39 FOREVER (STARRING AMITY DRY) Gluttony Until 11 Mar 2018 Review by Paige Mulholland It’s easy to underestimate Amity Dry. With her reality show pedigree, she’s the kind of person who could have stumbled into a career in cabaret without the talent to back it up. But anyone who underestimated her on the opening night of the 2018 iteration of “39 Forever” should be eating their words – after a bumpy start, production-wise, the show went from strength to strength with Dry at the helm. After being desperate to grow up during her childhood and young adult years, Dry reached 39 and decided that growing up wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, and that she was happy to stop doing it. Through stories, retro hits and reflection, Dry takes the audience on a journey through Botox, babies and bad hair, from 1978 to now. Despite a lengthy delay in starting the show, and some issues with audio feedback and microphones cutting out in the first ten minutes, the audience were clearly rapt with what she had to say. Dry’s demographic is clearly the 40-something mums of the world, and she knows how to speak their language; ladies across The Octagon could be seen laughing, crying and singing along as she examined the pros and the cons of jumping headfirst into parenthood in your 20s. While the song choices and the patter are definitely most enjoyable if you’re in your 30s or 40s and have a wine in your hand and a babysitter on your couch, the show is universally enjoyable – Dry is perky, funny (if a bit of a fast talker at times) and has a clear and confident singing voice. If you’re at Gluttony and looking for a fun, well-done Cabaret, you’ll have a good time at “39 Forever”. If you’re at Gluttony, looking for a fun, well-done Cabaret and caught a child’s vomit in your hands today, you’ll LOVE “39 Forever”. Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)