finals of Noosa STARS Alive.
He said “the wealth and diversity of young talent was impressive and synonymous of this year’s winners Rafael Estrade and Nate Cooper, who were next level, performing a hauntingly beautiful medley of Edith Piaf’s La Vie En Rose and Billie Eilish’s I Don’t Wanna Be You Anymore.”
The festival’s free and family-friendly event concluded with entertainment and dancing at the Closing Party.
Accolades aplenty to the ultra-creative Festival Director Ian Mackellar and the entire team at Noosa Alive for making it such a magical festival! See you in 2025!
