Review: Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins
Disney and Cameron Mackintosh
29 July 2010
His Majesty’s Theatre

www.disney.com.au/marypoppins

The pure delight of Mary Poppins will ignite the love of theatre and story in any child and reminds us grown ups that we should never stop believing in our own dreams.  Or, as only the best people say: it’s supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – and deserves every standing ovation and sold out sign that it’s going to get.

Throw away your expectations from the 1964 Disney film (with Julie Andrews) or P L Travers’ books. With the rights to both, Cameron Mackintosh joined forces with Disney to create something so new that, once you’ve seen it, it’s hard to imagine it as anything else.

The original 2004 West End production won Olivier Awards and went to Broadway in 2006 to be nominated for Tony Awards. If the heart-felt standing ovation of last night’s opening is anything to go by, the Australian production won’t be closing for a very long time.

Every scene reveals more of Bob Crowley’s spectacular – and Tony winning – design as it captures the nostalgia of a black and white illustrated story, the whimsy of a pop up book, the wonder of a painting and the fantasy of a multi-million dollar movie. But for all the whizz-bang stage effects, the soul of Mary Poppins is the story.

Mary’s magic shows her charges an unforgettable world, but magic of Mary is balanced by the reality of a family who have forgotten how to love each other in a world where banks can kick people out of their homes.  

George and Winifred Banks’ two children have gone through six nannies in four weeks. Jane and Michael are determined and bratty, but only because they want a nanny who will love and play with them and even though George burns their job description for an ideal nanny, Mary Poppins still answers the call.

The cast of musical theatre veterans and our youngest soon-to-be super stars are so fresh that it’s almost impossible not to sing along.  

With perfect comic timing, Marina Prior brings heart to the downtrodden Winifred and Philip Quast lets George realise just what he nearly lost. Matt Lee may not be the best singer, but his Bert is loveable and I think he can dance. Judi Connelli was born to be an evil Nanny and Debra Byrne’s poignant Bird Woman is reminiscent of her Grizabella in the first Australian CATS.

Keeping up with these old-timers are ten performers sharing the pivotal roles of Jane and Michael. If the rest are as professional and ridiculously talented as Kurtis Papdinis and Haley Edwards, they too will be the stars of the show.

And everyone is supported by an ensemble who bring this irresistible world to life by creating the atmosphere, emotion and joy that flows from the stage to even the furthest god-seat. Watching the ensemble, audiences lucky enough to see an understudy perform will be in for a treat.

But as practically perfect as everyone is, Verity Hunt-Ballard’s Mary is the performance to remember. With a voice that will rightly be compared to Julie Andrews and a lightness of foot that equals Matt Lee, Hunt-Ballard makes Mary her own by adding mystery to her sternness and a hint of regret and sadness to her love. Even with the most brilliant of scripts, it’s the performer who makes an audience love a character and Hunt-Ballard ensures that everyone leaves the theatre wanting to dance and knowing that they will start looking for the best in all people.

Bring every child you know to Mary Poppins because they deserve to see something this gorgeous – and bring all the grown ups you know because they deserve to feel like a child again.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

Whoopi at the 2008 Tony Awards 

"Step in Time" by the Broadway cast



And if you love Philip Quast (George Banks) here's a bit of him in one of my favourite TV shows Ultraviolet.  (This is from ep 5, so there are some spoilers)

Review: Stop. Rewind

Stop. Rewind
Red Stitch Actors Theatre
23 July 2010
Red Stitch Theatre
to 21 August
redstitch.net

Melissa Bubnic joined Red Stitch as Writer in Residence at Red Stitch in 2009 and Stop. Rewind has spent 18 months in development with the company's Writers Program.

With a structure that lets the characters say what they wish they said, but rewind back to what they actually said, Stop. Rewind can't fail to strike a familiar chord. I'm glad that other people spend much of their time re-running their encounters with better dialogue.

Bubnic's characters work in the public service with its long-termers, team meetings, bad cakes and rooms filled with people playing on Facebook, emailing gossip or trying to get a promotion by doing extra work. When a colleague gets cancer, each is faced with the reality of their situation and contemplates the possibility of change.

And change is rare in an office staffed with uninspiring, unfulfilled, boring sods. And this is where I has trouble with Stop. Rewind. Stories about uninspiring, unfulfilled, boring sods are ... well ... We have real life to watch boring people. For all it's recognisable "we all get bored/depressed" discussions, it felt too much like a work about "them" rather than a reflection of "us".

However,  I almost disregarded my own feelings, because Bubnic brings her characters to a beautiful ending of hope and perfect oddness that made all previous quibbles seem irrelevant and the Red Stitch cast and creative team created a strangely enchanting world.

Peter Mumford has, again, devised the most astonishingly simple and effective design in the tiny Red Stitch space and the expectation that the post-its would come down added a subtle tension to the night.  Anne Browning's lively direction captures the quirks and humanity of these people and this company continue to let actors do what they do best. Olga Makeeva, Andrea Swift, James Taylor, Giordano Gangl and Ian Rooney all bring so much more than the script to the stage and Ella Caldwell and Tim Potter are going to be people we have to pay a lot of money to see in the future.

Stop. Rewind isn't the best thing I've seen at Red Stitch, but it's still far more engaging and interesting than some of the more expensive shows on in town. And you can still buy a half year subscription to all of Season 2, which starts with Stop. Rewind.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Guest Review: Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar
Victorian Opera
20 July 
Melbourne Recital Centre
to 30 July
www.ticketmaster.com.au

Review by Josephine Giles

This Caesar is good – very good. Though requiring some stamina from the audience, music lovers are rewarded with singing that simply knocks your socks off – packaged in a stylish, attractive production.

Granted limited financial resources for sets and lights, first-time opera director Stephen Heathcote (ex Australian ballet) was faced with another challenge – how to create an Egyptian court in the Elizabeth Murdoch Hall, which is a space well suited to chamber music but not at all to theatre. In collaboration with designers Stephen Curtis (sets), Alexis George (costumes) and Damien cooper (lighting) Heathcote has eschewed the literal. A dramatically simple set of essentially geometrical shapes, with a recognisable Cleopatra’s needle dominating the landscape, makes no attempt to disguise the hall, and provides a canvas for lighting that strives to integrate the set and the termite-like carvings of the recital centre walls. The gun-metal grey of the set is reminiscent of the surfaces of an aircraft carrier and serves to give a contemporary slant to the setting, reinforcing the time-less theme of warring nations.

Sensual relief is provided by a ceiling to lighting rig tall silken red curtain, which is manipulated throughout by the players to signify changes of scene. Simple but attractive costumes are historically non-specific and too unrelated to each other for my taste; but sensual opulence is again evident with the appearance of a beautiful swathe of blue fabric, manipulated by the dancers to accompany Cleopatra’s enticing aria V’adoro, pupille. This cloth-work and lighting could be used more frequently to enliven the somewhat stark staging, but the over-all effect of tasteful understatement work well for the most part.

Heathcote brings some delightful dance moves to this staging – again, this could have been taken further stylistically – and a lovely eye for the small tableaux that provide visual punctuation during the often long da capo arias.

Heading a home grown, but world class, cast is Sydney born David Hansen as Caesar. Described by a New York critic as a “matinee-idol countertenor”, Hansen has sung a variety of Handel roles around the globe and his confidence with this repertoire shows in his flamboyant coloratura, an impressive evenness and accuracy through all registers, and a startlingly clear top. A musical highlight was when he broke the fourth wall to join the orchestra in the auditorium to sing up a baroque bravura storm.

As Cleopatra, Tiffany Speight who so impressed as Romilda in the VO’s 2009 production of Xerxes, gives a sympathetic, down to earth portrayal of the famous seductress, and brings an easy and delightful style to the famous music.

Warm voiced Mezzo Tania Ferris is full of regal dignity as the bereaved Cornelia; and Dimity Shepherd applies her usual dramatic imagination to the androgynous Nireno, whom I swear is channelling media-queen Carson Kressley.

Scene stealer of the night though is young soprano Jessica Aszodi, as the boy Sesto. Aszodi is a natural and expressive actor, with a fresh voice of outstanding technique and surprising strength when needed, and gives the more experienced members of the company a real run for their money

Making up the remainder of the singing roles are Tobias Cole (a slimy Tolomeo), Anthony Mackey as the faithful Curio and the always impressive Steven Gallop as the brutish Achilla. Four dancers make up the cast as (amongst other things) guards, servants and scenery movers.

Conducting from the continuo in the pit, VO Musical Director Richard Gill inspired Orchestra Victoria to baroque splendour, marred only by occasional inaccuracies. 

All in all, this Julius Caesar is a triumph for the still young Victorian Opera, and for emerging director Heathcote. Though vastly different in style from last year’s delightful Xerxes, its strengths far outweigh its occasional weaknesses, with outstanding singing and music making that could be celebrated anywhere on the planet.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com.

Guest Review: The Turn of the Screw

The Turn of the Screw
Victorian Opera
9 July 2010
Playhouse, The Arts Centre
to July 17
www.ticketmaster.com.au

Review by Josephine Giles

Based on a Henry James short story, The Turn of the Screw is a ghost story with a twist. An impressionable young governess comes to Bly to look after two children who, it transpires, are being haunted by two evil ghosts. Or are they? Full of ambiguity, the story gifts to a director ample opportunity for flights of the imagination. Unfortunately this production, while chocker-block full of solid performances, remains earthbound.

Good things first. For this production Victorian Opera has engaged respected Britten expert Paul Kildea to conduct. Under Kildea’s sensitive and nuanced direction Orchestra Victoria responds in kind, with extra fine playing from the woodwind providing an atmospheric diversion from the emptiness on stage.

On stage, the youthful troupe of singers is, for the most part, well cast. As the highly strung Governess, Danielle Calder impresses with accomplished singing and a committed and convincing character. Maxine Montgomery as Mrs Grose sings with her customary assurance, while Melanie Adams (Mrs Jessel) is attractive but underpowered.

As the young charges Takshin Fernando (Miles) and Georgina Darvidis (Flora) are clear and engaging. Full marks should also go to Fernando for the most convincing miming ever of piano-playing in Act II.

 As the Narrator and the dastardly Peter Quint, James Egglestone is a perfect fit. His clear tenor is well suited to Britten’s music, and his impeccable diction and easy physicality add value to the package.

To the not-so-good. The Turn of the Screw is a sparse piece that is here staged with austerity. An almost empty stage is occupied by a Victorian style doll’s house, and the odd piece of furniture which is moved on and off to indicate a change of scene. Lighting is dim, to underline the action taking place in twilight, coupled with a black backdrop that sucks the life from the action. Lights in the doll’s house (spooky!), indicate changing times of day, but are inconsistent with the number of projected windows on the stage floor. The ghosts first appear in recesses in the back wall that look like, well, boxes; we know Flora is by a lake because she tells us while standing near a puddle of blue light, and the Governess must be walking in the garden because she is wandering around a stage lit with dappled leaves. I could go on. Suffice to say the direction and design lack imagination, and misuse the device of minimalism to ultimately convey very little in the way of atmosphere.

As with practically anything operatic these days, projected titles are used. In heavily orchestrated pieces sung in English their use can be justified. But for the lightly orchestrated The Turn of the Screw, in this theatre, and with this calibre of singers, their presence is an unnecessary distraction. The titles are situated at either side of the stage and just catch ones peripheral vision, making it impossible to focus on the singers (who are all perfectly understandable). To stop going mad, you end up giving up and looking away from the stage to read the titles and thus lose any immersion in the drama.

For its scale and contemporary subject matter The Turn of the Screw is a good repertoire choice for the Victorian Opera. The work is a perfect vehicle for the young singers promoted by the company, but this production, while strong musically, just misses the dramatic mark. The Turn of the Screw continues at the Playhouse till July17.Based on a Henry James short story, The Turn of the Screw is a ghost story with a twist. An impressionable young governess comes to Bly to look after two children who, it transpires, are being haunted by two evil ghosts. Or are they? Full of ambiguity, the story gifts to a director ample opportunity for flights of the imagination. Unfortunately this production, while chocker-block full of solid performances, remains earthbound.

Good things first. For this production Victorian Opera has engaged respected Britten expert Paul Kildea to conduct. Under Kildea’s sensitive and nuanced direction Orchestra Victoria responds in kind, with extra fine playing from the woodwind providing an atmospheric diversion from the emptiness on stage.

On stage, the youthful troupe of singers is, for the most part, well cast. As the highly strung Governess, Danielle Calder impresses with accomplished singing and a committed and convincing character. Maxine Montgomery as Mrs Grose sings with her customary assurance, while Melanie Adams (Mrs Jessel) is attractive but underpowered.

As the young charges Takshin Fernando (Miles) and Georgina Darvidis (Flora) are clear and engaging. Full marks should also go to Fernando for the most convincing miming ever of piano-playing in Act II.

 As the Narrator and the dastardly Peter Quint, James Egglestone is a perfect fit. His clear tenor is well suited to Britten’s music, and his impeccable diction and easy physicality add value to the package.

To the not-so-good. The Turn of the Screw is a sparse piece that is here staged with austerity. An almost empty stage is occupied by a Victorian style doll’s house, and the odd piece of furniture which is moved on and off to indicate a change of scene. Lighting is dim, to underline the action taking place in twilight, coupled with a black backdrop that sucks the life from the action. Lights in the doll’s house (spooky!), indicate changing times of day, but are inconsistent with the number of projected windows on the stage floor. The ghosts first appear in recesses in the back wall that look like, well, boxes; we know Flora is by a lake because she tells us while standing near a puddle of blue light, and the Governess must be walking in the garden because she is wandering around a stage lit with dappled leaves. I could go on. Suffice to say the direction and design lack imagination, and misuse the device of minimalism to ultimately convey very little in the way of atmosphere.

As with practically anything operatic these days, projected titles are used. In heavily orchestrated pieces sung in English their use can be justified. But for the lightly orchestrated The Turn of the Screw, in this theatre, and with this calibre of singers, their presence is an unnecessary distraction. The titles are situated at either side of the stage and just catch ones peripheral vision, making it impossible to focus on the singers (who are all perfectly understandable). To stop going mad, you end up giving up and looking away from the stage to read the titles and thus lose any immersion in the drama.

For its scale and contemporary subject matter The Turn of the Screw is a good repertoire choice for the Victorian Opera. The work is a perfect vehicle for the young singers promoted by the company, but this production, while strong musically, just misses the dramatic mark. 

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

Review:Happily Ever After

Happily Ever After
La Mama
7 July 2010
La Mama Theatre
to 11 July
www.lamama.com.au

Jane Miller's beautiful and complex writing stood out at the Short and Sweet and Melborn short play festivals.  Happily Ever After is her first full-length work and is firmly placing her as one of Melbourne's must-see playwrights.

Lizzie and Ben are trying for a baby, Ben needs to convince Chloe to leave her house before his boss Dave gets the police,  Dave is trying to make Ben take charge of his life, and Chloe just wants to be left alone.

These characters have lost so much or have so much more to lose than they know and as their secrets are revealed or kept, each face a life of compromise while wishing that – just once – they were enough for their loved one.

In letting her breaking souls try for a miracle happy ending, Miller brings recognisable and complex emotions to the stage and shows them through a highly original story. In a mix of fractured fairy tale (the Prince dies alone because he won't take Cinderella at her word) and harsh reality, she balances the despair with hope and the bitter heartbreak with bitter-sweet comedy.

Director Beng Oh, who also stood out at Short and Sweet, deftly captures the frustration of relationships and the tone of the writing with composed pacing and by letting the cast embrace their character archetypes without losing their uniqueness.

Mike Frenchman (Dave) and H Clare Callow (Chloe) are the emotional counter balances to Paul David-Goddard (Ben) and Marnie Gibson (Lizzie). Frenchman's prick who thinks he's a mentor lets us laugh and Callow's distraught Chloe lets us wallow, as Ben and Lizzie try to find a way to be as happy as they pretend to be.  Lizzie could be easy to hate, but Gibson brings understanding to her actions and never lets us feel sorry for her and David-Goddard brings a complexity to Ben that lets us see the internal fight between letting himself feel and "manning up" to the world.  The last time I saw David-Goddard perform, he reduced me to tears (in An Air Balloon Across Antarctica); this is an actor who deserves a lot more attention.

Fortunately, Melbourne theatre goers are recognising the wonderfulness of Happily Ever After and a new show has been added on Sunday at 3pm because the remaining nights are selling out. This is theatre that wakes your heart up, so call La Mama and grab a ticket now.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com.

Review: Dead Man's Cell Phone

Dead Man's Cell Phone
Melbourne Theatre Company
1 July 2010
Sumner Theatre
to 7 August 2010
www.mtc.com.au

If you were at a cafe and a mobile phone kept ringing, would you answer it? Would you answer it if the man who owned it had died at the table? And do you believe that audience members who don't turn off their phones should be publicly shamed and forced to buy everyone drinks at interval?

The MTC have a phone-turn-off title with Dead Man's Cell Phone and in it sweet and mousy Jean (Lisa McCune) answers a dead man's phone, falls in love with the dead guy, meets his family, resolves his familial relationships and contributes to his human organ trafficking business.

American playwright Sarah Ruhl's script is a gorgeous foray into magic realism that delights in taking its audience to unexpected places and filled with wordy delights about the comfort of small casseroles and heaven being like an embossed wedding invitation.

Director Peter Evans takes full advantage of the script's humour but loses the joy of the magic realism. The extreme characters are never real enough to be natural and the fantasy elements are too real to let the fantasy fly, which leaves it in a no-folks land that is little more than the text.

Sound and lighting designers Kelly Ryall and Paul Jackson create a dreamy, magical atmosphere (Ryall's soundscape is especially gorgeous) and McCune brings enough vulnerability and genuine likability to Jean to let us love her enough to travel to her heaven, but too much of the production feels awkward once it's out of the comfort of cafes, posh houses and jokes about people who wear black.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com.

Review: Kunst ist Scheisse

Kunst ist Scheisse
Eva Johansen & Jonathon Miller
30 June 2010
24 Moons (in ACDC Lane)

What do we want? More Kunst! When do we want it? Once a fortnight on Wednesdays. Where do we want it?  At an uber-cool bar in a dingy Melbourne lane named after rock legends.

The arty folk know that Kunst ist Scheisse means Art is Shit and should be lining up for this changing mix of the oddest and most gorgeous cabaret artists in town.

For their opening week, host and diva Eva Johansen got her knickers out and welcomed guests who have won so many awards that they'd need a really big shelf if they lived in a share house.

Wes Snelling left Tina del Twiste sulking at home and gave us a welcome taste of Wes unplugged;  The List Operators continue to be one of the most consistently original and strange acts around and offered a bite of the brilliance they are taking to Edinburgh (and Matt Kelly's Michael Jackson is burned into my retinas); Earl Shatford made sparklie shirts sexy again and reminded us how jaw-droppping awesome juggling can be; Jess Devereaux found the best 1980s school social dress ever to combine dance, comedy and fashion; comedian David Quirk shared some embarrassing moments of his past; the Suitcase Royale got some mates on stage to form a super band; and the Caravan of Love girls let a couple of strangers find their hidden treats with chop sticks.

While regular nights like the fabulous The Last Tuesday Society encourage experimentation in front of hipsters downing beers,  Kunst is more about showing some of the best acts around to uber-cool sophistcates who sip cocktails but never stop giggling at the word play of the title.

Kunst ist Sheisse has found its new home at 24 Moons. This place is so cool that I almost felt uncool in my flat MaryJanes and an old PJ top from a Bras and Things sale. Found at the top of a staircase at the darker end of street-art filled ACDC Lane, this place has no choice but to rock, and its cut out cityscape wall design, ivy covered moon lights and comfy seats that encourage intimacy or welcome strangers couldn't be a more perfect setting.

Throw in a cocktail list guaranteed to make us-who-love-Matt-Preston weep at its originality and beauty (the one with Violet Syrup or the one that comes with a chocolate truffle please) and cheap cold cider on tap, it'd be difficult to get a better night of Kunst.

The next line up (Wednesday 14 July) includes whimsical, Fringe-favourite and bloody funny poet Telia Neville (who has a new blog) and the voice guaranteed to break hearts, Simoncee Page-Jones.  With possibility of Eva and Simoncee singing together, get there early to grab the best seats.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com


Photos by Max Milne