Reviews

On the menu at the Aegean Restaurant in Fitzroy this week are large helpings of physical humour, outrageously spicy political incorrectness, lashings of laughter, and a delicious 3-course meal to wash it all down. Who knew dining out could be such a chaotic adventure?

Jessica Pratt has sung Lucia in some of the biggest opera houses in the world. Melbourne audiences were luckier than that. They got to hear her in the intimate Her Majesty’s theatre where she rarely needed to open up that magnificent instrument and so was able to give a much subtler, nuanced performance. Her pianissimo singing was particularly beautiful, and made her a more vulnerable Lucia than one would find in a bigger theatre.

Oh joy oh rapture unforeseen. This is an elegantly staged and beautifully sung production.

Husband and wife creative team John and Susan Brown has created a Pinafore that sticks to the era and the script. It proves that even over a century old the script can still be just as funny and entertaining as it is.

Le 66 is a delightful opportunity to experience comic-opera; a genre that rarely has the opportunity to be seen on stage. This was one of the many operettas by the German-born French composer of the romantic period and it premiered in Paris in July 1856. Ellen Leather plays Grittly and gives a powerful performance as the Tyrolean travelling singer. Her characterisation accurately captures the tone of the narrative. Timothy Daly is charming as Frantz, Grittly’s cousin and fellow travelling singer.