Reviews

Beauty and the Beast

Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice. Book by Linda Woolverton. Disney Theatrical Group. Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne. Opening Night June 29, 2024. Tickets currently selling through to November 24..

The fairy tale of the Beauty and the Beast is timeless.  It can only be because it embodies enduring themes and archetypes.  Transformations are possible, it tells us.  Appearances can be deceptive.  And, of course, Love Conquers All.  The basic story has gone through many transformations: it’s been abridged, rewritten and adapted many, many times as fiction, film (most famously by Cocteau in 1946), television and theatre.

Puccini: The Butterfly Effect

By Vanessa West with Angus Grant. Presented by Maleny Arts Council. Maleny Community Centre. 30 June, 2024.

Art imitates real life in an exploration of the lovers who suffered for the superstar of 19th-century Italian opera, Giacomo Puccini.

It is no secret that major opera composer, Giacomo Puccini, “had his cigar in many ashtrays”, as one heartbroken lover puts it in this two-hander that delves into the women behind the man behind the tragediennes.

The Odd Couple

By Neil Simon. John Frost for Crossroads Live. Directed by Mark Kilmurry. Theatre Royal Sydney. June 30 - July 28, 2024

The Odd Couple is as sharp, insightful and humorous as when it first lit up Broadway and sparkles with this excellent cast.

The play opens in the living room of a fancy fashionable eight-room apartment in New York City, that is incongruously in a state of disorder for a poker game hosted by slothful sports journalist Oscar Madison (Shane Jacobson). The wise cracking players fire off each other, with one observing that the milk is standing in Madison’s fridge without a bottle.

Disney Frozen Jr.

By Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, and Jennifer Lee. The Production Academy. Directed by Dixie Farinosi Marist Auditorium, Newman College, Churchlands, WA, Jun 29 – Jul 6, 2024

Frozen Jr., presented by The Production Academy, was this reviewer’s third Disney Jr in eight days, and is further proof that the future of Musical Theatre in WA looks very bright. This beautiful looking show has a big-budget feel, which is backed by excellent performances from its young cast.

The Addams Family

By Marshall Brickman, Rick Elice and Andrew Lippa based on the characters by Charles Addams. Directed by Michelle Ezzy. Roleystone Theatre, WA. Jun 28 – Jul 13, 2024

Roleystone Theatre’s second production in their new theatre, and they are clearly now feeling at home, with this well-polished, thoughtfully directed, and expertly performed production of The Addams Family

A striking, multilevel set designed by Peter “Pear” Carr nicely evokes the Addams’ family home, lit with appropriate eeriness from a design by Keely Johnson. Costumes, designed by Jo Padgett are picture perfect and lifted further by Yvette Drager-Wetherilt’s superb makeup and wig design.

For a Look or a Touch

Composed by Jake Heggie. Libretto: Gene Scheer. Presented by Voxalis Opera. Studio 1, Old Museum Building, Brisbane. 29th June, 2024

Based on the journal of gay victim Manfred Lewin expressing the horrors of Auschwitz and the infamous 'Paragraph 175' outlawing homosexuality, even after the war, this short one-act opera sets the scene for a survivor of the Holocaust and his reflections on his past romance with a Jewish young man who was one of the unfortunate victims, along with his immediate family, of the horrendous Nazi regime and the gas chambers.

My First Ballet: Cinderella

Relaxed Performance. Staged by Matthew Lawrence. Queensland Ballet. Playhouse, Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre, Brisbane. 29 June 2024

If you have ever hesitated at choosing a ‘relaxed performance’ to attend for fear of missing out on the action – then think again. A group of us – aged between 8 and 80 – attended the relaxed version of My First Ballet: Cinderella at the gorgeous Talbot Theatre. Matthew Lawrence, the production’s Stager, and dancer Jack Jones (playing one of the Step Sisters) introduced the performance and reassured the audience that they were there to have fun in a safe environment.

The Exorcist

By John Pielmeier, adapted from the novel by William Petter Beatty. Produced by Redcliffe Musical Theatre and Ghostlight Theatre Company. Directed by Yasmin Elahi. Theatre 102, 102 Anzac Avenue, Redcliffe. 28 June – 14 July, 2024

From the moment you stepped into Theatre 102, an aura of foreboding gripped the air. The lights dimmed low, casting shadows over tables draped in ominous black, setting the stage for a night of spine-tingling terror. Rain sound effects whispered hauntingly in the background, and a chilling pre-show announcement sent shivers down the spine, signalling the beginning of a horrifying journey.

Hands on a Hardbody

By Doug Wright, Trey Anastasio, and Amanda Green. Wanneroo Repertory. Directed by David Nelson and Jane Anderson. The Limelight Theatre, Wanneroo, WA. Jun 27 – Jul 13, 2024

Wanneroo Repertory’s WA Premiere of Hands on a Hardbody opened to a small but appreciative audience at the Limelight Theatre. Based on a documentary and a real-life event, it is set around a competition in Texas, where competitors must keep a hand on a truck for the longest time, in order to win the vehicle.

Very much an ensemble piece, we meet the ten competitors, two competition organisers, local radio host and a smattering of competitors’ family and supporters.

Steel Magnolias

By Robert Harling. North Queensland Opera and Musical Theatre Company. Directed by Alan Cooke. Assistant Director Donna Clayton-Smith. NQOMT Hall. 27 June – 7 July 2024.

ONE IS INCLINED to forget that this favourite film of the 1980s was actually a play before it was extended so terrifically to become considered a minor classic of the era. This is not only because it is an engaging piece of work, but it also had one of the best ensemble casts in any movie.

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