Top Ten Theatre Productions in 2017 - Musicals & Cabaret

I was almost tempted to expand this category to include concerts. I decided against it but I would like to acknowledge the two shows that prompted the thought. Those are Megan Washington’s excellent concert at the Geoff Gibbs Theatre with the WAAPA Jazz students; and the 30 Year Anniversary Concert by Defying Gravity which was equally memorable.

This year I had the pleasure of seeing two of the top ten shows with my parents – one was their Christmas gift; the other for Mum’s birthday. Glad I chose well! There was one musical that didn’t make the list but that’s because it’s still a first draft script. Yet Summer of Our Lives by Tyler Jacob Jones and Robert Woods promises to one day live up to their enormous talent in the comedy musical field. The reading/singing as part of Black Swan State Theatre Company's Emerging Writers Group was very good indeed.

But without further ado, here are the shows that did make the list…

1. La Soiree – La Soiree Australia

Captain Frodo and the English Gents are the leaders of a super-hero ensemble that would whip The Avengers anytime, anywhere, in any Spiegeltent you care to name. With new acts added to the already impressive roster this is world class cabaret fare that returns as my number one show for the year.

“The show is perhaps at its best when it goes vertical - McCann's poledance routine is fast becoming legendary; aerialist Katharine Arnold was stunning on the rope in more ways than one; Bret Pfister is coolly efficient and precise on the suspended hoop; and the English Gents reign supreme, this time with a new tower of strength to accompany McCann.”

2. Best Bits – WAAPA

It’s unusual for a retrospective show to make it this high on an annual best of list. However, I did not laugh harder or for longer all year than I did during this generous two hour revue of the graduating musical theatre students’ time at WAAPA.

“It is the usual custom for the graduating students to 'take the piss' out of their major 2nd and 3rd year productions during Best Bits. But this cohort has many gifted comic performers and as a collective they have impeccable timing and mischievous sense of humour. The send-ups of Rent, Heathers, 42nd Street, and Chicago were exceptional…”

3. Once We Lived Here – The Blue Room Theatre & Western Sky Theatre

The aim of Western Sky Theatre to mount shows for performers with WA connections to return to Perth for is laudable. The fact that director Andrew Baker was able to wrangle a quality cast and crew to put on such an exceptional show in only three weeks is nothing short of a miracle. To do so in The Blue Room Theatre was another first. Quality all round.

“There is a truthfulness here that is commendable and while emotionally fraught, resonates with authenticity. There are no easy victories, no glib story beats. This heightens the joy we experience when these characters find even the smallest moment of happiness or deliver the briefest of smiles. The humour is distinctively Australian, at times laugh out loud hilarious, and a coping mechanism for the ever present harsh realities of country life.”

4. 42nd Street – WAAPA

WAAPA’s mid-year musical at the Regal Theatre has become a must-see for musical theatre fans. The last two years have featured more contemporary productions catering to a younger audience. This year though WAAPA changed course and reverted to an old style classic and toes couldn’t have been tapping any faster with joy.

“There is perhaps nothing more exhilarating at the theatre than witnessing a mass tapdancing routine. I confess I'm sucker for it and here you don't get one, or two, or three, you get several tightly choreographed explosions of movement, colour and straight up, unabashed enthusiasm. It's a joy to watch.”

5. The Threepenny Opera – WAAPA

The Edith Spiegeltent. A legendary show that is the forebear of the modern musical. A vintage combination for any musical theatre performer. ‘Hold my beer’ as the meme says these days as the graduating acting students decided to muscle in on the MT’s turf like a gang of Macheath’s vagabonds. And the results were wonderful.

“Initially I had thought the prototypical musical was an odd choice for the acting cohort given the vocal demands, but it turns out be an inspired one. It suits the group personality of this graduating class like a 'fancy glove'. As one audience member put it after the show, "they owned the space".

6. Singin’ in the Rain – Crown Theatre

Speaking of legendary, the stage adaptation of the movie classic – I’m not going to say it, I’m definitely not going to say it made a spl-- was another old-fashioned style show that was aided immensely by the irrepressible performance of Jack Chambers as Cosmo Brown and the technical feat of staging the famous title number.

“Jack Chambers… stole the show in a brilliant comic performance as Cosmo Brown. It was a thrill to also see recent WAAPA graduate Lyndon Watts crush his feature number Beautiful Girl. The orchestra was exceptional.”

7. Wrong Direction presented by Christopher Dean

A glorious pisstake of the boyband phenomenon undertaken with great style and mischievous intent. The talent on display was top notch as a couple of straight forward covers amply demonstrated. It was the deliciously wicked original songs, however, that had the audience amped up for more in the intimate Ellington space.

“This is a high energy, full on parody, raunchy as all get out explosion of boy band harmonies, dance moves, and unforgettable lyrics. Trust me, there are lyrics you will never forget.”

8. Heathers the Musical – WAAPA

Another stage adaptation, this time of a movie cult classic that is gloriously perverse in its own right. A high energy rock musical score along with several over-the-top characters and an explosive ending made this a fun first up outing in 2017 for the graduating class.

“It's dark subject matter but the surface level presentation is infectious rock music with subversive lyrics; a riot of colour in staging, lighting, costuming, and rear screen projections; and exuberant choreography befitting the age of its characters. It's a fun show with energy and black humour to burn.”

9. Chicago – Koorliny Arts Centre

Bringing all the sass and sexiness, Koorliny started their year with a rollicking version of the Kander & Ebb classic. Opening out the wings and having the full orchestra along the back wall made this a visual and aural delight with a fabulous performance by Elethea Sartorelli as Velma.

“It's fair to say Kander & Ebb's classic is one of my favourite musicals - great songs, great music, sexy, slinky and sassy with that other musical theatre giant Bob Fosse adding his unmistakable stamp. It's a pleasure to report then that today's sold out matinee was a real treat and a fine start to Koorliny's community theatre season.”

10. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson – WAAPA

The second years debuted in their first standalone musical with this quirky exploration of a notorious American president. Jackson, portrayed more as a rock star than a politician, was played with great swagger by Jarrod Griffiths in a full-on performance.

“The show started to click for me during the number Illness As Metaphor where Jackson (Jarrod Griffiths) and his soon to be wife Rachel (Stacey Thomsett) cut and bleed each other as a demonstration of their love. It's a metaphor, get it? From then on I settled into the, more often than not, outrageous retelling of Jackson's life and political career.”

Female Performer of the Year – Mackenzie Dunn

Dunn showcased true triple threat talent as the lead in 42nd Street, singing, dancing, and acting her way to deserved accolades. It was a notably assured performance at a large venue that augurs well for her future. Not only that, Dunn was memorable in Heathers the Musical as Ms Fleming and one of the leading conspirators in the hilarity of Best Bits.

Male Performer of the Year – Jack Chambers

A tour de force comic performance in Singin’ in the Rain was eye catching to say the least. Exceptional physical comedy, timing, and sheer chutzpah made Chambers a clear crowd favourite and driving force of this stage adaptation of a legendary movie.

Special Mentions:

Taryn Ryan

Ryan’s performance in Once We Lived Here grounded the whole production and, most impressively, she handled the emotional range required in the fractured timeline narrative expertly. It’s also a delight to hear Ryan sing after several non-musical roles this year.

Wrong Direction

The faux boyband made up of Chris Wilcox, Jason Arrow, Cameron Steens, and Ben Gillespie in their Perth iteration. All with incredible voices that led to the kind of harmonies you would expect… but not the lyrics you would normally sing along to! Great stage presence and knew how to work a crowd.

Elethea Sartorelli

Set the tone for Chicago right from the get go with the cast and orchestra following her lead. Had several excellent set piece scenes and a highlight with fellow recent Finley Award winner Rachel Monamy in their duet of Class.

Monique Warren

An energetic and feisty performance in Heathers the Musical where Warren sang superbly and looked fabulous in the colourful costuming as she played the role made famous by Winona Ryder in the movie.

Jarrod Griffiths

Brought plenty of attitude and swagger to the role of Andrew Jackson and was hardly ever off stage in a full-throated performance. Sang the rock style numbers well and displayed good acting chops especially when the show took an infrequent serious interlude.

That’s it for another year. Thank you to everyone who made these and all the many other shows come to life. Have a great festive season and see you as a professional audience member next year!

The Threepenny Opera - WAAPA (14 October 2017)

Attitude. The very best productions have it. Clearly discernible, unapologetic, and totally embraced by all involved. The third year acting students bring it in spades with what turns out to be a perfect ending to their formal training at WAAPA. There is a cockiness and surety here that is undeniable.

Initially I had thought the prototypical musical was an odd choice for the acting cohort given the vocal demands but it turns out be an inspired one. It suits the group personality of this graduating class like a 'fancy glove'. As one audience member put it after the show, "they owned the space".

And what a glorious space it is.

This is why you make the Edith Spiegeltent a permanent addition to the performance venues on the ECU Mount Lawley campus. For productions exactly like this. The atmosphere and sense of history adds immeasurably to the aura of a classic piece of theatre. So much so that visiting director Craig Ilott dispenses with the need for set decoration with the exception of, as Roy Joseph's messenger amusingly put it, "these fucking mannequins". The two of which were totally extraneous to proceedings anyway.

Instead, the 8 piece band, conducted by visiting graduate Kohan van Sambeeck, is nestled at the rear of the tent with a thrust-like stage jutting into the centre of the space. In a smart move, the audience is situated within the inner circle of the spiegeltent so there are no cluttered sight lines. We're right on top of the action. Or, as I discovered, the action is occasionally right on top of us!

The outer circle and booths were the province of our players. This gives the production an immersive quality for the audience as characters prowl and cavort around us with multiple entry and egress points to and from the stage. There is the feeling of a fully formed world that exists beyond the strictures of the performance space. A colourful, bawdy, exotic world full of villains and dames; vagabonds and, well, to put it indelicately, ladies of dubious reputation. But something more as well - as if we're transported in time to how The Threepenny Opera might have been experienced in decades gone by.

In a simple device the setting of scenes was left to characters wielding cardboard signs (and to our imaginations). I must say the furniture was ever so fancy in the stables of my mind's eye! But more than that, a sense of time and place was evoked by make-up and costuming. The use of white face paint for all; the women provocatively attired; the men all singlets with smart pants and braces; not to mention a range of beggar chic that would make Oliver Twist blush.

Most impressive of all the performers were, as another audience member put it, "balls to the wall" in their characterisations. This was a chance to 'go big' and they lapped it up. In another smart move actors were mingling with the audience before the show started; being cheeky, friendly, inviting. It set the tone - that attitude - of the production right from the get go. A relaxed confidence that you couldn't help but feel and respond to. Thank you Laura McDonald, Sasha Simon, and Katherine Pearson for the chats.

To top that all off there were many fine singing voices with Natasha Vickery (Polly Peachum), Skye Beker (Lucy Brown) and Katherine Pearson (Jenny Diver) excelling in this regard with notable contributions from Rhianna McCourt who belted out Ballad of Sexual Dependency with savage contempt and, of course, the notorious Macheath, Jake Fryer-Hornsby, who acquitted himself well with the challenging lead vocal role.

This is generally described as a 'play with music' so there is ample opportunity to show off the acting chops. With such a rogue's gallery of characters to inhabit this provided all sorts of treats. Kudos to Macheath's henchmen - Charles Alexander, Kingsley O'Connor, Elliott Giarola and Mitchell Bourke - who provided a touch of menace, more than a dash of comic relief, and worked together well especially during the stables sequence.

McCourt and the booming-of-voice Martin Quinn, as Celia and J.J. Peachum, were the Thenardiers of their time in an immensely enjoyable double act. I loved the swagger McCourt gave Celia and Quinn, as Present Laughter also demonstrated, plays pompous rogue with aplomb. Vickery added lovely touches to perhaps the only virtuous character of the lot such as fussing over the decorum of her surroundings - carefully brushing dirt off the steps leading to the stage before sitting for example. She also has a stand out moment singing Pirate Jenny.

Fryer-Hornsby gets to show the greatest range, imbuing his Mack the Knife with an almost cavalier attitude that crumbles when the hangman's noose beckons. I wasn't as convinced about the character's reputation as a ladies man but there is charm here and he worked well with Jack Scott's Tiger Brown, especially during the Canon Song, a fun demonstration of male camaraderie. Scott plays the police chief with a sense of haplessness that I later learned was partly modelled on Inspector Lestrade from the BBC's Sherlock.

Then there's Roy Joseph who delivers the play's infamous Deus Ex Regina as I like to call it. The Queen herself, on her coronation day no less, ensures that crime does indeed pay. Joseph, following the constant breaking of the fourth wall throughout the production, plays up to the silliness of the reversal in a gloriously over-the-top declaration that had some of his fellow cast members struggling to hold back laughter. Nice assist from Mitchell Bourke with equine inspired antics. 

In all, a marvellous production that had me leaving the magical world of the spiegeltent behind with a smile humming what else but Mack The Knife.

The Threepenny Opera - Queens Hall Music (25 January 2015)

Ah, jolly old Victorian London. It’s a wholesome place full of cutthroats, thieves, prostitutes and all manner of unsavoury characters including such luminaries as Jack the Ripper and, in this instance, MacHeath (Caleb Robinson-Cook), better known as Mack the Knife.  

Mack and his gang (Jaxon George, Emerson Brophy, Sven Ironside and Ben Adcock) are always looking for an easy mark and what better opportunity for some thieving than a royal coronation? A similar thought occurs to underworld crook Mr Peachum (Brett Peart) who, with the assistance of his stern wife (Hannah Kay), schools a bunch of misfits (including Clare Thomson, Elise Giaimo and Claire Thomas) to be beggars on the street. Problem is their daughter Polly (Tania Morrow) has secretly married Mack. The reality of this union doesn’t sit well with the Peachum’s who take all kinds of measures to see Mack captured and hanged. Police Commissioner Tiger Brown (Rod Worth) is an unwilling accomplice in this as his daughter Lucy (Emma-Marie Davis) is, ahem, also married to Mack.

It’s a fairly straight-forward tale with a ‘ticking clock’ of sorts in the second half as the hanging must occur at a specific time lest it distract from the impending coronation. Mack is ultimately undone by the betrayal of his ‘Thursday regular’, the beautiful Jenny Diver (Meg McKibbin). Our hero is quite the ladies’ man. Ultimately he is saved from the hangman’s noose by a little ‘Deus Ex Regina’ – a messenger (Claire Thomas) from Queen Victoria herself reads the pardon that saves the day. Happy endings are enforced by no less than royal decree!

Staged upstairs at the Perth Town Hall (in what I’m assuming is usually a ballroom) the acoustics were a little tricky with the high ceilings imparting a lot of echo. Given that, I thought the singing throughout was generally good but with the band being located immediately to stage left and incorporating a trumpet and trombone there were times the performers were overwhelmed by the volume of the music. The band itself under Musical Director David Hicks played well but that balance was problematic more often than not.

In terms of performance I really liked Peart and Kay as the Peachum’s both vocally and as the main adversaries to Mack. Robinson-Cook gives a forceful and charismatic turn as MacHeath, at times admonishing and cajoling his men; at others wheeling and dealing his way out of all the trouble his romantic and constabulary predicaments bring. I found Morrow’s dialogue a little hard to follow and while the main performers were mic’d up projection was still a problem with the echo. She also had a tendency in the first half to play to the audience while in scenes (as distinct from the stylistic choice where a solitary character would address the audience from time to time) which I found distracting.

Worth gives an excellent over-the-top performance as Tiger Brown and you could almost feel the hand wringing of despair as events don’t go his way. A most unusual police commissioner! Davis has a lovely cameo as Lucy and her one big number Barbara Song was well delivered as she effectively battled the band for aural supremacy. McKibben nicely underplays the moments leading up to her betrayal of Mack while Ironside is the second comic foil with a mischievous turn as both a gang member and police officer. A quiet standout for me was Jaxon George as Matt. He had a cockiness and surety that worked really well when needling Mack. Thomas has fun playing a boy who’s a newcomer to the begging game and the remaining cast all provide good support.

I wasn’t a fan of the set itself which was a series of some four folding panels that were moved to loosely interconnect to depict various locations. They had a real slipshod air about them and made the transitions quite clunky. Given that their only functional purpose was to provide doorways I think they possibly could have been done away with as the lack of quality was another distraction.

Finally, the staging itself was a little static for mine with more of a stand and deliver approach to the numbers. The show hit its straps in moments like Army Song where the energy and movement went up another gear and there was similar potential in Tango Ballad as Mack and Jenny dance. I did, however, like the black humour that was bubbling throughout this.

Directed by David Hardie with Music by Kurt Weill and Book and Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, The Threepenny Opera had three performances as part of Fringe World.