Can you have a sustainable career in cabaret?

Artists and artistic directors discuss the cabaret sector’s state of health, and offer advice for career development and sustainability.

Class of Cabaret participant Alex De Porteous performing at Adelaide Cabaret Festival; image supplied.

If life is a cabaret, where do you get your start? Unlike comedy, which has an established tradition of open-mic nights where newcomers can get a foot in the door, as well as development programs like Class Clowns and RAW Comedy, cabaret is a harder nut to crack.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts