Reviews

Disney's Aladdin Jr.

Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice. Book adapted & additional lyrics by Jim Luigs. Music adapted and arranged by Brian Louiselle. North Shore Theatre Company. The Zenith Theatre, Chatswood. Mar 24 – Apr 1, 2023

Get your tickets for a magical carpet ride to Agrabah ,where North Shore Theatre Company’s Aladdin JR is guaranteed to have you laughing, singing, and cheering along. The one-hour Disney adaptation is the story you know about a “diamond in the rough” street rat who learns his worth is within.  

Beautiful – The Carole King Musical

Words and Music by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Book by Douglas McGrath/ Directed by Johanna Allen. Star Casino Gold Coast. 11th March – 9th April, 2023

There can’t be anyone in the Western World who doesn’t know a Carole King song, even if they don’t know that Carole King wrote it. Songs like “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, “You’ve Got A Friend” and “It Might As Well Rain Until September” were the soundtrack of our lives from the end of the 1950s through to the late 70s and are now considered standards. The music was fabulous, even if its creator wasn’t half as interesting. King’s major ambition was to have children and live in the suburbs.

Madama Butterfly

Composed by Giacomo Puccini. Libretttists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Handa on Sydney Harbour. Opera Australia. March / April 2023.

The forecast was for rain, and last year was almost washed out, so the opening night audience was delighted to drink in a balmy clear night where Sydney beamed.

Madama Butterfly is most suited to the outdoor setting of Handa on Sydney Harbour, as the first act has a wedding, and the second act is dominated by the leading lady waiting for the ship of her husband to arrive.

The Tempest

By William Shakespeare. University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. 24 March - 1 April 2023

Director Bronwyn Palmer has set UATG’s The Tempest on an ‘island of garbage’, referencing The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (known also as the Pacific trash vortex) that spans waters from the West Coast of America to Japan. With detritus fringing the sand-coloured/turquoise bordered Little Theatre stage or netting, garbage bags and other junk hanging from the mezzanine and elsewhere, the clever set is certainly evocative of abandonment and remoteness.

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

By Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane. Adaptor / Director: Jay James-Moody. Squabbalogic Independent Music Theatre. Seymour Centre. 17 March – 15 April, 2023

This cleverly adapted and skilfully directed production zooms along at a tightly controlled pace. It takes the ideas of the original 1960s musical fantasy and brings them cunningly into the 21st century without losing the any of the romantic whimsy and music of the original book and score or the 1970s movie.

Into The Woods

Book by James Lapine. Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Co-produced by Belvoir and Hayes Theatre Co. Belvoir Street Upstairs Theatre. March 18 – April 30, 2023.

Since Stephen Sondheim conjured this mad entwining of Grimm’s Fairy Tales back in 1987, hundreds of big stars in musical theatre and screen have redrawn our memories of these iconic characters.  

Eamon Flack’s production for Belvoir’s corner stage may be a smaller, more ensemble affair than others, but his impeccable casting ensures a true and intimate experience as we follow these characters into the woods. 

Coming Out

Written by Scott Taylor. Music by Robert Taylor. Chapel Off Chapel. Midsumma Festival. 9 – 19 February, 2023.

Part of the fun of reviewing a show is knowing nothing about it going in. But when I arrived at Chapel Off Chapel and collected the programme for Coming Out, I had a fair idea of what to expect: another one of these coming out monologues (sometimes funny, sometimes set to music, sometimes both).

My expectations were wrong. Very wrong.

Four Flat Whites in Italy

By Roger Hall. Therry Theatre. The Arts Theatre, Angus St, Adelaide. March 23 – April 1, 2023

“Let’s have the adventure before the dementia!” wryly quips Adrian before he and his wife set off to Italy for the trip of a lifetime. Four Flat Whites in Italy ticks every box as the perfect play to celebrate the recent opening of overseas travel!

Therry Theatre have a real winner on their hands with their current production; excellent production values, great casting, intelligent direction, functional set and a script that keeps the laughs coming fast and maybe a few tears

RENT

By Jonathan Larson. Miranda Musical Theatre Company. Pavilion Performing Arts Centre, Sutherland. March 23 – 26, 2023

There’s a lot of pressure associated with being the first company to stage a full-scale musical in a recently renovated venue.  Throw in a shorter-than-usual rehearsal period and a Wednesday night opening and a lot of groups might run in the opposite direction.  Luckily this wasn’t the case with Miranda Musical Theatre Company (formerly Miranda Musical Society), who opened their season of RENT on Wednesday night at the Pavilion Performing Arts Centre, Sutherland.

Melbourne, Cheremushki

Based on Moscow, Cheremushki by Dmitri Shostakovich. Libretto by Vladimir Mass and Mikhail Chervinsky. Presented by Victorian Opera. Directed by Constantine Costi. Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne. 22–25 March 2023.

This operetta is a departure from Shostakovich’s usual music style, but the dynamic music combined with an equally lively libretto create a vibrant text with definite shades of black comedy. The story centres around the chronic shortage of housing in the Soviet capital in the 1950s and directly criticises the defective political machinery of the day. The decision to adapt the story to Melbourne rather than Moscow is a clever one, given the political sensitivity of the location and the relevance to Melbourne’s lingering and worsening housing crisis.