Christie Whelan gets into character for Britney Spears: The Cabaret. Picture: Morganna Magee Source: Supplied
IN THE return season of Britney Spears: The Cabaret, the charismatic and mischievous Christie Whelan still makes us laugh and cry at her depiction of the vacuous but troubled pop star.
Whelan, with her versatile voice and wearing a frighteningly brief, black frock that reveals her knickers more than once, lights up the stage with Brit’s own hit songs and Dean Bryant’s mercilessly satirical versions of them.
Britney’s personal life is now less controversial with her upcoming third wedding, but her past remains absurd and chaotic.
Her stage mother steered her into child stardom which led to drug and alcohol abuse, losing her children in a court battle, being hounded by paparazzi, weight loss and gain, appalling relationships and embarrassing public appearances.
Whelan, with director Bryant and pianist Matthew Franks, compels even the most anti-Britney people to sympathise with the blonde diva, and the lyrics of her hits gain new meaning when woven into her life story.
Britney, the child who cannot grow up, is revealed in I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet a Woman, her choice in men is highlighted in I’m a Slave for You, Oops I Did It Again, Toxic and Womaniser, while Overprotected has sad echoes of the domineering father who sent her to a psychiatric ward.
BRITNEY SPEARS: THE CABARET
Written by Dean Bryant, performed by Christie Whelan
Presented by The Harbour Agency and Luckiest Productions, Midsumma Festival
Running at Chapel off Chapel, until February 3
Stars: * * * * 1/2
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