Reviews

Trevor Ashley (Hairspray and Priscilla) has created a magnificent show that celebrates the career and life of Dame Shirley Bassey. His tribute to the iconic Welsh singer goes well beyond impersonation. Ashley inhabits the persona, and her power and flamboyance are remembered with great irony and humour.

The West Australian Community Theatre Premiere of Miss Saigon was a beautifully presented production by Stray Cats Theatre.

This large cast show was strongly sung, with the 50+ cast members well led by Vocal Director Kristie Gray. Musical Director David Hicks guided a tight thirteen-piece orchestra.

King Roger is a Polish opera about the 12th Century Sicilian King, Roger II, but in reality is a psychological drama of a man’s inner conflict between Christian restraint and pagan pleasure. This co-production with Covent Garden and Dallas Opera featured an eight metre high head, which revolved in the second act to become Roger’s three-tiered home, or a metaphor for what was happening in his mind.

It was totally engaging and enthusiastically received by the capacity opening night audience.

At the Autumn Road Retirement Village, Minnie Cohen (Nancye Hayes), bridge player extraordinaire, nearly ninety, is perplexed by the sudden, mysterious death of her bridge partner.  She also worries about her unmarried thirty-eight-year old granddaughter and guilty about the son who never contacts her from the other side of the world – all as she continues her lifelong preparation for widowhood.  Her husband Morris (Rhys McConnochie), deaf and grumpy, has two aims left: to be with Minnie and to outlive her – because what would she do without him?