Reviews

Cherry Smoke

By James McManus. Crisscross Productions. Director Charlie Vaux. KXT on Broadway. 24 March – 8 April, 2023

Many industrial centres in the United States floundered at the end of the 20th century. In Pittsburgh, for example, after the steelworks closed in 1978, 300,000 people lost their jobs. By 2021 the U.S. Census Bureau declared that one in five citizens – over 56,000 people – in that once thriving city lived in poverty.

The Beryls: Cattle Call.

Presented by the Travelling Sisters. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Malthouse Theatre, 113 Sturt Street Southbank. 30 March – 9 April 2023

Laura Trenerry & Patrick Dwyer form the partnership called the The Beryls and this performance sees two fictional characters they have created, Victoria Beauvoir (Dwyer), and sidekick Roger Seahorse (Trenerry) devise a show. They stage a casting call in their hometown of Schlumpsville where they want to stage the performance to reinvigorate their ailing careers. Their imaginary production requires the casting of 72 roles and as they ponder the characters that will populate their somewhat absurd scenarios, they invite some highly unlikely performers to test their talent.

Where There’s a Will

By Christine Croyden. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. La Mama HQ. 28 March – 9 April 2023

Three sisters fight over their mother’s will. In this play, the twist on the cliché, ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way.’, is ‘where there’s a will, there’s a fight.’  These sisters’ fight is vicious, malicious, irrational, childish, careless with the truth – and funny.  The nub of the battle is a beach house, once the scene of happy holidays of sun and surf, now dilapidated and stacked with years of memorabilia (i.e.

Come From Away

By Irene Sankoff and David Hein. Rodney Rigby and Junkyard Dog Productions. Her Majesty’s Theatre Adelaide. 28 March to 29 April, 2023.

‘Welcome to the friends who have come from away’ sing the twelve-strong cast of this terrific musical that has finally made its way to South Australia. Adelaide is the destination of the latest leg of its Australian tour, that began in 2019, only to be interrupted for a couple of years through the Covid pandemic. That first line of the opening song is the central tenet to the true story of how a small town in Newfoundland took on seven thousand stranded passengers following the terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001.

My Fair Lady

Book & Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick Loewe. GSOV (Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Victoria). Director: Robert Ray. Musical Director: Timothy John Wilson. Alexander Theatre, Melbourne. March 30 - April 2, 2023.

The GSOV, with nearly 90 years of wowing audiences with the operas of Gilbert & Sullivan, has made the decision to stage their first full-fledged Broadway show. With both dramatic and comical elements and large ensemble numbers similar to G&S, My Fair Lady (hailed by many as the greatest musical of all time) is the perfect choice and ‘with a little bit of luck’ a sold out season will ensue.

CHESS

Music by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus. Book and lyrics by Tim Rice. Directed by Liam Boyd. Assistant Director Alan Cooke. North Queensland Opera and Music Theatre. Vocal Direction: Bree Millsom & Morgan Eldridge. Choreography: Suzie Searight & Melissa Land. Music Direction: Odette Baxter. Townsville Civic Theatre, 29 March – 1 April 2023.

THERE IS much to celebrate in this production of a musical which – if the pun is to be pardoned – has had a chequered history. Where it lies in the chronological development of the rock opera/musical as well as its contemporary historic significance, give profound clues to the strengths and weaknesses of the show itself, which has nothing to do with this particular production.

Jazz or A Bucket of Blood

Devised & performed by Ange Lavoipierre & Jane Watt. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The Butterfly Club Downstairs. 27 March – 2 April, 2023

This is a daffy, clowning, faux-amateur, absurd, and very funny fifty-five minutes.  The alternative in the title is never resolved.  On stage, there are two chairs and a metal bucket.  Ange comes on with a confident but somehow dangerous smile.  Jane sort of stumbles onto the stage; her smile is anxious, more of a rictus of terror.  The contrast is pretty much how they’ll go on.  The know-it-all smartie and the dope, the foil, the unwitting comic relief.  The White Clown and the Stumblebum.  Both are dressed as primary school kids: gre

One Man, Two Guv’nors

By Richard Bean. Directed by Angus Evans. New Theatre, Newtown, NSW. 22 Mar – 15 April, 2023

Richard Bean’s whacky adaptation of Carlo Goldoni’s 1746 commedia dell’arte play, Servant of Two Masters, has been doing the rounds since 2011. And no wonder! It’s funny, suggestive and gives contemporary commedia buffs a chance to do their zany stuff – pratfalls, acrobatics, chases, falls, poses, banter and some judicious over-acting!

Way

Written and performed by Sally McKenzie. La Mama Courthouse, Carlton. 22 March – 2 April 2023

Way is a play driven by passion and shaped by theatrical skill honed by years of experience, a play in which Sally McKenzie plays all four of her characters.  As a play, it could easily have tipped over into agit-prop or political pamphlet.  It doesn’t - due to two factors that demonstrate the professionalism and ingenuity of its creator.  

Mother and Son

By Geoffrey Atherden. Ipswich Musical Theatre. Mar 24 – Apr 1, 2023

There is no stronger bond than one forged within a family. They are there through thick and thin, and that love can be tested as the years roll on. This is highlighted in Ipswich Musical Theatre Company’s production Mother and Son.

Subscribe to our E-Newsletter, buy our latest print edition or find a Performing Arts book at Book Nook.