The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Art In Motion Theatre Company (7 September 2024)

For some it's a recurring nightmare. You're walking down the street minding your own business when suddenly a pack of feral music theatre kids pounce on you out of nowhere with their jazz hands and harmonies. You stagger around the corner only to be met with a busker singing Memory. Reeling, you plunge into a company of tap dancers where anything goes. You plead with them, "All I ask of you is to stop this damn infernal music of the night." They respond with a rousing chorus of Do You Hear The People Sing. You wake up screaming, "I don't want to be welcomed to the sixties!" Sobbing, you reflect that it used to be quiet uptown.

So it is for our hero Paul who hates musicals. Except Paul isn't really our hero but we'll come to that later. For now though, this comedy horror musical sees a meteor crash into a small American town unleashing a blue goo that infects people with the urge to sing and dance. As Marlon Brando might warble, “the horror, the horror.”

Proceedings begin promisingly with the 'infected' company singing the title number where Mathew Leak in particular makes an impression as he belts out the song. What follows is an oddly paced first act where I wasn't quite sure what was being parodied. There is a lot of table setting as the characters are introduced in their normal world. Paul (Joshua Hollander) works in an office for Mr. Davidson (Leak) alongside Charlotte (Brittany Isaia), Bill (Clayton van Dijk), and Ted (Blair Price-Morgan). Paul has the hots for Emma (Escher Roe), a barista at a nearby cafe. Ted has the hots for Charlotte. Charlotte still loves her husband Sam (Leak) while Bill wants to reconnect with his daughter Alice (Georgia McGivern). Mr. Davidson has the hots for... we'll get to that. 

A long time passes before we get to the next song with the pacing quite slow as the show puts all these narrative balls in the air. The tone was also hard to pin down. Isaia's Charlotte felt more like a character from a Tennessee Williams play with a fraught portrayal of a neglected southern wife. I don't doubt the commitment to that choice, however, it didn't gel with the expected comedy horror vibe. The other issue is that Paul is totally passive as a character. He reacts to the suggestions of others - notably Roe's Emma and, later, van Dijk's Bill who is desperate to rescue his daughter - instead of driving the story forward in any meaningful way.   

There are moments in the first act that work well - What Do You Want, Paul? is a hilarious piss-take of the 'I want' song where the main character of a musical expresses their hopes and dreams in song. It's reversed here where Leak's Davidson asks the question of Paul before revealing his predilection for [say what?] with his wife while [oh my]! There's a sequence where John Carpenter's The Thing is obliquely referenced in both the behaviour of the aliens and the need to test for who's still human, amusingly by asking them to sing. I also liked the change in disposition when the later infected Charlotte and Sam launch into Join Us (And Die). The first act doesn't end on that musical number, rather a cliffhanger as Bill sets off to save Alice... with Paul in tow.

The second act is where the show works much better starting with McGivern's Not Your Seed as the infected Alice rejects her father's rescue attempt in taunting fashion. It's then that all the tropes and cliches of horror and disaster movies are parodied as the pace ramps up - destroying the 'hive brain' to wipe out all the infected; secret military agencies; stopping to have a deep conversation when urgency is called for; characters presumed dead reappearing; fake out endings; improbable twists and revelations; and the mad scientist who goes off the rails. 

Here it's Artorius Emanuel as Professor Hidgens who gives a very idiosyncratic performance that reminded me of Brent Spiner's Area 51 scientist in Independence Day. Emanuel's Professor springs a surprising revelation on us before launching into the wonderfully bizarre parody of the musical showstopper with... Show Stoppin Number. Hollander finally breaks free of the straightjacketed Paul with Let It Out as he sings up a storm to save the day. But really, Emma is our true protagonist which is hammered home at final bows in uproarious fashion with a frantic Escher Roe who is excellent throughout. 

I liked the rock style score which is well played by a five-piece orchestra under Musical Director Zac Skelton. The songs are fun and generally well sung with lots of belting as the craziness escalates. While there were some pacing and narrative issues for mine, the performances are enjoyable with the actors committing to clearly delineated archetypes including Price-Morgan as the office sleazeball and van Dijk as the single-minded father. 

Staged on a simple set, it's the growing prevalence of blue makeup and other effects that track the spread of the infected with visual clarity... along with a blue brain! Special mention also to Emma's very effective wound. Director Micheal Carroll lets his cast and even crew members embrace the zaniness, greeted with raucous approval by the more well-versed StarKid fans in the audience. The lady next to me was beside herself at times with excitement.

The show is on at the Don Russell Performing Arts Centre until 15 September. 

Pictures by Perfectly Picturesque Photography