Reviews

Building Blocks

By Bob Larbey. Pymble Players, NSW. Feb 9 to Mar 5, 2022.

The scene is set at Pymble Players with builders' equipment strewn around the entrance to the theatre. This theme is continued with debris on the stage and two bricklayers who seem to be rather lackadaisical in their work. Indeed Mark (Andrew Cougle), and especially Piper (Curtis Harrild), spend probably half of the production having tea breaks and eating an extraordinary amount of biscuits. This explains, in part, why the homeowners are endlessly waiting for their extension to be finished.

New York, New York?

By Morgan Cowling and Caitlin Cassidy. Fringe World. Lyrics Underground, Lyric Lane, Maylands, WA. Feb 12-13, 2022

New York, New York?  Looks at what happens when an opera singer and a music theatre performer find themselves in the Big Apple. These Perth girls look at university life, exorbitant rent, the cold, studying and the audition circuit in a beautifully sung cabaret that is also great fun.

Based on their real-life experiences, WAAPA Graduates - Music Theatre Performer Morgan Cowling, and opera singer Caitlin Cassidy - team up in this love letter to the City That Never Sleeps that is laugh out loud funny. 

Breaking the Code

By Hugh Whitemore. Directed by Anthony Skuse. New Theatre, Newtown, NSW. 11 Feb - 5 March, 2022

In Breaking the Code, playwright Hugh Whitemore used his skill with words to craft the poignant story of Alan Turing, a man forced to hide his real self as clandestinely as he had to hide the secret work he did for his government during World War II. It is an ill-fated story and one Whitemore told with caring honesty and understanding candour.

Director Anthony Skuse embraces that caring and understanding in his incredibly creative and sensitive production of Whitemore’s play.

Curse of the Mummy

Book and Lyrics by Simon Denver. Music by Ian Dorricot. Primadonna Productions. Directed by Carole Dhu. Pinjarra Civic Centre, WA. Feb 11-12, 2022.

Primadonna Productions’ youth presented the funny little Aussie musical Curse of the Mummy. A blend of Ancient Egyptian curses, jokes that hail from around that time and some roaring twenties madness, this show features a plethora of kooky characters and some toe-tapping songs.

QSO Favourites

Conducted by Johannes Fritzsch. Presented by Queensland Symphony Orchestra in association with QPAC. Concert Hall, 12 February 2022

Artistic Directors and Producers everywhere take note. If you’d like an excellent example of programming that’s going to appeal to wide demographics, Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) has been doing it right for years. 2022 is no exception, with the talented musicians treating us to our favourite orchestral works from their past performances. In preparing the program, which ranged from Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 to the theme from Star Wars, QSO asked audiences to vote for the ones we loved most.

Frozen

Music & Lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez. Book: Jennifer Lee. Disney Theatrical. Director: Michael Grandage. Choreography: Rob Ashford. Musical Director: David Young. Lyric Theatre, QPAC. Opening Night: 12 February 2022

The Disney behemoth have been at it again creating jewels out of their back movie catalogue, with Frozen no exception. Their most successful animated movie ever has been given a glorious stage incarnation that looks simply stunning. From icy spears to a palace of sparkling crystals to magic tricks like Elsa’s end of first act dress change when one gown is whisked away and she stands resplendent in another, the visuals of this production are awe-inspiring.

Altar Boyz

Book by Kevin Del Aguila, Music and Lyrics by Gary Adler and Patrick Walker. Fringe World. Directed by David Gray. Subiaco Arts Centre, WA. Feb 9-13, 2022

Altar Boyz is set at the last concert of the tour of the Catholic boy band, “Altar Boyz”. We not only get to see the fabulous concert, performed by the quintet of boys - Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan, and Abraham (Abraham is Jewish) but we join their quest to save souls, find the history of the band and get to know this very interesting group of young men.

I Love the Nightlife

By Peter Cumins. Fringe World. The Hat Trick at the Pleasure Garden, Northbridge, WA. Feb 8-13, 2022

I Love the Nightlife is a tribute to the music of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, both the movie and musical. Artist Peter Cumins, who is one of the pandemic’s gifts back to Perth, has a long relationship with the musical and celebrates the fabulous music in this hour-long cabaret.

Heathers The Musical

Book, Music and Lyrics by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe. Based on the film written by Daniel Waters. The Mitchell Old Company. Darling Quarter. February 8 - March 5, 2022.

Even though I have seen the musical before, it still leaves me with my jaw on the floor at the subject matter it covers.

The ticket website says it all - with a warning of strong language, gun violence, murder, suicide, drug use, fat shaming, sex and more.

Yet remarkably, the writers of the musical have handled the subject matter in a way that allows for these issues to be handled delicately, in a rollicking night of satire.

The Gondoliers

Libretto by William S. Gilbert and Music by Arthur Sullivan. The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Victoria Inc (GSOV). Director / Choreographer: Robert Ray. Musical Director / Conductor: John Ferguson. Inglewood Town Hall, February 5; Alexander Theatre, Melbourne, February 10-12 and Quambatook Memorial Hall, February 19, 2022.

The GSOV, founded in 1935, is one of the oldest continuously performing groups in Australia. When COVID struck early in 2020 the footlights dimming on one of the world's busiest G&S companies was a bitter pill to swallow. Happily, this fourth attempt to bring off this production after three postponements has succeeded. And what a triumph it has proved to be!

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