High Fidelity

The credentials are impeccable. Music by Tom Witt who brought us the amazing Next To Normal, lyrics by the fabulous Amanda Green, actress, singer, songwriter, major talent, and a book by David Lindsay-Abaire, playwright of award winning Rabbit Hole, and original source material from Nick Hornby’s smash hit seminal novel …. The story of a thirty something vinyl record store owner who is wasting his life and his relationships while putting his energy into making lists of his Top 5 of everything, is one we can relate to. Add to this the quirky misfits who don’t belong anywhere but with vinyl. All of which should make High Fidelity a no-brainer, must see experience. And yet……..

Sometimes it’s hard to put your finger on why something isn’t working up to expectations; but often it’s a combination of small things. Pursued By Bear is a new Musical Theatre company that burst onto the scene last year with a much lauded production of Next to Normal at Chapel off Chapel, so it is natural that they would visit both Witt and Chapel for their second production. However, there is a vast difference between the small cast/ small band N2N and High Fidelity with its cast of 16 and a 10 piece band, and what a band – just sensational (Congratulations to Frankie Ross MD and her musicians). The space at Chapel is just too cramped for 26 people, and when you add a somewhat cumbersome, though albeit initially interesting, set by Sarah Tulloch, the performance space is reduced to very little; certainly not enough for David Ward and Co-Choreographer Russell Leonard to show off the impressive dance routines. So we’re struggling with what could have been dazzling staging in a space which, much as I love it, doesn’t work for the vision or the cast size.

Then there’s the book, which never really develops leading lady Laura beyond more than a cardboard cut-out and gives her few chances to shine or establish herself vocally. The book is perhaps the worst element of the creative side, and is virtually non-existent in the second act where the plot could be summed up in three lines. That would be fine if there was a lot of rich character development, but there isn’t. Writers have a question we ask ourselves when creating… “Who do we care about?” The short answer here is that we don’t really care about anyone very much…certainly not the two central characters. The show is totally without real heart, real sensibility, real emotional connection. That is not entirely the fault of Director David Ward, but there are places where he could have injected an emotional arc – Rob’s epiphany and subsequent pleas in “Laura, Laura”, yet it remains flat and emotionless, paradoxical against the high energy musical numbers. One can’t help but feel that the book in particular is a work in progress and still several drafts away from being ready – which may account for it running only 14 performances on Broadway. Thankfully Amanda Green’s terrific lyrics compensate in small part.

There are some shining lights in the casting, but Russell Leonard disappoints in the lead role of Rob. He has the right look, a charming smile and a lovely tone to his speaking voice, but I’ve rarely heard a singer with such bad pitch problems. I’m hoping it was opening night nerves, but the pitchiness got worse in the second act until there were moments he was completely off-key and painful to listen to. Moreover, he seemed not to believe a single word he was saying, simply going through the motions in his performance. That might seem unfair, and perhaps he was directed that way. Having said that, Hornby’s hero isn’t a sleepwalker, he’s a man of buried passions who hides them under cynical “sang froid”, so that he won’t be hurt…why else would he keep a Top 5 list of girlfriends who have dumped him? He’s hurt…but none of that emotion was evident even in the subtext.

Simone Van Vugt (Laura) struggles with the poorly written role and with a radio mike that refused to work for her, despite her excellent voice. Add that to a lack of chemistry between her and Leonard and the central theme of the story – the Rob and Laura arc – is reduced to being ho-hum and unengaging. It should be full of supressed passion, recriminations, guilt, grief and confusion – all the stellar stuff that drama is made of. Instead it seemed petty and flat, and not worthy of the actress.

Rescue comes in the form of Liam O’Byrne (Dick) and Alexia Brinsley (Anna and Jacqui). These two offbeat performers possess great comic timing, terrific voices and real presence. They pull focus when on stage and never fail to impress, and there is a genuine warmth in this second string romance. O’Byrne’s voice is a pure dream and Brinsley holds her own vocally and dances up a storm…these are two stars in the making so remember the names.

Scott Mackenzie (Barry) is excellent, but has the unenviable task of following Jack Black who played the role in the movie. He doesn’t quite manage to erase Black’s over-powering charisma. Lisa Woodbrook (Liz) is another WAAPA graduate and it shows. She’s excellent as the best friend who doesn’t want to choose between Rob and Laura, clearly a talent worth noting. Of the rest of the hard-working cast Jason Bentley’s Ian is impressive and Caleb Jago-Ward is hysterically funny without dialogue, but often at the expense of upstaging and pulling focus. Naughty!

Pursued by Bear really does need to take a step back from this and look at all the reasons this is NOT the triumph they clearly expected after their initial success. The creatives are young and enthusiastic, but very green. Whatever made them think they could take a mediocre musical which was a giant flop elsewhere, and turn it into something worthy of an Australian Premiere and endorsement from the Minister for the Arts? Some soul searching is certainly needed.

Coral Drouyn