Michael Griffiths - It's a Sin: Songs of Love & Shame

Cabaret powerhouse Michael Griffiths pays tribute to Pet Shop Boys, the soundtrack of his life

Vale Park, Adelaide, 1987. Michael Griffiths is about to start a new Catholic Secondary School. New uniform. New peer pressure. New everything. He’s also trying to navigate his sexuality in a time when the AIDS epidemic was full blown, when the Grim Reaper was on TV every night and homophobia was everywhere. In these times, the coolly melancholic songs of electronic duo Pet Shop Boys – aka Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe – provided solace, and a safe space to explore feeling out of step with the world.

Directed by Dean Bryant (Sweet Charity, Assassins) and featuring Julian Ferraretto on violin and Dylan Paul on double bass, "It’s a Sin" sees Griffiths bring his inimitable cabaret style to PSB classics like Rent, Love Comes Quickly, Suburbia, You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk, Go West and It’s a Sin, linking each song to some of the most important (and sometimes hilarious) episodes, incidents and people in his life. Most movingly of all, it gently but unflinchingly explores the challenges of long-term relationships.