The Look, The Legend, The Musical. The Production Company and Adelaide Festival Centre. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 31 Dec 2016
Was it the bopping hits of yesteryear or the dazzling performances of the cast which brought audience members to their feet at the opening of Dusty?
A bit of both.
It was a nostalgia springboard into 2017 - something old as new again.
The Production Company’s look at Dusty The Look, The Legend, The Musical is a wickedly extravagant portrayal. It is a blockbuster co-production with the Adelaide Festival Centre of a very successful bio musical created by John-Micahel Howson, David Mitchell and Melvyn Morrow. It revives all the corn and bling of the 60s and then some. The wigs! The wigs! The frocks! The frocks!
Dusty Springfield’s story is not one of the great happy sagas of showbiz. Not that there are many of those.
It stands as an interesting piece of pop star history. While Dusty was no rarity as a lesbian in the upper echelons of showbiz, she was of an era when such were kept in the whispering shadows and double lives were lived. Added to the ‘sturm und drang’ of life at the top and the vicissitudes of the music industry, not to mention the ever-presence of drugs and alcohol, Dusty existed within a deepening psychological minefield from which, remarkably, this star eventually rose like a Phoenix, several times.
This is delivered as a theatrical emotional rollercoaster from hope and rebellion through conflict and triumph to rebirth and, eventually, death.
The Production Company’s fabulous orchestra under the direction of Michael Tyack, is elevated very elegantly on a high dais above the action onstage. This is apt for the theme of the show and much more fun than having the musos buried in an orchestra pit.
The staging generally is skilfully unfussy allowing the large cast to dress the stage with dance and costumes and the lighting bods to bring on the moods. The show’s choreography by Michael Ralph is just divine. It draws on a zillion heavenly retro moves and the dancers give their able all. As they say in the classics, you gotta love it.
The songs belt out and the beats throb forth - I Only Want to be With You, Little By Little, Silver Threads and Golden Needles, Dancing in the Street, Wishin’ and Hopin’, I Just Don’t Know What to do with Myself, Son of a Preacher Man, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me…
In the world of juke box musicals, this is a good one covering pop music decades and crossing from the UK to the US and back again.
Of course, to many it is not the greatest music in the world and this sort of pop history is not for everyone. But this revisiting of what was, at the time, a thrilling world in which pop ruled the air waves, is providing a rare chance for boomer parents to give their young a window into how it was.
Of course, it is mainly millennials who are doing the work to deliver it all.
The cast, directed by Jason Langley, is largely young and fresh and fit and strong - and talented.
Amy Lehpamer is all big lungs and strong notes as Dusty. Talk about belting out songs. One after another. Dusty had a big voice. It is a strenuous and impressive performance in which Lehpamer also reaches into the heart of Dusty and brings the audience a sense of a real wonderful, flawed person.
Adelaide’s Baylie Carson plays Mary O’Brien, the young Dusty, and, despite having to perform costumed in a drab school uniform, her singing brings the house down. She’s a huge hit with the home crowd.
So is Paul Blackwell, perhaps the most beloved Adelaide actor of our time. He plays three roles, all with his usual charm, skill and whimsy. Piece de resistance is the great night club scene which represents Dusty’s latter-day rise to the superstar status of gay icon. The house comes down again.
Then, of course, there is one of Australia's musical superstars, Todd McKenney playing a supporting role to give added class and pizazz to the show. He’s waspish and sweet as Dusty’s hairdresser and loyal friend. He gets to wear a fabulous wig or two, also. And it is ever and always a joy to watch him work on stage.
Chloe Zuel gives a sterling performance as the American singer Reno, Dusty’s great love. Oh, how she makes one feel her dilemmas.
Sheridan Anderson and Emma Hawthorne are vivacious support as Mary’s girl group. Then there is Virginia Gay, strong as stalwart Peg, along with Chidi Mbwkwe and Ruvarashe Ngwenya as The Nevadas, Jackie Rees as Kay O’Brien, Brenton Wilson, Nicole Melloy… among the large and notable cast.
Dusty is not high art. It has no pretences. It is a good-time nostalgia show.
It hits that mark with a flourish - and everyone goes home happy and humming.
Samela Harris
When: 31 Dec to 22 Jan
Where: Adelaide Festival Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, David Atkins Enterprises, Michael Cassel Group & TEG DAINTY. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 3 Dec 2016
It would be a hard heart that is not moved by the outstanding production on offer at the Festival Centre this month. Singin' in the Rain feels like a celebration of everything musical theatre was meant to be. It is, quite simply, a triumph.
All of the signature moves are there; Don Lockwood swinging on the Lamp post as he rejoices for love; Don, Cosmo, and Katherine linked arm in arm, tipping over a bench seat; but there is so much that is new. This production breathes through its stunning choreography. The cast of amazing ensemble dancers and even more talented leads are its heartbeat.
In the lead role of Don Lockwood for the opening night of the Adelaide season, Rohan Browne is absolutely spectacular. In what can only be described as a mammoth undertaking for a stage performer he brings new meaning to the term ‘triple threat’ as he dances up a storm and croons though every number with delicious dulcet tones and gentle vibrato.
Playing opposite him, in one of the all-time best musical theatre roles, is Jack Chambers as Cosmo Brown. Chambers is a tour-de-force and together with Browne the pair are unstoppable. Chamber’s number Make ‘Em Laugh is a highlight of the production, as are Fit As A Fiddle and Good Mornin’.
As Lockwood’s love interest, Kathy Seldon, Gretel Scarlett rounds out the exceptionally talented cast of leads with enviable skill as dancer, singer, and actress. The chemistry between Scarlett and Browne is both electric and sensual. Browne’s Lockwood is full with charismatic charm and flirtatiousness which he beautifully fulfills and Sheldon’s shy, endearing nature is perfectly captured by Scarlett.
Erika Heynatz plays the famed Lina Lamont with a truly shocking – and brilliantly executed – shrieking voice! The cast of key characters is rounded out ably by Robyn Arthur, Mike Bishop, and Rodney Dobson
The design by Simon Higlett is beautiful in its simplicity and Tim Mitchell’s lighting fills the action with warmth, heart, and life.
Everything about this production is just right, but nothing is more spectacular than Andrew Wright’s choreography which the amply talented cast execute with aplomb.
One can barely wipe the smile from one’s face reminiscing on this production of Singin' In The Rain.
A show to be seen twice or more.
Paul Rodda
When: 1 to 23 Dec
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
Red Phoenix Theatre. Holden Street Theatres. 12 Nov 2016
Nostalgia is dangerous. The good old days always glow with the good moments, omitting the bad. Omitting opportunity for serious well rounded reflection.
As Director Michael Eustice’s program note observes, Don Parties On revisits the world and characters of David Williamson’s Don’s Party some 40 years on from the fabled ‘It’s Time’ 1972 election. What Williamson, revisiting the past in context of the Abbott versus Gillard election, uncovers on the gender opportunity front is profoundly disturbing given the hard fought for gains of the ‘70s and their repudiation by the vicious attack on Julia Gillard.
Don (Wayne Anthoney), mates Mal (Adrian Barnes) and Cooley (Brian Godfrey) are still free thinking larrikin Aussie blokes beneath four decades of marriage, children and divorce.They gather on election night at Don’s expressing a peculiar blend of blokey bravado of a bygone age with a stark social and political cynicism at odds with their supposed progressive thinking and beliefs. Cooley is hysterically funny as he pops an iPod Classic into a speaker dock to blare out a 70s classic, dancing like an old man manic, only to suddenly reach for his carry on oxygen bottle inhaler. Don too is enthusiastic. Mal, laughingly looks on.
The quarter cut sandwiches and olive, cheese and salami on sticks are still there, but, what happened to the thinking? The way Don’s wife Kath (Julie Quick) is constantly putting out spot fires here and there, you’d be forgiven thinking there never was a 70s progressive social movement.
Williamson’s script flows with the rabid laughs Don’s Party is famous for, only tinged with a shade of blackness darkening the humour to the right degree of thought provoking discomfort.
This engaging, challenging discomfort covers pretty much every subject you could expect when a bunch of former larrikin part time hippies are confronted by their generations failings since ’72 by Don’s confident, savvy high school age Granddaughter Belle (Kate van der Horst.) Things become far more serious when Kath, Mal’s successful ex Jenny (Lyn Wilson) and Cooley’s wife Helen (Victoria Morgan) revive memories of an “innocent bit of wife swapping” which opens the floodgates to emotive argument beyond competing political ideologies.
The fascinating, painful, at times ugly to and fro between the men and women, observed quietly in the background by Belle, brilliantly throws stark personal experience against the political reality of Gillard’s treatment. Further exploring the seismic shifts of generational change, the challenging relationship Don’s married son Richard (Brant Eustice) has, feeling a failure, having an affair with another challenging woman, Roberta (Jessica Carroll) and managing things with daughter Belle and his parents throws more darkly comic fuel onto the fire.
Eustice's direction, aided by wonderfully sound characterisation and comic timing by the ensemble, ensures the clash of nostalgia, historical reality and personal experience flows evenly, striking notes of revelation at the perfect moment.
“We’ve won” Cooley exuberantly calls, as the hung parliament election night is called. But what did Australia really ‘win’ that night, as Don’s party of anger, regret, nostalgia, cynical disdain and very real pain after 40 years?
David O’Brien
When: 10 to 19 Nov
Where: Holden Street Theatres, The Studio
Bookings: holdenstreettheatres.com or (08) 8225 8888
State Opera Of SA. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 12 Nov 2016
“My dream of love has vanished forever,
the moment has fled, and I die in despair,
and I die in despair
and I have never loved life so much, so much!”
…sings Mario Cavaradossi as he awaits his impending execution by firing squad. These verses capture the essential heart of Puccini’s much loved opera Tosca, in which devoted love is sorely tested but ultimately wins through, although with tragic consequences.
They are the final verses of E lucevan le stele (And The Stars Shone) which is of the most heartbreakingly beautiful arias in Puccini’s Tosca and in the entire canon of tenor arias. Rosario La Spina sang it with his hallmark passion, understanding and emotion, and he amply demonstrated why he is one of Australia’s leading tenors; always embraced by an admiring public when he graces the stage of the State Opera of SA. His Recondita armonia (Concealed Harmony) in Act 1 filled the vast stage.
Kate Ladner, in the eponymous role of Tosca, was also excellent and her performance alongside La Spina in Act 1 was a highlight of the production. She was coquettish and portrayed the playfully jealous lover with uncommon style. Their duet was evocative, and her Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore (I Lived For Art, I Lived For Love) in Act 2 demonstrated her ‘goldilocks’ vibrato soprano voice (not too tight, not too relaxed, just right), and her ability to project and sing in full voice while in recumbent positions was impressive.
Baron Scarpia, the man who put himself between Tosca and Cavaradossi, was played by baritone Mario Bellanova with sufficient, but perhaps not enough, dark menace. Smaller in stature than Ladner in particular, director Cath Dadd needed to find a mechanism to accentuate Scarpia’s control and cruelty, especially in arias such as Ha piu forte sapore (For Myself The Violent Conquest) in which he comments about the pleasure of conquest and how it surpasses the ecstasy of romance, showing himself to be the embodiment of evil.
Rounding out the cast in the smaller roles were Bernard Hull (Spoletta), Pelham Andrews (Sciarrone), and Robert England (The Gaoler). Jeremy Tatchell made an important contribution in the role of Angelotti, and John Bolton Wood was an enjoyable scene stealer as the Sacristan.
Ashley Martin-Davies’ scenery and costumes were impressive. Each of the three acts were staged on imposing sets, and the enormous statue of Saint Michael holding his sword dominated Act 3 and evoked Castel Sant Angelo. The cavernous nature of the settings for Acts 1 and 2 perhaps made it more difficult to create scenes of intimacy and menace respectively, although Nigel Levings’ sensitive lighting greatly assisted.
The chorus does not have a lot to do in Tosca, but the State Opera Chorus, under the tight direction of Timothy Sexton, were spectacular when called upon, and Angus Brill Reed sang a beautiful off-stage shepherd’s song.
Under maestro Nicholas Brathwaite’s baton, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra were outstanding throughout, and the brass and horns were especially fine. Special mention must be made of the off-stage use of the mighty Silver Jubilee Organ at the hands of the talented Andrew Georg.
It was a great pleasure to speak to several members of the very large audience during the intervals who confessed they were opera ‘newbies’ and were loving the experience. Opera can be for everyone. It is not elitist. It is perhaps the greatest art form, and this production of Tosca by State Opera SA deserves your attention, but there are only three more performances left. Get in quick. It is just ….terrific!
Kym Clayton
When: 12 to 19 Nov
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
Matt Byrne Media. Holden Street Theatres. 27 Oct 2016
12 Angry Men is a play about deliberation. Unlike most whodunits or crime dramas 12 Angry Men is not about innocence or guilt, but rather the interpersonal relationships which playout in the community microcosm of the jury. The characters have myriad multi-layered interactions shaped by contextual, processual, temporal, social, political and emotional factors, all of which are littered with prejudice.
The premise of the play surrounds the conviction of a young Puerto Rican boy who is accused of murdering his father, and the jury’s requirement to reach a unanimous decision on the outcome. Execution is the penalty for a guilty sentence.
Opening in the court room we find 12 jurors, frustrated both by a relentless heatwave and now three-day long trial in which the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the defendant is guilty. There is a vote, and all but one votes guilty. The protagonist is juror number 8. An architect. He doesn’t believe the defendant is innocent or guilty – he actually doesn’t know what to think – only that he wants to talk it through before making a decision that could end a young boy’s life. And so, the deliberation unfolds.
Written by Reginald Rose as an adaption of the 1954 teleplay of the same name, the dialogue is characterised by defensive arguments, personal agendas, ineffective listening, and personal and racial prejudice. It makes for a gripping piece of theatre.
The Matt Byrne Media production stars David Grybowski in the role of juror 8, as made famous by Henry Fonda in the film. Grybowski is pragmatic and considered. His characterisation provides a neutral zone from which stronger and weaker characters can centre themselves, and then leverage from. Grybowski’s performance is thoughtful and well balanced. Juxtaposed to juror 8 is juror 3 played by Director/Designer, Matt Byrne. Byrne’s characterisation sits in stark contrast to Grybowski’s. He never settles, is rarely considered, and flies off the handle in fits of cringe worthy hypocrisy. Byrne’s penultimate emotional breakdown is affecting stuff, and some of the best work one has seen him do in recent performances.
There are no weak links in this cast but there certainly are a few standouts. Juror 7 is played by James Black with a tremendously believable characterisation. Black gives a consistently strong performance but really comes into his own when his characters convictions are internally challenged. David Havilland gives a measured performance as juror 4 and James Whitrow is positively menacing as the outwardly racist juror 10.
Angus Smith’s Foreman strikes a nice balance between being jovial and forthright, and James McCluskey-Garcia’s juror 2 is reticent and dweebish until he is pushed too far. Nathan Quadrio plays juror 5 with sensibility and strength, and Russell Ford is urbane in his treatment of juror 6. John R. Sabine is captivating as the jury’s elder and always has a poignant thought to add and Sam Davy is direct and engaging as juror number 12. Neville Phillis imparts juror 11 with respectability and logic and the cast is rounded out by Rohan Richards as the guard.
Byrne has designed a winner with the seating traversing both sides of the action. It adds an element of realism to the staging and gives both sides of the audience and interesting perspective on the reactions of the rest of the room. One personally discarded the innocent/guilty chip early in proceedings as it was too hard to read in the dark and distracted from the on stage action.
The concept of reasonable doubt and the complexities of establishing undeniable fact in a trial such as this make for interesting thinking and debate. The play may harbour irrelevancies in gender equality, but it remains thematically fresh and interesting despite this.
Matt Byrne has created a compelling, exciting, and interesting evening of theatre which is fully deserving of the praise it has received. The season is shortly to close, and many of the performances are now sold out, but it is still worth your attention.
Paul Rodda
When: 12 to 29 Oct
Where: Holden Street Theatres
Bookings: seatadvisor.com