30 Something

It’s December 31^st 1939 and we are at the Club Corona in Kings Cross watching the last act before midnight and the dawn of the naughty forties.

It’s a great premise which largely delivers in 30 Something. Musical maestro Phil Scott has taken 30s and 40s songs from the pens of Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin and added work from contemporary artists including Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga and Coolio.

Delivered by a four-piece band (including Scott at the piano), with glorious vocals by Catherine  Alcorn, this show is a musical feast! The storyline features the pair as an estranged couple who reunite on New Year’s Eve for an “18 karat lounge act” that sees them reunite at the end of the evening.

The script abounds with one liners that refer to significant events of the period and topical references woven into a period context. It is here the show takes a bit of a dip. While the script is clever, the one liners at times fall flat. The show is dependent on audience participation and the audience, on the night I reviewed, were a ‘tough crowd’. It took quite a while for the show to find its feet which seemed to throw the performers resulting in a couple of awkward silences.

The evening culminates in a raid by the police which would ordinarily signal the end of an evening, but not so at Club Corona. It presents an opportunity for some of the best moments of the night by both performers and of course, a happy ending.

Anybody interested in, or with memories of the 30s and 40s will revel in the selection of songs with favourites like ‘Lulu’s Back in Town’, ‘Step Back in Time’, ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’, ‘Your Feet’s Too Big!’,  ’Minnie the Moocher’ (complete with the Jazz scat) ‘Brother Can You Spare a Dime’ and ‘Thanks for the Memory’, some of the songs cleverly combining the original lyrics with topical references.

There is even some audience sing along, particularly in ‘Minnie the Moocher’ and a quiz identifying the 30s/40s advertisement from a few bars of the song. While this reviewer couldn’t pick them, a number of the audience could (or have they seen the show before???).

30 Something is a fun night out, a chance for a sing a long and a nostalgic return to the days of prohibition, speakeasies and great music delivered by consummate practitioners of the genre!

Barry Hill

Photographer: Claudio Raschella