The Metropolitan Musical Theatre Company of South Australia. Arts Theatre. 10 May 2024
One can usually depend upon The Met to turn out a competent musical production, often with the proverbial cast of thousands.
The Addams Family fills this bill, especially with the well-honed swarming song and dance chorus of the white-clad, living-dead “ancestors". There’re a lot of talented and classy workers up there spreading the gorgeous ghostly good spirit.
Writers Brickman and Elice have done a jolly job on representing the idiosyncrasies of the famous Chas Addams characters and Andrew Lippa’s score is pretty much gold. It’s a beaut modern musical, here directed by Carolyn (of the single “d”) Adams with Jane Feast in charge of the live music.
Oddly, the orchestra opens with such a scrubby overture that one’s heart sinks.
Blessedly, it is all upwards from there, albeit erratically. When this production is hitting its straps, it is a joy. In the off patches, it is a pity. For instance, Selma Britz as Morticia is absolutely five star on her big number Just Around the Corner. She looks great and moves well, despite the fact that her beautiful black costume is missing Morticia’s usual fishtail. But she never quite gets the accent. Unlike Jon McKay who absolutely nails that dear weirdo character, Uncle Fester, accent, intonation, and all. Top marks.
In this Addams Family creation, daughter Wednesday enlists her father Gomez’s support in bringing together their madly macabre family with that of the “normal” parents of the boy with whom she is in love.
Crazy old Grandma Addams, hilariously incarnated by Elizabeth Slee, is in charge of powerful potions, one of which is accidentally consumed by the boy’s “normal” American mother to outrageous good effect.
That mother is played by Kristel Dally in a torrent of classic over-the-top cliche Americana. She steals the stage.
Her dreary husband, Mal, is well drawn by Andrew Mair, also with their son, Lucas, just fresh-faced and sweet as depicted by Tom Sheldon.
Vanessa Crouch could not look better as young Wednesday. She brings the classic image to life, moves well, works hard, but struggles in some of the songs. Young brother Pugsley, played by Phoebe Clark on this of alternating nights, sings like a dream but looks all wrong in inadequate padding.
Overall, Carmel Vistoli’s costuming and wigs are good with Jacinta Vistoli’s choreography terrific. Vistoli is a respected name in our non-funded musical theatre world.
Jason Clark deserves a mention as Lurch. Very tall and elegantly deported, he adds a few vocal surprises to the show. But, of course, the weight of the Addams Family rests with the character of the father, Gomez, and here Ben Todd shines once again in both song and dance. He’s a very watchable performer.
So, while Carolyn Adams has not pulled off a directorial coup, she and her spirited cast deliver a comical and rewarding night out. And, the audience whoops its thanks.
Samela Harris
When: 10 to 18 May
Where: The Arts Theatre
Bookings: metmusicals.com.au
The Broadway Musical. Elder Conservatorium Music Theatre. Scott Theatre. 18 Apr 2024
It is always exciting when the Elder Conservatorium turns on a production.
Therein is arrayed the promise of tomorrow’s big musicals. It’s a showcase of student talent - students who are under rigorous training in the musical stage arts.
The Elder shows have been a treat. Sometimes they are but a bare whisker short of Broadway standards.
Ironically, the latest production bills itself as a "Broadway musical".
Of all things, it is a staged version of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women - book by Allam Knee, music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein.
It is nice to feel that such a 19th century classic still has cachet with the TikTok era.
Then again, the general adaptation, albeit of the 2000s, feels a bit clunky and many of the songs too formulaic and long.
The one Off to Massachusetts number, sung by Beth and old Mr Lawrence, shines as the only memorable take-away tune.
The story, if one needs reminding, revolves around the March family of Concord, Massachusetts, in the time of the dreadful American Civil War. Father is away serving as a pastor to the troops leaving mother, aka “Marmee”, to raise their four girls in somewhat humble circumstance. Jo, the second daughter and a feisty tomboy, is convinced that her talent for writing gutsy stories will single-handedly relieve the family’s circumstance. She’s chief protagonist, her three sisters, Meg, Amy, and Beth adorning the narrative in the appropriate hierarchy of siblings at their respective ages.
It’s a semi-autobiographical story and the author’s family actually lived there in Concord.
They have interactions good and bad with the rich man over the road and with the rich Aunt March. There are romantic entanglements, loss and sorrow, and in the end, even the will-never-marry writer, Jo, finds love.
All of this is encompassed in the show, but one spends some time puzzling about the way in which this production has made it happen. If one is a stickler for period accuracy, one is hung-up on odd production choices. Yes, Jo is unfeminine, but did any girl wear trousers in 1850s USA? If they did, they were bloomers. So one is arrested with a costume puzzle very early in the show when Jo replaces her full skirt to wear tight trousers at home.
Thereafter, the costumes continue to be a distraction. Lack of budget is a lacklustre excuse for lack of research. Women of the day wore crinolines and their petticoats, as my companion noted " did not hang out like viscera behind them".
Then there is the lead actor in the role of Jo. There are a host of star students at Elder and alternating casts in the show. Alana Iannace scored the opening performance and demonstrated to the world that she has super powerhouse capabilities. It’s a big voice she has, startlingly strident at times. She is an extremely confident singer. Indeed, Iannace dominates the stage so long as she is upon it.
It is almost as if she’s starring in a concert.
The other performers are in her shadow, but each has a chance to rise and show their stuff and each has a great deal to offer. When it comes it delivering an empathetic characterisation, Sophie Volp shines as Marmee. Her well-modulated voice also is a pleasure. Amy McCann is on pitch as lovely Meg, and she really looks the part while Emily Simmons does a fine transition from the kid Amy to the sophisticated lady. Jelena Nicdao is simpatico as Beth, but this Broadway version of Little Women shortchanges the utter poignancy of her character’s place in the story.
This is a classic women’s narrative but there are some delicious, nay, charming roles for the male performers. Sascha Debney-Matiszik, elegantly flicking his fine locks in the role of Professor Bhaer, has a touch of the matinee idol to him. Then again, watching Darcy Wain as young Laurie Lawrence, one is sure we will be seeing more of him onstage. He has a bit of the old comic “it”. Brendan Tomlins does well to melt hearts as not-really-mean old Mr Laurence and, with Jelena Nicdao, he has the best duet in the show with Massachusetts. Tayla Alexander is top notch as odd old Aunt March, Jay Scott is a pleasure to watch and to hear as John Brook with Ava-Rose Askew solid as Mrs Kirk in a company that generally works very well as ensemble. Harmonies are nice. Timing is spot-on. The show races along and there is some sterling talent up there. It does not disappoint.
And, the orchestra, under Martin Cheney and shielded in darkness at the back of the very interesting-looking stage design from Simon Greer, maintains a very fine balance against the singers. High competence with some oddly tricky scores. Composer Jason Howland is no Sondheim.
Erin James’s direction, however, is strangely loose. While the scene-changing business with assorted chair-moving to create beds and pianos etc is pretty slick and one admires those cast members who so swiftly perform the changes, there are a few quaint credulity issues and period clashes distracting from a streamlined entity.
Then again, it is just a two-night quickie and one should not be too picky.
There’s a fabulous crop of new talent being groomed and seasoned up there onstage and one can only be proud that Adelaide, crucible city of the Australian performing arts, is turning out another crop of future stars.
Samela Harris
When: 18 to 21 Apr
Where: Scott Theatre
Bookings: humanitix.com
Therry Theatre. Arts Theatre. 11 Apr 2024
Playwright Roger Hall has been knighted for his contributions to theatre. He is the pride of New Zealand with a wealth of works under his belt including Four Flat Whites In Italy, an absolute charmer of a light comedy which was a huge hit for Therry at this time last year.
A Shortcut to Happiness is also a light comedy, but a much more complex challenge for director Kerrin White even with a cast of eight senior Adelaide actors. It is all about folk dancing and how good this activity is for the soul, especially the lost soul. Hence, it is a production which also leans heavily on a choreographer, in this case Therry's stalwart Rose Vallen.
As the adapted story goes, Ned is an Adelaide widower and retiree who joins a folk dancing class. It is run by Natasha, a highly-strung Russian woman struggling to make a living. Gradually she builds up a regular class of odd bods: three old girls on the hunt for a man and a spectacularly boring old couple of habitual class joiners. The ups and downs of all their lives are revealed between bursts of beginners’ Russian folk dancing.
Ned is a nice fellow, the script would have us believe. And there are few nicer men on the Adelaide stage than Lindsay Dunn. He’s a reliable character actor and here he builds a nice reliable character, albeit a bland sort of chap. Shelley Crooks is no mad Russian arts aficionado but she’s an all-rounder who can do a decent Russian accent and even unaccompanied a decent Russian song. Julie Quick and Deborah Walsh have a fine track record as seasoned Adelaide actors, with Gigi Jeffers more recently. They three play the comical old gals on the man hunt. Sue Wylie is something of a legend on the Adelaide stage and here she’s partnered in mute but wittily-observed obeisance by Greg Janzow. Last, in the list of our old luvvies, is Frank Cwiertniak who just gets better with the years. In this play, he’s the big excitement as the handsome “prey” the libidinous old gals haul in.
The Don Oswald/Kerrin White set slices the stage with Ned’s fusty home on one side and the church hall dance studio on the other. The latter, complete with notice board and serving window, is the more effective.
Therein the dancing class takes place and, with eight gloriously inept dancers, it is a bit of heels-up fun. The music comes and goes, stops and starts and its cues are appropriately confusing, seemingly coming either from nowhere or from Natasha’s phone tucked into her decolletage. While the music is loud, some of the delivery is less so and there was considerable audience grumbling at interval. More projection, please, cast. There are more sticks than stilettos in the auditorium at Therry shows these days.
A Shortcut to Happiness is not Therry’s greatest production nor is it Hall's greatest play. It’s a bit of multicultural romantic fluff with a seniors bent. But there are guffaws and giggles and the opening night audience was right on side. So, give it a go.
Samela Harris
When: 11 to 20 Apr
Where: Arts Theatre
Bookings: trybooking.com
The Wharf Revue. Dunstan Playhouse. 9 Apr 2024
As befits the title, Pride In Prejudice opened in the ‘Bonnet’ parlour, with the prejudice flowing thick and fast. The befrocked Jonathan Biggins, David Whitney and Drew Forsythe managed to slay quite a few not-so-sacred cows as Mama and the Bonnet sisters, who are still living at home “as the Reserve Bank wanted”. The anachronistic references between the 19 and 21st centuries are pumped out with shotgun rapidity, with the Church, patriarchy and transgender children all targeted. The gay references were a little weary, fortunately it’s hard to find too much humour in ‘woofters’ any more. There are better comedic references than name calling.
The Wharf Revue have been producing political satire for 25 years and while the format harks back a couple of centuries, it doesn’t really get old. Sketches, dance numbers, songs and a nod to vaudeville ensure that the audience is always entertained; if you didn’t like this, hang on, we’ve got something else!
No-one gets off lightly in these parodies and satirical sketches, but there’s a definite left lean to most of them. Q&A gets a puppet roasting in one of the less successful numbers and Lidia Thorpe is serenaded in the afore-noted vaudeville style by Groucho March, clever but a touch cringe. David Marr shines and Robodebt has its moments.
There’s a lovely Trump/Giuliani moment when, escaping through the (undrained) swamp, Trump sings an ode to Mar-a-Lago, pulling out his ukulele to do so. What is it with leaders and ukuleles? Are they so determined to give them a bad name?
Mandy Bishop and David Whitney as Jackie Lambie and David Pocock were most entertaining, as were the French protesters looking for a cause. A fairly ordinary Biden sketch was lifted by a delightful physical lampooning of POTUS.
Bishop treats Sussan Ley with appropriate hubris, belting out a big jazz number with keyboard accompaniment from Musical Director Michael Tyack, who does an admirable job throughout. She’s no slouch at Julie Bishop either.
The Revue is at its best when it critiques with sharp political analysis rather than just poking fun at easy targets. While Dr No (who else but Dutton) is funny, there’s incisive commentary via a Robin Hood sketch about the stasis of our current government, and one is torn between laughing at the cleverness or weeping with despair at the greatest missed opportunity of our political times.
When the ensemble really hit their straps, they cut to the bone. To the tune of Bad Moon Rising, the cast performs an acapella requiem to the Voice referendum – it’s chilling and heartbreaking.
The show is rounded off with a parody of South Pacific with some very funny piss takes and clever plays on words, and the excellent singing featured throughout the production finishes up the evening. Like all productions of this nature, there’s hit and miss in the sketches, but after a slow start it all kicked in, ranging from the gently mocking to the surgical filleting of some of our best-known political figures. With clever wardrobe design from Hazel and Scott Fisher and lightning-fast costume changes, this is a fine edition of the Wharf Revue’s theatrical oeuvre.
Arna Eyers-White
When: Until Saturday 13 April
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
Bookings: ticketek.com.au
Famous Last Words. Goodwood Theatre & Studios. 6 Apr 2024
In the intimate Studio performance space at the Goodwood Theatre, Benedict Andrews and Andrew Upton’s ‘transalation’ of Jean Genet’s psychosexual drama The Maids forces the audience to be voyeuristic and grips them by the throat for a continuous 90 minutes without pause. The expletive laden language at first elicits embarrassed responses, but this soon gives way to submission and then to arrogant judgement: whether we like it or not, the audience occupies the privileged position of crime scene observer, prosecutor, moralist, jury, and judge. Genet’s (updated) text, and director James Watson’s actual production design forces all this on the audience, and it is uncomfortable, provocative, and disturbing. More on that later.
The storyline of the The Maids has its basis in historical reality and concerns two domestic servants – sisters Claire and Solange, played by Emelia Williams and Virginia Blackwell – who plot against Madame (Kate Owen), their privileged employer. Their intention is to eliminate Madame and steal her assets. Like the witches in Macbeth, they routinely whip themselves into a jealous and avaricious frenzy by role-playing their fantasies whenever Madame is away from the house. They take turns in play acting: one becomes Madame, and dresses in her finery, while the other plays her sister. The blurring of personalities is palpable, and Genet’s dramatisation of the play acting is emotionally heightened, and extreme. The text provides fertile ground for Williams and Blackwell, who, in the main, tame and work the lurid text to their advantage. Blackwell is especially effective in presenting a personality on the brink of self-destruction, and Williams’ final scene is especially evocative as she employs levels of varying expression that stand in stark contrast to the often ‘shouty’ monologues at the start.
For much of the play, Madame is silently on stage serving as as constant pointer to what Claire and Solange aspire. Owen does it so well. Her presence is almost chilling. When Madame does finally ‘enter the scene’ and engages with her maids, it is immediately clear why Claire and Solange both despise and admire their employer. The success of this characterisation can be sheeted home to both Owen’s skill as an actor and Watson’s clear vision for what he wants.
This is not easy theatre, but one cannot help feel that Benedict Andrews and Andrew Upton’s translation has in part clouded some of the deeper issues evident in Genet’s original, such as the psychology of oppression: why the oppressed behave (and limit their behaviour) as they do in response to the actions and motivations of the oppressor.
The Studio at Goodwood is not an easy space to work, but Watson and his team turn limitations into advantages. The large wall of upstage mirrors is deliberately used as the dominant feature of the setting, and becomes a metaphor for Claire, Solange, and Madame continually and subconsciously looking inward at themselves while all the time being obsessed with outward appearances. The mirrors also give the audience a unique perspective: they force us to question the extent to which we might be reflected in the dramatis personae; they allow us to see everything that is happening all at the same time, but from different perspectives; they force us to be conscious that we are not only observing but also judging. Stage furnishings are minimal, but entirely sufficient: costume racks on which hang Madame’s couture; black lacquered cabinets and stands with rococo gold decorations; an elegant chaise. It all represents the world from which Claire and Solange are excluded, and to which they believe they cannot truly aspire. They are locked out, which is a sad parallel to the contemporary economic difficulties faced by many.
Rhys Stewart’s lighting is almost unstructured, and the entire auditorium is bathed in a stark white wash that lays bare everything. The audience cannot hide from the cast, and vice versa. There is no attempt at a ‘fourth wall’. Indeed, Solange directly engages members of the audience in provocative and menacing ways. It’s uncomfortable. At times one wished for the lights to fade down on the audience, so that we could be more secretive as voyeurs, and so that Claire, Solange, and Madame could not easily see us looking down our noses at them in our cosy and privileged judgement. But Watson had different ideas.
James Watson and Famous Last Words have daringly tackled a difficult play, and a testing adaptation of it. Again, they haven’t resiled from the hard stuff.
Kym Clayton
When: 6 to 13 Apr
Where: Goodwood Theatre & Studios
Bookings: eventbrite.com