Sex Magick, Griffin Theatre Company, The stables, 17 Feb-25 Mar

 An exploration of tantra, cultural and sexual development, lust, magic and identity, "Sexy Magick" has enough material for several plays, unfortunately not quite cut down enough to be successful for a show performing in the uncomfortable seats of the Stables in the middle of summer. There's a lot of plot threads here, and while the central one, about physiotherapist-turned-massage-assistant-turned-mystical-enigma Ard, is kinda fascinating, this also throws in one of Sydney's plethora of covens, a dodgy health spa manager, a football-team-owning-mother and a retreat into pure Indian mysticism. Astonishingly up until a little while into act two most of this holds together pretty well, but it does become clear that writer Nicholas Brown hasn't quite found a way to make a clear statement out of his many many (MANY) plot threads, and instead is just throwing more stuff at us. Surprisingly in the tiny space of the Stables stage, he manges to direct quite a reasonably flowing production out of his material (with the co-direction of Declan Greene), but this is very much a show that is two hours forty and doesn't quite find the strong central spine that anchors all this time - it feels like this has been thrown on stage more because someone wanted to work out how it would look rather than the fine tuning done to make this a really compelling night in the theatre. 

There's strong performances here - Raj Labade in the lead is a strong sympathetic centre to the story, and Catherine Van Davies (despite acquiring character traits that the script never really knows what to do with) sells the female lead as a determined, active partner trying to resolve what comes up as part of her explorations. Steven Madsen shines in roles as a guru, a footy player, and a coven leader, and Blazey Best similarly strikes strongly as a mogul, an eccentric retreat member, and a spa co-owner. Veshnu Narayanasamy makes a strong impression as a kathakali dancer, a figure of grace and poise, and Mansoor Noor provides strong support in a mix of small roles. But it's difficult not to notice that under all the frenetic activity on Manson Browne's gorgeous set there's a story being told that feels messier by the moment. There's elements here that could be a lot stronger in a more worked-out production, but as it stands this is a beautiful mess, but a mess none the less. 

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Hayes Theatre Company in association with World Pride, Hayes Theatre, 16 Feb-18 Mar

 "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" is one of those films that is best remembered for its film version, which does the standard Hollywood thing of the mid-50s of changing a chunk of the plot and replacing around half the songs with new ones by the house composer. On the evidence of this production, that's not necessarily the worst thing - in the film version, Jane Russell manages to be just as iconic as Marilyn Monroe as the sardonic best friend, while in this production everything very much leans towards Georgina Hopson as blonde bombshell extraordinaire Lorelei Lee - she gets the lion share of all the best songs ("Little Girl from Little Rock" and "Diamonds are A Girls best friend" are solos here, and she gets the lion share of "Bye Bye Baby" as well, as the three key songs that made it into the movie), taking full advantage of centre stage and glorying in her faux-innocent seductiveness. Emily Halvea is a great actress to watch but she has very little to play with here as Lorelei's friend Dorothy - Russell's big number "Aint there Anyone Here for Love" was a movie creation, so Halvea is stuck with the inferior "I love what I'm doing". And hearing much of the rest of the songs very much explains why the movie did without them, whether it be the irritating "I'm a tingle, I'm aglow" or the bland "Sunshine". This is not Jules Styne's greatest musical moments 

The plot, such as it is sees Lorelei and Dorothy entangling with a series of fairly awful men -  the sleazy Lord Beekman (Thomas Campbell), the twittish Gus Edmond (Tomas Kantor), the obsessive Josephus Gage (Tomas Parrish) or the overly-controlling Henry Spofford (Matthew Predny). Despite attempts on the poster and the pre-publicity to claim that the show is really about the sisterhood between Loreliei and Dorothy the material itself never really justifies that beyond the occasional image here and there. 

Richard Carroll's production looks great despite the thinness of some of the material - with the orchestra, led by Victoria Falconer, in a central box above the stage (Falconer comes down at the beginning of Act Two to play with the audience and there's a temptation here to completely ignore the original script and just give Falconer a cabaret show for fifteen minutes, a temptation that should have been indulged more. Daniel Potra's set takes advantage of that onstage band and two very versatile sets of stairs, though having the band where it is means everybody's exit requires a very noticeable ducking to go under the orchestra's nest. 

In short this is as nice a production as this material is ever going to get, and probably a better production than it deserves. Which makes it a bit of a curates egg- enjoyable moments but never enough to justify the regular doldrums. 

Blessed Union, Belvoir Street Theatre, 11 Feb-11 Mar

 

Every generation has to learn on their own that sometimes there's no avoiding the emotional consequences of your actions. Even those who have grown up seemingly enlightened, post-tradition, in a world where their relationship seems to have its own rules can find the ugly side of heartbreak rearing its head even as they try to keep the separation rational and structured. 

Maeve Marsden's lesbian divorce comedy is set in a familiar theatrical milieu - two parents, two kids, talking about their feelings in a nicely designed kitchen over an array of various meals - but with a less conventional family at the centre of it. The play largely becomes a great vehicle for Maude Davey as the mum who disintegrates faster, building to a panicked climax near the end of act one and then a great set-piece monologue about etymology in act two. Danielle Cormack's character's out-of-the-house work as a morally compromised union organiser provides some interesting angles about the moral compramises that come with trying to redirect the mainstream, but it's never really brought back into the house to become more than an intellectually interesting character background. As the two kids, Emma Diaz is the more emotional one as the older sibling, while Jasper Lee-Lindsay is the more brattish one happy to troll both parents easily.

Director Hannah Goodwin gives the production good pace, on Isabel Hudson's stylish set. This is not quite a perfect play but it's an interesting angle on the foibles of the modern middle class relationship comedy, and the launch of Davey makes it worth the watch. 

Opera Up Late, Opera Australia, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House

 Opera is grand passions, temperaments, spectacular outfits, and fantastic music. Which makes it ideal for a 60-minute late night cabaret on the main stage of the Opera house. Kicking off with a drag lip-synch of "Siempre libera" from La Traviata, interrupted and upstaged by actual-opera-star Cathy-Di Zhang, and moving on through suggestive interpetations of the flower duet from Lakme, a fan-danced habenera from Carmen, Nessun Dorma with filthy surtitles, a mash up of Mozart's Queen of the Night aria and Whitney Houston's Queen of the Night from the Bodyguard soundtrack, and host Rueben Kaye giving an up-close-and-personal-with-the-audience interpretation of Harry Nillson's "Without you". It's a great chance to experience Opera highlights in a great venue in a less formal environment in a bite-size way. 

Having said that, the less-formal atmosphere doesn't always suit some songs-  an audience who will cheer every high note will often cheer over the first five seconds of the glorious cadenzas during "Glitter and be Gay", for example - stuffy Opera etiquette does have its reasons sometimes. But it's a fun night out and hopefully will continue in future years (possibly Opera up-just-a-little-earlier as finishing after midnight does mean missing the last train and having to switch over to the night bus back to my hotel)

Hubris and Humiliation, Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, 20 Jan-4 Mar

 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that during World Pride every Sydney Theatre needs to have at least one flagrantly non-heterosexual thing on stage, and STC has come forth with this fluffy little endeavor combining the marriage-comedy of Jane Austen with the spectacular lusts of modern Gay Sydney (and further afield) as a young Brisbane boy is sent to live with his gay uncle to be married off to a good quality sugar-daddy to save the family home from repossession. It's unlikely, flashy, and embraces its cliches, but it's played with vigour and energy taking us from a Brisbane RSL club bathroom to a flashy harbour-side mansion, a grand, expertly played party scene where our surprisingly virginal hero is confronted by his various loves, friends and relations as plot piles up on top of plot, and across the oceans to Berlin before a grand wedding dance finale. 

Lewis Treston has an eye for comedy, farce, and youthful vigour, even if some of the character moves do strike one as more convenient-to-the-plot than necessarily deeply embedded. There's all the grand drama of young romance on display, whether it be the key plot thread of our hero, Elliot's, romance with a slightly condescending wealthy Australian Theatre director working on the stages of Europe, or his sister Paige's own struggles with youthful passion - not forgetting the surprising secrets of his mother and uncle's own estrangement. It drips out its secrets and surprises with pace and care, keeps Elliot just-that-right-side-of-naive, and lets the cast play a wide range of hysterical characters.

Roman Delo's basically the somewhat camp straight man to the chaos around him, giving the right vibe of "game for whatever" as he's made-over and pimped out by various family members in increasingly nonsensical ways. I've never seen Andrew McFarlane having more fun on stage as the suave gay uncle with a light purple rinse, dropping acerbic quips left and right in a fine array of suits and gowns. Celia Ireland as his mum gives pure Brisbane chaos to the evening, being the source of every bit of bad advice that is followed by everyone. Ryan Panizza plays both best-friend-our-hero-has-a-crush-on and slightly-aloof-but-compelling-love-interest with just the right mix of enthusiasm (for one role) and languor (for the other). Matthew Cooper has the role that stretches credibility a bit as the gullible Brendan, Melissa Kahraman gives the self-dramatizing sister heart and soul and  Henrietta Enyonam Amevor plays both confidante-co-worker and insensitive artiste in ways that steal every scene that's not already stolen by someone else.

It's a physically beautiful production, with classy, quick moving design from Isabel Hudson, precise lighting from Alexander Berlage and crisp fun compositions and sound from Matthew Frank. In short, this is a fun frivolous delight well worth seeing..

Musical theatre confessions 9 - One is the Loneliest number, Everyman Theatre, ACT Hub, 17 Feb

 

"Music Theatre Confessions" has been going since 2016 in various arrangements - the early ones are reviewed here and here - and it's a format that has held its power throughout multiple permutations, locations, and lineups. The basic setup, performers have ten minutes to tell a story and sing a song or two (or, in one case, snatches of about four), has not changed, though fortunately, performers are more likely to bring a copy of the lyrics with them, saving us from the moments where a performer would busk a verse worth of la-la-las before launching back confidently into the chorus. And it's still a great mix of the fun, the emotional, the revealing, the therapeutic, and the dementedly hilarious. A chance to meet some of Canberra's finest musical theatre performers out of a role and in a mini-cabaret of their own where they get to drop the mask a little and be honest about their anxieties, their foibles, their medical impairments, and themselves. 

Kicking off the night was Joe Dinn with a fierce attack on "Moving too Fast" from the last 5 years, a colourful anecdote of life in the cruise ship industry including international accents and a duet with Dave Collins of the egocentric "You and Me (but mostly me)" from "Book of Mormon" (which Collins has clearly been rehearsing in his bedroom since the cast album came out). Followed by co-host of the night Jarrad West with "The Lives of me" from the US version of "Boy From Oz", a confession of various professional and personal frustrations and jealousies, and a duet with the other co-host, Jordan Best, of the all-time-bitch-fest "Bosom Buddies" from "Mame". Next followed Garret Kelly with an anecdote about being tied in with a friend's awful fate, and a duet on "Uninvited" from Jagged Little Pill. Joel Horwood continued with personal confessions about his mental health and a non-musical theatre song, followed by Jaine Lawson covering her entire performing career from the early seventies to 1999, including multiple songs from multiple shows. Demi Bryana Smith told of sibling rivalry, including songs about sibling rivalry (both solo and duets), and Jordan Best wrapped up the evening with a song by her in-the-audience dad, a story involving medical drama over about 10 months, and a rousing closing duet of "Islands in the Stream" with Jarrad West.. All accompanied by the versitliey-fingered-Alexander Unikowski on keyboard, with skilled sound by Nathan Patrech and elegant lighting from Nikki Fitzgerald.

If you've somehow missed this or the previous 8, 10 is a great time to join, and it's coming up in October. So break in and enjoy Canberra Music Theatre's greatest love-in whenever you can. 

At Dinner, ACT Hub Development, ACT Hub, 9-11 Feb 2023

 The "dinner play", where characters sit down in a restaurant and hash out their issues over a meal and a beverage, has a long and productive history, It's a  simple genre keeping its characters in circulation around one table, occasionally interrupted by a waiter at strategic times, driven largely by the twists and turns of the conversation. 

"At Dinner" is part of ACT Hub's development program, and it's good to see them getting into looking at the next generation of Canberra creatives - even if, as with all work-in-development, it's a mixture of the good and the "needs thinking about further". 

To start with the good, writer Rebecca Duke is skilled at managing the sensation of "small talk with big thoughts behind it", playing with the nature of the restaurant table-for-two as a space - simultaneously an intimate private space and somewhere awkwardly public where your conversation can suddenly become the subject of everyone else's interest. Director Holly Johnson keeps the pace going, and the three performers, Thea Jade as the contemplative diner, Timothy Cusack as her more verbose and egotistical companion, and Nakiya Xyrakis as the waitress who gets brought into their awkward banter, all find moments of light and shade in their performance. Nell Fraser's costume design uses an interesting mix of red and black to give the costumes unity and individuality. 

In the less good - this is a play with a twist, and while I don't want to reveal the twist, I'm not entirely sure the choices behind the twist are necessarily the wisest. It's playing with risky stereotypes without sufficient care to avoid the more noxious elements of those stereotypes - while I'm sure this has been thought about in the production process a great deal, I don't think the production team found their way successfully out of the trap they've set themselves.

I do think young writers need to see their work in front of an audience - it's an exposing thing to do but it's important that they get a chance to use their voice, (even if I don't necessarily love everything they're doing with that voice). Given this has a short run, but most of the performances are sold out, there's clearly an audience very much interested in giving this a go (despite the stereotype of Canberra audiences not coming to new work, the Hub has clearly built up enough of a following who will give it a taste test at the right price).