Amanda
Muggleton at Teatro Vivaldi
Musical
Director: John Martin
8th
and 9th August 2014.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
With its
cosy theatrical ambiance, rich red walls resplendently decorated with
gold-framed theatre posters and photographs, Teatro Vivaldi’s is one of
Canberra’s most elegant and cherished entertainment venues.
Since it was
first established 10 years ago by Mark Santos and Anthony Hill, Teatro Vivaldi has played host to some of the country’s best
known cabaret performers, among them, Amanda Muggleton and Dennis Olsen, who
performed their show “Marvellous Party!” for the official opening of the venue
in May 2004.
How fitting
then, that 10 years on, Amanda Muggleton chose Teatro Vivaldi to launch her new
solo cabaret “The Men That Got Away Thank God!”
Intimate
cabaret provides a wonderfully seductive medium for an experienced performer to
showcase their talents. But it can also be riddled with booby-traps for the
unwary, as Amanda Muggleton discovered on the opening night of her new show. Ideally
cabaret is the opportunity to let the audience know more about the person
behind the performer. Some have famously described it as turning around and
discovering yourself naked in front of an audience.
In the pre-publicity for her new cabaret “The
Men Who Got Away – Thank God!” Muggleton promised that her show would be
revealing. On opening night it certainly was, but not, one suspects, in the way
she had intended.
Muggleton is
a master communicator. She is widely admired for her ability to communicate
with her audiences through her characterisations. This talent she has
demonstrated over many years, in roles as widely varying as Maria Callas in
“Master Class” , Bette Davis in “Me and Jezebel”, and Dolly Levi in “Hello Dolly”. Those who saw her stunningly
revealing performances in “Steaming” and “Shirley Valentine” and most recently in
“The Book Club” cherish the memory of these performances. But of course, in all these she was playing
characters, and although Muggleton is no
stranger to cabaret, when here, stripped
of the façade of a character, her first
performance of “The Men That Got Away – Thank God” at Teatro Vivaldi, seemed surprisingly insecure.
The show
commenced promisingly, with Muggleton making a pensive entrance through the
audience, dressed elegantly in a long black ensemble. Eschewing a conventional microphone, she wore
a head-mic. Her only stage props were a music-stand on which rested her script,(no
doubt intended only as an aide memoire should she need a prompt) and a
coat-stand draped with costumes.
Her opening
song was a down-beat version of “The Man That Got Away” which segued into a
section of “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered”. The lyrics for the latter, she
read from the open script. She also appeared uncomfortable and hesitant with
her connecting dialogue, referring to her script frequently, even though she
had written it herself. Her famous bravado seemed to have deserted her.
As the show
progressed reading from the script became the modus operandi, as if she couldn’t
tear herself away from it , even for “Mad about the Boy”, which she must have
sung literally dozens of times before.
The song
selection was good. Cole Porter’s “The
Physician”, Tom Lehrer’s “The Masochistic Tango”, Hoagy Carmichael’s
“Stardust”, Jason Robert Brown’s “Stars and the Moon”, even Stephen Sondheim’s
“Send in the Clowns” were included, as well as less familiar songs like “I
Regret Everything” and “My Shattered Illusions”. All should have been
highlights, but none had been sufficiently explored to discover how best to
deliver the lyrics to serve the storyline, or indeed even survive her often strident
delivery.
Musical
Director John Martin provided good-natured accompaniment on the baby grand. He
sang gentle harmonies for “Something Stupid” and “Nature Boy”, contributed an
excellent account of Chopin’s “Fantaisie Impromptu”, and joined Muggleton for a
short piano duet.
The best
moment in the show occurred in the second act when Muggleton spoke about her
parents. For this section she abandoned the script and for the first time,
allowed her obvious enthusiasm and affection for the topic full reign. In this
moment we caught a glimpse of the private Amanda Muggleton, the doting,
indulgent, loving and vulnerable daughter, usually hidden behind the polished
façade of the witty, glamorous leading lady.
There is
much more to be discovered about Amanda Muggleton, a true professional, and a
quick learner, who will no doubt have
learned a great deal from this uncomfortable first performance of “The Men Who
Got Away – Thank God!”. One suspects that once she gets the full measure of the
material, future audiences will be treated to a very different show. One which
truly celebrates the talents of a leading lady of her stature. 