HAIRSPRAY

Book by Mark O'Donnell, Thomas Meehan, Music by Marc Shaiman, Lyrics by Scott Wittman, Marc Shaiman

Presented by Canberra Philharmonic Society

Reviewed by Len Power

One of the most appealing aspects of the musical, ‘Hairspray’, is how well the composers have captured the sound of the early 60s.  It’s almost hard to believe that the songs for the show were written in the 21^st Century.

‘Hairspray’, based originally on a 1988 cult movie by John Waters, opened as a musical on Broadway in 2002 and became a smash hit.  Set in Baltimore in the early 1960s, it’s all about a young, overweight girl called Tracy Turnblad and the impact she has when she manages to get into a Bandstand-like TV show, even though she isn’t the current American ideal in the looks department.  The show is light and funny on the surface, but it makes a plea for acceptance of people who are different as well as an anti-discrimination statement against black people.  Add the infectious music by Marc Shaiman and you have a show that is a real audience-pleaser.

Jarrad West, the director, has assembled a mostly excellent cast with Krystle Innes a standout as Tracy Turnblad, singing and dancing to perfection.  Amy Dunham, as Tracy’s best friend, Amber, is wonderfully funny with excellent comic timing and fine singing.  Will Huang, Zack Drury, Vanessa De Jager and Steven Bardwell all give top performances.  Max Gambale, last seen as Captain Smith in ‘Titanic’, shows his versatility by playing Tracy’s mother, Edna Turnblad.  Max plays Edna as a real person and is both funny and touching in a well-rounded performance.  In the black roles, Jenny Lu galvanises the audience with her song, ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’ and Nyasha Nyakuengama is a delight as Seaweed.

This is a heavy dance show and the choreography by Amy Fitzpatrick and Nikole Sklavos captured the era perfectly with great imagination, especially in the ‘I Can Hear The Bells’ number.  There was no simple choreography in this show.  The cast had to be able to dance and they met the challenge superbly.

The large musical score was performed strongly by the orchestra under the baton of Rose Shorney who brought out every aspect of the 60s sound brilliantly.  The simple stage settings by Peter Karmel were appropriate but not very interesting and the kitchen set seemed a bit cramped for the actors.  Costumes by Christine Pawlicki were colourful and right for the period but some cast members need to be a bit more vigilant before going onstage.  Crooked petticoats and needlessly creased costumes spoil the look the designer is striving for.

Jarrad West has done an excellent job with this show, making it bright, funny and lively as well as bringing out the anti-discrimination messages.  Many people will have seen the movie, but ‘Hairspray’ is one of those musicals that works better on the stage than as a movie.  Give yourself a fun night out and see this delightful show.

Originally broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 ‘Dress Circle’ program on Sunday 26 August 2012

David Page Talks- at Canberra Theatre Centre

David Page Talks- at Canberra Theatre Centre in the series Take Part: Artist Talk, August 25, 2012, 12:30pm

by Frank McKone

Bangarra Dance Theatre are touring their new work, Terrain – the timeless wonder and spiritual resonance of Lake Eyre to Canberra Theatre, September 13-15, with a pre-show forum at 6:30pm on the 13th.

Artistic director Stephen Page commissioned Frances Rings to choreograph work representing her mother’s country where Lake Eyre, Kati Thanda, has a powerful story of a giant kangaroo being hunted and injured in the area to the south around Maree, where Frances was brought up by her mother and German father.  The kangaroo escaped the hunters but died and turned to salt where the lake is now.

Canberra Theatre Centre are to be congratulated for establishing a new tradition, Take Part: Artist Talk.   In July, Scott Rankin talked about Ngapartji Ngapartji one, Trevor Jamieson’s Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara story.  Today Stephen Page’s elder brother, David, in keeping with his tradition, gave a talk in the form of a story – of the formation and growth of Bangarra and his role as composer.

When I went to a talk and demonstration of dance given by Yolgnu man Wandjuk Marika and a young nephew in Melbourne back in the late 1970s, it was difficult to believe that Marika’s desire to bring his culture to the non-Indigenous world would succeed.  He explained then why his nephew was so nervous when asked to dance stories when Marika had been given a hard time by other elders who wanted to keep their culture inviolate. He was a brave young man indeed. And, of course, how could people from the mainstream commercial culture ever learn to appreciate Aboriginal culture, so different from their own, especially concerning our relationship to the land?  But Marika was determined to try because, as he said that day, Aboriginal culture will die unless it is taken out to the rest of the world.

I thought of all this as David Page spoke, not just of the tradition that it is the land that owns us, not we who own and can buy and sell the land, but because the Marika family had been an important part of Stephen Page’s learning traditional dance when he first went from Sydney's National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) to Arnhem Land early in the 1980s.

In Bangarra, Wandjuk Marika’s hope has been fulfilled.  The Page family boys, as David explained, came to fill the traditional roles, despite their urban childhood in Mt Gravatt in Brisbane, of storyteller – Stephen, the choreographer; dancer – Russell; and song man – David himself, Bangarra’s resident composer.  Founded in 1989 by Carole Johnson, founding director of NAISDA, Bangarra has achieved what Marika desired – keeping the integrity of their traditional culture while creating connections between those stories, with the proper permissions from the owners of those stories, with the feelings and ideas of people beyond traditional boundaries through the mediums of dance and music.

To see how what we like to call ‘modern dance’ and the styles that are true to the ancient Australian heritage, can creatively become one, and to do the same with musical expression, is to appreciate that the work of Stephen and David Page is unique.  And David even began to talk today of retirement!  Never, I hope – or at least there must be a new Bangarra, a continuing ‘making of fire’, long into the future.

Frances Rings, among others encouraged to take on this responsibility by today’s elders, will surely continue to make Aboriginal – and everybody else’s – culture live on.

Sleeping Beauty

The Imperial Russian Ballet Company

Canberra Theatre

22-23 August 2012

Reviewed by Samara Purnell

The scene begins with the Master of Ceremonies of the Royal Court sporting surely the worst wig to have ever graced a stage. Thankfully (as it was becoming hard to stifle giggles), it is explained when great clumps of it are ripped off later in the scene.

The Imperial Russian Ballet Company, whose dancers are drawn from top ballet schools around Russia, performed Swan Lake in Canberra in 2009 and similar gripes surface with this performance of Sleeping Beauty as with Swan Lake: The corps, incorporating the widest range of physiques and statures I can recall seeing in a company of late, were sometimes out of sync with each other and the music, perhaps strange for a country known for its ballet dancers and its precision in the arts, as demonstrated lately in gym and synchronized swimming. And attention to detail let the production down in small part - slightly ill-fitting/made costumes, less than fantastic audio editing, split leaps that could have been higher.

This mostly traditional rendition of Sleeping Beauty does require decent stage space and at times it appeared the dancers were pulling up slightly to fit into the space available. There was some very strange acting especially from the King, Queen and Master of Ceremonies, and some odd costuming choices - at one point during the Second Act, it felt as though we had been transported to the bottom of an Irish rainbow, with leprechaun-looking lads clad in green jackets, tights and green flat topped hats.

Lina Seveliova is blessed with the biggest, prettiest blue eyes imaginable and her pretty face and vulnerability make her a very endearing Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). She danced the lead role charmingly and proficiently. Radamara Nazarenko-Duminica was also a stand-out and executed her roles as Audacity and Princess Florine with maturity and confidence.

The prophesised spindle here has been replaced by a knitting needle, which means a hell of a to-do over anyone found knitting (stifles another giggle, having never seen such passion, enjoyment or fear over knitting before), but the actual pricking of the finger is over in a second and perhaps a missed opportunity for suitably placed drama.

Anna Pashkova was regal and graceful, making an alluring Lilac fairy. Having saved the Princess from death by casting a spell so she would fall into a deep sleep for 100 years, the First Act ended beautifully, with the Lilac fairy spinning en pointe, between the castle walls and the forest, as the curtain fell. Unfortunately, the spell was broken when out came some cast members, including the apparently not-so-sleeping Beauty herself, to take a bow – a little strange as the characters all appear in the next act. Perhaps this was to reassure any youngsters in the audience that all was well, should they not stay awake for the rest of the longish performance.

Act Two opened with the girls in pretty orange tutus and lovely lighting. During this Act, Prince Desire, fated to awaken the sleeping Princess, comes across the Lilac fairy, who puts him in a dream, where he sees Aurora. In the space of about five seconds, (the time it took to glance at the programme), Aurora had vanished, the Prince had stormed the castle, fought off the evil witch holding Sleeping Beauty captive, and Sleeping Beauty was awake, and dancing around the stage again! I whispered to my fellow reviewers “Did he even kiss her???” “Not that we saw” was the reply, “But then again, I did blink…”. A bit of a shame that again one of the highlights in the story was glossed over so quickly.

Nariman Bekzhanov danced Prince Desire and gave the strongest performance, with vigorous and confident solos. Most of the men, however, need to work on partnering as they looked tense and awkward. There was almost a sense of relief when turns and holds were completed. Perhaps the benefit of good seats means one is privy to any shaking or tension of the dancers in this case, as well as getting the feeling that at times the dancing seemed intellectualised, rather than natural, with obvious preparation before executing leaps, turns or lifts.

The girls had lovely expressive faces, connecting with the audience, but had less chemistry in their partner work. That said, the pas de trois in Act Two between Aurora, Desire and the Lilac fairy was beautifully done and quite enchanting.

The whole of the Act Three was entertaining, in particular the Fairytale characters of Puss in boots. The wedding pas de deux was truly lovely.

None of these criticisms should worry other than the most hardened of theatre goers or dancers, and definitely not the plethora of little ballerinas dolled up for a (late) night, sold-out treat at the theatre.

The performance lacked that attention to detail and excitement to take it from a nice and pretty traditional ballet to the “wow” factor. But for those who managed tickets to only two shows with a hefty ticket price, it was surely a pretty and enjoyable night out.

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

Nariman Bekzhanov and Lina Seveliova

The Imperial Russian Ballet Company,

Canberra Theatre 22^nd  August.

Reviewed by Bill Stephens

The Imperial Russian Ballet Company is a large company of classical ballet dancers drawn from top ballet schools around the Soviet Union. The company was formed in 1994 by former Bolshoi Ballet soloist Gediminas Taranda who continues to be the troupe’s Artistic Director.  The company undertakes extensive International tours presenting well-known ballet classics.  

On their last visit to Canberra, The Imperial Russian Ballet Company presented “Swan Lake”. This time, as the first city visited on an extensive three-month Australian tour, Canberra had the privilege the Australian premiere performance of their production of "Sleeping Beauty" , and attracted by the opportunity of seeing a large troupe of Russian dancers perform this classic, the company was greeted with a full house. 

In many ways it’s an impressive production. The elegant painted backdrops are very grand, and the pretty fairy tale costumes (despite some unfortunate wigs) are befitting the familiar story of the Princess Aurora, who at her 16^th Birthday party, pricks her finger and falls into a sleep which lasts 100 years until she is awoken by a kiss from a handsome prince.

 

Lina Seveliova and members of The Imperial Russian Ballet Company

The choreography is attributed to Petipa (revised by G.Taranda). One can only guess at how much of the original Petipa remains. However it looks authentic enough, particularly in the set-pieces such as the graceful Garland Dance in Act 1 and the various fairy-tale character pas de deux in Act 11, even though much of it appears very simple by today’s standards. In any event it was beautifully and respectfully danced by the company with all the hallmarks of the Russian style, careful foot placement, graceful arms and well-arched backs, much in evidence.

The story-telling is fairly perfunctory so a program is necessary to follow the action. There’s little attempt by the dancers at characterisation, with much walking around and meaningless gesticulating, particularly from the men.



Anna Pashkova (Lilac Fairy) and members of The Imperial Russian Ballet
 

With her sparkling smile, long limbed Lina Seveliova, is a lovely Princess Aurora.  Anna Pashkova is  appropriately regal as the Lilac Fairy and the rest of the soloists dance pleasingly, but only Nariman Bekzhanov as Prince Desire, manages to bring any real sizzle or excitement to the proceedings.

Perhaps it was because it was the first performance of the tour. Perhaps the dancers had yet to become accustomed to the recorded music, which seemed to catch some flat-footed, or perhaps they were just under-rehearsed. Whatever the reason, this opening night performance seemed curiously muted and lacking in confidence.  

However, for some, watching this distinctly old-fashioned production was very much akin to a pleasant visit to a museum, strongly reminiscent of a Borovansky Ballet performance more than 50 years ago, or even watching archival film of the Ballet Russes, and perhaps the more precious for that.  But, a lot has happened in the presentation of ballet in the last 50 years and on the evidence of this production, Russia seems to have been passed by.

 

Boy Girl Wall by Matthew Ryan and Lucas Stibbard

Boy Girl Wall by Matthew Ryan and Lucas Stibbard.  The Escapists in association with Critical Stages, at The Street Theatre August 22 – September 1.

Reviewed by Frank McKone

It’s just wonderful to see theatre pure and simple, in the ancient story-telling tradition from the bush camp, the jongleurs and jesters, through commedia to today’s stand up comedians.  Boy Girl Wall can only be called larrikin theatre, turning conventions upside down, spoofing everything including itself, laughing with us at ourselves.

It is, of course, a love story – of Thom and Alitha – and the Wall between them that just wants to bring them together, surely a theme that begins for most of us with the Midsummer Night’s Dream story of Pyramus and Thisbe and the Wall with its chink (Shakespeare).  But, in our workaday world, they are not rude mechanicals but an IT worker who should have been a supernova astronomer and a writer and illustrator of children’s books, whose monsters make the children cry.

No matter that the Narrator, played by Lucas Stibbard (he plays all the other characters too), will tell you that “This is not a love story...This is a story about love”, don’t you worry about that (these are Queenslanders, so I thought I should put a bit of dear old Jo Bjelke-Petersen in here) – Love Conquers All (Chaucer) in the end even though neither Thom or Alitha have any idea it’s going to happen.  Nor does the Wall.

The script comes and goes in between improvised back-chatting with the audience, but Stibbard remarkably never loses track of the non-sequiturs.  With high quality mime, split-second transformations from character to character, including all sorts of inanimate objects, giving swooping magpies their well-deserved come-uppance, and all done with nothing more than a swish of his hair, Stibbard tells us the history of the universe via the ruminations of an electricity swtichboard – and shows us how it all leads to a kiss in the dark.

He doesn’t quite do it all on his own.  Visibly on the side is Nerida Waters, doing what used to be done in the BBC radio studios for the live audience of the Goon Show – sound effects and music (which she also composed) as required.  And in the bio-box were Matthew Ryan and Sarah Winter, working lighting designed by Keith Clark.

In the best of those ancient traditions, satire rules, as it should.  Fun is fun, and never the twain shall meet (Rabbie Burns?), but that kiss was greeted with a satisfied sigh, and very enthusiastic applause in appreciation of enjoyable, skilful, intelligent theatre – pure and simple.  

The Flood by Jackie Smith

The Flood by Jackie Smith, directed by Laurence Strangio.  Critical Stages and Finucane and Smith at The Street, August 15-25, 2012.

Reviewed by Frank McKone
August 21

Because this play is sincere in its intention, genuine in its conception, directed and acted with clarity, and its subject is of great importance, I almost feel that I have no right to criticise.

Yet something about the play points me at a word that I shudder to use, perhaps even more so when I read the write-up about the author and director in the program.  It is “unsophisticated”.

The point about what Smith describes in her Playwright’s Notes as “a terrible reality that faces too many people, city folk and country folk” comes through strongly as the younger sister Catherine (Caroline Lee) pushes her elder sister Dorothy (Maude Davey) to explain why their mother Janet (Shirley Cattunar), whom Dorothy lives with, won’t accept her visit after twenty two years away from the family.

The truth about their father’s abuse of his daughters and his “death” and the role Dorothy played in protecting Catherine becomes apparent bit by bit, but I think the structure of the play is the source of my feeling that theatrically things didn’t quite ring true.

Reading again from her Notes, Smith says “The play explores the interface between the monstrous and the mundane – a hallmark of the vast internal world of Gothic literature – and the genuine horror when we realise that the monstrous can be part of our every day, imbedded deep within our society”.  This heavy-weight thinking has led her into the play’s step by step revelation of the mystery at its core becoming too close to a Gothic melodrama. 

Fortunately the performances by all three actors, and direction which made sure that characters’ intentions (in the Stanislavsky sense) were clearly established, covered up the ‘mystery melodrama’ underlay, and strong performances were achieved – most especially, I thought, by Davey in reacting to Dorothy’s memories of what her father had done, and finally telling Catherine that he was not dead. 

This was in the second last scene, and produced a powerful moment as Lee said simply “He’s dead!”

I would have been satisfied if the play had ended at that point, instead of bringing back the mother for a messy ending about her going to a nursing home.  Or maybe just the magpies carolling the morning, the mother going back to her decoupage as if nothing had changed and the two sisters silently watching her.  We would have understood what they would be thinking about what they would have to do with her.  Fade to blackout and curtain call.

Though I can see (even though I wonder a little about the language) why Cattunar, “in 2009 ... won universal acclaim for her role as the mother ... and since that time has scarcely had a day off” and I can agree that Smith may have “turned heads from the very beginning” of her writing, “so particularly Australian – with language often so sparse, dry, humorous and disturbing”, because these were two strong points in this production, yet I must conclude that The Flood is not a great play, but is certainly worthwhile seeing for its theme.

SOUTH PACIFIC

Presented by Opera Australia

Sydney Opera House performance 15^th August 2012

Opera house season continues until September 9, 2012.

Lisa McCune as Nellie Forbush
Jeff Busby photo

Reviewed by Bill Stephens.

Having sat through quite a few stage productions of Rogers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific” over the years, and several viewings of the movie, the announcement of a new production by Opera Australia was hardly heart-stopping, even if the casting was intriguing.  However, from the moment Andrew Greene’s superb orchestra struck up the lush strains of the familiar overture, it was impossible not to succumb to the magic of this theatrical masterpiece, set on an island in the South Pacific during the Second World War. 

Michael Yeargan’s settings are certainly not lavish when compared with such recent blockbusters as “Wicked”, “Mary Poppins” or “Love Never Dies”, but they’re evocative and attractive and neatly allow quick clever transitions between scenes while transporting the audience into the milieu of a war-time service base.

Bartlett Sher’s direction isn’t flamboyant.   In fact it’s almost invisible, as good direction should be.  He’s resisted the temptation to include flashy directorial touches, opting instead to allow the show to weave its own special magic. And what a magical show “South Pacific” is still, even after more than 60 years. Its storyline remains involving, you care about the characters, and the songs have something to say and allow the characters to express their inner feelings clearly.  

Sher has the actors move and act naturalistically, without any obvious artifice, but every move and action is carefully designed to serve the story. Without realising it, the audience’s attention is almost surreptitiously drawn into the core of the story from the moment the curtain rises on the two small children playing on a plantation patio.



Teddy Tahoe Rhodes and Lisa McCune
Photo: Jeff Busby

Teddy Tahoe Rhodes and Lisa McCune are superb as Emile De Becque and Nellie Forbush.   Lisa McCune is a clear-eyed and lovable Nellie, totally convinced she’s that “Cockeyed Optimist”. Her sweet, light soprano voice is reminiscent of Mary Martin who originated the role.  Her singing, acting and dancing, naturalistic and unforced.  Her embarrassed confusion when she realises she can’t control her revulsion at the idea that the man with whom she’s falling in love has fathered two Polynesian children is particularly moving.

As Emile De Becque, Teddy Tahoe Rhodes dominates the stage, both physically and vocally. When he unleashes his velvety bass-baritone voice in “Some enchanted Evening” and “This Nearly Was Mine” there’s pure magic that’s worth the price of admission alone. His speaking voice is just as impressive and it’s no surprise to discover he is also an accomplished actor. In his scenes with Nellie, he is warm and romantic.  They generate real chemistry together. But he is also forceful and persuasive with Captain Brackett (a fine performance from John O’May).

Kate Ceberano as Bloody Mary
Photo:Jeff Busby

Kate Ceberano’s “Bloody Mary” is no cute island mamma. This “Bloody Mary” is a wily lioness, intent on finding the right husband for her daughter, Liat. She tolerates the taunts of the sailors because she’s wants their money), but once she decides that Cable is the man for her daughter, she will not be deflected from her goal.

 During the “Happy Talk” scene, in which Mary reveals her dreams for Liat and Cable, Mary rarely takes her eyes off Cable as if trying to will his favourable response.  “Bali Ha’i”, surprisingly, is not nearly as effective. Perhaps because  of the direction, or lack of confidence in the material, Ceberano moves around the stage too much.  Once she finds the courage to remain still and let the song weave its own spell, “Bali Ha’I” will become the showstopper it’s meant to be.

Lisa McCune (Nellie Forbush) Eddie Perfect (Luther Billis)
Photo: Jeff Busby

Not previously known for the clarity of his diction, Eddie Perfect has happily discovered a marvellous gravelly voice for his Luther Billis, which allows a memorable and unique characterisation in which every word is loud and clear. His Billis is a convincingly warm and funny scally-wag, rather than a clown.

 Daniel Koeke as Lt. Joseph Cable also has a strong presence and a lovely voice. He’s equally at home with the warmly romantic “Younger Than Springtime” or the angry bitterness of “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”, but it’s his scenes with the graceful Celina Yuen as Liat, which stay in the memory.

Add to all of this the energetic, virile, ensemble each of whom offers an individual characterisation, who dance strongly and punch out the chorus numbers as though they really mean what they are singing and you have a production which is not only does justice to this musical masterpiece, but one which is also a powerful reminder of what a memorable theatrical experience a great musical can be.

South Pacific Ensemble
Photo: Jeff Busby