1800-REQUEST with Rosie Rai ·
The Ellington Jazz Club, 20 January 2023 ·

It’s a quiet Friday night, and I’ve wandered into The Ellington Jazz Club hoping for the solace of a familiar song and the company of well-meaning strangers. My companions for the hour are still selecting drinks from the bar when the evening’s hostess assumes her place at the keyboard with breathless excitement.

“Why am I so breathless?” Rosie Rai croons as she makes herself comfortable. There’s a candid admission of pre-performance liquid courage, eliciting some laughs from the crowd.

“Tonight is … well, it’s whatever it is, really.”

It’s not the venue’s usual jazz offering, but Rai’s freewheeling queer piano bar style suits the intimacy of the setting and its characters.

1800-REQUEST’s Fringe World debut is a return home for the WAAPA-trained pianist and singer-songwriter, who moved to Naarm country and the Melbourne cosmopolitan capital in 2018. “All-round entertainer” is probably a more encompassing description of the performer’s talents. It’s no easy feat charming audiences into willing interaction and singalong.

It’s no easy feat charming audiences into willing interaction and singalong.

The premise of the evening is simple: audiences submit song requests via QR code (or just call them out), and decide whether they’d like to perform in duet with the songstress, or leave it to the Rosie Rai treatment.

Armed with an iPad, a broad song repertoire and a margarita, Rai takes requests with a comic maturity that keeps the promise of “musical mayhem” alive throughout. And it’s a telling sign of crowd satisfaction when audience members buy drinks for the artist mid-show!

It takes eight songs for someone to warm up to the duet idea, but Cal from the audience doesn’t disappoint in his choice of The Killers’ “Mr Brightside”, delivered with impressive vocals and a performance commitment to match.

Despite laughter at Cal’s show-stealing vocals, Rai proves a nimble performer in her ability to reclaim centre stage when required, and provides support when moments of crowd-performer interaction happen. Underlying the charming good humour is an impressive aptitude for improvisation and reading the room.

Despite Rai’s opening sentiment that “the whole concept of the show is me picking songs I don’t know”, she’s dexterous with her song knowledge and more than willing to keep the 1800-REQUEST lines open.

1800-REQUEST continues until 23 January 2023

Pictured top: Rosie Rai’s freewheeling piano bar style is well-suited to the intimate Ellington venue. Photo supplied