She Loves Me: The Classic Broadway Musical in Concert - Western Sky Projects (10 August 2024)

Classy. The word that immediately comes to mind to describe not only this fabulous production but the entire experience at the matinee performance. From the pre-show tour of the Liberty Theatre that had lain dormant for so long in the heart of the city, to the cast interacting with the audience before the Prelude, to the joy of the show itself, and the post-show Q and A, this was sheer class from top to bottom.

While the two sold out evening shows catered to an audience of some 160, the matinee was specifically tailored to be a more intimate affair of around sixty. The tour conducted by director, co-producer, and Western Sky founder, Andrew Baker, along with cast member Noah Humich (Arpad Lazslo) was a lovely touch. Especially given that the Humich family has played such a significant role in bringing the space back to life and is committed to developing more arts venues in the city precinct. There was an inescapable authenticity and enthusiasm as Humich guided us around the heritage listed venue. This included passing through the green room where the cast was preparing. We will return to the significance of this later. Another benefit of the tour - front row seats!

Mark Flower Photography

The performers, all fabulously costumed, enter and begin to mingle with the audience. I'm asked what perfume I would like to sample by stylishly attired Chris Gerrish in character as Ladislav Sipos, an employee of Maraczek's Parfumerie. The year is 1934. The place, Budapest, Hungary. The rustic nature of the Liberty suits this perfectly. There may not be a $100,000 set but what we do have is a multi-tiered series of platforms that give the perfume shop depth; great set decoration and props; and the inventive deployment of furniture and lamps in the wings to efficiently depict other settings. Set design by Trace Co with effective lighting design by Production and Lighting Facilitator Adelaide Harney. 

Then there's this - the four piece orchestra, stage left. Who begin to play under Musical Director Joshua Haines who's also on keys. We quickly come to realise that this is a sublime score that is expertly played by Haines, Alex Barker on drums, Cooper Williams on trumpet, and Ruth Klein Cook whose violin playing elicits so much emotion in what we will soon recognise as a wittily realised romantic comedy. 

Indeed, this is but one incarnation from the original 1937 play Parfumerie that will also see the Hollywood movie adaptation You've Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Here our lead characters, Georg Nowack and Amalia Balash, are wonderfully played by Will Groucutt and Amy Fortnum. Georg and Amalia, in a classic romantic comedy trope, immediately dislike each other whilst unknowingly communicating back and forth by letter. Shenanigans ensue. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1963 and, again, there's a real sense of class all over the writing, the songs, and the music.

Mark Flower Photography

Baker has put together an exceptional cast - the vocal talent across the board is superb; the acting is excellent; the comic timing and staging impeccable. You can sense a real camaraderie between the performers. Yes, the production is described as "in concert" which means performers will often have script in hand but this in no way detracted from the overall experience.  

Fortnum sings superbly with Act One closer Dear Friend one of many highlights. She displays very good comedic chops, especially in the second act with numbers such as Where's My Shoe? Groucutt impresses as Georg realises the entanglement he's in before embracing the possibility of love. Showcasing an expressive singing voice, Groucutt combines beautifully with Fortnum vocally. 

Lainey O'Sullivan has a lovely arc as her jaded Ilona Ritter ends up finding love in an unexpected place with that trajectory perfectly personified by, firstly, the defiant I Resolve to the charming A Trip To The Library. Ryan Hunt as Steven Kodaly might be the closest thing to a villain of the piece as Kodaly woos then abandons Ilona while also fraternising way above his pay grade with all sorts of ramifications. 

Gerrish brings a light touch to Ladislav Sipos and is so good in support of comic set pieces such as the visit to the Cafe Imperiale where Georg goes to meet his pen pal for the first time. Speaking of that sequence, Robert Hoffman makes for a magnificent Head Waiter adding another potent singing voice while bringing the funny in spades. 

Mark Flower Photography

Robbie Burns adds an understated gravitas as Mr. Maraczek while Humich is all youthful eagerness as Arpad transforms into Mr. Lazslo. There's also an embarrassment of riches in the ensemble with Alan O'Neill, Jess Clancy, Sophia Matthews, Lindsay McNab, Lynzie Bremner, Andrew Baker himself, and, in a delightful surprise, Cooper Williams jumped out of his chair in the orchestra to participate in the fun! This all comes together in perhaps my favourite moment which was like a movie montage - Twelve Days to Christmas where the cast becomes increasingly frenetic as festive season sales boom. 

Special mention to Sound Designer Michael Fletcher who I spoke to earlier in the year to better understand how critical his work is to shows such as this. Humich had mentioned in the tour how good he thought the acoustics at the venue were but I suspect a lot of skill and effort has gone into ensuring that the balance and clarity between the performers and the orchestra was so good. 

To finish, after rapturous applause at final bows, the Question and Answer session hosted by Jess Clancy was insightful. Two observations that were notable - the 'in concert' approach meant that the cast, many of whom have full time jobs, were able to do the show as they didn't have to spend so much time absorbing the text. Then Amy Fortnum, also a co-producer, spoke so passionately about what musical theatre could and should be and how she wanted to break down the fourth wall between audience and performer, hence the trip through the green room and the cast mingling with the audience before and during the show.  

This was an exceptional afternoon. If the final show hadn't already been sold out I would have been sorely tempted to buy a ticket and go right back in to watch it again. 

Western Sky Projects' ethos of supporting local talent for the benefit of performers and audience alike is genuine. Taking a risk as a not-for-profit production company on a Broadway classic that hasn't been performed in Perth in over fifty years at a venue that hasn't been in regular use for over forty is laudable to say the least. 

The fact that it ended up as a triumph is a testament to the vision, creativity, talent, and hard work of all involved. 

Once We Lived Here - The Blue Room Theatre & Western Sky Theatre (25 October 2017)

At the question and answer session following the Wednesday night performance Ryan Dawson (who plays Burke) and Megan Kozak (Lecy) indicated how difficult it is to sing with their natural Australian twang. They explained that most musicals are delivered with either an American or leastways neutral accent given the predominance of the US as a generator of this type of entertainment. How refreshing then to hear the unique sounds and vernacular of a homegrown Aussie musical no matter how difficult to maintain. There are lyrics and rhymes in Once We Lived Here that you wouldn’t hear created anywhere else in the world. For that alone this is a notable entry in the modern musical canon.

But the show is much more than that. The setting is utterly Australian – the country farm and its inhabitants battling the elements and themselves to eke out a living. In many ways it reminded me of the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre production simply called Farm from a couple of years ago. Life is bloody tough on the land. Families toil for generations in conditions that would make the average city dweller blanch. There is a fierce loyalty and bond to that land and to each other. Those loyalties are constantly tested and this is where we get to the heart of the musical. 

Times are tough for the McPherson clan. The sheep farm is failing as is the health of the matriarch Claire (Sharon Kiely). Oldest daughter Amy (Taryn Ryan) has managed the farm ever since the death of her father some eight years earlier. Amy's siblings Lecy (Kozak) and Shaun (Joshua Firman) return to the property to be with Claire in what may be her final days. Former farmhand Burke (Dawson) also arrives at 'Emoh Ruo' though his motives are questioned by Amy. Hard earned truths and tragedy ensue as these five distinctly drawn characters interact in the furnace of the drought afflicted environment and competing memories of their shared history. Events of the past are revisited. Revelations made. Futures put in flux.

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.

Behind all this there is a spirit that infuses the musical that strikes me as quite special given it is counter-intuitive to what could be perceived as the general bleakness of the premise. It celebrates the strength and resilience of these characters and of those who choose to makes sacrifices, personal, professional and emotional, to work in the country. The love between siblings, and between a mother and her children, also rings out loud and clear. It's an impressive and ever present energy. 

The Book, Music and Lyrics are by Matthew Frank and Dean Bryant who, as was remarked at the QandA, are country lads. The structure involves cutting between two timelines - the present and eight years early when a key event shaped who these people have become. I admit, I was a little disoriented when the first 'flashback' occurred but once I keyed into the device it was fine. In this I was aided by the lighting design and notable change in performances - Shaun, for example, is only 13 years old in the flashbacks.

I very much liked that Frank and Bryant found a simple yet creative way to deal with exposition in the early going as Lecy uses a handheld camcorder to capture her feelings on returning to the farm and to interview her siblings. It works because it reveals so much about Lecy, the materialistic girl who fled to the bright lights of the city. It also sets up the family dynamics as the others react to her posturing. 

The music, beautifully played by the three piece band of (Musical Director) Joshua Haines on piano, Harry Love (guitar) and Luis Santos (double bass) in a room off to one side, is evocative and perfectly balanced with the vocals. So much texture is created here. The songs move the story forward and give us character insights aplenty. There's wonderful use of reprises to buttress emotional beats and recurring motifs for each character. Highlights include Ryan's Gotta Fix The Pump and As Far As The Eye Can See, Firman's haunting The Shearing Shed, and the moving The Leaves of Summer. Then there's the showstopper We Like It That Way that opens the second half in hysterical fashion. The cast sang superbly in the small space.

The dramatic heft of the Book means that the five performers have to show off some serious acting chops to go along with the impressive vocal talent. Foremost in this is Ryan who plays the practical, responsible daughter who, in many ways, is the replacement for the father that is so sorely missed. Ryan, one of the brightest stars in Perth's independent theatre scene, is simply terrific. There is a sequence where her character Amy finally lets all the bottled up emotions explode into life to quickly cut to a moment of happiness in the past which is just as swiftly undercut back in the present. The emotional range on display in a maybe 5-6 minute sequence is extraordinary.

By contrast, Kozak imbues younger sister Lecy with self-absorbed snark, and overt flirtatiousness when it comes to Burke. There is a certain desperation that bubbles under all this which becomes clearer in the second half. I'm a big fan of the off-beat comic energy Kozak brings to her performances and director Andrew Baker utilises it well here never letting it verge into caricature. 

Joshua Firman does incredibly well with a tricky role - as the larrikin 13 year old who grows up to be the cruising-through-life Shaun with a gnawing sense of emptiness that festers. Firman has charm to burn so it's intriguing to see the restraint deployed in the present day sequences. He nails the cheeky, boyish enthusiasm of We Like It That Way and his work with Dawson in Guitar Lesson is excellent. Firman also has such a joyous singing style when let loose that is a pleasure to experience.

I had not come across Kiely or Dawson before but both round out an excellent cast. The former oozes maternal love and protection as Claire, never allowing the character to be defeated by either her illness or the past. It is a performance of great integrity and decency that anchors the production. Likewise, Dawson's Burke is a voice of reason amongst the emotional tumult. His character is a multi-faceted link to the McPherson children that sees him display fatherly concern towards Shaun; care for Lecy whilst rebuffing her advances; and notably a tenderness mixed with some tough love towards Amy. Again, he gives the character an aura of down to earth decency.

Props to Andrew Baker and fledgling company Western Sky Theatre for staging a two hour Aussie musical at The Blue Room and assembling such a talented cast, band and production team (shout outs to Rhiannon Walker for the rustic set design and costumes and Katrina Johnston for the lighting design). His intention is to mount productions that attract talent that is either from WA or trained here. If this opening salvo is any indication we are in for many excellent productions.