'Want to Buy Some Illusions?' - Cabaret Performer, Kim David Smith

Kim David Smith has been described variously by The Wall Street Journal as 'slyly subversive' and Broadway World as the 'David Bowie of Cabaret'. The New York Times labelled Smith as the 'male Marlene Dietrich'. All are appropriate labels and signal Smith as a cabaret performer of incredible ability, nuance and sensuality. Departing Australia, he headed for New York City and promptly established himself as a cabaret artist of note. He crafted deft performances that celebrated the glitter, doom and decadence of 1920's Berlin in his show Morphium Kabarett. Smith's piano-based program, Morphium Kabarett, provides an intimate evening of German, French, and English repertoire, with many unexpected twists. Smith has toured Morphium Kabarett throughout Australia, earning a 2015 Helpmann Award nomination for "Best Cabaret Performer," while also enjoying performances in the NYC at Joe's Pub, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Café Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie. His cabaret style explores a repertoire of popular tunes and European song in an approach that is inspired by Weimar-era artistry. The fusion provides unique and intoxicating renderings of Minogue, Madonna and Marlene. He is masterful at bringing fresh interpretation to the repertoire of Piaf, Hollaender, and Weill. Kim David Smith's most recent cabaret programs Mostly Marlene and A Wery Weimar Christmas debuted at Club Cumming in New York, while Kim Sings Kylie premiered at Joe's Pub at the Public Theatre in 2018, saluting perennial pop goddess Kylie Minogue in an intimate cabaret fantasia. Kim Sings Kylie has since been performed at the inaugural Sydney Cabaret Festival. Kim starred as Salomé in Oscar Wilde's classic and controversial play at the Provincetown Theatre, and has also portrayed the Emcee in Hunter Foster's production of Cabaret at the Cape Playhouse. He recently released his new album Kim David Smith: Live at Joe's Pub. It is available on digital and streaming platforms and as a physical CD. More information at KimDavidSmith.com Kim joined Stages for a long overdue catch-up. We discuss the album, all things cabaret - and a little bit more. The Stages podcast is available from Apple podcasts, Spotify, Whooshkaa and where all good podcasts are found.