GAZILLION BUBBLE SHOW. Starring Melody Yang.
Canberra Theatre. Canberra Theatre Centre. Until July 4. Bookings: CANBERRATHEATRECENTRE.COM.AU or 0262752700.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
Oh the things you can do with a bubble or two, or three or
four and a gazillion more. That is if you are the amazing Melody Yang, conjuress
of unbubbleleivable bubble magic. With a wave of the bubble frame she sweeps
the air with a sea of bubbles, sending them out over the audience as lights
stream through the theatre, coloured beams, slicing through the air to an
energizing soundtrack. Bubbles are beckoned from thin air and dance to her command,
palpitating to her touch, vanishing in a puff of smoke or performing feats of
fantastic illusion, a bubble of smoke, passing through a soap screen sphere of
liquid and gas , which closes and restores its shape. This is the wonderment,
the marvel and the magic of the Gazillion
Bubble Show.
Anyone can blow a bubble, or even a string of bubbles, but
who can create such a wonderland of fragile, fleeting moments of reality
vaporizing into such stuff as dreams are made on. Gradually Yang unveils each segment
of her carefully structured seventy minutes of splendour. Smoke and soap
combine to create bubbles of amazement that turn to puffs at the touch. Young volunteers
from the audience are brought on to the stage to be enclosed by a bubble
capsule that quickly turns to air. Spactators, disappointed that they were not
to be the chosen ones, watch on in wonder and delight. On the screen. Yang’s
mission is displayed: “What I want is to make you happy” . Excitement turns to
happiness. Happiness to joy. And through the wonder of it all, adults and
children alike enter a magical world of fantasy. Yang is the mistress of her
art, stylish in her presentation, skilled in her sleight of hand. She cajoles
the bubbles with her breath, shaping, transforming and seducing them to follow
her will. Like a magician on the stage or a lion tamer in the circus ring, Yang
is in absolute control of soap and smoke and water. She is an undisputed
mistress of her unique, fascinating and beguiling art
Throughout the show, at various times she invites children
to join her on the stage. Her only request – that they have an enormous smile.
It is not hard to find a child with a wide and delighted grin. Experience has
taught her the gentle art of encouragement, and even one young girl, cautious
about pretending to be Yang’s niece, quickly submits to the story of a snowbubble
wonderland. But nothing has prepared the audience for the underwater seaworld
of bubbles, floating out above the audience in a wave of bubbles that burst at
the touch. Here, under the sea is a wonderworld of bubbles, a seascape of
beauty, art and joy.
Twenty-five year old Yang ventured onto a stage with her
parents at the age of four. She is the
consummate artist, creating an awesome spectacle to delight and entrance young
and old alike with her display of bubble magic. With her parents and her
brother, she holds a Guinness Book of Records award for creating the largest
bubble. But it is she, who has travelled the world bringing happiness to
countless thousands who watch with amazement the sheer artistry of the four
time Tony Award winner.
It all comes to a close in a dazzling, spectacular laser
light show with darting, intertwined and streaking shafts of coloured laser
lights. The soundtrack swells to a crescendo and bubbles, blown on the wind
float above the outreached hands that stretch for the bubble balls that bounce
across the theatre. 
This is more than a bubble extravaganza. This is an
affirmation of the wonder of Nature, the beauty of life and the child that is
withn us all. Yang conjures a wonderful, visual and tactile playground of
bubble delight. It is a show for the whole family, or anyone who believes that
the child still resides within us all, a bubble of wonderment in a world of
joy.