Can you have a sustainable career in cabaret?

Artists and artistic directors discuss the cabaret sector’s state of health, and offer advice for career development and sustainability.

Class of Cabaret participant Alex De Porteous performing at Adelaide Cabaret Festival; image supplied.

If life is a cabaret, where do you get your start? Unlike comedy, which has an established tradition of open-mic nights where newcomers can get a foot in the door, as well as development programs like Class Clowns and RAW Comedy, cabaret is a harder nut to crack.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts