SUGAR, in The Show Room, Arts Centre Melbourne - 70 minutes

Tomáš Kantor is such an uber talented performer.

Whether he is channelling voices high or low, or singing with lyrical appeal, or playing a succession of instruments adroitly, he makes it all appear effortless.

That, in itself, is mighty impressive.

Photos by Mark Gambino

Overall, he is simply so engaging and that gets back to his yarn spinning and his ability to lure in the audience and readily interact with us.

SUGAR is a story of how an attractive, gender-fluid young man met his first sugar daddy.

The latter was a wealthy, 6 foot tall, 59-year-old mining tech titan from Western Australia, over in Melbourne on business. His name was Richard.

A year earlier, Tom was a sad, painfully single, budding actor who drew inspiration from Julia Roberts playing Vivian Ward in the 1990 rom com Pretty Woman.

His flatmate, Alejandro, barely saw him leave his room.

While Tom loved sex, as a 21-year-old, he had never done the deed with an older man.

So, it was that Tom created the name Sugar and entered his profile online, claiming to be a nursing student. 

He had three non-negotiables, including that the respondent couldn’t be anti-trans.

After two weeks of nothing, what turned out to be the very handsome Richard appeared.

So began a flurry of texts, before the pair met in person.

Tom chose a bar where he had the support of a trans sister in Vivienne.

A New Zealander, Vivienne worked behind the bar.

Tom had worded her up with a series of hand signals to ensure that help was merely steps away if he needed it.

After all, having taken a seat in a corner booth, he wanted to satisfy himself that Richard wasn’t a psychopath.

And so it started.

Out of the gate, the deep voiced Richard covered himself in glory by dropping the pronoun “their”.

After determining the pay rate, taking his cue from Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman and allowing for inflation, sex between them was a many splendour thing.

They began seeing each other regularly.

Richard was a generous provider and their relationship even got to the point where he offered Sugar an allowance.

But it was on a shopping trip that their connection took an ugly turn.

I have merely brushed the surface in terms of what I have given away.

Against a popular music backdrop and spot lighting, Tomáš Kantor acts, plays the keyboard, the cello and the piano, and sings up a storm.

He is cheeky, cheery and oh so deliciously naughty.

He has the audience with him all the way, egging us on and, on occasions, engaging one-on-one with patrons.

But underneath, the glitz, the wigs, the costumes and the props – the fantasy world that Sugar creates – is a much darker and more salient message.

Tomáš Kantor showcases what a consummate and passionate entertainer he is.

He is very much a physical performer – energy personified – and not backward in coming forward, for make no mistake, SUGAR is sexually charged.

With strong musical direction from Rachel Lewindon, it has been splendidly written by Ro Bright and is skilfully directed by Kitan Petkovski.

The potent visual design by Bethany J. Fellows has a decidedly pink flavour, including a heart shaped window used to grand effect.

SUGAR is an outstanding, risqué show for the broadminded, one I highly commend.

It is on at The Show Room, Arts Centre Melbourne, until 25^th January, 2026, as part of the Midsumma Festival.