Reviews

Whether by choice or lack of suitable options (likely the latter), Strictly Ballroom is the Gosford Musical Society’s first foray into Australian musical theatre in well over a decade and it’s a triumph!

It’s always refreshing to hear Australian accents on stage and, judging from the audience reaction to the show, it’s also warmly welcomed. These are our stories; we should be seeing more of them on our community stages.

When he died last year, Neil Simon left a legacy of 49 plays, many of which he adapted for the screen. Funny, heart-warming, just a little flawed, his characters and their stories were a perceptive insight into Twentieth Century America – and won him more Tony and Oscar nominations than any other writer. His plays have been called “painful comedies” because of Simon’s ability to find something funny in serious situations.

Die Fledermaus is such a well-known property that GSOV were able to draw on the Gilbert and Sullivan tradition of tweaking a production, and set the operetta in turn-of-the-century Vienna, which allowed for attractive Art Nouveau sets and costuming.

Robert Ray's freely-adapted libretto is fresh, funny and often charming, avoiding the usual clunkiness of English settings of foreign-language works.

KADS have been suffering some financial pressure of late, after a third party ticket provider has absconded with the proceeds of one of their productions. It is somewhat ironic that this play, Trivial Pursuits, features an amateur operatic company in severe financial peril. The show was chosen well before KADS current woes, but I am sure that the cast could empathise with their characters’ situation.