Eurobeat – Almost Eurovision

So effectively self-satirizing is the often-dreadful Eurovision song contest, that further send-up seems almost redundant. In writing this parody musical, the Australian creators had to come up with a score full of clichéd, deliberately bad songs, and intentionally cringe-worthy, often sleazy or risqué, banter for the comperes, then make it work for an audience. With no conventional narrative, it’s more like a vaudeville or variety show than a musical in any conventional sense. It works best during a number of well-performed good songs which sneak in and some excruciatingly funny dreadfulness.

Community Theatre directors and performers need to deliver a high-energy performance, drawing inspiration for their deliberate and necessary excesses from the likes of Michael Green’s The Art of Coarse Acting for this piece of theatrical froth and bubble. Director Jan Maloney and her cast certainly achieve that.

The Hills’ cabaret seating, around tables of eight, proved a good match for Eurobeat, establishing the feel of an awards night, complete with ample nibbles and juice, or BYO alcohol.

Audiences vote for the winning national act in Eurobeat each night. Each audience member is allocated a temporary nationality (Iceland in my case) and receives a form (for voting) and flag (for waving). Audience votes are counted during the interval, then presented via live tally video crosses to the various national capitals, effectively and entertainingly. (I was given a tour of the makeshift low-tech studio – three computers, a video camera and a green screen. Impressive!)

Opening night and two preview audiences, I’m informed, all reached different decisions.

On opening night the winner was Vesuvia Versace (played by Suzanne Spiteri) from Italy. Spiteri, helped by one of the better songs in the show, Don’t Say “Ti Amo”, delivered in dynamic voice, with strong presence.

Other highlights included Laura Reid’s confident, cheeky Nana Mouskouri turn as the Greek representative (well supported by Emma Scarlis and Charmaine Sleman); Norway’s boisterous, witty Viking number, Hammer of Thor (Geoff Duncan, Luke Lamond and Dominica Connor, with male ensemble); Ukraine’s Bang Me, with raunchy lyrics delivered with absolute naïve innocence by Valerie Miller; the big laughs landed by the surtitles for the French entry, sung by Leonie Klopper; the engaging leprechaun of John Adams, distinctively Irish delivering La La La; Annette Alexander’s distinctively ice maiden-ish delivery of Iceland’s Love Ballad #3a; Briony Visser’s standout performance as the blonde in ABBA take-off Same Old Song, and Lichtenstein’s way out, wordless post modern Be-Bop for Veronda.

As co-host Boyka, Ashli Martin has a sparkling personality, the right figure to stylishly parade a series of elegant gowns, and when she gets her chance to sing (dressed as a turnip) in the showcase at the start of Act 2, it’s another highlight. As intended, Rick Barta makes not-so-bright, sleazy co-host Sergei the leery type of guy you’d expect to spring out in a dark alleyway wanting to sell you dirty postcards.

The video crosses in the second act, as the vote tally occurred were well-handled and good fun, with deliberately grainy transitions and some particularly amusing visuals. It’s a shame that the number of crosses involved tend to make this portion of the short second act drag a little, just as many awards counts do.

While I’ll always prefer live accompaniment, pre-recorded instrumental tracks work better for this show than most.

My personal taste in musicals is definitely more conventional than Eurobeat – Almost Eurovision, but there’s plenty of silly fun to enjoy in The Hills Musical Society’s production.

Neil Litchfield

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