Her own kind of cabaret
Dillie Keane in Galle in January
When “Mayhem Past Midnight” took place at the Fairway Galle Literary Festival, on January 28, the sold-out event saw the actress/singer/ comedienne Dillie Keane accompanied by Michael Roulston pay tribute to their love for cabaret comedy.
Dillie Keane’s resilience as an artiste boils down to her chosen art form. “Cabaret was officially considered a dead art form; it was something you would do on ships, or at the end of the pier,” she says candidly. Among the few who were fighting to give cabaret its place at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival was Michael Roulston, Dillie’s accompanist, as the initial choices at the festival for acts like hers “were either comedy or music”.
“Now there are a couple of cabaret clubs in London which are well patronized,” she says, a small but significant development for artists like Dillie and Michael. “It’s great because it’s all us misfits. It’s burlesque, jugglers, ventriloquists- they all come under cabaret.”
The stage was in fact, where Dillie always felt most at home. “I always sang as a child, even if I didn’t have a good voice. The hardest part of performing cabaret she admits is that “you have to invest every inch of your body- you need to know what your toes are doing.”
The Olivier Award-nominated performer and award winning accompanist first discovered Michael and their mutual love for cabaret two years ago which sparked a partnership. Since then, they’ve performed two long tours of the UK, off Broadway in London and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2017 and the Edinburgh Festival.
A Southsea born singer/songwriter and product of Trinity College Dublin and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Dillie founded the cabaret trio Fascinating Aida in 1983. Together with Liza Pulman and Adele Anderson who joined in 1984, the British comedy singing group and satirical cabaret performed for over three decades, received a Perrier Award nomination at the 1984 Edinburgh Festival, and went on to be nominated three times for the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment (1995, 2000 and 2004), and twice for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue (2005, 2010). Since 1989, she returned to solo performing with a theatre show “Single Again” in 1991 which was also nominated for a Perrier Award.
Making a mark as a female comedian- “was difficult”. The conventional paths for comediennes was a choice between being “the pretty, dumb ditzy type or the big masculine type”, two extremes she had no intention of identifying with. She found inspiration in Mae West; the vaudeville darling and one of the most versatile actresses of classic American cinema. “She could be glamorous, sexy, tough, funny and she was marvellous,” she remarks, her eyes lighting up.
The last year found Dillie performing a new show “Hello Dillie” together with Michael; currently her longest serving accompanist.
The 44-year-old accompanist also has a colourful career in cabaret music. As a youngster he loved watching musical comedy. His unending passion for the genre was born when he watched the witty, 1920’s romantic spoof musical “The Boy Friend” by Sandy Wilson. The show had an effect on young Michael who, while browsing through his local library happened upon a book of songs by a cabaret trio- “Fascinating Aida”. “I had never heard of something like that before. It was a little window into the fascinating lives of these women.” The exoticism and “naughtiness” of their sharp witty lyrics and comic elegance bowled him over.
His big chance to work with Dillie allowed Michael a more in-depth glimpse into the complex comedienne. “She’s somebody that has very good taste, is very discerning and has a naughty streak and ability to have fun” which is evident to anyone who has had a chance to listen to her rib tickling lyrics.
But for the songstress, some of her most significant lyrics are the most poignant. “I slip them in whenever I can” she adds wickedly, adding to the lighthearted act’s depth. “Mayhem Past Midnight” was her take on love and relationships. “It’s a bittersweet comedy,” she divulged to us, a few days before taking the stage for the festival.