Madeleine McKenzie - Jazzing up aged care
Madeleine McKenzie is a cabaret singer who enjoys nothing more than bringing pure joy to audiences.
For the past 40 years she has been the show stopper with a variety of acts, including duos, trios and full bands.
In 1988 Madeleine broke her neck in a car accident and decided "I can still have kids - and I can still sing! So I did”. She rocked up to an audition with David Briggs from Little River Band and Peter Williams from The Groove and got the gig.
The trio formed the act "Some Like It Hot”, and this gave Madeleine the courage and mindset to back herself to the point that she was not scared anymore to work with anyone.
Madeleine also got to work with UK singer, Allison Norfolk and 25 years on are still performing together.
During the bushfires in East Gippsland, Madeleine felt stressed in her day job selling Photocopiers which supplied copiers to businesses all over east Gippsland, and decided to leave to do something that makes her happy - sing!
She started entertaining folks at nursing homes around Gippsland and then Covid 19 happened - so the next best thing to live - was recording live shows from home and sending them to the homes.
And then there’s Madeleine’s dad and super fan, who loved her singing and proudly announced to everyone at every garage sale - “Do you know my daughter? She sings!”
His sister has Alzheimers and lives in a care home and is one of Madeleine’s biggest fans. On a recent visit she remembered that Madeleine was a singer, which prompted Madeleine to leave her with a concert on her phone.
Madeleine’s business, Cabaret On Call, now provides online music to aged care facilities, and she says her heart couldn’t be more full.
Socials:
Website: https://www.cabaretoncall.com.au/
FB: Cabaret on Call
Insta: Cabaret on Call @cabaretoncall
LinkedIn: Madeleine McKenzie
Mentions:
Enjoy the visual here on Youtube
