Girl Talk - Time Out

Cabaret is a much-maligned musical form, often derided as camp and chintzy entertainment for Kenneth Williams fans, something to file alongside Eurovision and 'Strictly Come Dancing'. But in the right hands, musical cabaret can be a fantastic fusion of comedy, songcraft and storytelling, which is where Girl Talk come in.

It features the distinctive talents of three of our finest divas - Claire Martin, Barb Jungr and Mari Wilson - and pitches its stall as tongue-in-cheek soundtrack to 'Desperate Housewives' or 'Sex and the City'. Hatched around Wilson's kitchen table eight years ago, the three protagonists thought it would be fun to blow the dust off some distinctly non-PC standards ('Wives and Lovers'. 'Keep Young and Beautiful', A Woman's Touch' etc) and have a bitchy moan about a woman's lot (a kind of three birds and a piano). Tonight's show celebrates the release of Girl Talks CD, and id their biggest yet. Expect Sequins, rubber gloves, tiaras, confetti and everything from poignant jazz ballads to C&W, from Sondheim to Motown, with audience participation and plenty of witty asides and hecklers welcome. But expect also real songcraft along with the gags, with each singer getting her moment in the spotlight in front of a packed and raucous audience.