Disney's Beauty and The Beast - The Broadway musical, Rocky Hill Musical Theatre Company, Goulburn Performing Arts Centre, Nov 6-15

 

Image by Tyler P Media.

Of all the places I've reviewed theatre, I've never actually ventured up to Goulburn before - the weird thing of being an hour commute back and forth for one show made it a challenge. But an invite from Rocky Hill Musical Theatre Company and the availability of a friend with a 9-year-old who lives up there to come with meant that it was time for me to do the drive, and I'm definitely glad I went. 

For one thing,  it's a chance to see the Goulburn Performing arts centre, which is a beautiful venue just off the main drag of Goulburn, with all the resources of splashy lights, sound, stage space and a fly tower that would make most companies in Canberra screamingly envious. Rocky Hill's production uses these resources well - on a set that can at various times be a multi-levelled castle and the nearby village of an indistinctly once-upon-a-time-in-olde-times France (I tried picking an era and between characters referring to a king and singing an extract from "Lakme", first performed in 1883, I gave up - this is not a show for those wanting strict historic accuracy, but you knew that from the moment in the prologue where an enchantress turns an ill-mannered prince into a furry beast). 

I've previously talked about the show last time I saw it around a decade ago, in the much squeezier Belconnen CommunityTheatre. The bigger space is used to strong effect - this is a show that gets grand in its ensemble numbers, from the opening "Belle" to the ensemble's rollicking "Gaston" to the extravaganza that is "Be Our Guest".  But it's also able to serve in the intimate character work - from the Belle of Understudy Cassie Ramsay, who sings beautifully and holds the stage confidently, being assertive, brave and our highly relatable protagonist, to the Beast of understudy Kamal Jayakumar, who gives us a Beast with a strong undercurrent of a wounded teenager underneath - we see that he's not-quite-socialised-yet and engage in his enthusiasm as he and Belle warm to each other.  Bradley Martin has all the arrogance of a true Gaston, sneering and posing across the stage. Jordan Sykes and Rod McConnell are a great double-act as easy-going bon-vivant Lumiere and wound-up Cogsworth, and Sarah Trama is a warm, endearing Mrs Potts, Melissa Shoard enjoys belting forth grand opera as Mme de la Grande Bouche and Jennifer Schroot enjoys the delightfully flirtatious Babette. Meanwhile in town, Axel Williams enjoys all of Lafou's desperate toadyishness and Peter Northey is a pleasantly befuddled Maurice.

Alecia Walker directs a production that flows well through a longish running time, and musical director Debra McConnell keeps the singing and the orchestra tight. Choreographer Liz Barling gets to show off all the stops from the enchantress's balletic movements to the all-broadway-kickline in "Be Our Guest". 

In short, this is a fun family show that tells the tale as old as time all over again for those who know and love it, or those who may first discover its delights, the wit, the spectacle, the romance and the soul. 

(P.S. the 9 year old liked a whole heap of the show, found the wolves scary and made her mum bring home all the gold streamers that shot her way at the end of "Be our guest")

Gypsy, Queanbeyan Players, The Q, 30 Oct-8 Nov

Photo: Janelle McMenamin

 One of the classics of the musical theatre canon, "Gypsy" is a mountainous role for a leading lady - previously conquered by Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bette Midler, Patti LuPone, Imelda Staunton and recently Audra McDonald - it's a titanic lead role of the ultimate stage mother in a story that traipses across 1920s/30s America from Seattle to New York via Wichita, Buffalo and Omaha. It's an oddly built show - only three characters from Act One appear in Act Two - and an unusually deep character study - credited as "suggested by memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee", it focuses on her childhood and emergence to stardom as the former Rose Louise Hovick starts in the background as a supporting performer in her sister's vaudeville act before finally succeeding as one of the leading stars of burlesque. Arthur Laurents script, though, moves focus to their ambitious mother, who justifies herself that she's doing everything for her children, even as she keeps them in a permanent state of arrested development.

Playing this epic role is Emma White - Rose can come across as an unmodulated steamroller, but White is careful to keep her just on the right side of seductive in songs like "Small World" and "You'll Never Get Away from Me" before releasing her titanic side in "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and her finale "Rose's Turn". We're drawn into her shamelessness, whether it's helping out the kid's act during performances (tidying up hats and props), or stealing a bit of silverware in a restaurant, even as she negotiates future plans for her daughters' act. Emily Pogson as Louise, the future Gypsy, is endearingly wallflowerish during the first act, discovering her own power in act two as, in a montage, she develops an onstage persona both powerful and flirtatious. Steve Galinec as the act's agent and Rose's lover, Herbie, is an endearing scene partner with White, with a clear affection for both Rose and her children, and an emerging disappointment as it becomes impossible to break her mania with getting ahead in show-biz. Paris Ellis as June shows both the underlying talent and the frustration with being stuck repeating the same path for years. Ash Syme charms in his single scene and song as one of the act's supporting dancers,who doesn't realise how much Louise is crushing on him. The trio of strippers played by Aleisha Croxford, Alissa Pearson and Sarah Hull are a bawdy delight late in act two, smashing their song "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" (Pearson also is delightful as the persnickety secretary Miss Cratchet in act one). 

Jude Colquhoun directs with a clarity and smoothess, letting the scenes have their full dramatic pwower. Belinda Hassall choreographs in appropriate vaudeville and burlesque styles. Brigid Cummins' music direction  gives a great rendition of Jule Styne's powerful score. Zac Harvey's lighting design is a knockout from the striking pre-show image to the finale, and Telia Jansen's sound design is precise and clear.

"Gypsy" is a true classic musical given a powerful production from QP, with knockout performances at the centre and a killer score. If you're looking for one of the great Broadway musicals delivered in fine style, this is where you'll find it. 

Picnic at Hanging Rock, Chaika Theatre, ACT Hub, 23 Oct-7 Nov

Photo - Jane Duong

 Joan Lindsay's novel is best known from Peter Weir's film, which combines her enigmatic Australian-gothic narrative with dreamy photography and a lot of Zamfir Panpipes. Caitlin Baker's staging of Tom Wright's adaptation cuts closer to the core - delivering the story on an earthy stage, shared between five performers, with a rawer edge - no languid dreaminess or pan pipes, and leaning more into a gothic rawness as the disappearance of a group of girls on a Valentine's Day picnic spreads aftereffects across those aroud them - two men caught up in the search, one of their schoolfriends, and the headmistress of the school. 

The story begins with the five in school uniform telling the story of the fateful picnic, very much an ensemble, trading description and dialogue together as we get a sense of these young inquisitive women finding their space in the world before they find something beyond their understanding. We then fall into the aftereffects as the performers split into separate roles as headmistress (Karina Hudson), a young visiting englishman (Thea Jade), a young student (Jessi Gooding), a serving man (Paris Scharike) and the one girl who comes back (Breanna Kelly) face the after-effects as the mystery reverberates against them. Hudson has the best material as the headmistress spirals out of control as the school collapses around her, and manages the tension between her imperious front and the chaos underneath that she falls into. Breanna Kelly impresses both as the questioning cop early on and as the bewildered survivor later in the text. Paris Scharkie sells Albert's gentleness and kindness, while Jessi Gooding shows how deeply Sara is lost in mourning the disappeared friends and her disconnection from the school. Thea Jade gives Michael a brooding intensity as his quest consumes him. 

Caitlin Baker uses the resources of the ACT Hub and lighting designer Disa Swiftie and sound designer/composer Paris Scharike to tell the tale tightly, To a certain extent, Linday's story is a colonial nightmare, as those who think they can bring European values and society to a country older than them find themselves very much lost at sea, and Baker gives full effect to that - blending the space between the Victorian era of the story and now, mixing modes between drama, dance, horror and intellectual insight. 

This is the story you may know in a form you probably don't, and it's told with skill and verve from a strong company and production team. 

We are the Tigers, Cheers Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co, Hayes Theatre, 9 Oct-8 Nov

 Image by Jessie Jay

"We are the Tigers" is what happens if you merge "Bring it On" with "Slumber Party Massacre", as a cheer-team full of young women with Issues find themselves under attack as members of the team are knifed during a sleepover party. Preston Max Allen's script combines a lot of the familiar material with a score full of polyphony, wit, angst and even the occasional thoughtful bit as the cheer team find themselves not only up against a serial killer, but a few moral dilemmas as well. 

It's given an energetic production choreographed and directed by Chiara Assetta, with a rich cast of young performers. Leading the team and the cast is Brianna Bishop as the trying-to-put-a-brave-face on things Riley. Her deputy, Cairo, is played with delciious mean-girl-ness by Olivia Vasquez. AJ Betts gives Kate an emotional depth as she yearns for her drifting-away-friend, Chess, who feels worth the attention and the heartbreak as played by Chelsea Dawson. Jenny Guigayoma as new-girl Mattie is delightfully fresh-faced and practically steals the show with her act-two-opener. Artemis Alfonzetti is compelling as the messy alcoholic Farrah, Caitlin McCallig moves the emotions as the not-fully-accepted mascot Reese, Anabel Jamieson amuses as the religious Annabelle, and Pippin Carrol (who I've been reviewing on here for a dozen years at this point) as the token male Clarke is suitably dreamy and emotive. 

Alice Vance's set design feels maybe a little squishy in the tight Hayes space - there's a lot going on in between basement, bathroom and porch to squeeze in. And it is a show that holds up better in the second half as the stresses get more acute for the characters - with the final who-done-it being both surprising and yet inevitable in retrospect. The production largely balances the challenge between playing with familiar tropes and looking a little deeper behind them, and presents both the nasty fun of a slasher and the heart of a teenage-girl-bonding-story pretty well. 

Girls and Boys, Sydney Theatre Company presents a State Theatre Company South Australia production, Wharf Theatre 1, 17 Sep - 1 Nov

 

(Images by Sam Roberts from the 2023 Seymour Centre production)

Dennis Kelly's "Girls and Boys" is a one woman play that uses some of the techniques of a one-person show in interesting ways - the narrator acknowledges at one point that the characters she's talking to are not really there, and also that she's telling only one side of the story. But it's also a show that builds a story of a relationship and the raising of a young family to a breathtaking conclusion - and offers Justine Clarke a powerhouse role that allows her to live through the story, from the gentle innocence of first meeting to the devastation that shows up in the finale. You certainly feel like you've lived through an experience at the end. 

This is a play that it's worth knowing not-very-much when you go into it, though the trigger warnings for graphic description of violence is absolutely necessary - it's just described, not shown, but you feel it viscerally when it hits. Clarke is magnificent in the centre of this story - not giving away a skerrick of where this rollercoaster is going to go, but drawing us in all the way. Designer Ailsa Patterson gives the setting a gentle abstractness with lots of spaces to manouvre, and director Mitchell Butel guides the way expertly. 

This is a major work with a major actress seizing centre stage in a story both compelling and shocking. It left me gobsmacked.  

A Room with a View, Belvoir St Theatre coproduced with Melbourne Theatre Company and Black Swan Theatre, Belvoir Upstairs, 3 Oct-1 Nov

 Image by Brett Boardman

E.M Forster's novel had a perfectly cast film about 40 years ago, with early roles for Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Day-Lewis and Julian Sands, alongside Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Simon Callow and Denholm Elliot, with fine location photography and a passionate soundtrack. But in Grace Chappelle's adaptation, it gains in intimacy what it slightly loses in spectacle, with a cast that holds their own against their illustrious predecessors. Forster's novel looks at an Edwardian young woman whose travels in Italy open her up to new perspectives that startle her and discovers that maybe her conventional background does not need to shape the rest of her life. 

Chapple's adaptation rotates the narrative voice around the cast, with various figures commenting on Lucy's journey from her uptight travelling companion Charlotte to an Italian carriage driver  to Lucy's snobbish rebound guy, Cecil Vyse, and also interrogates some of the values underpinning the material - in particular, Forster's life as a closeted gay man gets reflected in the material (just as it was in the last big stage Forster's adaptation, The Inheritance) - as does elements of Forster's own reflections on English culture and politics. There's also a very Belvoir approach to staging - Hannah Goodwin uses elements of music by Grace Ferguson and loose play, with the assistance of Elle Evangilista's choreography, in constantly surprising in her storytelling. The set is a relatively wall of doors and windows, designed by Zoe Atkinson, that has a few bonus twists up its sleeves. 

The cast are a solid ensemble of performers, with all cast members getting at least one key role as well as blending into the ensemble. Nathalie Morris is a compelling heroine, with a sense of idealism balanced with nervousness about wandering off the beaten path, with Luke Wiltshire being suitably compelling as her suitor George, and Charles Wu inhabiting the snobbish ridiculousness of Cecil admirably. Tomas Kantor is playful as her brother Freddie and Tom Conroy is a delightfully reserved Reverend Beebe. Hayley McElhinney delights in all of Charlotte's perskitiness and joy of gossip, and Kate Atkinson enjoys her distracted authoress Mrs Lavish and her generous Mrs Honeychurch about equally. And Patrick Williams has a nicely zen quality as the ethical Mr Emerson who's open-ness provokes so much from other people

In short this is a delightful telling of a classic romance with a bit more depth behind it than may be expected-  it's a show that goes for the heart and embraces it in looking at what freedom may in fact mean (including a just-after-the-happy ending moment that makes the not-entirely-romantic-consequences of  the character's choices obvious, along with ways that those choices are not open to everyone). It's a nice feat for the heart and the brain. 

The Unfriend, Sydney Theatre Company, Ros Packer Theatre, 29 Sep - 31 Oct

 Image by Prudence Upton

Before he was the centre of British Cult TV for much of the mid 2010s, running both "Doctor Who" and "Sherlock" from 2010-2017, Steven Moffat wrote the sitcom "Coupling" in the late 90s and early 2000s, which included a number of episodes that approached classic theatrical farce in their speed, wit and ability to juggle multiple situations. Two decades later he premiered an actual theatrical farce at Chichester, subsequently running two west-end seasons of a comedy-of-extreme-manners as a couple on a cruise find themselves inadvertently inviting a serial killer to stay in their house and finding themselves unable to find a way to ask them to leave again. If you want to go for a deeper meaning, you could decide this is a play about the relationship between the UK and the US in the post-Trump era as Britain tries desperately to disentangle itself from the special relationship with the Americans - but really this is just an excuse for Moffat to play with a different form, creating a killer part for a leading lady and a range of interesting supporting roles from trying-to-be-effectual-husband to boring-neighour to bemused-policeman. 

Helen Thomson gets the leading lady role and delivers with aplomb - loud, cocky, a force of nature who reshapes the world around her and makes it impossible to argue with her. She's a compelling centre and draws all the attention when she's onstage, justifiably.  Tim Walter as the hapless husband gets a major Mofffat Rant in act two and otherwise is mostly looking bemused or being steamrollered, and he scores laughs as both, as does Alex Lee as his not-very-much-bolder wife. Huw Higginson as the un-nervingly dull neighbour makes the role just the right side of disconcerting rather than boring. 

This is not necessarily the best thing Moffat's ever written - some of the writing gets a little flabby and he does stretch a few jokes a little too long rather than moving on briskly - and Simon Phillips directs a lavish production that occasionally lapses into some of that flabbiness - it does hit the hysterical heights occasionally but there's a little too much air in there that means this doesn't quite build to farcical greatness as it might. Isabel Hudson's design is suitably grand for the Ros but feels a little incongrous to the suburban home it's supposed to be - it's a little too grand-manor. 

This is a play that should be a delight but instead is more an occasional giggle rather than a hysterical night out - I'm not sure whether it's entirely the production or also inherent to the script (and it could also be that the Ros Packer is an awfully big venue for a light comedy), but this doesn't quite fly as it might.