Reviews

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by Peter Parnell. Based on the Victor Hugo novel and songs from the Disney film. The Regals Musical Society. Rockdale Town Hall. September 29 to October 8, 2023

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of the rare Disney musicals which did not make it to Broadway, and so community theatre is likely the only place you will ever see it in Australia.

Co-Directors Anthony Halpin and Flynn Crewes filled the big barn that is the Rockdale Town Hall with an impressive set, a strong cast of principals and lively dancing from an engaging chorus.

Disney The Little Mermaid

By Hans Christian Anderson, John Musker and Ron Clements. Directed by Karen Francis. Boardwalk Theatre, Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, WA. Sep 28-Oct 1, 2023

It is difficult to imagine a better venue for The Little Mermaid in WA than Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. With a foyer with full length windows that overlook Mandurah Estuary, this might almost be a castle by the sea, and a careful look out to the water might just reveal mermaids.

The Magical Weedy Seadragon

By Matt Ward and Pia Harris in collaboration with over 1000 children across the Great Southern. AWESOME Festival. Directed by Matt Ward. The Rechabites Hall, Northbridge, WA. Sep 26-30, 2023

Photographer: Nic Duncan.

As the 2023 AWESOME Festival draws to a close, I was lucky enough to be able to catch one of the final performances of The Magical Weedy Seadragon. Presented by Albany based Breaksea, this gorgeous mini musical celebrates the oceans of the Great Southern Region and has a lovely message. Playing to a capacity crowd at the Rechabites, it was clear that it captured the imagination and involvement of both children and adults in the audience.

Strictly Gershwin

Queensland Ballet. Lyric Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane. 28 September to 7 October 2023

Queensland Ballet’s theme this year has been ‘Every step a story’. And what a 20th century story the songs of George and Ira Gershwin are. The modern music that George Gershwin composed reaches across classical composition, swing and modern and New Orleans jazz and New York blues. It’s hard to believe that the iconic jazz-influenced ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and symphonic ‘An American in Paris’ are both nearly 100 years old. They sound as fresh and bold as if they’d been written yesterday.

The Dictionary of Lost Words

Adapted from the novel by Pip Williams by Verity Laughton. State Theatre Company South Australia and Sydney Theatre Company. Adelaide Festival Centre, Dunstan Playhouse, September 22-October 14th 2023, then Sydney Opera House, October 26th to December 16th, 2023, and Arts Centre Melbourne from February 17 to March 10, 2024.

In 1898, it was the norm for your sex and scholarship to define your destiny, but for Esme Nicoll, aged four, this was the beginning of her love affair with words. Before she could pronounce it, her dream was to be a linguist, a wordsmith, a person who compiled or edited dictionaries; a Lexicographer.

My Sister Jill

By Patricia Cornelius, adapted from her novel. Directed by Susie Dee. Melbourne Theatre Company. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner. 23 September – 28 October 2023

My Sister Jill is an intimate drama about an ‘ordinary’ working class family across three decades – the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, from the aftermath of WWII to the turmoil of the Vietnam War.  What makes this family different is that the father, Jack (Ian Bliss) is a returned soldier, a man who spent three and a half years as a Prisoner of War of the Japanese.  It’s an experience that has left him struggling to be a ‘good father’ (and he does struggle), unable to hold on to a job, disturbed, resentful and sometimes violent.&nbsp

Not a Clue!

By Bob Charteris. Stirling Players. Directed by Bob Charteris. Stirling Theatre, Innaloo, WA. Sep 15-30, 2023

Stirling Players have championed many local writers in the last few years and are currently hosting the World Premiere of Not a Clue, written and directed by Bob Charteris. A fun parody of detective novels, TV shows and plays, Not a Clue! brings six vaguely familiar detectives together on an isolated and remote Scottish island.

Journey to The Centre of The Earth

By Jules Verne, adapted by David Innes and Robert Lloyd. The Butterfly Club, Melbourne. Sep 28 – 30, 2023

In this fabulous revue we see two rambunctious local comedians, David Innes and Robert Lloyd, offer a plethora of sci-fi adventures extracted from the Jules Verne classic Journey to The Centre of The Earth, first published in French in 1864.

Men At Arms

Based on the Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. Adapted for the stage by Stephen Briggs. Directed by Aaminah Khan, assisted by MIchael Ruhl. Townsville Little Theatre (TLT). Pimpac Performing Arts Centre, Townsville. September 27-30, 2023.

THERE IS always an inherent challenge in adapting a book into a play, and particularly in re-creating the vivid and comical Discworld of Terry Pratchett on to the stage.

I fully acknowledge that there are strings of devotees of the Pratchett series of 41 novels about this fantasy dystopian world of assassins, trolls, dwarfs and clowns, but I must also acknowledge that (a) these completely passed me by - and will probably continue to do so - and (b) that this was my first experience of a dramatic adaptation of Pratchett.

Claire Della and the Moon

By Ella Graham and Jamie Hornsby. AWESOME Festival. Rehearsal Room, State Theatre Centre of WA Sep 26-30, 2023

This gentle little production playing in the Rehearsal Room at the State Theatre may be a good AWESOME Festival choice for quiet or anxious children that are averse to the chaos and loud nature of many children’s shows.

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