That’s why she’s chosen Feast Festival, Adelaide’s only not-for-profit LGBTIQ+ arts and culture event, to debut her new single.
‘Fire and Fury’ is an anthemic dance-rock tune written with Feast Festival in mind, says Breaux, and will be performed with a squad of back-up dancers in suitably extravagant regalia. As a Feast headliner, Breaux joins previous performers including Conchita Wurst, Buck Angel and Dannii Minogue.
“I wrote it for the gay and lesbian community, so the lyrics should resonate with people, I hope,” says Breaux. “I’ve written it for everybody, really. It’s about that feeling of being yourself, not being afraid to be who you are.”
Breaux feels she fits in well in Adelaide and visits often. That and her lifelong personal investment in the LGBTIQ+ community made her a natural fit for the Feast Festival, she says.
“It’s going to be an amazing show,” says Breaux. “I just hope everyone gets some tickets and comes down to Adelaide. It’s such an amazing city. It’s so beautiful. It’s inexpensive – a good place for young people to move to, actually, and people there are really warm.
Since the inaugural Feast Festival in 1997, the event has become the third-largest LGBTIQ+ festival in the country. This year’s program includes camp mainstays such as the Rocky Horror Show and a pride parade through the Adelaide CBD. The parade marks the 45th anniversary of Adelaide’s first “Proud Parade”, and will wend its way toward the Feast Festival Opening Night Party, where Breaux will be performing. Also taking the stage at the Opening Night Party will be the City of Adelaide’s 40-piece concert band as well as vocalist Mama Alto, burlesque performer Vivienne Von Coffin, alt-country soul group Bad Habits and Maison De Dance, a new show by Ben-Hur Winter.
Less frivolous is The Measure of a Man, a one-person show by Gavin Roach exploring the anxieties of gay men with frankness and humour. Roach won plaudits in 2011 for his show, Confessions of a Grindr Addict.
Taking to the stage at Holden Street Theatres is the House of Sand, a theatrical group who are launching a new women-centric show. Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. is an energetic theatre piece that examines how women love and work in Australia.
Aspiring or practicing theatre professionals can attend Feast Festival’s Queer Ye, Queer Ye! workshop. Organised by Adelaide’s ActNow theatre company, the workshop connects actors with community artists in a supportive and educational environment.
Professional diva Mama Alto will oversee two workshops: Everyone Can Sing and Queer Cabaret Performance.
Recognising the belated legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia, Feast Festival’s An (Ironic) Marriage Themed Party will feature remixes of romantic and not-so-romantic wedding-themed tunes from artists ranging from Beyoncé to Rick Astley, while attendees are cordially invited to don their kitschiest wedding attire.
“I’m so relieved that there’s marriage equality,” says Breaux. “I’m ashamed it took so long. It really broke my heart for a long time … The gay and lesbian communities are very powerful in their own right. They’ve got a very strong voice. It’s certainly not like it was when I was a girl, when young gay boys were getting bashed up leaving nightclubs on Oxford St. They had a lot to fear back then, but now there’s a community that supports them.
“There are things I just can’t possibly imagine because, being heterosexual and female, I don’t understand the inner workings of everything, but I have seen progress in the community, that’s for sure.”
