The ‘20s era was awash with a new calibre of performers. Bawdy, glammed up and ready to swing, artists like Audrey Tautou and Josephine Baker set stages alight in a decade sandwiched between two world wars and preceding the Depression.
Many years later and renowned cabaret artist New Zealand native Sheba Williams remains enchanted by the high fashion of that time. Her show, 'The Gin Mill Social', sets out to recreate those heady days, a meal, drinks and entertainment all a part of your ticket.
“What an amazing era,” she marvels. “I’m sure we totally glamourise it and make it sound really fun but it was a lot tougher and rougher than how we perceive it to be. Especially for the singers.”
As dazzling as African American rule-breaker Josephine Baker – one of Sheba's major influences – was, there was more than met the eye when it came to that iconic performer.
“She wasn’t just a pretty face. She had 13 children, she did civil rights work, she was a spy for the Allies. She was the epitome of the jazz era and she was where art intersected with life. There was so much cross pollination between other artists of the time. They loved her.”
In contrast to the ‘anything goes’ spirit of the era was alcohol prohibition. American puritans demanded a booze ban and at the start of the decade, that’s exactly what happened. Alcohol of course didn’t disappear, but instead allowed speakeasies to flourish; mob dens and hip clubs where alcohol could be procured as long as you spoke discreetly about it. The prohibition was ultimately a failure and was repealed in 1933. The inspiration for 'Gin Mill Social' is thus borne out of suppression and rebellion, something Sheba is savvy to.
“Anything and everything from the ‘20s was stunning. Women could wear suits, they could work, they could smoke. It was very wild and liberated. The war got everyone questioning things. For women, it was the beginning of feminism and it was still rough to be on the stage.”
Speaking of powerful black women, Sheba cites another major artistic influence who broke boundaries half a century later.
“I got to meet Grace Jones at a party in her hotel room last year. She had these black leggings on with her bum hanging out and I said, 'can I just pull them up?'.
She said, 'No! I want my bum out!'... She’s the only person I’ve seen who is 100 per cent liberated. She doesn’t compromise. I wish everyone could be like that. Those ideas were around in the ‘20s with jazz and Africa and it was designed to arouse your animal passions. I don’t see it as racist, I see it as a celebration of its time. I’ll get people at parties ask me to do a song and I’m like, 'I need my high heels! I need to get into the character!'. The costumes are all that matters!”
While the show is primarily about glitzy fun, Sheba does note that, almost a century on, some things never change. “Whatever you do as a woman, you’re going to get judged. It’s appalling. Getting called too bossy, slutty or conservative. I mean, nobody ever commented on Bernie Sanders crumpled up suit but whatever Ivanka Trump wears gets over-analysed! It’s like, there’s more important things to worry about – like the end of the world!”
Still, she’s more interested in entertaining than she is in political posturing.
“I love to ad-lib and tease people because everything’s so scripted now. I like to let things fly in a very comic way. We’re in a very plastic stage now. We’ve lost the art of dancing. The whole cabaret experience is so 3D and interactive. Why are there not more cabarets! It’s cool that Sydney is supporting it still. Let’s just not think, let’s just dance!”
