ED2012 Awards ED2012 News

Lady Rizo wins first ever Fringe cabaret prize

By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 24 August 2012

The first ever TO&ST Award, the previously reported new Fringe gong celebrating the best in cabaret at the Festival, has gone to Lady Rizo. She made her European debut at the Fringe this year, and was commended by the TO&ST judging panel for her “extraordinary voice, audience engagement, charisma and humour, in a very accomplished, slick show that embraces the joy of cabaret”.

As previously reported, the TO&ST Award was established by Time Out and the Soho Theatre in London earlier this year, to ensure that the Edinburgh Festival’s vibrant cabaret section had a prize giving all of its own. Time Out’s Cabaret Editor Ben Walters, also a judge for the new award, told ThreeWeeks: “We thought it was important to have something that recognised the work and talent in the cabaret section of the programme. There are awards for most of the Fringe’s other sections, and it can be a way of bringing attention to the scene and confirming its general development, as well as recognising individual artists and performers”.

Also shortlisted for the inaugural award were Dusty Limits, EastEnd Cabaret, Creative Martyrs, Piff The Magic Dragon and Tomás Ford for their respective 2012 Fringe shows. The overall winner will be offered a two week run at the Soho Theatre, giving Time Out’s London readership a chance to enjoy her show. Walters noted when Lady Rizo was confirmed as overall winner on Wednesday: “I’m confident that Time Out readers who respond to the cabaret artists we have been championing for many years will find Lady Rizo sensational”.