They’re Playing Our Song

One of the great things about community theatre is being able to see a little gem of a musical which deserves a revival – done beautifully.

They’re Playing Our Song  at Bankstown fits that bill perfectly. The musical was new to me,  and I laughed many times at the razor-sharp wit of Neil Simon coupled with the delightful music of Marvyn Hamlisch and his former partner Carole Bayer Sager.

The one-liner which stuck in my head was, “I couldn’t take my Valium through gritted teeth.”

Neil Simon is famous for his plays about mismatched and odd couples.

It was a case of art imitating life,  as the central narrative of the musical is about an on-again off-again romance of a composer and a lyricist.

In the role of Vernon was Max Fernandez, who at the age of 19 was 16 years younger than the character description. Isabella Rodrigues as Sonia was much closer to her character’s intended age.

Having a fresh face playing a mature role is not so unusual. Anthony Warlow in his teenage community theatre days auditioned for the lead role of Man of La Mancha in Wollongong, behind a screen asking the audition panel to judge him just only on his voice. Not surprisingly Warlow got the role.

Max and Isabella made a very good fist of their parts, milked all the laughs and there was no hint of any teenage awkwardness in the scenes where there’s romance.

They had a nice chemistry and sang sweetly.

Being a two hander there is not much chorus opportunity – but choreographer Carly O’Rourke managed to cleverly find opportunities for a small swinging ensemble to burst onto the stage from time to time.

The wife and husband team of Director Diane Wilson and Musical Director Greg Crease kept both the one-liners and crotchets  bouncing along with pace.

Days after the performance the ear-worm They’re Playing Our Song is still swimming around my head.

David Spicer