Reuben Kaye dished up one final night of delicious performances to close the 2026 Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Presented by: Adelaide Festival Centre
Reviewed: 21 June, 2026
For three scrumptious weekends, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival delivered a smorgasbord of incredible shows, carefully curated by the tantalising Reuben Kaye. The Delicious Revolution, this year’s theme, saw world class cabaret acts descend on Adelaide and the Adelaide Festival Centre, but like all good things, it has sadly come to an end for this year. However, it didn’t end without Reuben Kaye delivering one final late night performance that celebrated the incredible festival.
It is no secret how much the Cabaret Festival means to Reuben, and it is very clear the Cabaret Festival audiences love him back equally as much. Opening from amongst the audience with a song titled The Party’s Over, Reuben worked their way through the audience with trademark chaotic charm and back-handed one-liners as they made their way to the stage.
Reuben collated a tasty selection of performers from across the festival to feature in this performance. Libby O’Donovan raised the roof with a soulful ballad, Turn Me On, Jego Loreto brought the cool, smooth vibes with Stevie Wonder’s hit I Wish, Brendan de la Haye’s exquisite voice melted hearts with a beautiful version of Misty, and Sapphire Snow gave us a cheeky burlesque routine accompanied by Reuben’s sizzling vocals.
Rounding out the guest appearances was the sensational Michelle Brasier who, even though she doesn’t have a Cabaret Festival show this year, she has been a regular guest across the festival thanks to Pretty Womanbeing in town, for which Michelle is receiving rave reviews. She performed the incredibly moving song Sally, which she wrote, before turning the volume to eleven and showcasing her power-house vocals with a electrifying version of Celine Dion’s hit It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.
Mid-way through the show Reuben reminded audiences of their sharp, politically-focused song writing skills with a performance of a song about Hitler’s propaganda chief and right-hand man, Joseph Goebbels.
The evening concluded with Reuben performing the song Sailor Boy (which this reviewer has only just gotten out of their head after hearing Reuben sing it at the piano bar two or three festivals ago!) and closing with Those Were the Days, promising that good things are still to come in the 2027 Festival program.
Supporting Reuben and each act was an incredible band featuring Felicity Freeman on bass (and what a groove was laid down, especially during I Wish), John McDermott on drums and the brilliant Shanon D Whitelock on piano and as the musical director for the evening. Great acts need even greater musicians, and this tight trio did not disappoint.
The 2026 Adelaide Cabaret Festival may be over for now, but we all know Reuben Kaye and the incredible team at the Adelaide Festival Centre (AFC) will already be sourcing an array of tasty ingredients to cook up an even more delicious program in 2027. Thank you Reuben and the AFC for another sensational year of cabaret. I’m sure all audiences who attended are satisfyingly full with what was on offer.
Reviewed by Ben Stefanoff
Photo credit: Claudio Raschella
Venue: Banquet Room, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: ended
Duration: 90mins
Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre, Banquet Room, Brendan de la Haye, Felicity Freeman, Jego Loreto, John McDermott, Libby O’Donovan, Michelle Brasier, Reuben Kaye, Sapphire Snow, Shanon D Whitelock
