Jazz Garters 4

The  year in which Old Time Music Hall last incarnated through Canberra Repertory is already becoming shrouded in the mists of time, with two speakers at Jazz Garters 4 offering differing versions.  Regardless, this annual homage to musical variety acts enjoyed a relatively long tradition, and its old-world, rather gentlemanly, flavour didn't at all limit a prolific creativity, particularly in the company's clever update of lyrics and in consistently great choreography.

Most evident in the evolution of Old Time Music Hall into Jazz Garters was the format's loss of the character of the entrepreneurial music-hall master of ceremonies, played year after year by the delightfully watchable Russell Brown.  His M.C. is sadly missed!  But another major change has been incorporation of material from more-recent times, including excellent original songs.  I must admit that this has tended to add to the liveliness of an already lively format.

Jazz Garters 4 in fact focused to an extent on Canberra's centenary, with references to Rep’s own history and the reappearance of Lady Denman, who officially announced Canberra's name in 1913.  But material from all over the English-speaking world is fair game.

Rep's use of musical talent, in my experience, is always surprisingly good; and Jazz Garters 4, despite a slight reduction in the size of its instrumental ensemble, proved to be no exception, overcoming even the odd opening-night audio glitch.  The company must have had fun changing costumes in the seconds available to it between appearances, and the cast's genuine joy in putting on all this droll material was evident.  This is a night of relaxed fun, one you won't regret.

John P. Harvey

Image: Lachlan Ruffy, Michelle Tisdell, Brian Kavanagh, and Evan Kirby, in Jazz Garters 4. Photographer: Ross Gould.