Melbourne review wrap: Meow Meow’s The Red Shoes at Malthouse; Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Ryman Healthcare Spring Gala; Pixies at Festival Hall; Joyce DiDonato at Hamer Hall; Brigid at Dancehouse

CABARET

Meow Meow’s The Red Shoes ★★★

Malthouse Theatre, until December 6

The original Hans Christian Andersen’s tale involves a girl enamoured with a pair of red shoes. As punishment for her vanity, the shoes are cursed, and she’s forced to dance in them forever.

Even when her feet are amputated, the shoes still dance tauntingly before her. Yes, it’s grim, as a lot of these unvarnished fairytales are wont to be, but this is Meow Meow’s Red Shoes , and she has her own ideas about the classic story. It’s the third iteration in her fairytale series, after The Little Matchstick Girl and The Little Mermaid .

The show opens on a comic note with the performer (otherwise known as Melissa Madden Gray ) being dragged on stage by her legs. This self-confessed “eternal showgirl” has lo