Reviews

Backbone is the most elevating and enjoyable celebration of human circus acrobatic feats, from Australia’s longest running acrobatic ensemble.  From the very opening moments when all performers stand up and start moving the audience is engaged in lively surprising, imaginative feats of strength, lifting, jumping, flipping and extraordinary balancing.  The whole is underscored with vital live music from Elliot Zoerner and Shenton Gregory.

One of the more delightful things about Seussical the Musical is that almost everyone has the source material somewhere in their childhood memories. It was easy enough to be swept along in the musical whirlwind of stories, characters and a liberal sprinkling of catch-phrases and cameos.  The production is simply and cleverly staged, and Wendy Braid's and Maree Castenmillerr's costumes are as vibrant and varied as Dr Suess' characters.

When Michael Ball and Alfie Boe opened their second-half with Gershwin’s “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” that’s where the audience were – paradise. It was just one of the electric moments these two superstars of song created during their two-hour concert Together. Based on their best-selling album of the same name, musical-theatre favourites rubbed shoulders with rock, pop and swing in a program that seamlessly mixed all genres.

Julia Griffith and her cast of eleven have taken on the many challenges of this play with confident enthusiasm. Apart from the difficult task of manipulating the “nude" scenes for the calendar shots, there are many scenes, many props and many costume changes. At Pymble, this involves some cooperative space sharing in wings that are not easily accommodating – while still sustaining characterisation and the continuity of the play. And they manage to clear these hurdles very well.