Reviews

A Night At the Musicals

Fringe World. De Parel Spiegeltent, Fringe Central, Perth WA. Jan 31 - Feb 6, 2017

British cabaret performer and Olivier Award Recipient, Le Gateau Chocolat, has been a firm favourite at Fringe World for the past four years. This year he is joined by English comedian Jonny Woo, to create a fun-filled, irreverent and very glitzy tribute to Musical Theatre.

A clever pairing, the very different performers work beautifully together to create a show that pulls songs from a wide variety of musicals and delights at every turn. Extravagantly costumed, this cabaret, drag and tribute show includes some unusual audience interaction and outstanding singing.

Ursula Martinez: Free Admission

Written & performed by Ursula Martinez. Directed by Mark Whitelaw. Midsumma Festival. Arts Centre Melbourne, The Fairfax. 31 January – 5 February 2017.

No, you won’t see Ursula Martinez (all of her) and her show for free.  ‘Free Admission’ is another way of saying, ‘I freely admit…’  Ms Martinez freely admits to many things over the course of her one-hour show, during which, incidentally, she builds a wall between herself and the audience.  Not a metaphoric wall (although it is that too), it’s a real wall of Breeze Blocks and cement.  It just keeps on going up until Ms Martinez disappears behind it.  And then this reverse of a ‘fourth wall’ becomes a s

Cabaret

Music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb. Book by Joe Masteroff. Produced by David M Hawkins. Directed by Nicholas Christo. Hayes Theatre Co. January 9 to March 5, 2017. Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne from May 1.

If Sydney were Berlin in 1929 then Kings Cross would be the place you’d watch a smoky, seedy and raunchy cabaret.  This makes the 100 seat Hayes Theatre the perfect venue to enjoy an intimate look at this musical, much like Sweet Charity which opened the theatre company. Some lucky members of the audience were even squeezed onto a table right next to the beautifully crafted set - sitting alongside members of the cast who were watching the action.

Jurassic Park the Musical

Music: Phillip Malcolm & Ben Kaye-Skinner. Book & Lyrics: Aaron Holmes. Brisbane Arts Theatre. Director: Shaun King. Musical Director: Faron Swingler. Choreographer: Nicola Crawford. Arts Theatre, Brisbane. 29 Jan – 24 Apr, 2017

Lame jokes, cheesy dialogue, and songs with titles like “Dinosaurs”, “Chaos Theory” and “Raptors in the Kitchen” are the milieu of Jurassic Park the Musical. A parody of Stephen Spielberg’s 1993 movie, the show was first staged in a backyard in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 2009.

Ash Flanders: Playing To Win

Written by Ash Flanders & Declan Greene; directed by Stephen Nicolazzo; musical direction David Barclay. Midsumma Festival. Arts Centre, The Fairfax (Melbourne). 27 – 29 January 2017.

Ash Flanders (the ‘It Boy’ of cabaret according to Melbourne’s Herald-Sun) is a phenomenon.  He of The Sisters Grimm.  He of ‘transgressive’ theatre and cabaret.  But he gets away with being ‘transgressive’ by being simply, very, unapologetically good at what he does and hugely entertaining.  This show is a revival of his already rave-reviewed outing at last year’s Cabaret Festival.  The raves are completely justified.  He is entertaining by being funny, ‘shocking’, articulate and witty. 

Pirate Church - Burn It With Fire

Directed by Chris Bedding and Werzel Montague. Fringe World. The Brisbane Hotel, North Perth, WA. 29 Jan - 19 Feb 2017

Pirate Church - Burn It With Fire, plays on Sunday evenings until 19 February, and centres around pirates and religion. The product of a comedy partnership between an Anglican priest and a candidate for the Uniting Church Ministry, it examines the foibles of religion and combines it with pirate lore.

Wrong Direction

Created by Chris Wilcox. Fringe World. The Ellington Jazz Club, Northbridge, WA. 28-31 January, 2017

Wrong Direction features the world’s most politically incorrect boy band, who in simply beautiful harmony, sing songs that you wouldn’t want your mother to hear.

Written by Chris Wilcox, who also features as a band member, the songs are inspired by a slew of male vocal groups, from One Direction to El Divo. That Wilcox spend much of 2016 performing on cruise ships as a guest performer in Human Nature’s Soul Mates, may also have been an influence.

No Man’s Land

By Harold Pinter. National Theatre Live from Wyndham’s Theatre, London. Sharmill Films. In cinemas across Australia from 4 February 2017.

One of the great pleasures of this National Theatre Live production is to see Pinter’s poetic, enigmatic, multi-layered text in the hands of two old pros: Patrick Stewart as ‘Hirst’ and In McKellan as ‘Spooner’.  They have, moreover, honed their roles, first in New York and then on tour in the UK before landing at Wyndham’s Theatre.  It was the site, after the premiere at the Old Vic, of the famed 1975 production with Gielgud and Richardson.  Are Stewart and McKellan as good?  It doesn’t matter.  Mr Stewart plays Hirst as a

A Leading Lady in Waiting

Kimberley Diane. Directed by Geraldine Harris. Fringe World. The Verandah Lounge, Rigby’s Bar, Perth, WA. Jan 28-Feb 1, 2017

Kimberley Diane is well recognised in community theatre circles in Perth, having performed leading roles in companies including Roleystone Theatre, Playlovers, Koorliny Arts Centre and Nine Lives. In this show Kimberley re-visits her favourite leading roles and suggests a few that she would like to play in the future.

The Wolf Has No Teeth

Directed by Ellie Towner. FringeWorld/ WA Children’s Theatre. The Lunar Big Top, The Pleasure Garden, Northbridge. 28-29 Jan, 2017

The Wolf Has No Teeth was first presented by WA Children’s Theatre at YouthFest in 2016. I was very excited to be able to review this reincarnation at FringeWorld and was keen to see development and growth.

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