Quiet Please, There's A Lady On Stage - Fringe World (31 January 2015)

The subtitle says it all – The Music of Peter Allen, Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland. Performed by Ryan Taaffe, Elethea Sartorelli, and Rachel Monamy respectively, this was a collection of great songs including classics such as Over the Rainbow, Cabaret, New York, New York, the Oscar winning Arthur’s Theme, and the unofficial Australian National Anthem for all ex-patriates, I Still Call Australia Home.

They couldn’t afford a band on a Fringe budget but they did have the Minnellium Dancers – Allen Blachford, Hillary Readings, Jessica Helen, and Rebecca Jayne – who contributed the requisite colour and movement to make this a most enjoyable hour of cabaret. 

    

Sartorelli added the pizazz as Liza with a Z; Monamy the moxie as Garland; while Taaffe contributed a touch of snark as the three shared good-natured banter between songs. That’s not to say there weren’t a few jabs along the way – Garland’s battle with pills and booze; the doomed-to-fail marriage of Minnelli and Allen; and Minnelli’s struggle to cope with the enormous shadow of her mother – were all touched upon.

The conceit of the show is that it’s Minnelli’s story and Sartorelli, fresh off winning a Finley Award (Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Xanadu), is excellent with a wonderfully energetic performance and powerful singing voice. Of course, Garland and Allen can’t help but interrupt – we’re talking some huge personalities here - and Monamy is impressive as the mother who constantly strives to upstage her daughter, at one point showing Minnelli how The Trolley Song should really be done. The competitiveness between mother and daughter is brought to life in perhaps the best sequence of the show that included Don’t Rain On My Parade. 

Monamy also has a big voice and the two of them together were a potent combination. It’s unfortunate that Garland’s signature song from The Wizard of Oz was drowned out a little by an over loud backing track (the only occasion this happened).

Taaffe (himself a 2014 Finley Award winner as Best Director for Xanadu) imbues Allen with the snide remark or Ocker cheekiness that powered a lot of the humour. I Go To Rio gets an obligatory maraca-styled performance with no less than Garland and Minnelli on backing vocals! While I Still Call Australia Home generated the mandatory audience participation I was more enamoured of the highly personal Tenterfield Saddler and Don’t Cry Out Loud was another strong number.

While the songs were being performed images of the real life Garland, Minnelli and Allen were projected on the back wall as well as posters from movies and other snapshots. These did much to visually establish their relationships and career highlights.

With three powerful voices on stage sometimes the sound mix struggled to adjust but this was a well sung and charming trip down memory lane with a nice sense of humour and a roster of terrific songs. It didn’t take much encouragement for me to Get Happy and I’ll confess to bouts of toe tapping as well.

A most enjoyable interlude at one of the many Fringe outposts outside the CBD, this one being the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre which had a real festival atmosphere with plenty of stalls... and the hot dog consumed before the drive home wasn’t too bad either!

Oliver! - Mandurah Performing Arts Centre (7 June 2014)

There was a moment during the first act of Oliver! that I caught myself grinning like a loon. On stage over sixty cast members including some forty children were performing a standout number that was simply joyous. 

When musical theatre gets it right, when everything is firing on all cylinders – the performances, the vocals, the orchestra, set, costume, lighting, everything – it is a sight and sound to behold. The joy is evident in those on stage (and implicit in the music pit) and is reciprocated by the audience in spades. It’s what makes musical theatre so magical - that joy and sheer optimism is infectious and a counterpoint to the anti-heroes and cynicism that populate much of the small and big screen these days.

This is the third production I have seen at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre directed by Karen Francis after Hairspray (2012) and The Phantom of the Opera (2013). Francis picks crowd-pleasers that pull eager audiences and are big in scope and ambition. In Oliver! she has outdone herself - a huge cast of well over sixty that features forty children; a twenty piece orchestra that was in top form; and what I’ve come to expect from all of her productions, impressive set design that takes advantage of the spacious MPAC stage and attention to detail in the costuming. What especially stands out with this production is the lighting – it’s a beautiful looking show with copious use of smoke to enhance the lighting design.

Then there are the songs. Oliver! is littered with memorable numbers – Consider Yourself, You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket, Oom-Pah-Pah, As Long As He Needs Me and so on. It was during Consider Yourself that I was smiling away happily but every number is so well staged and sung. It is foot-tapping, rousing material that is thoroughly entertaining.

To the story - Oliver (Ryan White) is an orphan in a workhouse who has the audacity to ask for more food from Mister Bumble (Scott Hansen). For his trouble he is sold to undertaker Mister Sowerberry (Rory Ellis) to be his apprentice. Oliver promptly runs away and ends up meeting the Artful Dodger (Bailey Bridgman-Peters) in London who takes him to Fagin (Jon Lambert), the leader of a band of pickpockets. Oliver’s first attempt as thievery doesn’t go well, however, he ends up with the wealthy Mister Brownlow (Peter Sydney-Smith) who could be the provider of a better life. This doesn’t sit well with Fagin’s notorious associate Bill Sikes (Tom Hennessy) who abducts Oliver over the protests of his put upon girlfriend Nancy (Sky Ogier). Events come to a head with a tragic end for Nancy, the demise of Sikes, and Oliver’s rescue. Fagin remains as he ever was… or will he seek an honest living as he disappears off stage laughing?

That brief summary hardly does justice to a story populated by so many other memorable characters. It also bears some resemblance to that other ‘orphan’ musical, the one from across the Atlantic – Annie – that was on at Koorliny Arts Centre recently. Oliver! is much darker in places but both are preoccupied with the quest to (find and) better yourself and interestingly the involvement of a wealthy benefactor to assist you in doing so (Brownlow, Warbucks).

Like Annie, the title role here is critical though it could be argued that Oliver is quite a passive character mainly reacting to events that swirl around him. White is solid as the eponymous character and has a couple of lovely vocal moments, especially with Where Is Love. Hennessy is a suitably menacing Sikes and his showpiece number My Name is very well done. Sky Ogier is a standout as Nancy with a wonderful rendition of As Long As He Needs Me and a raucous Oom-Pah-Pah. Hansen has enormous fun as Mister Bumble and Jon Lambert is excellent as a charismatic Fagin. To think Lambert was the lumbering monster in Young Frankenstein earlier in the year and the contrast is astonishing. Bridgman-Peters is a cheeky Artful Dodger with the rest of the supporting cast all good. Then there is the huge ensemble mainly comprised of children which is a delight especially when the whole company is on stage.

There are so many highlights but three that immediately stand out are: the jaunty Consider Yourself is superb; As Long As He Needs Me strips away the multitudes to shine a spotlight solely on Ogier and she excels; and the extended Who Will Buy features members of the ensemble in fine voice, including Samantha Ferguson, in what is quite a moving sequence. I should also mention the on-stage violin work of William Huxtable who I initially thought was mimicking before realising, no, he actually is playing and is very good!

This really is an impressive production and I apologise to all those people I haven’t mentioned. When it finished a woman turned to me and exclaimed, “Wasn’t that brilliant?” It’s hard to argue otherwise and there was certainly a buzz as the audience was leaving the full matinee session.

Oliver! is directed by Karen Francis with Musical Director David Hicks, Choreographer Andre Beissel and Vocal Director Kristie Gray. There is only one performance remaining, Sunday at 6.30pm which, according to the MPAC website, is deservedly sold out. 

Hairspray: The Broadway Musical - Mandurah Performing Arts Centre (17 November 2012)

What better than a pleasant drive on a Saturday afternoon to spend time with the nicest kids in town? Yes, The Corny Collins Show was broadcasting live from downtown Mandurah and my, what a turnout of talent it attracted! This was an exceptionally strong singing cast accompanied by a live band in fine form. But more of that - much more - later…

First, let’s set the scene. It’s 1962 in Baltimore and Omar Little is several decades away from picking up a shotgun in anger. Okay, my knowledge of Baltimore is a little sketchy, The Wire references aside. What we do know is that the presumptive villainess of the piece, Corny Collins Show producer, Velma Von Tussle (Natalie Burbage), isn’t down with the whole idea of racial integration. Her daughter Amber (Victoria Luxton) expects to follow the family tradition of entitlement and beauty queen status and is the featured talent along with resident heartthrob Link Larkin (Sam Chadwick). What to do then when overweight teenager Tracy Turnblad (Sam Ferguson) not only joins the show but has ideas of integrating dancers from ‘the other side of town’ including her friend Seaweed (Jason Arrow); stealing Link away from Amber; and usurping her Miss Teenage Hairspray status as well?!

Okay, the plot is as thin as a pancake left out on Kwinana Freeway during peak hour but it doesn’t matter one jot. The songs are terrific and it moves at a cracking pace. In fact it only slowed down whenever minor plot mechanics intruded especially towards the end of the first act as plans are formulated and early second act as they are (re)committed to. Other than these moments there are few dialogue heavy scenes which serve this well. This is a far more thematic piece which, at its heart, deals with the issue of racism in America at that time. It can be a little too overt and borderline preachy but I chose to see it as an outsider with a dream (Tracy) who, in striving to make that dream come true, creates a better reality for herself and those around her. An allegory for the Civil Rights movement, sure, but perhaps just as valuable for those who don’t “fit in” whatever the situation.

The vocal talent was outstanding across the board and even performers in smaller roles had an opportunity to shine. For example, in one number three performers reminiscent of The Supremes were singing backing vocals but let loose with individual bursts at the end that was jaw dropping. Natalie Burbage also gave us some vocal fireworks towards the end of Act One. So many other ‘big voices’ in the cast but special mention to Sam Ferguson who, at only 17, was very impressive in the lead role; Jason Arrow, who added a real soulful flourish to proceedings; and Ebonyelle Smith who had, in my view, the standout song, “I Know Where I’ve Been” which she hit out of the ballpark. Georgia McGivern as Penny also snuck up on me and her character perhaps went through the most significant arc.

Craig Griffen threatened to steal the show as Edna Turnblad and his set piece with Jack McKenzie (Wilbur Turnblad), “Timeless to Me”, was funny, sweet and endearing. I should mention there is a lot of humour in this, including some sly period references and innuendo that may have sailed over younger audience members but had me chuckling away happily. Natalie Burbage and Victoria Luxton were perfectly matched as mother and daughter and while Velma Von Tussle was perhaps more of an over-the-top villain, Luxton played Amber, the bitchy rival to Tracy, with the right mix of sassiness and disbelief (as events turn against her). Tate Bennett played the man himself, Corny Collins, with great charm and cockiness.

This was a big, colourful production and a live band added so much to proceedings. The costumes and choreography were fantastic and it has a cast of some 28 strong so my apologies for not mentioning them all! The only technical hiccup was a minor problem with one of the performer’s microphones towards the end but other than that it was a thoroughly entertaining afternoon. I was also delighted to see a large turnout for a Saturday matinee. Such a big production comfortably inhabited the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre venue.

Lastly, two quick observations that I found quite charming – there was a young lad in front of me, maybe ten years old, who kept looking over his shoulder to try and see the “big board” the actors were “staring at” as the results of Miss Teenage Hairspray came in at the end. Loved that! And as I left a girl of maybe six was skipping through the lobby singing “you can’t stop the beat”. I’d say that is a job well done!

Congratulations to director Karen Francis and all the performers, crew and behind the scenes staff involved. A great show!