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STAGE - Steppin' Out with Ben Vereen
Cabaret Festival

DIANA CARROLL - Reviewer
INDAILY - 25.6.12

Ben Vereen is a Brooklyn boy who dreamed of making it big on Broadway. A student of the High School of the Performing Arts (of Fame renown), in the forty years or more since he graduated, Vereen has made it big on Broadway, film, and on stages the world over.

On a rainy Friday night in Adelaide, it's easy to see why. The man exudes charisma. Star quality drips from his very person. There's a 12-piece band up there with him, but Vereen owns the stage. He's understated in a white shirt and white tie with grey pants and a grey dress-coat. Insouciance is his middle name. Red sneakers become his trade-mark in the second-half.

The show is lightly biographical, but the biography really only exists to tie together disparate songs from a celebrated career. From Sweet Charity and Hair to Jesus Christ Superstar and Cats, Vereen has done them all. The dialogue was best when he indulged in some well-practiced spontaneity, such as rewinding the show for a couple of latecomers.

Steppin' Out is also a tribute to those legendary singers of the Rat Pack – Sammy Davis Jnr, Dean Martin, and the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra. Vereen has the confidence to perform his own interpretations of some classic tunes with surprising arrangements songs such as "A Very Good Year" and "That ol' Black Magic". Vereen had excellent backing from the band, a mixture of his own musos, including his son on tribal drums, and some exceptional local talent.

This superb show was marred by the constant references to Adelaide. It was amusing when he sang Adelaide Stands by the Arts (which raised a chuckle from Arts Minster John Hill), but just became tedious as he labored the point. It is cringe-making when an artist of his standing feels the need to play to the locals in this way. Did his brief from the Cab Fest say "pathetically parochial audience"?

As a consummate professional, Vereen has dispensed with the wearisome convention of going off stage, hanging about a bit, then coming back for a "surprise" encore. The end is the end and a well-deserved standing ovation was his reward.

ENDS.