The fallen diva makes quite an entrance, stumbling through the aisles burdened with a heavy gold lam womb, desperately seeking a venue and finding no room at the inn.

Her parodic stab at the nativity achieves supreme silliness: no messiah pops out, just inflatable animals to crowd around a Pret A Manger sign.

It is worth the price of admission just to hear her sing.

Everything goes wrong, but the show must go on. When her illustrious special guests all cancel, Meow Meow grabs some pesky orphans carolling outside (Annie Jones, Dusty Bursill, Charlotte Barnard, Riya Mandrawa) to fill in, only to have them upstage her.

The singer is backed by a versatile three-piece band.Credit:Pia Johnson

Yuletide cliches lurk offstage: flurries of fake snow, a nightmare visitation from Santa Claus, the sound of children. In the spotlight, Meow Meows seat-of-the-pants shtick devolves, as disaster continues to strike, into pill-popping hedonism and an encounter with a doppelganger (Michaela Burger) that works in a Scrooge-like revelation.

Finally, a poignant reveal dismantles artifice, reminds us of the reverent joy in traditional Christmas carols, and touches the soul with a rendition of Patty Griffins Kite Song, sung with a fragile optimism that lingers in the air as you depart.

Meow Meows voice has always possessed a commanding quality.Credit:Pia Johnson

You might wish there were more songs, though, and less shtick. The comedy eventually scrabbles its way towards the sublime but can sometimes feel like filler, while Meow Meows dark and honeyed voice has always possessed a commanding quality capable of instantly bewitching an auditorium. As chanteuse, she performs in at least four languages, backed (and sometimes comically rivalled) by a versatile three-piece band. It is worth the price of admission just to hear her sing.

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Meow Meow lays the shtick on thick, but the songs are worth it - Sydney Morning Herald