MICF 2026: Ariana and the Rose -The Breakup Variety Hour Review

11 April, 2026 timchuma 0 Comments 4 categories

I was asked to review this one but will give it a fair hearing as if I had gone to see it myself. I do go to more music gigs than comedy these days so it is easier for me to review it from that aspect. I also got to photograph this show so the photos will also tell their own story.

While I had not heard of this performer, they do have 100,000 TikTok followers which would mean more to me if I actually used that website. 73,000 on Instagram which means they would meet the threshold to get products for the company I do customer support for. Social media is important in the context of this show as the entire show started when Ariana started posting about her breakup and there were a lot more responses to these posts than her usual ones and it grew from there.

This type of show is more something that would usually be at Adelaide Fringe or Melbourne Fringe as it is more of a personal song with the emphasis on the songs and performance than straight jokes. There has been an effort by the comedy festival to be more inclusive in the past few years and not just ten pages in the festival guide of stand-up comedians named Dave.

I did not actually watch any of her songs or material on social media before I came to the show as I wanted to see it without any expectations of how it was going to go. I thought it went great and she sure has a lot of self-confidence to not only do an entire new show but also come out to Australia with a full hour to try and get an audience that may not know that much about her. I guess she would be able to do a song in line-ups of comedians but I am not sure if she is going to get the opportunity to do that much in the festival.

They were all good songs and it was quite different to the last musical/performance act I saw in the same venue during Fringe “The Fuppets” that no cameras were allowed to be out at all in.

Was a bit of audience interaction in the show but only a couple of people got up. We did get to hear about the “TASTE MOMMY!” three-way story from a previous show.

This would be a good show to go see before Impromptunes or Isabella Valette’s show if you wanted an all-musical comedy night. Why not? The next night I did an all-clown night. It was a bit of a gear change from Felicity Ward in the same room just before though.

I enjoyed the show and look forward to seeing what Arina and Rose gets up to in the future on her return.

Show details:

Prices

Adult:

Mon $32.00

Thu $32.00

Fri & Sat $34.00

Sun $32.00

Concession:

Mon $28.00

Thu $28.00

Fri & Sat $30.00