The guy who didn’t like musicals

How often does a debut director have a sell-out season before the show even opens? This has been achieved by Elise Bagorski, who assembled the right people in the right venue in the right show.

To enjoy The guy who didn’t like musicals is it helpful to…like musicals – or at least know enough about them to appreciate the self-awareness in the script. The fourth wall is broken on numerous occasions. It is in the context of “what do you want, Paul?” (delivered in fine voice by Hamish Chilcott) that the protagonist is asked (I paraphrase) “how is the audience supposed to sympathise with you if you don’t have the passion to drive the primary plot?” There is fine enjoyment in recognising the tropes. Plot points such as the meteor evokes Little Shop of Horrors, the helicopter, Miss Saigon, and there are elements of Rocky Horror in Oliver Dinneson’s Professor Hidgens. It goes without saying that the show is highly entertaining and very funny.

Bagorski assembles a strong team, at the core of which is a triumvirate of gifted comedians. Tom Howard is just right as ‘the guy’, Paul, dead pan and restrained but increasingly seduced by forces greater than himself. Howard has a mobile face and body and excellent comic timing. Dinneson has a superb voice and stage presence and demonstrates agility in his role as Hidgens. Chilcott plays several different characters all of which showcase his diverse skills and comic ability.  Anything with Howard, Dinneson and Chilcott in it is worth watching and many Hobartians will be proud, at some point in the future, to say ‘I knew them then’. Bagorski knows these young men well enough to rein in the extremes of their ratbaggery.

Meophy Smith-Williams takes the role of Emma, and while her excellent singing voice in underutilised, she is well cast. Grace Rowbottom (Green Peace girl/Nora) is another who has an excellent voice with a strong stage presence and physicality. With Hannah Hookway (Alice/Zoey), another strong emerging talent, the three are delightful in ‘Cup of Roasted Coffee’.

Trisha Argawal is a versatile performer in the supporting role of Charlotte. Along with Hatley Jak (Bill) and Blair O’Toole (Ted) these ancillary characters are all engaging and demanding of the actors. Rounding out the ensemble are Isabella Briffa (company director) and James Harrington, playing a multiplicity of characters. The guy who didn’t like musicals is fast paced and unrelenting in the energy required of all performers.

Much of this energy is expended on the creative choreography of Sophie Henderson. Henderson coached the ensemble in quirky zombie like movements (opening number) but also moments that lampoon the conventions. (‘La Dee Dah Dah Day’/ ‘Show Me Your Hands’). Dinneson’s arabesques were a highlight of ‘Show Stoppin' Number’.

Singing without the assistance of microphones was entirely the right decision for the small venue of the Hidden Theatre. Vocal Direction by Gabby Cousins ensures that diction is excellent. The balance between performers and backing tracks is good.  The team is vocally strong and very little lyrical content is lost.

The guy who didn’t like musicals was very well received by audiences in the first week in November, 2024, and only Chilcott’s number ‘America is great again’ was vociferously booed (a response to Donald Trump’s election win). With all the other accolades this production has received, Elise Bagorski, sold-out debut director, can take that one on the chin.

Reviews by Anne Blythe-Cooper

Photography by Millie Crouch