Reviews

Take a journey to the Emerald Isle as the cast of Irish Celtic dance and sing their way through a brief history of Ireland.

Paddy Flynn shares the story of his traditional Irish pub with his son, to whom he is about to pass on ownership. 12 dancers, led by dance captain Emmett McMorrow, and five musicians bring the story to life. The small cast is packed with talent. The dancers are precise and agile on their lightning-fast fee. The band, complete with uilleann pipes, produce stirring music and beautiful vocals.

Is Hotel Sorrento really about the ‘ghost’ that has haunted and divided the Moynihan family, or is it a treatise on the Australian attitude to the arts? If it is the latter, does that mean the play is a little dated? That the cultural criticism it makes is less relevant today than it was in 1990 when the play was awarded an AWGIE, a Premier’s Literary Award and a Green Room Award? Or do the cuts in government funding to many of the arts suggest the ‘home grown cringe’ does still exist?

Some musicals show their age, but Legally Blonde is a production which has become more topical since it debuted not less. The central character is Elle – a blonde, pink loving, Chihuahua carrying shopaholic who gives the outward impression of being on the shallow side. She turns the tables on the snooty law school at Harvard University – and her ex-boyfriend - by displaying street smarts.

Just when you think you know enough about a musical (having performed in it once) it's genuinely refreshing to sit amongst the audience 16 years later (and 16 years wiser) and really take it in. In writing this review, I found myself doing more research regarding the source material than I had anticipated. Did you know, for instance, that the original version which previewed in 1956 contained seven more songs than it does now?