Latest news with #Rizo
ABC News
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
David Campbell, Virginia Gay, Natalie Abbott and Victoria Falconer on Australian cabaret
David Campbell inspired Virginia Gay to get into cabaret. She was just 14 years old, and Campbell was teaching at her performing arts high school in Sydney's inner west. "He was very young and very handsome," Gay recalls. "I developed a psychotic crush on him." Still in her school uniform, she would travel to RSLs across Sydney to watch Campbell perform, sometimes carrying the gift of a bunch of gerberas in her arms. "David Campbell is one of the best in the world at cabaret, even [in his early 20s]. He felt so close to us in age, so we were like, 'Ah, you're doing it!'" she says. "And I remember thinking, 'I cannot get enough of this art form.' "I loved that sense that, with no set at all and with just a little bit of subtle lighting, just David and a piano, he'd suddenly built a whole world." This year, Gay asked Campbell — who is now a good friend who never brings up her teenage obsession — to be one of the headliners for Adelaide Cabaret Festival, her second and final as artistic director. It's a job Campbell held himself, 15 years ago, from 2009 to 2011. Campbell exemplified one strand of Gay's 2025 program: a focus on legacy artists, alongside the likes of cabaret royalty Rizo and Carlotta. The rest of last month's festival combined the "cutting edge" of contemporary cabaret — with local artists like Victoria Falconer and Reuben Kaye, who assumes the role of artistic director next year — and performers working across genres, including performance art, burlesque, drag, circus and comedy. It also looked to the future of the form, with artists including Natalie Abbott (ABC TV's Aftertaste; Muriel's Wedding the Musical) and Seann Miley Moore (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) performing their debut shows. Funnily, Campbell's first festival as artistic director was Gay's first as a performer, in Gentlemen Prefer Jokes, with Trevor Ashley and Courtney Act. "I was like a demented nurse who also just got up and did her dance numbers, which was little more than a box step," she says, with a laugh. Within three years, she was performing her debut solo show at the festival: Dirty Pretty Songs, following it up with Songs to Self-Destruct To. Along with artists like Yve Blake, Eddie Perfect and Tim Minchin, Gay honed her creative voice through cabaret. It led her to making works of theatre like Cyrano, which she toured last year to Edinburgh Fringe. "Sometimes people dismiss cabaret, and I think it is so vital," she says. "There's a real immediacy in the authenticity of a totally unique, magical voice that is delivered very intimately and with a really strong connection to an audience. "It is about what makes live theatre exciting, and it is unreplicatable." While Gay is still a regular on stage and screen, she rarely performs cabaret anymore. Instead, taking on the top job at Adelaide Cabaret Festival has made her realise how much she enjoys creating space for other artists. "Perhaps it's a kind of ego death, where I don't need to be the star," she says. "What I love is to make a space for other people to play in — both audience and performer." David Campbell came to cabaret out of necessity. In the early 90s, he moved from Adelaide to Sydney to work as an actor, but a couple of years into his career, work started to dry up. The son of Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes, Campbell had been reluctant to sing professionally because of the inevitable comparison to his father. His then-manager encouraged him to do it anyway; to "do something different [to Barnes]", Campbell recalls. That's when he started combining personal monologues with songs from musical theatre, performing them on stage in bars and cabaret venues to audiences of anywhere between 6 and 20 people. "[My cabaret] started out very strict and clunky, and very angsty and emotional," Campbell says. "I was so stressed by being on stage, being a people-pleaser and not wanting to do anything wrong." At the time, the local cabaret scene was dominated by powerful women performers, including Nancye Hayes and Geraldine Turner. "It was seen as a chanteuse-y world, and here I was, an upstart, trying to be like, well, maybe I could do that too," he says. But it wasn't until Campbell moved to America in the late 90s that he truly found his cabaret voice. "Going to the US was extremely freeing for me because they didn't know who I was, they didn't know who my dad was, so I could start again," he says. "It was really a great safe place, without the eyes of our industry here in Australia looking at me going, 'Ah, he sucks. There were only 15 people in the audience, and he did a Jimmy Barnes joke.'" In New York, he met performers — including White Christmas star Rosemary Clooney and Broadway legend Barbara Cook — who encouraged him to try new things, and taught him how to work a room. "These people were themselves on stage," he says. "They were the song. You know, my dad does it: it's when the song and the singer become one. It's just this amazing thing. "You do need runs on the board to do that. It doesn't just happen." Now 30 years into his cabaret career, Campbell says he wants to be "reaching down" to support the next generation — just like Clooney, Hayes and more did for him. During his tenure at Adelaide Cabaret Festival, he nurtured emerging cabaret artists, like Gay, Christie Whelan Browne and Hugh Sheridan. He also set up Class of Cabaret, an ongoing initiative of the festival, which mentors high school students. "There might be some young David Campbell or Virginia Gay; nerdy kids that don't fit in with everybody else that want to do this," he says. "To be able to say, 'Come in, this place is for you as well,' is really important." Like Gay and Campbell, Victoria Falconer is a cabaret artist who wants to create space for others. She's the co-artistic director of Hayes Theatre Co in Sydney, a small theatre dedicated to musicals, which in June hosted a winter cabaret season, including some of the artists from the Adelaide festival. She's also the musical director for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, now in Melbourne for Rising, before touring to Sydney. For Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Falconer curated a late-night salon, The Parlour — an opportunity to bring together performers from across Australian and international cabaret, including the local independent scene. "It's the perfect level of controlled chaos, where I personally feel like I thrive," she says. "Seeing the magic that happens when you bring everybody together is something special; that's what The Parlour is about." But, like Campbell, Falconer had to leave Australia to forge a career in cabaret. She moved to London in 2003, where she formed "risque cabaret character comedy" duo EastEnd Cabaret, with German performance artist Bernadette Byrne (aka Bernie Dieter), started playing the musical saw and experimented with androgyny on stage. "I knew I wanted to make cabaret because I was obsessed with Marlene Dietrich and cabaret performers of the 30s," she says. "When I first started performing with [Byrne], we thought that we were the only people doing what we were doing. "Once we started putting it out there, other weirdos started finding us, finding each other, [and] creating [cabaret] nights." It's a reflection of the DIY attitude of cabaret artists across the world — where performers stage their shows wherever they can, from dedicated theatres to queer and dive bars. "Cabaret gets made, regardless of whether there's a stage or not," Falconer says. "There's an inherent need to create new spaces where there weren't spaces before; to express beyond what a lot of mainstream genres can do; and to connect to audiences that maybe don't feel as comfortable or welcome in mainstream spaces. Falconer stresses the depth of talent that exists now in the Australian — and especially the Adelaide — arts scene. "When I moved back from London and lived here for a few years, I knew the arts scene here was fabulous," she says. "But I think it needs to be talked about more." As for what's distinctive about Australian cabaret, Falconer describes it as "larrikinism that then gets draped in feathers and sequins". Her role as host and curator of The Parlour is about outreach; finding performers who are already doing something like cabaret on Australian stages (and in the corners of bars). "If I find them, I will put them on a cabaret stage, introduce them to a bunch of other people who are also doing weird stuff, and foster community that way." One of the artists who performed their debut cabaret show at Adelaide Cabaret Festival was musical theatre and TV actor Natalie Abbott. Her show Bad Hand was a meditation on grief, love and loss — through song. It was the product of a real tragedy: the sudden death of her partner. In May last year, Abbott's boyfriend production runner Ryan Cuskelly, died after he was diagnosed with a severe and highly aggressive immune deficiency disorder and virus. "When my partner passed away, I thought, 'I'm not going to ever perform again,'" Abbott says. "I was going through a really nihilistic stage of my life … One day I woke up and I was like, 'Oh, nothing matters.'" Perhaps unexpectedly, it was a feeling that propelled her forwards. "Some people might think that [thinking nothing matters] is a sad realisation but it's actually very freeing." In the past, Abbott had been overwhelmed by feelings of self-doubt. So, when Virginia Gay suggested Abbott make a cabaret show while she was deep in her "nihilistic phase", she thought, "Why not?" "Because, in 100 years, no one's gonna remember if it was good or if it was bad," she says. Abbott decided to play a collection of country songs on acoustic guitar about life and death. "I have things to say now," she says. "[Writing this cabaret] I've been able to get a lot of my thoughts out there in a creative way. And I've been able to get back to my creative roots, and I've picked up my guitar again, and I'm singing songs that make me happy." Bad Hand soon expanded from a "country cabaret" to something featuring all the styles of music she enjoys, from musical theatre and country to pop and Australian rock. Think Rodgers and Hammerstein, but also Hunters & Collectors, with a little bit of Kasey Chambers and Tina Arena mixed in. And a song from the soundtrack to Twisters. "The songs that are in my cabaret have been chosen for a particular reason: because they now have a very tremendous impact on me. And they have had an impact on me through this horrific year, and have helped me grieve," she says. "You try to find meaning behind loss, because if it doesn't mean anything, then, what's it for?"
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Man gets appeal denied for Super Bowl Sunday murder
MESA COUNTY, Colo. (KREX) – A man, who was sentenced for murder following a dispute on Super Bowl Sunday in 2020, had his appeal denied by the Colorado Court of Appeals. Christopher Rizo was convicted to life in prison without parole for killing Thomas Huddleston outside Roosters Tavern on Feb. 2, 2020. He was also convicted for shooting Thomas' brother, Bill Huddleston. The incident started when Rizo sat next to the brothers, talking about the game. Rizo became furious after a joke made by another trucker – which the brothers laughed at. Rizo told the men they weren't 'from around here' and should be careful, according to court documents. Although a bartender tried to defuse the situation, the man continued, eventually calling her a 'f***ing b****' after he was asked to leave. When Thomas and Bill left Roosters following the game, Rizo pulled up to them and pointed a gun at Bill. Rizo ordered him to empty his pockets, before taking his phone. At the same time, Thomas returned to his truck to get his gun. Rizo yelled at Thomas to get out of the vehicle before Bill swung at him. Rizo shot Bill twice in the leg who then dropped to the knees. Bill heard a series of gunshots and saw Thomas fall to the ground, according to court documents. Rizo picked up Thomas' gun and fled the area. Thomas was declared dead at the scene; he was shot 12 times. A tourniquet was placed on Bill's leg, and he was sent to the hospital. Rizo contested his sentencing saying he was acting in self-defense, and he was not given due process, a fair trial or an impartial jury. In the appeal, Rizo, who did not testify in the original trial, argued the court failed to instruct the jury regarding self-defense or multiple assailants and it should not have admitted his behavior in the bar before the shooting as evidence. Because of this it led to cumulative error, Rizo contended The appeals court didn't find any such issues. It said the jury was instructed to use the model self-defense instruction. Rizo's conduct is also admissible evidence because it happened 'contemporaneously' with the shooting, court documents read. 'Specifically, Rizo's conduct provided relevant evidence of his motive for reappearing at the bar more than two hours after he was kicked out and of his mental state as he approached Thomas and Bill,' according to court documents. The appeals court also said it did not find any errors in the trial meaning no cumulative error occurred. Rizo also contended his life sentence without parole was unconstitutional as it's a cruel and unusual punishment. But the appeals court said it was not persuaded by his argument. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
St. Brendan baseball moves within one series victory from state final four
Two days after letting an opportunity slip away, the St. Brendan baseball team was not about to let it happen again. The Sabres, who dropped a one-run, extra-inning heartbreaker on their home field in Game two of a Region 4-3A best-of-3 semifinal series with Miami Killian, traveled to the Cougars' home field Thursday afternoon. St. Brendan took maximum advantage of a struggling Killian pitching staff that went through five pitchers and doled out a total of 12 walks to cruise to an easy 9-3 victory in Game 3. The Sabres (19-13) advance to the regional final for only the third time in program history and first time since 2013. The No. 6 seed in the region, St. Brendan will travel to take on top-seeded Miami Springs for a best-of-3 series beginning Monday at 3:30 p.m. in hopes of securing their first trip to the state final four since they won the state title in 1983. 'We've been grinding these games out throughout the playoffs and today was more of the same,' St. Brendan coach Jorge Robles said. 'We just get out there and go seven innings as hard as we can, take it pitch by pitch and today we found a way to grinding things out again.' The Sabres batted around and scored a pair of runs in the second without recording a single hit as Killian starter Alex Fonseca issued five walks and didn't make it out of the inning. By the time senior catcher Rafael Rizo stepped up to the plate in the top of the fourth, the Sabres led 4-1, (thanks to three more walks, a hit batsmen and a Killian error) and still didn't have a hit yet. That changed when Rizo, with two on and two outs, rocketed a 3-2 pitch into the left field corner for a two-RBI standup double. 'I was just looking for my pitch, something belt high and not chase something down low and he gave it to me,stayed to my approach, got good barrel on it and away it went,' said Rizo of his big hit. 'Tuesday was a really rough game for us, probably our worse game of the playoffs because we had some big errors late in the game that cost us so we were a little down. But there was no time to mope around and sulk. 'We had to pull our heads together quickly and not dwell on that and we did that out there today.' It was a choppy day for St. Brendan starter Gianncarlo Guzman but, like his team, he managed to muddle his way through five-plus innings of work while giving up just one run despite walking five and yielding five hits. 'He wasn't perfect out there but made the right pitches at the right time,' said Robles of Guzman. 'They (Killian) were looking for fast balls all day long but his best pitch is the slider and that's what got him through.' After he recorded the first out of the sixth inning, Guzman maxed out on his pitch count and Robles went to his bullpen. Trailing 7-1, the Cougars (15-15) seized the opportunity by wrapping out three hits, scoring a run and still had the bases loaded with only one out and the top of the order coming up. But Matthew Garcia then entered and got Kendry Blanco to foul out to third base and Lucas Arcaute to line out to center to end the inning and the threat. 'We're excited to be moving on and looking forward to taking on a great team in Miami Springs,' Robles said. 'They've had a great season so far know that it will be a challenge for us. We're just going to go in there, put nine guys out on the field and play as hard as we can play.'
CBS News
01-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Florida lawmakers approve bill that allows charter schools to make changes
Florida lawmakers Thursday gave final approval to a bill that would make a series of changes related to charter schools, including allowing charter schools to have stricter codes of conduct than traditional public schools. The Republican-controlled House voted 86-25 along almost straight party lines to pass the bill, after it was approved 30-7 on Wednesday by the Senate. It is ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis. The bill is one of a series of measures that lawmakers have considered this year that could help charter schools, which are public schools typically run by private operators and generally not bound by the same regulations as traditional schools. The number of students enrolled in charter schools has increased dramatically over the years as the Legislature has expanded school choice. Critics claim changes could lead to exclusion Opponents of the bill Thursday questioned the part of the measure that would allow charter schools to have stricter codes of conduct, arguing that the change could be used by charter schools to exclude some students. Democratic Rep. Robin Bartleman, who is a former member of the Broward County School Board, said she was concerned the bill would allow charter schools to "pick and choose." "You're either a public school or you're not a public school," Bartleman said. Some lawmakers raised the possibility that stricter codes of conduct could include issues such as hair styles. "We don't have any guardrails about what that student code of conduct could be," Democratic Rep. Ashley Gantt said. But Republican Rep. Alex Rizo, who helped sponsor the bill, said it would allow parents to choose "something a bit more stringent" than traditional public schools and said many schools already have standards such as dress codes. Under the bill, parents would have to acknowledge electronically or in writing more-stringent parts of codes of conduct. "We can't discriminate, and we won't discriminate, in Florida when it comes to education," Rizo said. He also pushed back against the argument about hair styles. "This is a great bill. You cannot exclude students, it is law, on the basis of a hair style," Rizo said. Changes in the bill Among other changes in the bill, charter schools would be able to increase enrollment to more than what was initially approved, though they could not exceed the capacities of their facilities. It also would seek to prevent charter school landlords or their spouses from serving on charter school governing boards. Before passing the bill Wednesday, the Senate made some changes, including removing a proposal to give charter schools a "right of first refusal" if school districts seek to sell, lease or dispose of facilities. Three Democrats; Rep. Jose Alvarez, Rep. Mike Gottlieb and Rep. Allison Tant joined Republicans in voting for the bill on Thursday, During the 2022-2023 school year, the state had 726 charter schools in 46 districts, according to data posted on the Florida Department of Education website. Charter schools had 382,367 students during the 2022-2023 year, up from 229,428 students during the 2013-2014 year.
