Reviews

Wicked

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by Winnie Holzman. Based upon the novel by Gregory Maguire. Willoughby Theatre Company. The Concourse Theatre, Chatswood. May 20 – June 4, 2017.

Willoughby Theatre Company’s production of the musical version of Gregory Maguire story of Wicked – The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz is a pure spectacle for all who make the trip to the wonderful Concourse Theatre.

Forget-Me-Knot

By David Tristram. The Basin Theatre. May 19 – June 10, 2017

Nestled into the base of the Dandenong Mountains, The Basin Theatre is exquisitely surrounded by bushland, just outside of suburbia.

Their second production for 2017 is the English farce, Forget-Me-Knot, a tricky script to tackle due to multiple twists and turns in the storyline, which is unfortunately riddled with inconsistencies. The Basin Theatre has performed quite well under the constraints provided by this awkward piece of writing.

Happy Days at War

Written, produced & co-directed by Leah Milburn-Clark. Co-directed by Jay Peardon. Believe Productions Australia. Northcote Town Hall, West Studio, Northcote VIC. 18-21 May 2017

Happy Days at War depicts a young German couple ‘F’ (playwright Leah Milburn-Clark) and ‘M’ (co-director Jay Peardon) in 1939 Germany - that is, Germany with the National Socialists in power and on the brink of war.  M is a devout Nazi, who gets a job on Hitler’s staff, and a virulent anti-Semite.  He makes such statements as, ‘the air is cleaner now the Jews are gone.’  F protests ineffectually against such statements, but the couple are, nevertheless, happy and in love. 

Avenue Q

Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx. Book by Jeff Whitty. Directed by John Boyce. Arts Theatre, Brisbane. May 13 – 27, 2017.

When a young man graduates from Princeton he has to move to Avenue Q to live while he tries to find his purpose in life. This is a rundown, poor area of New York where he meets friends, finds love and then loses it for a while. What is different in this musical is that the majority of characters are puppets, not the pure innocent ones of Sesame Street which was the inspiration of the idea, but rather ones showing the full range of human strengths and weaknesses. There are only three human characters in the play.

Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by Hugh Wheeler. Manly Musical Society. Star of the Sea Theatre, Manly. May 19 – 27, 2017

Sweeney Todd has some of the most fiendishly clever and wicked music and lyrics from any musical. Who else but Sondheim could make you laugh at eating human flesh?

"It's fop. Finest in the shop. And we have some shepherd's pie peppered with actual shepherd on top!"

For this reason and several others the musical is extremely demanding for a community theatre to stage. The challenge is to be as brilliant as the musical itself.

Diamonds are for Trevor: 80th Birthday Edition.

Performed by Trevor Ashley. Hamer Hall, Melbourne Arts Centre. 18 May 2017.

Trevor Ashley (Hairspray and Priscilla) has created a magnificent show that celebrates the career and life of Dame Shirley Bassey. His tribute to the iconic Welsh singer goes well beyond impersonation. Ashley inhabits the persona, and her power and flamboyance are remembered with great irony and humour.

Footloose

By Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie, based on the screenplay by Dean Pitchford. Music by Tom Snow (and others), lyrics by Dean Pitchford. MLOC. Director/Choreographer: Leah Osburn. Musical Director: Malcolm Huddle. Shirley Burke Theatre, Parkdale. May 19 – 27, 2017

I have not encountered Footloose before, but thoroughly enjoyed this MLOC production. Though the premise is a bit corny, the strength of the acting drew me in.

This was a colourful, high energy show with a large cast. There was a steel structure at the back for elevation, and different parts of the set were wheeled on and off swiftly to keep the action moving.

 

 

Miss Saigon

Music: Claude-Michel Schönberg. Lyrics: Alain Boublil & Richard Maltby Jnr. Stray Cats Theatre. Directed by Karen Francis. Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, WA. 18-21 May, 2017

The West Australian Community Theatre Premiere of Miss Saigon was a beautifully presented production by Stray Cats Theatre.

This large cast show was strongly sung, with the 50+ cast members well led by Vocal Director Kristie Gray. Musical Director David Hicks guided a tight thirteen-piece orchestra.

Two Brothers

By Hannie Rayson. Red Phoenix Theatre (SA). Holden Street Theatres. May 18-27, 2017.

In a world where schools in some countries are removing the Arts from the curriculum, Two Brothers by Hannie Rayson epitomises the reason why this is so wrong.

Theatre like this, that educates, builds vital emotional intelligence and helps generate political understanding is paramount, so that we question why things are as they are, how we feel about issues and where our moral compass points are, rather than follow blindly.

King Roger

By Karol Szymanowski and Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz. Opera Australia. Director: Kasper Holten. Conductor: Andrea Molino. Choreographer: Cathy Marston. Arts Centre Melbourne. May 17 – 27, 2017.

King Roger is a Polish opera about the 12th Century Sicilian King, Roger II, but in reality is a psychological drama of a man’s inner conflict between Christian restraint and pagan pleasure. This co-production with Covent Garden and Dallas Opera featured an eight metre high head, which revolved in the second act to become Roger’s three-tiered home, or a metaphor for what was happening in his mind.

It was totally engaging and enthusiastically received by the capacity opening night audience.

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