Review by Tatum Stafford
Colourful, confident, campy and full of charisma, the energy was palpable when Moxie Heart stormed the stage in a sassy opening number for her Fringe opening show at Connections on Monday night.
Dubbed ‘a cabaret of celebrity and self-discovery’, Moxie spends the hour-long show weaving through chapters of her life, including discovering her love of theatre in high school, her transition from ‘horse girl’ to full-blown theatre kid, her stint studying acting in New York, and her transformation into Moxie Heart when she was inspired by an interstate female-identifying drag queen.
Whether you’re a drag fan or a novice, there’s plenty to love about this wittily written cabaret. Moxie sings, dances, reminisces, jokes, and muses about her drag identity and drag journey with seamless transitions, upbeat musical numbers, and help from her two show sidekicks. Big shout-out to Ellie Hart-Peterson for her gorgeous rendition of Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind.”
As a fellow theatre kid, I was super excited to enjoy the musical theatre songs sprinkled throughout the setlist, including the hilarious “If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It” from The Producers, “Girl Scout” from Beetlejuice and “A Way Back To Then” from Title of Show. Moxie’s voice is powerful and beautiful to listen to, and she maintains really lovely tone throughout the entire piece.
It was clear the audience enjoyed hearing about her stint training in New York (where her love for Jeff Goldblum really blossomed…but I won’t spoil that storyline too much), stories about her first time performing in drag, and poignant segments about being female-identifying in what is, in the traditional media, a typically male pastime.
One of my favourite parts was the ‘Moxie FAQs’, which took part as she changed from one costume to another, and answered a few questions I’m sure the audience were curious about, including how long it takes her to get ready, how she got her name, and whether local Perth drag queens embraced her once she emerged onto the scene.
All in all, this is an energetic, quirky, and highly entertaining hour of cabaret. Moxie’s got plenty of, well, moxie, and if you snag a ticket you’ll be in her capable hands, and are sure to leave with a smile on your face.
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