FAB Magazine
June 3, 2011
Written by Sharron Matthews
Last year, I took my solo show, Sharron Matthews Superstar: World Domination Tour, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
When I arrived, the buzz in Edinburgh was that Meow Meow’s show, “Feline Intimate”, was the show to see at the festival in 2010.
“Who the fuck is Meow Meow?”, I thought.
I attended her show late one night and, oh, I found out.
This woman, this Meow Meow, is a tornado or tsunami (and/or an explosion of some sort ) of fabulous, dangerous, cutting edge cabaret and performance art.
She was hysterical, shocking, heart-wrenching, crazy, manic, still, quiet and loud as a fucking bullhorn…basically ALL the things and emotions, people.
She was so revolutionary as an artist, I think (I know) I cried.
Here are a few moments that stopped her killer show:
1. Halfway through the show she body surfed ON the audience to the bar for a drink…AND BACK to the stage!
2. She had about 20 people from the audience standing in front of the stage holding Barbies doing a kick line with their little plastic legs because she said the producer hadn’t given her any money for the showgirls she required.
3. Meow Meow changed from one dress to another while perched on the shoulders of an audience member in the VERY CENTER of the audience. She crawled across the first 8 rows to get to this position. She stripped down to almost nothing. And then sang a song with one luscious breast peeking out. Accidentally.
AND I haven’t even mentioned her singing.
She sang every song as if it was the last she would ever sing on this blessed earth. Full throated, head thrown back, with the edge of one who has sipped back a very expensive scotch and smoked a cigar. She performed in style of Brel, of Berlin, of opera and of old school European cabaret.
She won the very prestigious Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Prize in 2010 for her show.
I met her after the show and giggled like a 14 year old.
And she is coming to Canada to perform, bitches.
So, before I called her for this article, I agonized over the questions I would ask, how smart I could try and make myself sound. Would I tell her that I am one of the hosts of “Broadway’s Night Out”, the event she is performing in on June 13th (part of Luminato at Metro Square)….lord.
I called.
Me: “Can I please speak with Meow Meow?”
She: “This IS Meow Meow, Darling.”
Me: (I pee a bit.)
She: “Darling, you just caught me waiting for a plane at Heathrow”
(She sounds very fancy and international at this point. But not gauche.)
We talked for a half an hour about Cabaret… “Dangerous, the audience needs to know that anything can happen”, “It is about a passionate relationship with that audience” We talked about Lady Gaga… Because after I saw Meow Meow’s show it hit me that Gaga had MORE than been inspired by her. When I mentioned this to her, she laughed smartly and told me that Gaga lived in her accompanist and collaborator Lance Horne’s building in New York and had come to all of her shows. “There is room for everyone to create.”, She said diplomatically.
We talked about a lot more.
Okay, I took the job of writing this article so I could talk on the phone with her…is that so wrong?
Come to the show, people, you will see what I mean.
She is divatastic.
A true artist.
You will also pee.