Meow Meow crowd surfing at the Ringling International Arts Festival
I have seen several seasons worth of productions at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. I have seen musicals, trilogies, Shakespeare, farce and all sorts of other performances. I never thought, however, that I would one day see a stage dive. Last night, at the late-night performance of Beyond Glamour: The Absinthe Tour by Meow Meow, was a night of the unexpected.
She was characterized as a post post-modern showgirl, a talented singer who drags cabaret “kicking and screaming into the 21st Century” (Time Out New York). There was nothing that could be said about Meow Meow which could prepare Sarasota audiences for the performance. Using audience volunteers(or forced recruits) as bizarre stagehands, co-performers and props, the show was dynamite. The highlight was the stage dive that required everyone in center of the orchestra section to carry the singer from the stage to the back of the house and then back again. I imagine that there were quite a few pacemakers working overtime last night.
As for her singing, here is what Susan Rife had to say: “Meow Meow has a spectacular, smoky voice that wraps its way sinuously around cabaret standards…”
hahhah i was actauly there. great show!