Legends!

Legends!
By James Kirkwood. Director: Christopher Renshaw. John Frost Production. Playhouse, QPAC. Opening Night: 2 June 2015 (later touring to Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne).

Star-driven plays have been the backbone of the commercial theatre since the days of Shakespeare. J.C. Williamson’s built their empire on them and these days Broadway or the West End couldn’t survive without them, but they’re been very thin on the ground in Australia in recent times. John Frost is redressing the situation following his success with Angela Lansbury in Driving Miss Daisy two years ago, by starring the Mills sisters, Hayley and Juliet, in a play about two aging down-on-their-luck cinema divas, who want to kick-start their careers on Broadway.

Hayley and Juliet have the street cred (movies, TV and stage), star personalities, and they’re now actors of a ‘certain age’ - a perfect combination for James Kirkwood’s slightly dated play which deals in bitchy repartee, gossip and theatrical one-upmanship. Leatrice Monsee (Hayley) and Sylvia Glenn (Juliet), let the fur fly and scratch and claw like cats in a whorehouse, but it’s all on the surface because underneath they’re just two lonely old broads. And that’s the clincher. Legends is a comedy with heart. Juliet gets the bitchier role and a multitude of laughs, but Hayley gets the second-act pathos. Whether knocking back gin on-the-rocks, scoffing hash-brownies, or remembering their good-old-days, together they’re a hugely enjoyable double-act.

Leah Howard was a riot as the stereotypical non-PC “Mammy” maid, whilst David Denis with his Chippendale strip-routine, came out of nowhere, went nowhere, but added a much needed sizzle to the plot. Maxwell Caulfield as the fast-talking, but hollow-promises agent did a splendid job of acting alone. His accents and comic timing were particularly adept, especially the second-act opener when he’s juggling three different pay-phones at once, and his hash-brownie blitz was slapstick funny.

Justin Nardella’s set looked like a ritzy upper East-side New York apartment and worked a treat even when it was smashed up, and his costumes for the stars were glamorous and striking. Hayley’s furs and picture hat were outlandishly stylish.

Although Christopher Renshaw’s direction was pacy and funny, the whole production felt it needed a few more preview performances under its belt to polish the laughs.

Peter Pinne       

Photographer: Jeff Busby

More reading - Peter Pinne's interview with Hayley and Juliet Mills

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