Arts Review
Pink Flamingo Spiegeland
The Sensational Pink Flamingo has Landed at Hamilton Foreshore with Pizzazz!
Spiegeltent
Hamilton Foreshore, Brisbane
Dr Gemma Regan
After the rip-roaring success of The Pink Flamingo Spiegeclub Gold Coast, winner of the Traveller's Choice 2023 Award on Tripadvisor, Brisbane has turned pink with a permanent 400-seat, purpose-built Spiegel Pavilion tent hosting the best entertainers in Queensland.
Co-director Sue Porrett opened the first cabaret spectacular with a flamingo flourish announcing the three resident productions of SUAVÉ, LA TEAZE and RIPPED. Porrett, Tony Rigas and Peter Snee are the pink-tinted visionaries behind The Pink Flamingo phenomena inspired by the original 1920s Spiegeltent and the NYC Cabaret Club district. Bringing cabaret and circus to Brisbane in a Barbie-pink venue harkening to the Roaring 20's with sumptuous pink and gold seating .
The Cabaret showgirl glam is a re-invention of popular entertainment 100 years on. Porrett exclaimed “Why should Brisbane wait for festivals to experience a glitter-bomb of shows, kaleidoscopes of colour on stage, and limit-pushing performances of a world standard? The city shouldn’t, and that’s why we are so thrilled to open The Pink Flamingo Spiegeland in Brisbane.”
Two pink bars boast a range of cocktails, food and drinks with a choice of Flamingo-pink seating areas before you enter the central tent where the magic happens. Massive multi-media screens with dancing flamingoes by Lightology and a stage stretching into the centre of the audience seated at individual coloured under-lit tables with pink banquettes recreate a New York jazz club in a circus tent.
I saw the SUAVÉ show hosted by the hilarious French-accented maître-de Jerome and the multi-talented Hugh G and Hunny Bunny direct from the Hefner mansion. The risqué entertainment included Hugh G singing All That Jizz and Jerome chasing one of the male dancers whilst singing Sex Bomb exclaiming that he'd "make his eyes water!"
The scantily-clad burlesque dancers flutter around the stage in a plethora of alluring costumes whilst the muscled males flip and strip to a crooning nightclub singer. There are acrobatics and circus tricks to make your eyes water and your heart pump with knife throwing, terrifying balancing acts and whirling rope feats.
It is a unique and incredible entertainment venue for a night of fun and frolics with a flock of pink-clad waitstaff to fulfil your every appetite. The Pink Flamingo boasts eight shows a week also hosts private bookings and special events, including hens and bucks parties, weddings and Christmas celebrations.
So be pretty in pink and get your glad-rags or Hollywood glamour on for a feast of festivities at The Pink Flamingo Spiegeland in Brisbane, opening Saturday 16 December with tickets on sale at PinkFlamingoAustralia.com.