Michael strikes a pose with Madonna

Fresh from a hit season at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Michael Griffiths brings his loving tribute to the Queen of Pop to Slide for one night only on August 10.

“I’ve been a Madonna fan since as long as I could remember and feel that she’s never given enough credit for being a fantastic songwriter,” he told the Star Observer of his show, In Vogue.

“I thought it’d be fun to do a cabaret as Madonna singing all her hits sitting at a grand piano, but making no attempt to impersonate her.”

There’s also time for few catty digs at his idol’s foibles during the show.

“The show celebrates her incredible success story, but we certainly aren’t afraid to have a few big laughs at her expense too. There’s a definite camp factor when you have a youngish gay man talking in the first person as an ageing pop star with a potty mouth, ruminating on motherhood, a couple of failed marriages and a movie career that never really took off.

“Remember the coffee table book ‘SEX’? We couldn’t resist dusting that off and having a little trip down memory lane with it. What was she thinking?”

With Madge refusing to set foot on our shores for close to two decades now, Griffiths’ high-octane show – 35 different songs crammed into a one hour performance – might be the only opportunity audience members get to hearing Madonna’s songs live.

“I saw The Girlie Show a million years ago and am dying for her to come back. (But) to hear her songs at a piano and stripped back of all the pop production, they take on new meaning and all stand up as honest, clever and beautifully crafted.”

INFO: In Vogue, Slide Bar, August 10. www.slide.com.au