Don’t You Know They’re Loco?

It’s like the theory behind the new Vegemite spread - taking something that’s already great and making it better. This is exactly what Brisbane audiences can expect when a fourtet of local vixens from La La Parlour and Latin nine-piece Miguel collide to create something bigger than the sum of their parts.

Miguel’s vocalist and trumpet player Michael Rogers is on the line, itching to talk about their upcoming collaborative shows with Brisbane’s favourite parlour ladies as part of The Carnival’s Edge.

“I can’t wait actually. The rehearsals have just been out of control. It’s kitsch mixed with big band sounds mixed with a little bit of wrongness actually. The girls are so cheeky, it’s hard to describe,” he says with a genuine laugh. “There are elements of naughtiness all through it but it’s also very cute. We’re having a ball. The girls are interacting with the band a lot, and the whole thing is a lot of fun.”

Collaborations can take a while to get cooking sometimes - has it been difficult to generate that kind of chemistry quickly?

“Not really - I’ve worked with some of the girls before on some other shows. We’ve known about each other for a while and I’ve seen them at our shows a lot, and we’ve gone to see them in their stand-alone shows, so when the idea came up, it was such an obvious fit. It hasn’t been difficult at all - even the way the different personalities have come together works really well. We’re all bound together by this love of 1950’s kitsch - it’s just perfect.”

Kitsch means different things to different people - what elements of 50s kitsch appeal to both groups?

“Hollywood glamour and the big band sound that came out of that era, with Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. That and smoky jazz rooms. Along those lines - but with four burlesque chorus girls we’ve slightly gone off the track a bit. From their point of view, it’s glamorous costumes and 50’s cocktail dresses and the music reflects that era. We’re a nine-piece and a lot of what we do is designed to emulate the great music of that era.

“There’s a lot of schtick going on between us. Their performance starts as ‘wink-wink-nudge-nudge’, and then rolls from what might be perceived as innocent into something totally - it’s hard to describe - it’s like chorus girls gone wrong sorta thing. It’s very funny.”

While the show is going to be tightly choreographed, there will be room for some improvisation on the night, with both acts taking cues from one another and playing things up to the hilt, something that Michael admits “scares him slightly”.

“We’re doing some old standards like Dean Martin’s ‘Sway’ and ‘Hooray For Hollywood’ as well as some Miguel originals that are very much in that style. It’s a Latin show as well as a burlesque with a good splash of Hollywood kitsch, with the whole thing going slightly awry at times.

“We expect the whole of Brisbane to come,” he says without a hint of irony, but then goes on to explain himself well. “Our demographic seems to stretch from 16-year-olds right through to people in their 70s. It doesn’t really favour one more than the other. And while the show is going to be naughty, it’s not something you would be ashamed to take your grandmother to.

“It’s more cheeky than naughty.”

La La Loco plays The Carnival’s Edge in the Cultural Forecourt at South Bank September 17-23 from 9:30pm (excluding Monday). Go to www.brisbanefestival.com.au for details.