Toasting the Apocalypse in Style
Cat
Loud: To the End of the World!
Newcastle
Alphabetti Theatre
Saturday
9th March 2019
WINNER: VAULT Festival Origins Award for Outstanding New Work, 2018
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| Photo: Snookie Mono |
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| Photo: Snookie Mono |
Cat Loud is a Scottish singer bringing her award-winning
cabaret about the apocalypse to Newcastle’s Alphabetti Theatre on March 9th.
It’s a blend of satirical storytelling and songs from the likes of Nina Simone,
Cat Power and Benjamin Clementine, accompanied by Fraser Parry on cello. It’ll
be her first time performing in Newcastle but the NETG
saw her in action in 2016 at Edinburgh Fringe and gave her a 5 star review.
So…
who is Cat?
Cat
Loud gets a few things off her chest before the champagne runs out
To the End of the World!, a darkly funny cocktail
of story and song is coming to Newcastle this March after a year on the road. This combination concert, cabaret and theatre
show from the critically acclaimed Cat Loud is a heady blend of soul-baring
torch songs and biting wit.
It’s the end of the world and Cat Loud is making her way home
to a Scottish island in heels and ball gown. “Some days it really
does feel like the end is coming,” says Loud (29). “And I thought, what would I
do if it were? I’d want to go home. But I’d want to do it in style.”
That style - think Billie Holiday crossed with Bette Midler -
has become Loud’s trademark, after four critically acclaimed runs at the
Edinburgh Fringe, a subsequent tour and transfers of previous show WAYWARD to
London’s VAULT Festival, Croydon Cabaret Festival and the Brighton Fringe.
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| Photo: Allan Feguson |
“It’s been so lovely to see how well people have responded to
this show in particular. It’s a mix of genres I call gig-theatre-cabaret, and
that can be tricky, as well as the subject matter.
It really is cabaret about the apocalypse. Cat’s
anxious mind is used to imagining worst-case scenarios, but this time she takes
it to a biblical extreme as she imagines the end of days as a confusing, lonely
yet hopeful place. “It’s such a bleak thing to imagine, but with Brexit
deadlines, climate change and turning thirty all weighing on
my mind, it had to still have lightness. So there’s also a lot of humour, and
that’s really important. I have some serious things to say, but it’s got to
be fun.”
And it is, with The List describing her work as a combination
of “sharp-tongued comedy” and “a brand of dusky torch singing that stuns
the room into silence”.
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| Photo: Snookie Mono |
As at home in smaller gig spaces as she is in plush
surroundings, she blends showstopping songs with the intimacy of relaxed and
honest storytelling, sometimes autobiographical, sometimes satirical take-downs
of the current state of the world. There’s a sense of connection and community
at the heart of a good night out.
“I’m incredibly excited to be bringing the show to Newcastle
for the first time. The show has already been all over the place, and the music
scenes in every city are so different and rich. There’s something for
everyone.” This is reflected in Loud’s song choices, which range from the
mournful lyrics of Solomon Burke, the biting wit of Benjamin Clementine and the
power of Nina Simone and Adele, all accompanied by Fraser Parry on cello.
If it is the beginning of the end, then you’re in excellent
company.
★★★★★ North East Theatre Guide
★★★★★ Broadway Baby
★★★★★ West End Wilma
★★★★★ TV Bomb
★★★★★ Breaking the Fourth Wall
★★★★★ Culture By Night
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| Photo: Snookie Mono |
On The Web:
Tickets:
Cat Loud: To the End of the World!
Alphabetti Theatre, St James
Blvd, Newcastle
Saturday 9th March
2019 7:30pm (1 hr)
Pay What You Feel
Theatre
Event Page: https://www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/8-home/427-cat-loud-to-the-end-of-the-world
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