Brisbane Festival Cabaret

Brisbane Festival is celebrating all things cabaret this September with a swag of sensational shows featuring acrobatics, burlesque, comedy, music and more, at some of the Festival's favourite venues including the Courier-Mail Spiegeltent.  

Here are 5 fantastic shows worth checking out!

The Briefs boys are back with Close Encounters, a sci-fi spectacle of flirty, filthy fabulousness, at QPAC from September 11-15.  They've come from the future to test the limits of masculinity and decency with their iconic brand of circus, drag, burlesque and comedy. Expect interstellar aerials, incredible artistry, sharp social commentary, and warp-speed strippers from outer space.

Trevor Ashley in Double D's: Two Decades of Divadom is a must-see show this festival season. The busiest man in Australian show-biz will perform for one night only at QPAC on Friday, September 13, accompanied by a ten-piece band. Join ‘La TrAshley’  as he shares some of his favourite career moments, with stories, songs - Les Misérables, Hairspray, and Priscilla - and a sequinned gown or six. 

The hedonistic world of Blanc de Blanc returns to Brisbane Festival from September 6-29 at the Courier-Spiegeltent, following a record-breaking Sydney Opera House summer season. Their brand new show Encore is a burlesque extravaganza, serving up an intoxicating blend of flirtation and acrobatic feats with vintage French flair, risqué humour, spectacular aerials, and big dance numbers. This is the encore we've all been waiting for!

Swing on This is coming to the Courier-Mail Spiegeltent from September 7-11, starring four of Australia’s leading stage and screen stars:  Michael Falzon (We Will Rock You, Evita), Brisbane’s Luke Kennedy (The Voice Australia, The Ten Tenors), Matt Lee (So You Think You Can Dance, Mary Poppins) and Ben Mingay (Wonderland, Hacksaw Ridge). In true 'Rat-Pack' style, this awesome foursome will deliver a modern and audacious take on all-time swing classics from Sinatra and Bublé, to rock and pop hits from Farnham to INXS.

Brisbane’s award-winning Casus Circus are back with a brand new show at Theatre Republic from September 24-28. You & I is their most daring and intimate work yet. This stunning depiction of life, love, trust and balance, performed by real-life couple Jesse Scott and Lachlan McAulay, will blow your mind with high-level acrobatics, trapeze, magic, and dance, as it shines a light on how two men in love can relate without preconceived ideas of what they should be.

Brisbane Festival is a valued partner of Must do Brisbane