 |
Annelise Hall - Marc Lucchesi - Kanen Breen - Ben Clark
in
"The Marvellous Elephant Man - The Musical" |
Written and composed by Marc Lucchesi –
Sarah Nandagopan – Janan Nandagopan
Co-Directed by Guy Masterson &
Chris HF Mitchell – Choreographer: Eden Read
Set & Costumes design: Roberto Surace
– Lighting Design: Matthew Marshall
Sound Design: Wayne Pashley
Sydney Spiegeltent Sept. 3 – Oct.1.2023
Opening night performance reviewed by BILL STEPHENS
 |
| Rebecca Rolle - Ben Clarke - Annelise Hall - Kanen Breen. |
A spiegeltent should surely provide the
perfect environment for a musical about a nineteenth century man, John Merrick,
who was inflicted with a rare condition so extreme that he was forced to join a
freak-show to support himself. In many ways it does, but curiously, in this
case it also works against the potential of the show.
In conceiving “The Marvellous Elephant
Man –The Musical” the writers and composers, Marc Lucchesi, Sarah Nandagopan
and Jayan Nandagopan, have come up with a potentially absorbing musical.
Described by its creators as
“delightfully irreverent and remarkably inaccurate”, “The Marvellous Elephant
Man” is laden with catchy tunes, often witty lyrics, pretty costumes and
imaginative staging, but somehow never quite finds its target.
Preceded by an enthusiastic advertising
campaign trumpeting critic’s awards and five star reviews garnered through
performances in Melbourne and Adelaide, and hinting of seasons to follow in
London and New York, expectations for its Sydney season were high.
The show certainly boasts an impressive
cast, headed by young opera singer, Ben Clark as John Merrick, the Elephant Man;
rising star Annelise Hall as his love interest, Nurse Hope; Australia’s finest
comic- opera interpreter, Kanen Breen as the dastardly Dr. Treves; with one of
the creators, Marc Lucchesi lording over the proceedings as the Ring Master.
The sung-through show starts
promisingly with the Elephant Man being introduced lowered from a cage strung
high above the heads of the audience. Then follows a series of catchy, well-staged songs, most of
which sound like songs from other shows, in the style of a topical revue.
Surprisingly, given some of the
publicity images, Ben Clark interprets Merrick, the Elephant Man, shirtless,
and without any sign of his disability other than a small tusk each side of his
face; his value as a freak-show attraction being explained by the Ring Master
with the oft-repeated lyric “sired by an elephant”.
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| Kanan Breen (Dr. Treves) - Ben Clarke (John Merrick - The Elephant Man) |
Clark relies on a combination of naivety,
sincerity and a superb voice, which he reveals in “Wonderful”, then later in “I
Am Not an Animal” and “Dear Hope”, to captivate his audience.
Annelise Hall brings similar qualities
to her role as Nurse Hope, with whom Merrick quickly becomes enamoured. Their
duets, “Fool’s Gold”, “I really Need This” and “Two to Fall In Love” are
highlights, but at odds and out of style with the burlesque flavour of much of
the rest of the show.
As the dastardly Dr. Treves, who
discovers Merrick’ potential for exploitation, Kanen Breen gives a masterful
performance. His brilliantly performed duet with Merrick, “I Found You”, is a
stand-out, while elsewhere; his virtuosic interpretation of his role makes his
performance one to relish.
Elsewhere it is left to hard-working
Marc Lucchesi, as the Ring Master and other miscellaneous characters, to
provide the cringe-worthy bawdiness which some may have expected.
This he does with undisguised relish,
assisted by a talented ensemble in which Eleanor MacIntyre (Nurse Chastity) and
Rebecca Rolle (Nurse Faith), Sam Harmon (Dr. Jones), Lachlan Barlett (Dr
Thomas) and Gavin James (Dr Timmis)
perform a series of cleverly choreographed set-pieces supported by an excellent band
consisting of Scott Page (Bass guitar), Travis New (Guitar/mandolin), Andy
Horvath (drums) and the composers, Sarah Nandagopan (piano), Jayan Nandagopan
(Trombone) and Marc Lucchesi himself on saxophone..
However it is crudeness of much of the
comedy, heavy on dick jokes and often demeaning, that detracts from the
brilliance of the writing elsewhere, and prevents “The Marvellous Elephant Man”
from rising beyond being merely a fringe-show to a fully-fledged musical, for which
it obviously has the potential and the ambitions.
Images by Paul Scott.
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 12th. Sept. 2023.
