Reviews

Cabaret

Music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb. Book by Joe Masteroff. Produced by David M Hawkins. Directed by Nicholas Christo. Hayes Theatre Co. January 9 to March 5, 2017. Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne from May 1.

If Sydney were Berlin in 1929 then Kings Cross would be the place you’d watch a smoky, seedy and raunchy cabaret.  This makes the 100 seat Hayes Theatre the perfect venue to enjoy an intimate look at this musical, much like Sweet Charity which opened the theatre company. Some lucky members of the audience were even squeezed onto a table right next to the beautifully crafted set - sitting alongside members of the cast who were watching the action.

Jurassic Park the Musical

Music: Phillip Malcolm & Ben Kaye-Skinner. Book & Lyrics: Aaron Holmes. Brisbane Arts Theatre. Director: Shaun King. Musical Director: Faron Swingler. Choreographer: Nicola Crawford. Arts Theatre, Brisbane. 29 Jan – 24 Apr, 2017

Lame jokes, cheesy dialogue, and songs with titles like “Dinosaurs”, “Chaos Theory” and “Raptors in the Kitchen” are the milieu of Jurassic Park the Musical. A parody of Stephen Spielberg’s 1993 movie, the show was first staged in a backyard in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 2009.

Ash Flanders: Playing To Win

Written by Ash Flanders & Declan Greene; directed by Stephen Nicolazzo; musical direction David Barclay. Midsumma Festival. Arts Centre, The Fairfax (Melbourne). 27 – 29 January 2017.

Ash Flanders (the ‘It Boy’ of cabaret according to Melbourne’s Herald-Sun) is a phenomenon.  He of The Sisters Grimm.  He of ‘transgressive’ theatre and cabaret.  But he gets away with being ‘transgressive’ by being simply, very, unapologetically good at what he does and hugely entertaining.  This show is a revival of his already rave-reviewed outing at last year’s Cabaret Festival.  The raves are completely justified.  He is entertaining by being funny, ‘shocking’, articulate and witty. 

Pirate Church - Burn It With Fire

Directed by Chris Bedding and Werzel Montague. Fringe World. The Brisbane Hotel, North Perth, WA. 29 Jan - 19 Feb 2017

Pirate Church - Burn It With Fire, plays on Sunday evenings until 19 February, and centres around pirates and religion. The product of a comedy partnership between an Anglican priest and a candidate for the Uniting Church Ministry, it examines the foibles of religion and combines it with pirate lore.

Wrong Direction

Created by Chris Wilcox. Fringe World. The Ellington Jazz Club, Northbridge, WA. 28-31 January, 2017

Wrong Direction features the world’s most politically incorrect boy band, who in simply beautiful harmony, sing songs that you wouldn’t want your mother to hear.

Written by Chris Wilcox, who also features as a band member, the songs are inspired by a slew of male vocal groups, from One Direction to El Divo. That Wilcox spend much of 2016 performing on cruise ships as a guest performer in Human Nature’s Soul Mates, may also have been an influence.

No Man’s Land

By Harold Pinter. National Theatre Live from Wyndham’s Theatre, London. Sharmill Films. In cinemas across Australia from 4 February 2017.

One of the great pleasures of this National Theatre Live production is to see Pinter’s poetic, enigmatic, multi-layered text in the hands of two old pros: Patrick Stewart as ‘Hirst’ and In McKellan as ‘Spooner’.  They have, moreover, honed their roles, first in New York and then on tour in the UK before landing at Wyndham’s Theatre.  It was the site, after the premiere at the Old Vic, of the famed 1975 production with Gielgud and Richardson.  Are Stewart and McKellan as good?  It doesn’t matter.  Mr Stewart plays Hirst as a

A Leading Lady in Waiting

Kimberley Diane. Directed by Geraldine Harris. Fringe World. The Verandah Lounge, Rigby’s Bar, Perth, WA. Jan 28-Feb 1, 2017

Kimberley Diane is well recognised in community theatre circles in Perth, having performed leading roles in companies including Roleystone Theatre, Playlovers, Koorliny Arts Centre and Nine Lives. In this show Kimberley re-visits her favourite leading roles and suggests a few that she would like to play in the future.

The Wolf Has No Teeth

Directed by Ellie Towner. FringeWorld/ WA Children’s Theatre. The Lunar Big Top, The Pleasure Garden, Northbridge. 28-29 Jan, 2017

The Wolf Has No Teeth was first presented by WA Children’s Theatre at YouthFest in 2016. I was very excited to be able to review this reincarnation at FringeWorld and was keen to see development and growth.

Romeo and Juliet

By William Shakespeare. Bard on the Beach 2017. Balmoral Beach Rotunda - Jan 20 - Feb 19, 2017; Dunbar Park, Avalon - Feb 24 - Mar 5; Gunnamatta Park, Cronulla - March 10 – 12: The Greek Theatre, Marrickville - Mar 31 - Apr 8, Watsons Bay – Apr 13 – 23.

‘Tis no mean feat to perform under the stars at any time, but imagine competing against very gusty sea breezes, the high-pitched chattering of a colony of bats and the possibility of summer rain! Despite such unpredictable conditions, the energetic cast and crew of this year’s Bard on the Beach productions are bringing Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, and the hilarious characters of The Merry Wives of Windsor to various outdoor locations across Sydney and a short indoor season at The Greek Theatre at Marrickville.

‘Night, Mother

By Marsha Norman. Javeenbah Theatre, Nerang, Gold Coast. Director: Barry Gibson. January 27th to February 11th, 2017

This compelling one act, two-hander is a great start for Javeenbah’s 2017 season.

Sensitively directed by Barry Gibson, the story of the relationship between a possessive Mother, (Del Halpin) and her epileptic, divorced daughter (Amy McDonald) is brought to life in a drama that is more common than we know of or care to acknowledge.

Both ladies bring comedy and pathos to their finely tuned characters which held the audience’s attention on the “roller coaster” ride of the entire play.

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