SMA Productions –
David Malek and Dale Burridge
The Q Theatre,
Queanbeyan to 15 October
Review by Len Power
13 October 2016
Shows like ‘Boys in the Band’ can’t really lose. They rely on the audience’s nostalgia for
songs that mean a lot to them personally. With one well-remembered song after another,
the audience for this sort of thing will have a good time whether the show’s
done well or not.
According to the publicity - “‘Boys In the Band’ is ‘the
feel good show of the year’ – a high energy concert journeying through 50 years
of the greatest songs from the biggest boy bands of all time including Frankie
Valli & The Four Seasons, The Beatles, Jackson 5, Bee Gees, Righteous
Brothers, Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, Take That, Human Nature and
Backstreet Boys.”
The tune stack for the show was well thought out with a good
mix of popular songs from the various eras.
The four singers Mat Verevis, Simon McLachlan, Nana Matapule
and Tom Struik have the right look in their conservative suits and patent
leather shoes. Simon McLachlan has the
most impressive voice with the ability to sing the high notes of the Four
Seasons and Bee Gees songs. There was
some very uneven singing, most notably in the Beatles song, ‘Hey Jude’, the
Four Seasons song ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’ and the Beach Boys’ ‘Good
Vibrations’. None of the singers gave
the songs any depth of feeling.
The songs were well-choreographed and the guys performed the
steps very well. The band gave a very ordinary
accompaniment and was too loud for the singers much of the time.
The production had the feeling of a low quality pub show
with amateurish and alienating banter with the audience, dragging an audience
member onstage to sing with the group and drinking from water bottles lying on
the floor. One performer wiped the sweat
off his face with his hands and then dried his hands off on his pants, which
was not a good look.
Nevertheless the audience seemed happy with it regardless of
the quality of presentation and I believe the whole season is already sold out.
Len Power’s reviews
can also be heard on Artsound FM 92.7 ‘Artcetera’ program from 9.00am on Saturdays.
