Edges: A Song Cycle

Edges: A Song Cycle was the first chance for Brisbane audiences to hear the work of Justin Paul and Benj Pasek, and although it showed the potential these two young American musical theatre writers would later achieve with their Dogfight and A Christmas Story scores, Edges was the work of two writers still in their embryonic stage. Written when they were 19 the cycle of songs were all about middle-class American youth coming-of-age and finding and losing love.

New-kids-on-the-block Understudy Productions, formed by Alexander Woodward and several ex-students of the Griffith University Musical Theatre Course, are to be congratulated on the quality of this, their first production.

Obviously the cast benefitted by London director Ian Good’s experienced hand, but the terrific six-part harmonies which dotted the musical landscape throughout were no doubt due to Dominic Woodhead’s excellent musical direction. They, and his brilliant work on keyboard, were the glue that held the whole production together.

Woodward’s “Monticello,” about “dying dreams” in a small-town, resonated, as did Luke Hodgson and Pia Frangiosa’s fear of commitment piece “I Hmm You.” Danika Saal’s chewing-the-scenery take on “In Short,” a piece about wanting to kill your ex, pulled the laughs and big applause, as did her gay ode “Man of my Dreams.” Stephanie Long’s “Perfect” (“I could be perfect, tell me what to do, I could be perfect for you”) was emotionally poignant, whilst Woodhead’s comic-cut “Along the Way” of not being dependable and letting his pet gerbil die, had the sobering tag of “That’s why I’m so afraid to raise a kid.” His showy turn on keyboard was complimented by some nice guitar work by Tom Collins, who also did the charts, and unobtrusive drums by Nick Woodhead.

Not every song landed - a fault of the material more than anything - but the performers delivered them all with professional chutzpah.

Peter Pinne   

Photographer; Joel Devereux