Pinocchio: A Traditional Christmas Pantomime - Zealous Productions (13 December 2024)

Silliness is hard work. And make no mistake, Pinocchio is gloriously silly in all the right ways. This level of silliness also takes an inordinate amount of talent, on and off the stage. I rarely mention producers in my reviews, however, Dixie Farinosi continues to make such smart decisions as she builds a distinctive brand that embraces excellence and sheer entertainment value.

First and foremost, the array of talent onstage is exceptional. It would be easy to dismiss this as “just a panto” but when you have luminaries in Brendan Hanson, Elethea Sartorelli, Lauchlan Edward Bain, and Vincent Hooper treading the boards with exciting new talent such as Emily Lambert and two recent - as in last month - WAAPA graduates in Ellen Ebbs (playing the titular role) and Ben Goldsbrough, you're showcasing the quality and depth of talent in Perth. Farinosi herself even manages to find time to play a character on the boo-hiss side of the ledger. Throw in a Dame played with considerable panache by Matt Dyktynski and an ensemble full of lead performers in their own right and you have a killer lineup. 

The names in the creative team are equally impressive with most having worked with Zealous Productions before. You sense this is a tight-knit group at the top of their game, all working towards a common goal with expertise and passion. We'll come to the individuals later; suffice to say that the show looks and sounds fantastic.

Now, there's no doubt there is a recognisable formula at work with these big pantomimes. The call and response; the establishment of an item - a string of sausages here - that the audience must guard with vocal admonishment of any who dare approach; the aforementioned Dame who will invariably single out someone from the audience for special attention (you lucky boy, Chris!); the machine gun delivery of bad puns; local references designed to provoke a parochial response; clearly defined "goodies" to cheer and "baddies" to boo; with a track list of recognisable classics that the audience can sing and dance along to. 

What strikes me on opening night though is that the wildcard that makes the formula work so effectively is the audience itself. Especially one full of young children who are so honest and uncensored with their reactions. The unfettered energy the audience emits is embraced by such a talented cast and there is a strange alchemy that comes into play that's a delight to watch and be a part of. 

The story itself has been transposed to 1970s Fremantle with our own "pleasure island", Rottnest, featuring in the second act. All the familiar elements are there - the kindly Geppetto; his puppet creation who wants to be a real boy; the Blue Fairy who partially grants Pinocchio his wish; the boy who leads Pinocchio astray in Lampwick; and, of course, everyone's favourite conscience in insect form, Jiminy Cricket. Oh, and a whale.

Everything is bright and bold starting with Katie Williams' costume design which has fun with a peak disco vibe for the ensemble; plenty of seventies flourishes especially for Lampwick; the Italian themed drag outfit for the Dame, Mamma Mia; and the fantastical elements that bring the more fanciful characters to life. One of those is Emily Lambert who looks divine as the Blue Fairy (cheer!) and kicks us off in style with a commanding presence and beautiful singing voice. Aiding the distinctive character stylings are an impressive set of wigs by Manuao TeAtonga and there's a lot of hat work going on including a cunning disguise that would fool even Clark Kent. 

The lighting design (Matthew Erren) is bold and vibrant to enhance the essential fairy tale nature of proceedings with terrific projections throughout to establish the various locations. Shenae White's choreography is playful with its own disco inspired energy while also faithfully recreating the classics in numbers such as The Time Warp and YMCA. 

While closing song Blame It On The Boogie may encapsulate the seventies theme; it's the music of Queen that buttresses some major plot points - A Kind Of Magic for Pinocchio's transformation with Another One Bites The Dust being the signature tune for our leading villain (boo!) Stromboli played with strutting insouciance by Lauchlan Edward Bain who revels in the audience's mock disdain. Bain has a powerhouse voice and a sneering presence that is electrifying. 

Stromboli's accomplices are a stylish Dixie Farinosi as Signora Volpe (boo!) and Vincent Hooper's Signore Gatto (hiss!) who looks and behaves like a reject from a Cats casting call... and I'm talking the movie here, not the musical. It's a wonderfully over-the-top, cat-astrophe of a performance. Oh look, I can do bad puns too! Oh no you can't! Oh yes I -- sorry. Where were we?

On the positive side of the ledger, Elethea Sartorelli (yay!) is an absolute delight as she prances around the stage as Jiminy Cricket. Sartorelli's onstage charisma is always a formidable asset but it's that glorious voice when she belts out Jiminy's theme song New York, New York that seals the deal. Brendan Hanson as Gepetto (nawww!) felt a tad under-utilised in the first act but seeing he's also the director he only has himself to blame! However, he too has such a warm stage presence that when Geppetto's big moment comes he has a whale of a time (okay, I'll stop now) as he builds into a show stopping moment with All By Myself. Matt Dyktynski thrives as the requisite Dame and has no fear of being the butt of the joke while dishing out plenty of sass himself.  

Which brings us to Ellen Ebbs as Pinocchio (cheers!) and Ben Goldsbrough as Lampwick (more cheers!). Both have had a stellar year in a stellar graduating class at WAAPA. Goldsbrough is terrific as the comic foil quickly winning audience empathy with his deliberately bad puns and dubious pizza making skills. It's such an assured performance for his first professional gig. That's before we get to his singing which is divine and probably caught most unawares given the heavy lifting he was doing with so much broadly accented schtick.  

Ellen Ebbs has more than a touch of star quality. She lends her Pinocchio a fundamental sense of decency with the character being easily led astray because of it. Ebbs has a magnificent singing voice and, if anything, the production didn't make enough of that talent. I was waiting for her to cut loose on a big number, however, the tap sequence leading into a very slick Bye Bye Bye is when you could feel the production change gears and showcase Ebbs' undeniable ability. I was also delighted when the cast cleared out leaving Ebbs and Goldsbrough onstage together to lead the traditional Christmas song. It was a lovely touch. 

Other highlights: Tate Bennett wandering out, guitar in hand, to sing the Gilligan's Island theme song was so oddly bizarre that I couldn't stop laughing. The flubs - and there were a few - from corpsing to a hilariously slow pickup on a spotlight to a performer stepping on a cue and literally resetting a scene - simply added to the fun because there was so much goodwill between company and audience.

Musical director Joshua James Webb leads the regular band of Alex Barker (Drums), Tommi Flamenco (Bass guitar) and Jarrad Van Dort (Lead Guitar) and when you're referencing Queen there are some tasty guitar licks indeed. I mean, the depth on the bench is so ridiculously good that Jackson Harper Griggs and Allen Blachford are named as Associate MD and Associate Director!

This is another hit for Zealous Productions. It's enormous fun fuelled by enormous talent and hard work. The kids will love it and there is more than enough broad humour and innuendo to keep the adults grinning. Plus, who doesn't like to shout at actors and have a little boogie in their seat? 

Pinocchio is on at the Regal Theatre in Subiaco all the way up until Christmas Eve. 

Legally Blonde: The Musical - WAAPA (6 September 2024)

In his program notes, director Crispin Taylor mentions that for this production "Over 100 students and staff are involved from 10 different departments." This is perhaps WAAPA's greatest strength as a training academy - the breadth of disciplines that are offered. The yearly "major musical" is a fine example of how all these departments work together to present as close to a professional experience as possible, not only for the students but for the audience as well. 

There's no doubt Legally Blonde is a big, crowd-pleasing musical with catchy songs, a riot of colour and movement, with comic flourishes and heart. It also imparts key messages around the power of self-belief and being true to yourself... plus the importance of good hair maintenance, taking care of your pets, and the mystic allure of all things Irish. 

I can't possibly mention all 100 people involved so let's cut to the chase - the opening night performance was sensational in all aspects. I'd tell you to run and buy a ticket, however, it's been sold out for weeks and on the evidence of opening night, deservedly so. Instead, I'll go through the highlights...

Music students take a bow. The 16 piece orchestra under Musical Director Glenn Hogue played superbly. I love that the musicians came onstage for the curtain call and were met with thunderous applause. I couldn't work out where they'd been though with no pit and the full stage space in use. I found out after the show but we'll come to that shortly as... 

The sound design by Michael Fletcher and his team is excellent. There are some big voices in the cast and with the orchestra in full swing getting the balance this spot on would have been tricky. I loved the speakers under the top of the proscenium arch that gave such oomph to the score and the bigger numbers. I'm told the musicians were playing in a room some 100 metres away from the stage. If so, it's almost miraculous how good the overall sound was. All the dialogue and lyrics were crisp with only one mic pack failure in one number which will be quickly remedied.  

Then there's the work of the Production and Design students and staff. The show looks fantastic and moves like a well oiled machine. Set Designer Bryan Woltjen, who excelled last year with Footloose, has crafted a set that is built for slick transitions with elements flying in with precision. Woltjen utilises the full depth of the Geoff Gibbs stage and embraces the clash between the colourful aesthetic of Elle's persona versus the more 'serious' nature of the Harvard setting.  

A key element to the look of the show is the work of Costumer Designer, student Elisa Von Perger and her team including Wardrobe Supervisor Lauren Wroth and Dressing Supervisor Liana Karkar. From the explosion of pink to the Delta Nu cheerleader vibe over to the more sombre lawyer attire, there is a vast array of costumes which dazzle, especially when the full company is onstage. Wigs play an important part with brunettes turned into blondes and vice versa amongst the cast along with a couple of impressive 'perms' that are crucial to second act plot shenanigans.

Lighting Designer Jay Covich, another student, adds vibrancy and colour but also atmosphere to quieter moments such as the beautifully lit and staged title number. Shout out to the Props department and especially puppet makers Maisy Williams (Props Supervisor) and Joshua Horgan who created two charming surprises that were an immediate hit with the audience. 

To the performances and this graduating cohort has a cohesiveness that's been apparent from their very first public show, Godspell, last year. It's palpable in every production and Legally Blonde caps off a stellar year. Choreographer Jayne Smeulders taps into this special alchemy with a cheekiness to the big dance numbers that the cast attacks with real joy. Opening number Omigod You Guys and, shortly thereafter, What You Want set the tone and the production hits the ground not so much running as sprinting and never lets up. 

Within that group chemistry there are terrific individual performances starting with Emma Caporaso as Elle Woods. Caporaso's Elle is smart, capable, and determined right from the get go. I never doubted the character would triumph - there's no ditzy blonde here. She sings wonderfully, looks amazing in a series of spectacular outfits, and handles the comedy beats well. It's her work with Ben Goldsbrough (Emmett) that is particularly affecting and is the emotional heartbeat of the story.

Goldsbrough brings real empathy and a genuineness to Emmett that I found charming and quietly compelling. It's an impressive performance and, as mentioned, the duet Legally Blonde is an emotional highpoint.  

Jake Binns is like a 90s boy band idol as Warner breaks Elle's heart in Serious. The open shirt look, the smooth vocals, the effortless glide around the stage. Katie Green is bitch perfect as Warner's new love interest Vivienne until the character undergoes a change of heart and becomes an unexpected ally of Elle's deep into the second act. Which is when Green unleashes one of those powerful voices that is a feature of this class.  

Kathryn Desmier, Christina Anastasiadis (understudy for Jayda D'Agostino), and Asha Kerr play the Delta Nu trio of Margot, Serena, and Pilar who later become the Greek chorus in Elle's head. Always a fun and energetic presence, they ratchet it up a notch with the cheeky Bend and Snap, such a fun sequence. 

Adam Pavis makes an immediate impression as Professor Callaghan in an authoritative Blood in the Water. He later tackles the unsavoury side of the character with equal authority making Callaghan's abuse of his status somehow even more shocking. 

Ellen Ebbs commands the stage as Paulette with Ireland a standout. Ebbs showcases not only her superb vocals but an expressiveness that is riveting to watch. Her Paulette is a convincing voice of reason to Elle while also devouring the comic potential of the interactions with Samuel Austin's strutting delivery man, Kyle. They both play up to the mischief of it all with Austin a hoot as the seemingly oblivious object of desire. 

Tabitha Galluccio is another who has excellent stage presence as Enid Hoops. Galluccio brings the rap within The Harvard Variations and it's her facial expressions and deft comic timing that makes a mark as she subtly crafts a quirky counterpoint to the other interns. 

Geena Hutton slays Whipped Into Shape as Brooke Wyndham, the full on skipping assault whilst belting out the song. Harrison Ion and Blake Douglas lap up the theatricality of There! Right There! as Nikos and Carlos while Madison Randl brings the big hair and duplicity as Chutney Wyndham. 

You sense Taylor knew he'd been handed the keys to the Ferrari and he's let it rip in a fabulous show that is enormous fun and a great way for this graduating class to end their year. 

Photos by Stephen Heath Photography