Reviews

Bearded is a gutsy, full-throated roar of a musical, set in the lead up to the referendum on marriage equality. (Although there’s some unnecessary confusion at the start when a character tells us that the ‘YES’ vote got 60% as if it’s already happened - but we all do know, of course, the outcome of that referendum and, surprisingly, the roof did not fall in, society and even marriage itself survived (despite the lies of the ‘NO’ people).

It’s a brilliant story for a modern opera featuring passion, tragedy, Las Vegas glitz, magic tricks, lavish wealth and a white tiger. The result in a word ausgezeichnet – German for excellent.

Siegfried and Roy had boundless ambition to conquer the entertainment world when they first met, echoed in the lyrics of a duet about them aiming to leave their names  written in the sky.

Grease The Musical is older than I am (and I’m no spring chicken!). It was first performed on stage in1971, with the smash hit movie released in 1978, and it’s been performed and screened probably a bajillion times all over the planet since. Yet, through some musical theatre miracle the cast and crew of the production currently playing at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre manage to make this old classic feel fresh.

So fresh was the ice that waves of cool air could be felt in the audience when the splendid troupe skated towards us.

The stage of the Sydney Coliseum had been transformed in just over a day and half, thanks to the special ingredients of 14 tonnes of ice and 2500 litres of anti-freeze.

Opening night was filled with thrills and spills. On three occasions skaters missed their mark and hit the deck. Thankfully there were no injuries, and they skated on – but it underscored the challenges of the production.