Dreamsong

The wealth of talent currently in Musical Theatre – in Melbourne alone – is truly staggering. When you put wunderkinds Tripolino and Chiarella together with a fabulous cast and current “flavour of the month” director Dean Bryant, in a brand new Australian musical that is a biting satire on organised churches, you can expect it to be something very special indeed. The thing is, it’s tantalisingly close to being there; but I couldn’t help but remember the old nursery rhyme: “There was a little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead, and when she was good she was very very good; but when she was bad she was…….” Well, you know the rest.

Though the disclaimer says the show isn’t about any particular church, the paradigm is clear in its title. It also owes much to the film Dogma and, to a lesser extent, The Book of Mormon. A money-making church loses investments in the GFC and so stages a “Resurrection” of JC to make money and put the government in its pocket. They choose a Justin Bieber like Christ (after all everyone will buy his CD). The trouble is that the REAL Jesus chooses that exact moment to return (Why?) and he’s a bit of a daggy slob in a bath robe who is nowhere near as marketable. This should lead to a fabulous throughline, but it doesn’t. The book is at fault (isn’t it always?) in not finding a clear focus or choosing a character to lead us through the journey. In juggling too many story-balls, some are dropped and the structure becomes messy, especially in the second act. There’s exposition we don’t need, yet the odd line here and there of clarity of purpose is missing. It’s nothing that isn’t fixable, but it is a shame that after its extensive workshops its focus still isn’t clear and the faults are still there. The whole idea of Pastor Sunday being the Anti-Christ for example, just evaporates long before the climax and there is forgiveness but no retribution, and the show cries out for a “Smackdown” number between the two Jesus’s – an exploration of what the masses will buy in their religion.

Now to the positives (well, almost entirely) Tripolino and Chiarella give us a terrific pop score with lyrics that range from the truly inspired to the inane/cheesy. It IS a show where there are two or three numbers you could come out singing (I loved ‘Just Have Faith’ and ‘Wonders Will Never Cease’) plus some terrific “point” show tunes, and that in itself is a rarity. The casting throughout is terrific but the brilliance of Brent Hill as the Real Jesus is a huge contributing factor to the success of the show. His big number “I Hate Conflict” is very Jewish and reminscent in style of Tevye’s “If I Were A Rich Man” and Fagin’s “Reviewing The Situation.” Hill nails it as he does every number I’ve ever seen him do. It’s deliciously irreverent, and he’s a great character actor with a terrific voice. Connor Crawford as Chris T…the “fake Jesus” is charismatic and perfectly cast, and his Bieberesque “Just Have Faith” is a fabulous first act finale. Ben Prendergrast (Pastor Sunday) is an actor I’ve reviewed and admired in Red Stitch productions and he certainly has always been charismatic, but strangely less so in this production. He’s also not as strong vocally as the rest of the cast. Chelsea Gibb – that stalwart leading lady of Musical Theatre – plays the Pastor’s recording star wife, “Whitney.” It’s a role clearly based on Tammy Faye Bakker and it cries out to be American, which would contrast nicely with the Australian pastor and be quite believable in terms of his ambitions to rule the world. Gibb is excellent throughout, even in her ill-conceived and unbelievable 11 O’clock number “It Isn’t Fair” which she is forced to do brandishing a machine gun (Bryant’s direction isn’t noted for subtlety or finding subtext – not that there is any of the latter). Sadly, it doesn’t quite work, nor does the Pastor’s soliloquy. There’s great support from the remaining cast: The marvellous Mike Macleish gets to play another (and completely different) Prime Minister; the ridiculously pretty Emily Langridge brings suitable naivety to the pastor’s daughter, April; and Evan Lever and Alana Tranter are both excellent. The band, with Lisa Haney on vocals as well as contributing (along with Tripolino) to the acting, is fabulous throughout. Andrew Hallsworth’s choreography is perfect, and the technical elements are all spot on.

So here we have a musical that COULD well take Broadway by storm and be a genuinely Australian Breakout musical. It reminds me of Jerry Springer – The Opera, only far better in all respects. It’s because it is so close to being sensational, and a smash hit that I’m critical (hopefully constructively). I’ll say a prayer that it doesn’t languish in the tradition of back-slapping, near-enough-is-good- enough Australianism. It already has wings – it just needs to fly a little higher.

Coral Drouyn

Photographer: Jeff Busby