As the sonic booms of the Australia Day Skyworks reverberated off the buildings lining Murray Street, I ventured down to the quieter redoubt of the Sewing Room, stage for Anne Millar to shine in her long gestating cabaret set in Paris of the 1930s. On a small stage with a few props, accompanied by pianist David Wickham, Millar becomes a starry eyed girl arriving in Paris with only a suitcase, hoping to find love... only to find out how hard it can be.

Through the songs of Satie, Poulenc, Weill and Russell among others, Millar weaves the tale through superlative acting and her sublime mezzo soprano voice. Having spent 35 years with the WA Opera, she knows how to inhabit a character so that you in the audience forget that you're in a small venue, and are there with her. The character is a tragic figure, since the constant battles make her increasingly dissolute, but it's no spoiler to say she pulls through having learned the hard way.

The songs are obscure in that while popular in France in the 1930s, they never became staples here, although there are subtitles projected over photos of of old French cabaret venues where the songs would have been sung by chanteuses like Yvette Guilbert, Marie Dubas, and Eliane Embrun and of course, Edith Piaf. What is remarkable is how Millar has found and woven the story through these songs. Some songs are in English (since the character is a native speaker) and Millar uses the problem learning a new language as part of the story, deriving humour out of it. There are some very funny moments, but the story gets darker as it goes along. In that respect, Millar is bringing her years of experience to create a wonderful, compact mini cabaret/opera.

David Wickham's piano accompaniment is perfect for the setting and Ms Millar. There were only 24 in the audience when I attended, but it deserves ten times that many. I urge you to go see for yourself.