Reviews

Swan Lake

Composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Shanghai Ballet. Presented by Andrew Guild and Simon Bryce. Directed by Derek Deane. Regent’s Theatre, 191 Collins St, Melbourne. 20 -24 April, 2017.

British choreographer Derek Deane brings a very lavish approach to the Shanghai Ballet’s Swan Lake. This production features 48 swans to help tell the tragic tale of the love between Prince Siegfried (WU Husheng) and the Swan Princess Odette (Ako Kondo). The result is a masterful performance with an imposing set design.

Is There Life After High School?

Book by Jeffrey Kindley. Music and Lyrics by Craig Carnelia. Suggested by the book of the same title by Ralph Keyes. PEP Productions. Doncaster Playhouse. April 20 to 29 April 2017

There are some things that give me a feeling of dread: big hairy spiders, snakes, cold tea, and getting an invitation to my high school reunion…

My hands became cold and clammy as I was handed my nametag in the foyer before the show. It really felt like a high school reunion was about to begin. However, I felt instantly comfortable and gratifyingly overwhelmed during the opening number. ‘The Kids Inside’ was incredibly performed by the cast, note perfect and arranged by Stephen Amos, a flawless way to start the show.

Peter Combe - Bellyflop in a Pizza

Presented by Strut & Fret in Association With Merrigong Theatre Company. 18 April 2017 (As part of Spiegeltent 7 – 30 April 2017)

Entertaining three generations of audiences across 34 years, children’s song writer Peter Combe was just one of the many performers at the inaugural Spiegeltent season in Wollongong.

The Screwtape Letters

By C. S. Lewis. Adaptation by Hailey McQueen. Clock & Spiel Productions. Bakehouse Theatre (SA). April 18 – 22, 2017

C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters is an exchange between two Demons, uncle and nephew, about the best way to corrupt a man’s soul. Possession of the soul is a common theme in the works of C. S. Lewis, including The Narnia Chronicles.

Clock & Spiel Productions’ adaptation, written and directed by Hailey McQueen, is delightful – if at times a little confusing.

Normal Human Responses

Dairy Kweenz. Speakeasy HQ. Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2017. April 20 – 22, 2017

The beauty of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is you don’t know what you’re getting until you arrive.

Going in blind, I was expecting to see stand-up comedy. Instead, I got a comedy troupe doing something fun. Something absurd.

Two elements make up Normal Human Responses.

The first of these is the through line: a researcher (Taylor Griffiths) is conducting research into normal human responses to emotional stimuli.

Spring Awakening

Book and Lyrics by Steven Sater, Music by Duncan Sheik. Based on the German Play 'Spring Awakening' (1891) by Frank Wederkind. Barn Door Productions. Directed by Leisi Edmonds. Musical Direction by Andrew Swan. Laycock Street Theatre, Don Craig Room. April 21-May 6, 2017. 

This reviewer has long been of the opinion that you cannot throw a rock anywhere in the NSW Central Coast without hitting a gifted young musician or musical theatre performer, so it was only a matter of time before someone on “Sydney's Far North Shore” (*patent pending) took the risk of forming a professional co-op theatre company to give the flood of youth talent somewhere to...um, flow. Last year, managing partners of The Nate Butler Studio: Nate Butler and Leisi Edmonds teamed with Toddy Keys and Nathan Dale to form Barn Door Productions.

Kinky Boots

Book by Harvey Fierstein. Music and Lyrics by Cyndi Lauper. Based on the motion picture Kinky Boots, written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth. Capitol Theatre, Sydney. Opening night – April 19, 2017.

With funky pink hair, Cyndi Lauper slipped into the theatre as opening night guest of honour, earning an impromptu ovation during the interval. The fact that she came from the US to the second city opening in Australia reflected the pop diva’s enthusiasm for her new career as a music theatre composer.

Her talent and down to earth hard work was reflected on the stage. Kinky Boots is a beautifully crafted musical, with lots of laughs and loads of heart.

Wicked The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by Winnie Holzman. Based upon the novel by Gregory Maguire. Shane Davidson Presents. Walford Anglican School Theatre (SA). April 19-23, 2017.

To this veteran ‘Wicked-watcher’, who has seen the production six times over the years, the prospect of an amateur version with mainly youth, was a challenge. How would a traditionally ‘adult’ show work in this format?

Diary of a Wombat

Based on the book by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley. Monkey Baa Theatre Company. Lend Lease Darling Quarter Theatre. April 18 – 24, 2017

Monkey Baa’s adaptation of Jackie French’s first book about Mothball the wombat is true to Bruce Whatley’s vivid illustrations depicting a week in the life of this endearing but mischievous mammal who spends the days sleeping, eating, sleeping, scratching, sleeping … and finding as many ways as are possible to annoy the family whose garden she has chosen to make her home.

13 The Musical

Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Book by Dan Elish. Jopuka Productions Inc. Directed by Joshua Maxwell, Musical director Quinn Carter and Choreography by Nicole Seggie. The Art House, Wyong. April 15-21, 2017

As the title suggests, this relatively little-known show celebrates/commiserates that most painful rite of passage – turning 13. At the time of it's Off Off Broadway (Californian) Debut in 2007, 13 was the only musical ever to have a full cast and band made up of teenagers. Making it's Broadway debut over a year later – it closed after a less than a year – but remained a cult hit among die-hard fans and has been revised and 'revived' at various times in scattered capital cities ever since.

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