{"id":13370,"date":"2026-05-18T06:15:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/13370\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T06:15:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:15:26","slug":"interview-libby-odonovan-proof-that-good-things-really-do-come-in-small-packages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/13370\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Libby O’Donovan – Proof that good things really do come in small packages"},"content":{"rendered":"

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What do Edith Piaf, Kylie Minogue, Judy Garland, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Sabrina Carpenter and\u00a0Dolly Parton all have in common, apart from their incredible vocals?\u00a0They are, you might say, \u2018vertically challenged\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adelaide Cabaret Icon\u00a0Libby O\u2019Donovan OAM\u00a0and award-winning performer Michaela Burger\u202fstand\u202fat three meters tall, collectively.\u202f\u202fAfter decades of being called\u202fvertically challenged\u202fpocket rockets, these two join forces to show that\u202fthere\u2019s\u202fmore to\u202fshorties than meets the eye.\u202f<\/p>\n

Libby is no stranger to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, having performed in just about every Festival. Besides the Cabaret Festival, she has performed at the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Edinburgh Fringe, Sydney Spring Festival, Perth International Arts Festival, the International Jazz Educators Convention, Melbourne Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, Feast Festival and has performed in India as part of the Hindu Festival. Libby is also highly in demand as a composer, arranger and musical director, for which she has won a Green Room Award. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Libby and Michaela\u2019s show at this year\u2019s Cabaret Festival,\u00a0Short,\u202fis full of musical megahits, great tales of\u202fshortness and proof that good things really do come in small packages.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Libby spoke to Glam Adelaide about\u00a0Short, her Cabaret Festival Icon Award and shared what the Adelaide Cabaret Festival means to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in every single Cabaret Festival except for one when I was touring somewhere else at the time and wasn\u2019t in Adelaide. I think the Festival itself is one of the best festivals in the world, and I\u2019m not just saying that because I get to be a part of it. I\u2019ve spoken to a lot of other cabaret performers nationally and internationally, and they all know about the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. It is the premier cabaret festival in the world. To me it means that winter is coming alive and Adelaide is really showing its colours. International and national acts come together and everyone really enjoys this time celebrating the art of cabaret. It\u2019s like one big, happy family. The festival is always carefully curated each year by whichever artistic director is in charge and they each bring a wonderful flavour that is different, unique and entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Michaela Burger\u202f and Libby O\u2019Donovan<\/p>\n

In 2022, Libby was awarded the Cabaret Festival Icon award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember when Alex Sinclair, who was the executive producer of the Cabaret Festival at that time, rang me to say I was being awarded the Cabaret Icon Award. I was absolutely blown away, I was so incredibly happy and honoured. It\u2019s my preferred genre. The fact that you can express who you are, you can speak to the truth of what\u2019s happening right now in the world, you can present works that are really engaging, entertaining, brave, funny\u2014it\u2019s a real representation of the human existence. To be honoured for that, for something that I love so much, I really felt so special and was very grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite working in the same circles and being good friends off stage,\u00a0Short\u00a0is the first time Libby and Michaela have worked together on a project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been wanting to perform with Michaela Burger for years and years. We are always in the same circles, we\u2019re always doing things at Cabaret Festival, we see each other at other festivals and other performance opportunities, but we have strangely never worked together\u2026and we\u2019re friends as well. But we\u2019ve never worked together. A very, very long time ago, I wanted to do a show with her called\u00a0Short, Fat and Ugly, but it was just like a joke. I said to her, we should do a show called\u00a0Short, Fat and Ugly, and do all songs and material that just represent that as we were laughing about what it takes to be a performer and what expectations are like in this industry.\u00a0For a lot of women, it\u2019s about looking your best and trying to be glamorous and I was wanting to try to flip that on the head.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it came to this Cabaret Festival, I said to her, why don\u2019t we do a show called Short? Because we\u2019re both really short \u2013 we are both under 5 feet tall. We have the same things said to us time and time again when we come off stage: \u201cOh my God, I can\u2019t believe how short you are in real life. You look bigger on stage, and such a big voice coming out of such a little person,\u201d and all of those things that people say.\u00a0We have that same experience because we\u2019re both so little and I just thought it would be really fun to explore that. I think at the moment in the world with so many people finding so many aspects of life tricky or confronting, with all sorts of global catastrophes happening, I just wanted to present a show that was fun and entertaining. It does tap into what a lot of people experience on an everyday level being short, but it\u2019s just going to be a really fabulous opportunity for people to come forget their worries and their cares and just have a sensationally fun time.\u201d<\/p>\n

We asked Libby what the creative process has been like when it came to writing\u00a0Short.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been and are still collaborating on everything. We collaborate on all aspects of how the show is going to run: the script, the arrangements, which songs, the band, how we\u2019re going to present the show, the lighting\u2014everything. We are working so well together. We just can\u2019t believe we haven\u2019t done this sooner.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Short\u00a0will be performed at the 2026 Cabaret Festival for three performances between 11th \u2013 13th of June.<\/p>\n

Short \u2013 Libby O\u2019Donovan\u202f & Michaela Burger
Space Theatre \u2013 Adelaide Festival Centre
11th \u2013 13th June 2026
https:\/\/cabaret.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au\/whats-on\/libby-odonovan-michaela-burger-short<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Claudio Raschella<\/p>\n

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