MEREDITH O'REILLY at Claire's petit cabaret

3 courses from our a la carte menu and a fourty minute show in 2 live sets  $120 p/p +BF

Arrival 6pm sharp

JAZZ CAT

Meredith O’Reilly returns to her favourite Sydney venue for a night of songs from her much-loved jazz repertoire. Standards, classics & blues from Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Harold Arlen, W.C. Handy and lesser known gems from Joni Mitchell, Georgie Fame...plus a couple of originals!

Meredith has always been a swinging Jazz Cat, even when she was a kitten & all her pals were rocking out to Sherbet, Skyhooks & The Bay City Rollers! She preferred Ella, Bessie, Billie & Sarah!

Joining Meredith for his Claire’s Kitchen debut is renowned Sydney jazz pianist, Peter Locke, whose beautiful phrasing & style as an accompanist is a singer’s dream.

And, yes...we’ll even throw in a song about a cat! See you at Claire’s!

BIO:

Meredith has been a professional entertainer for over 30 years.  She played Grandma Addams inThe Addams Family( directed by Tony- Award-Winner, Jerry Zaks). She was nominated for Helpmann & Green Room Awards for her role Hold Me-Touch Me in Mel Brooks’ The Producers and was nominated for a Glugs Award playing Sylvia St Croix in Ruthless. More recently she was in Opera Australia’s productions of My Fair Lady (directed by Dame Julie Andrews, u/study Mrs Higgins) &The Sound Of Music (u/study Frau Schmidt-which she played for 6 weeks in Sydney). Other highlights include Les Miserables (directed by Gale Edwards), Love Never Dies (directed by Simon Phillips & Graeme Murphy- u/study Mme Giry), Hello Dolly! (directed by Tony Award-Winner, Christopher Renshaw), Chess (u/study Florence), The Rocky Horror Show (Magenta Alternate). She appeared in Gypsy (directed by Nancye Hayes- Tessie Tura) and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (Smitty), both for Melbourne’s The Production Company. She played principal roles in the Australian productions Karaoke the Musical, Life Force and King Of The Air (in concert at City Recital Hall, Sydney).  She is the vocalist of the Big Band, Horns Plus- regulars at Manly Jazz Festival & a recent sell-out show at Foundry 616. Her jazz duo Mood Indigo performed all over Sydney in corporate & music venues for five years as did her later jazz quintet, The Mezzanines.  Meredith’s cabaret, Curtains, about her showbiz ups and downs was seen at Sydney’s Glen St Theatre, Q Theatre & The Bondi Cabaret Festival in 2019/20. In 2021-2022 Meredith performed 3 sold out cabarets at Claire's Kitchen.  She has appeared in TV dramas, commercials, corporate films and voiceovers. She's hosted radio shows & also narrated audio books for Vision Australia for 10 years.

BIO:

Peter Locke is one of Australia's most highly respected jazz pianists,

musical directors and accompanists. Based out of Sydney and the NSW

South Coast, Peter is in high demand in many musical settings due to

the impressive depth of the jazz tradition in his playing. Peter studied

with and is a protege of piano master Chuck Yates.

In addition to his own Peter Locke Trio, he performs regularly with Dan

Barnett’s Big Band, Brad Child's Swing-Era Big Band, John Morrison's

Swing City Big Band, Society Syncopators (Melb), Andrew Dickeson's

Blue Rhythm Band, Sh! Jazz Quartet (Bowral), the Mell-o-Tones and

the New Wolverine Jazz Orchestra, and is often pianist of choice with

Bob Henderson, Geoff Power, Adrian Cunningham, Bill Burton, Renato

Marcon & Andrew Dickeson. Peter was resident pianist in the late Bob

Barnard's Quartet for the last ten years before Bob's retirement from the

stage.

Peter regularly accompanies some of the country’s top jazz vocalists

including Gregg Arthur, Wilma Reading, Monica Trapaga, Di Bird,

Marilyn Mendez, George Washingmachine and the legendary Johnny

Nicol to name a few. Not forgetting the late, great Marie Wilson.

Peter also receives warm praise for his tasteful trumpet and flugelhorn

solos.

Few musicians move so seamlessly from interpretations of the works of

Bix Beiderbecke and Duke Ellington to Be-Bop and beyond.

Some recent festival appearances include Thredbo Jazz, Melbourne

International Jazz (with Gregg Arthur), Devonport Jazz, the Noosa Jazz

Party, Manly Jazz (with Bob Barnard, Todd Hardy, Dan Barnett, and

Gregg Arthur) plus Norfolk Island Jazz (with The Rockets).