It’s New Year’s Eve, 1939, at Club Corona in Sydney’s Kings Cross and Cath and Phil are farewelling the decade that saw the Great Depression, the Golden Age of Hollywood and the ascent of Hitler. So forms the premise for 30 Something, a collaboration between two of the nation’s premiere cabaret artists, Catherine Alcorn and Phil Scott.

Catherine Alcorn performing 30 Something at the 2022 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Photo © Claudio Raschella.

At a performance level, the show was top class. Alcorn is a powerhouse, who can switch from chanteuse to Mae West mama in a second and pull off the most extreme costumes including a Statue of Liberty tiara. Having been accustomed to Scott the razor-witted political satirist from The Wharf Revue, it was intriguing to watch him as a romantic lead.

The mix of familiar standards from the thirties and contemporary favourites retrofitted for the era – including Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise, Kylie Minogue’s Step Back in Time, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way and Prince’s 1999 modified to 1939 – was extremely effective. The highlight...