There is a particular pleasure in watching seasoned performers who know exactly how to entertain an audience without having to prove anything. OLD FRIENDS! brings together Mark Trevorrow, Rupert Noffs and Music Director Bev Kennedy for an affectionate, musically eclectic cabaret that mixes sophistication with silliness and, occasionally, a touch of the unexpected.
Trevorrow, best known for his much-loved comic creation, Bob Downe, steps comfortably outside the character to reveal a more musically assured performer, while Noffs brings an easy theatricality and Kennedy provides both the musical muscle and some of the afternoon’s more understated moments.
The songs of Stephen Sondheim form something of a backbone. The Little Things You Do Together, Old Friends, Another Hundred People and Marry Me a Little allow Trevorrow and Noffs to explore the wit and emotional complexity of Sondheim’s writing, while Old Friends itself takes on an additional resonance given the long-standing relationship between the performers.
A deftly constructed arrangement bringing together Cole Porter’s Another Op’nin’, Another Show from Kiss Me, Kate, Corner of the Sky from Pippin and Sondheim’s Old Friends creates an inventive musical conversation and demonstrates just how much thought has gone into shaping the program.
The repertoire then wanders happily through a rich tapestry of cabaret and musical theatre standards. Cole Porter’s I Happen to Like New York sits alongside Richard Kates’ deliciously knowing Streisand Got There First!, while John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Bobo’s from The Act and Sara Lee from The World Goes Round add further variety.
There are some welcome surprises along the way, including Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s Who Can I Turn To from The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, I Know Him So Well from Chess, Go the Distance from Disney’s Hercules and Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors.
A nod to Peter Allen comes with Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do), written by Christopher Cross, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen, alongside Dolly Parton’s Islands in the Stream. It is another indication that the trio are not overly concerned with keeping their musical references within conventional cabaret boundaries.
Kennedy is particularly impressive when given the spotlight herself. She opens the show with There’s No Business Like Show Business from Annie Get Your Gun, immediately establishing both her vocal confidence and formidable musicality.
Act Two opens with her An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue medley, a showcase for Gershwin that provides a welcome change of pace and reminds us that Kennedy is as compelling a performer at the piano as she is an accomplished musical director.
The show’s greatest strength, however, is the rapport between the three performers. The trio are clearly having fun with the material, and their enjoyment proves infectious. OLD FRIENDS! is exactly what its title suggests: a reunion between performers who enjoy each other’s company and are generous enough to invite an audience along for the ride.
OLD FRIENDS!
Memo Music Hall, 88 Acland Street, St Kilda (enter via Albert Street)
Performance: Sunday 20 September 2026
Information: www.memomusichall.com.au
You can catch OLD FRIENDS! at Club Ashfield Sydney (Saturday 14 November) and The Baroque Room, Katoomba (Saturday 19 December). For more information, visit: www.bobdowne.com for details.
Image: Mark Trevorrow, Bev Kennedy and Rupert Noffs star in OLD FRIENDS! (supplied)
Review: Rohan Shearn