Reviews:
2009
               
          

As You Like It

The Dance Makers

Dirty Apple

Fidelio

Food of Love

Hamlet

He Died With a Felafel in his Hand

International Gala

La traviata

Man of La Mancha

Oedipus the King

Rigoletto

Sleeping Beauty

A Streetcar Named Desire

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Waltzing our Matilda



www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Earlier reviews

Sleeping Beauty  
Queensland Ballet (Playhouse Theatre)


This simple story of the triumph of good over evil teaches and delights us with the elemental force of dance. It makes a welcome return, as it is seven years since Brisbane audiences have seen Queensland Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty.

The title role of Aurora, the sleeping beauty, is danced magnificently by Rachael Walsh. She expresses the vulnerability of one almost killed but instead put to sleep for 100 years. She also expresses the innocence, joy and exuberance of a young woman in love.

The Evil Fairy, Carabosse, is danced with sinister authority by Iona Marques. She displays a demonic force on stage, sending the forces of good into a spin.

Each time the evil fairy is on the brink of victory the Lilac Fairy (Claire Morehen ) intervenes to weave her magic spell and rescue the good guys from disaster. Who does not need a Lilac Fairy in their lives? Morehen elegantly maintains the dramatic tension in her contest with the Evil Fairy Carobosse, setting the stage for Aurora’s wonderful awakening. Rachael Walsh continues to delight audiences with her fluid grace and sensitive character portrayals.

Prince Désiré (Alex Wagner) cannot believe his luck. He is wandering alone in the forest when the Lilac Fairy appears and shows the Prince the vision of Aurora and her friends then guides him through the forest to the castle. He awakens Aurora with a kiss, declares his love and asks for her hand in marriage.

Much of Act 3 is then taken up with the merry dance of wedding festivities. The celebrated Bluebird Pas De Deux is a showpiece, danced with avian flourish by Teri Crilly and Yu Hui.

The story of the Sleeping Beauty like that of other classical ballets, could easily be seen as corny; yet somehow choreographer Francois Klaus has rediscovered the earthiness behind the medieval Scandinavian saga of Brynhild, a goddess condemned to marry a mortal – the story on which “The Sleeping Beauty” is based. We are more used to the early 19th Century version of the Brothers Grimm.

There are some spooky moments in the ballet as, for example, when the Evil Fairy Carabosse (Iona Marques) disguised as a suitor dances with Aurora (Rachael Walsh). The hypnotic interplay between the two is frightening, leading to Aurora’s finger being pricked by a rose thorn and a century of sleep.

Tchaikovsky’s familiar score is played very finely by the Queensland Orchestra under Principal Guest Conductor, Andrew Mogrelia.

Costume Designer, Noelene Hill has produced many new costumes for this year’s work, while the lighting design by David Walters captures many memorable moments with a deft use of shade and highlight.


Choreography by François Klaus after Petipa.

Music by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky performed by the Queensland Orchestra with Principal Guest Conductor, Andrew Mogrelia.

Playing 4 to 19 December 2009.

Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes including 20 minute interval.

— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 4th December 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Rigoletto  
Opera Queensland (Lyric Theatre)

Opera Queensland has triumphed over a series of set-backs to present a magnificent production of Rigoletto as its final show for 2009. Saturday night's performance of Verdi's masterpiece was a stunning night of opera at its most powerful.

OQ's management must have wondered at times whether the curse of Monterone at the heart of the opera had seeped through the wings to the company itself. Of singers cast for the three major roles announced at the season launch a year ago, only one took to the stage on opening night. Serious illness sadly forced the withdrawal of baritone Michael Lewis as Rigoletto shortly before rehearsals began (to be replaced by veteran John Bolton Wood), while on opening night American tenor Steven Harrison as the Duke was laid low by the Spring flu doing the rounds of Brisbane. Fortunately Harrison recovered in time for subsequent performances. (Understudy Virgilio Marino did a commendable performance for the opening.)

It all led understandably to a slightly shaky start. But a week into the run, and OQ had definitely hit its straps. This is as fine a production, musically and dramatically, as Brisbane has seen.

Director Elijah Moshinsky's ambitious and costly concept of this work with its huge revolving set, first staged for Opera Australia in 1991 and seen in Brisbane in 1994, has lost none of its power and brilliance. Local director Cathy Dadd has done very well in breathing new life into the production, and the performers who people the stage are convincing in their portrayals of characters in a Federico Fellini-inspired world. (This has been a great year for Moshinsky fans in Brisbane, with his version of La traviata seen earlier this year.) The design is by Michael Yeargan, while the lighting design of Robert Bryan is reproduced effectively by Cliff Bothwell.

Verdi gets and deserves most of the glory, but let's not forget Francesco Maria Piave, the librettist, nor the great French novelist and playwright, Victor Hugo, whose banned play, Le roi s'amuse, provided the literary basis of the opera.

John Bolton Wood's strong baritone and versatile acting skills yield an excellent Rigoletto. His experience in comic roles give him an edge in depicting the entertaining side of the nasty clown (e.g. waggling his backside to insult an adversary at court), but he also conveys to great dramatic effect the part of the anguished father whose only hope is through his daughter.

It is a privilege to hear American tenor Steven Harrison in the role of the Duke of Mantua. He has a voice of subtle range and colour, a beautiful instrument with a lovely mellowness and richness as well as the power to project over the top of chorus and orchestra.

Emma Matthews dazzles as Gilda. Her performance during the second half of Act 1, where she is called upon to sing almost continuously, is perhaps the highlight of this production, as she duets first with Bolton Woods and then Harrison, concluding with her gentle version of "Caro nome". She sings and acts absolutely beautifully.

David Parkin as Sparafucile displays the rich bass and acting we first glimpsed on ABC television at his Opera-tunity auditions, though he's perhaps too "tall, dark and handsome" for this role — he needs an evil make-over. Mezzo-soprano Roxane Hislop brings verve to her role as as Sparafucile's sister Maddalena, contributing splendidly to the great quartet, though she perhaps could have been costumed a little more seductively.

Anne Fulton as Gilda's maid, Giovanna, brings her lovely mezzo voice to the role, and she also manages a mean demonstration of pasta cooking. In other roles, baritone Jason Barry-Smith and tenor Virgilio Marino make a splendid contribution as the courtiers Marullo and Borsa, Andrew Collis is a dark and vengeful Monterone, while Peter Axford sings the similarly vengeful Ceprano effectively. Sophie Wotton is a graceful Countess Ceprano.

The chorus prepared by Richard Lewis sing and act lustily, while the array of "supernumeraries" and actresses add great flavor and color to the ballroom scenes, where it was good to see the twist make a come-back. The Queensland Orchestra under Giovanni Reggioli's direction are rich and strong, with wonderful brass and percussion work as well as splendid pizzicato from the strings.

There are some absolutely rivetting dramatic moments in this opera: the scene where Rigoletto reveals that the abducted girl is his daughter, emptying out his attaché case of photos and memorabilia; Gilda's telling her father without words what the duke has done to her; the storm and the build-up of tension in Act 3, including the sparking and fusing of the outside light to Sparafucile's inn at the time of the murder.

Some moments work not so well — for example, the elaborate abduction of Gilda by the mob is generally well played out, but perhaps Gilda could be showing more signs of struggle as she is carried out of her home. Moreover, with her buttoned-up collared dress and cardigan, she looks a little too dowdy to have caught the eye of the duke.

I'm sure the audience would have loved to show their appreciation to the other principals, the men's chorus and the non-singing performers who contributed to a dazzling show. It was a little anticlimactic for the final bows to be taken only by the Act 3 principals and conductor. No doubt the rest of them were baggsing first drinks at the party. Certainly they all deserve to feel relieved and happy.


— John Henningham

(Performance seen: 24th October 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
As You Like It  
Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble (Roma St Parklands)

Ever felt love was confusing? Well, your love life will look like a walk in the park after you see Shakespeare’s As You like It.

The play follows the story of friends Celia (Andrea Carne) and Rosalind (Ruby Drewery), living under Celia’s tyrannical mother, Duchess Frederika (Frances Marrington). One day Rosalind meets Orlando (Colin Smith) who she falls madly in love with but before anything can happen between them Rosalind is banished from the court. Celia, a loyal friend, hatches a plan to disguise themselves and escape together to the forest with Rosalind dressed as a man.

As fate would have it Orlando is hiding out in the forest from his vengeful brother and he meets Rosalind (dressed as a man). Rosalind uses these strange circumstances to find out whether he truly loves her or not, with most of the play dedicated to this pantomime perpetrated by Rosalind. Watching Rosalind spin her complicated web of lies can be confusing and at times I felt exhausted trying to keep up with her. Ruby Drewery plays Rosalind with an incredible amount of energy making you believe she is truly powered by love.

Rob Pensalfini's Touchstone is another highlight of the play. The horny, arrogant and belligerent man who destroys any person who crosses his path with his fiery wit charms the audience with his spiteful humour. Pensalfini delivers Touchstone’s soliloquies brilliantly and brings to life this comical brute in such a way you hate and love him at the same time.

It is hard to fault the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble at any point with such great actors. The scenery is minimal but is inconsequential with the actors painting the scenes with their voices and actions; they entrench you in the story so vividly the props often just fall into background of your mind. Also the director’s decision to put the audience on the parkland stage facing out into the seating area meant the actors were given a completely natural background complete with a natural soundtrack and unpaid extras!

As with most QSE productions music is a large part of the action and is a complete delight. All the actors seem to be singers or musicians with the band set to the side of stage and actors going back and forth between their instruments and the action: a versatile cast to say the least.

Director Paul Adams has used his extraordinary cast with exact precision, effectively using the space by spilling the action into the park. This is a comedy that can be enjoyed by young and old, reflected by the widely assorted audience last Sunday night. I was enthralled from start to finish.


— Rhys McRae

(Performance seen: 11th October 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
The Dance Makers  
Expressions Dance Company (Judith Wright Centre)

Expressions Dance Company offers us a scintillating glimpse of three newly choreographed works which vibrate with raw creative energy.

Expressions’ new artistic director, Natalie Weir, is building on her international success to nurture and support local “dance makers” in showcasing their works.

Her own piece, "The House Project", is described as a “work in progress”, planned as a full-length work in 2010. It tells the story of a man returning to his childhood home and confronting memories, emotions and dreams. Weir makes effective use of literary metaphors, just as she previously did in her stunning work “Glass Heart” based on Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. In the program notes to her current work Weir quotes from David Malouf’s celebrated Brisbane-based novel 12 Edmonstone Street: “Except that memory, in leading us back, has turned us about. Memory is deeper than we are and has longer views.”

In this piece a young man (danced strongly by Richard Causer) rips down the boards blocking the entrance to his childhood home and takes us on a journey through an intense, dramatic world involving conflict with his father (Ryan Males), the joy of his first love (Samantha Mitchell), the support of his mother (Riannon McLean) and the mixed emotions of contact with his brother (Timothy Brown) and his brother’s girlfriend (Elise May). Perhaps the program notes could be a little more explicit in helping the audience follow the plot of this sometimes dysfunctional family but there is no doubt about the emotional power of the memories unleashed by the homecoming.

The work "Skin Graft" choreographed by Vanessa Mafé involves a clever use of a kitchen lineoleum floor floating vertically in space to allow a different perspective or “bird's eye view” of the dancers appearing to recline or roll on the floor while actually standing up. The dancers (Elise May, Riannon McLean, Richard Causer, Ryan Males, Samantha Mitchell and Timothy Brown) skilfully exchange plain white shirts in a manner suggestive of the grafting of skin from one to another.

Who said performers can’t be creatives? The dancer Timothy Brown was commissioned last year by Maggie Sietsma to choreograph his new work "Message Me". It is set in a world where we send and receive many text messages and emails, twitter constantly and interact on Facebook walls. Yet does this circle of communication result in a containment of the self? Much of this work is performed within a sand circle laid out on the stage. The close interaction of the dancers posing as if for photographs makes us question whether all this intense message communication helps or hinders the growth of self. Then things start to change. Slowly intrusions are made on the sand circle. The characters start to break out, start to connect with the sand rather than being contained by it. There is a poignant solo sequence danced exquisitely by Riannon McLean accompanied only by piano when, having broken through the sand circle, she moves with the liberating beauty of self-awareness. McLean transports the audience in one of those magic moments in dance — an epiphany in the twinkling of an eye.

The intimate atmosphere of the performance space at the Judith Wright Centre is ideal for these productions. The “Judy” was intended to be a place of artistic creativity and collaboration. The production of these three new works fulfils that goal admirably. The buzz among the high school students attending the performance with this reviewer suggests that Natalie Weir’s dance makers are indeed stirring the imagination of youth.


Choreograhy by Natalie Weir, Vanessa Mafé and Timothy Brown. Music by David Pyle, Danny Rhodes and others. Design by Bruce McKinven. Lighting design by Nick Tomlin.

Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes (including 20 minute interval). Playing 27 August to 5 September 2009.

— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 31st August 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Oedipus the King  
Nash Theatre

They say men look for their mothers' characteristics in their partners but Oedipus albeit unknowingly went one step further — he killed his father and married his mother. It is a harrowing story, one which we may vaguely know only from Freud’s dusty old tomes or somewhere darker in our collective unconscious where archetypes lurk.

Oedipus was written around 430 BC by Sophocles for ancient Greek theatre which served a very different role than theatre today. How then to transmogrify a beast over two millennia old and give it life, breath and meaning to a modern audience?

Director Jeff Zayer has tackled the challenge head on and produced a thought-provoking, emotional and visceral piece of work. It is apparent he has a connection with the material and he breathes life into the play with combination of hypnotic movement from the chorus, haunting minimalist music and blood red lighting.

That being said the first of two acts is slow moving and takes a certain amount of concentration but the second act is powerful and overall it is a rewarding experience.

Zayer says in the program notes that this play was a departure from Greek tragedy of the time where evil characters generally incurred the wrath of the gods, but here a cast of characters with good intentions are mercilessly destroyed. The plot concerns Oedipus’s voracious appetite for the truth. His wife (and mother!) Jocasta begs him to stop but his course is unerring, frantic and doomed.

Daniel Grey as Oedipus gives a convincing and disturbing performance in a role which could be easily overacted. He manages to find a brooding tone which conveys the character’s descent into oblivion and to the powerful climax, “Blind in the darkness-blind!" where he plucks out his eyes.

Eloise Maree is equally good as the Priestess of Zeus. She imbues her voice and character with an almost preternatural charisma and presence as though she really is channelling the vengeful god. Belinda Berrington’s Jacasta also hits the exact tone and the chorus as a whole are great in their quite physical presence and hypnotic movements.

The set design is simple and well done. I particularly liked the traditional Greek theatre masks on the pillars which were used by the chorus to good effect. The lighting is simple but effective, just the one blood red hue, visceral as the seeping broken sockets of our tragic hero.

This is a simple and rewarding production featuring some great performances, recommended to those who enjoy the more intellectual and thought-provoking classics.


— Ben Rodney

(Performance seen: 29th August 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
International Gala  
Queensland Ballet (Playhouse Theatre)


Queensland Ballet’s International Gala brings a cosmopolitan delight to an audience disposed to “think global, act local”. Overseas artists such as Alen Bottani and Lisa-Maree Cullum of the Bayerisches Staatsballett of Munich and Verginie Martinat and Medhi Walerski of the Nederlands Dans Theater give us a glimpse of the cutting edge of excellence in European dance, while local artists of the Queensland Ballet, such as the magnificent Rachael Walsh, remind us of the exquisite beauty of our local dance scene.

The International Gala involves a series of short pieces as a degustation for the senses. World famous local choreographer Natalie Weir impresses with a strong, stark, innovative piece “Ricochet”, danced by Richard Causer and Ryan Males of Expressions Dance Company. It is good to see this artistic engagement between the Queensland Ballet and Expressions. This can only be good for local dance culture.

One particularly engaging offering was “Erdbeermund (Strawberry Lips)” choreographed by Mario Schröder to the poem “Strawberry Lips” after Francöis Villon with the following words read aloud by voice-over artist Steven Grives:

At night the trees lingered about in the woods, grey and sick
because the day had drained in the meadows
But you, you tore off your clothes
and lit your white light for me, gloaming woman
with root hair and animal face
And my eyes always become wide and pure
when the white moon rises in the wood….
You, You,
I am so wild for your strawberry lips.

The dancers of the Queensland Ballet led by Teri Crilly give a fierce, sensual and very wet performance of this work, immersing their hair in large bowls of water and flipping their locks upwards to spray glistening droplets in a dazzling array about the stage.

By contrast, a dark and restrained piece “Pas de deux from Toss of a Dice” danced by the Dutch duo Verginie Martinat and Medi Walerski pushes the barriers of meaning in modern dance. The solo piece “Consider the Raven” danced by Daryl Brandwood of the West Australian Ballet is powerful and engaging.

Artistic Director Francois Klaus choreographed the prelude and finale, tying together the various themes of this spectacular gala.

Dance is indeed the international language of humankind. Such events as this gala reassure one that Queensland is contributing to the kinetic poetry of that universal language.

Choreography by Francois Klaus, Natalie Weir and others.

Music by Frederic Chopin, Sergei Rachimaninov, Dirk Haubrich and others.

Playing 7th to 9th August 2009

Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes (including 20 minute interval)


— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 8th August 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Man of La Mancha  
Brisbane Arts Theatre

The famous musical inspired by Cervantes returns to the Brisbane stage under director Lynne Wright in the Brisbane Arts Theatre.

Man of La Mancha retells the story of the country gentleman gone quirky knight-errant from Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote. The production utilises a cast of talented Brisbane-based actors, giving a high-quality theatrical and musical performance with the use of only minimal props and stage.

From the birth of the eccentric Don to his tragically broken death, we are treated to an hilarious musical rendition of his misadventures. While much of the scene is left to the watcher’s imagination, the demeanour, costumes, and story itself are delivered very well and make Man of La Mancha a satisfying experience.

Recorded musical numbers, assembled by Brisbane theatre musician Gary Menzel, provide instrumental backing of the classic songs ‘Man of La Mancha’, ‘Dulcinea’, and ‘Golden Helmet of Mambrino’, with well-sung and often hilarious renditions from the vocalists on stage. The raw emotion in the music and vocals do most of the imagining for the audience.

British actor Richard Murphy’s portrayal of Don Quixote as well as his creator, playwright Miguel de Cervantes, switches between scenes and carries the characters’ actions and emotions perfectly, enthralling the audience. Other players also give excellent portrayals, including Cathy Collings as Aldonza, Gavin Drogemuller as the Governor and Innkeeper, and Emily Landridge as Quixote’s niece Antonia.

The production is effective and powerful, despite shortcomings in stage size and facilities. The cast obviously enjoy giving their audience a memorable evening.


— Jim Aspinall

(Performance seen: 24th July 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Waltzing our Matilda  
Opera Queensland (Conservatorium Theatre, then on tour)

Beauty! Opera Queensland and the Queensland Arts are doing a very good thing with their production Waltzing Our Matilda.

Clever, often funny, sometimes mildly bawdy and always entertaining, it is an important contribution to the Q150 celebrations. Designed to tour, it deserves sold-out houses wherever it plays in the further reaches of the state, as indeed it achieved on its opening night at the Conservatorium in Brisbane.

Written and directed by Jason and Lisa Barry-Smith, this is a two-hour concert honouring the contribution to Queensland and Australian culture of five of our best-known artists.

As the writers tell us in the program notes, searching for suitable characters, a few were obvious: “Donald Smith, legendary tenor and proud Queenslander; Gladys Moncrieff, a Bundaberg-born soprano who found international fame; and Dame Nellie Melba, not a native Queenslander but someone who lived here for a short while and so, of course, we claimed her as our own. . . . and who better to round out the masculinity of singing than the indomitable Peter Dawson.’ And to narrate the story line, “who better to spin descriptive magic than the most iconic Australian wordsmith of all, Banjo Patterson’.

Some other names come to mind, but we shouldn’t be greedy. How about, to pick just three, Greta Elkins, Lisa Gasteen, Marilyn Richardson?

The story line is straightforward. Patterson is making heavy weather of creating what was to become our de facto national anthem. The singers help him through the block. Don’t worry about anachronism. The personalities match what we know of the characters but there is no point in comparing the voices, though the only one your reviewer heard live was that of the down-to-earth Mr Smith, who had the voice to have been one of the great tenors of his century.

Creators and cast are classically-trained musicians, well experienced in the theatre arts. Narelle French is co-creator and musical director, Donna Balson performer and associate musical director, Mr Barry-Smith plays Patterson, Guy Booth is Peter Dawson, Emily Burke is Dame Nellie, David Kidd is Don and Zoe Taylor is our Glad. Between them they tackle and generally triumph in some of the more demanding challenges of opera, music theatre and some original composition.

The mix is generous, from On the Road to Mandalay to Brindisi (ending up as a quintet), a most moving The Dying Stockman, to Lo, Here the Gentle Lark (with flute, of course), They Call Me Mimi and the Gilda-Rigoletto duet.

Especially clever is the rendering of the words of Waltzing Matilda in several operatic melodies including that of the Flower Duet and In the Depths of the Temple.

It is great to hear Clancy of the Overflow again and done properly.

The key to all of this is that there is nothing dumbed down, and practically nothing that won’t appeal to the dedicated opera buff.

The stage is nicely and economically set, backgrounded by big photographs of the main protagonists. Costumes are in character — Melba the grand dame, Our Glad stylishly less so, Don as sharp-suited as a pox doctor’s clerk, Dawson in white tie and Banjo in poet’s casual working clothes.

This outstanding show deserves to be shown in other states, as radio 4MBS has done and is doing triumphantly with Amadeus. Queensland can be proud of it. Do we hear a sponsor?

Matilda waltzes again at the Conservatorium on Friday, July 31, then heads out on a regional tour: Bowen Tuesday August 4, Proserpine Wednesday 5, Moranbah Friday 7, Emerald Saturday 8, Longreach Tuesday 11, Winton Wednesday 12, Barcaldine Thursday 13, Biloela Saturday 15, Gladstone Monday 17, Maryborough Tuesday 18, Caloundra Wednesday 19, Toowoomba Saturday 22.



— David Bray

(Performance seen: 24th July 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Dirty Apple  
Opera Queensland/Backbone Youth Arts (Powerhouse Theatre)


It's misleading to tag Dirty Apple as a production ‘by youth for youth’. Sure, the cast is young and the opera is set in a high school, but the complex relationships and strong emotional content provide much more than what the ‘youth for youth’ cliché usually implies.

Set at the fictional St Bartholomew High School Dirty Apple follows final year students Ryan, Ben, Emma and Josie as they play a prank on one of their teachers. They create an internet profile of their music teacher Mr Newman, suggesting he is a paedophile and his marriage is in trouble. But when Newman is suspended pending an investigation the four students find themselves in a situation where all their loyalties will be tested.

Aside from hiding their involvement in the prank, there are the usual rumours and bitchiness that are a staple of high school life. Cyberbullying is a major theme, and the impact of technology in general. There is a constant presence of mobile phones on stage to illustrate how much our lives have been infiltrated by new technology.

Director Michael Futcher and set designer Sharka Bosakova have done an incredible job to create a highly original set. The stage is made up of two levels and sectioned into large squares with moving cloth screens in front of each. The orchestra take up the majority of the lower stage with the action happening above and around them.

The screens are used throughout the play as a huge computer screen showing videos of bullying and while the characters text each other the abbreviated language appears on screen to add to the confusion. Lighting designer Andrew Meadows uses the screens effectively to create dramatic visuals adding an enormous amount to scenes of tension.

Much energy and thought has gone into this production, which Futcher divides into ‘terms’ instead of ‘acts’. The Queensland Conservatorium Orchestra led by Dane Lam provide music reflecting the playful and dramatic lives of the students.

The young cast are all either in high school or have just left. Milica Ilic is mesmerising as the distraught Emma and Jordan Pollard as the confused and stubborn Ben is equally brilliant.

There is much to appeal to young audiences, whether or not they've had any previous association with opera, and Dirty Apple could break down the barriers between opera and young people. The language is crude but the singing is beautiful, creating a contrast that could easily be laughable but rarely is, except where intended by Futcher.

This coming-of-age story represents, for one of the first times I’ve seen, the new frontier students are facing in their daily lives. We now have the power to connect to the entire world via the internet and as we have learnt from Spider-Man, ‘with great power comes great responsibility’. Dirty Apple shows us the disastrous effects of what happens when technology is mistreated. See this show.


— Rhys McRae

(Performance seen: 20th July 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Fidelio  
Opera Queensland (Conservatorium Theatre)


Fidelio doesn't get so many outings these days, despite the magnificence of Beethoven's music. It is good to see a new version of this classic.

Beethoven was very taken with the idea of composing a grand opera, notwithstanding that his greatest talent lay in orchestral and other instrumental work. In relation to opera his "time is out of joint", in that he falls in the cusp between the classical world in which Mozart was pre-eminent and the full flowering of romantic opera in Italy and France. Fidelio has elements of both genres, but doesn't achieve the greatness of either. Yet the tale of a heroic young woman who infiltrates a prison to liberate her political prisoner husband is a splendid one, and Leonora remains the greatest heroine of opera.

This production features some wonderful performances. German-born Anke Hoppner as Leonora sings stunningly and also brings plenty of emotion to the role. She conveys effectively her anguish at her husband's fate, her embarrassment yet opportunism at the unexpected advances of Marzelline, and her bravery in confronting the villain. That villain, prison governor Don Pizarro, is convincingly performed by Barry Ryan, who sings with great strength and conviction.

I emjoyed the work of Sarah Crane as Marzelline, the prison warden's daughter who has the misfortune to fall in love with Leonora in her cross-dressed guise as Fidelio. Her singing is beautiful to listen to and she splendidly conveys the sense of her sexual anticipation, while her distress at the revelation of Fidelio's identity is palpable. Virgilio Marino too is successful dramatically and vocally in portraying the unwanted wooer, Jaquino. Richard Anderson as Rocco gives a strong, well-rounded performance. The famous quartet involving these characters in Act 1 is musically rich and balanced.

As the prisoner Florestan, Bradley Daley covers the role well, with initial uncertainty in his very difficult opening scene giving way to vocal confidence as Act 2 develops, while Peter Axford as the minister is suitably commanding in both his appearance and singing.

The Queensland Orchestra under Graham Abbott's direction produces a beautiful and balanced sound, with the woodwind work particularly memorable, especially in the overture and the prisoners' chorus. The prisoners themselves provide a gorgeously harmonised and robust chorus, one of the highlights of the performance. In addition to preparing the chorus, Narelle French has provided good quality surtitles. (On the other hand, having not seen a Fidelio with titles before, I think I rather enjoyed it better when not knowing exactly what was being sung, given that the libretto is often rather trite and melodramatic.)

I was less captivated with the approach of this production, both directed and designed by South African Marthinus Basson. The general concept, of transforming the medieval Spanish fortress into a latter-day Guantanamo Bay, is a good one. But the development of the idea doesn't quite work.

The design centres on a prison bars massively emblazoned with the word "PRISON", while the stage is littered with large letter blocks which singers assemble throughout the performance to form words which represent current themes. This is entertaining at first, particularly in the flirtatious interactions between Marzelline and Jaquino, but subsequently tedious. Did we have to see spelt out to us — literally — that we were witnessing OPPRESSION or COURAGE or a desire for LIBERATION? (Perhaps all we needed was John Cleese to spell out the BLEEDING OBVIOUS!)

But it remains a great opera, and deserves to be seen, or at least heard, for the orchestral and vocal achievements of Opera Queensland and the Queensland Orchestra. After all, it's been 26 years since Brisbane's last production of Fidelio.

— John Henningham

(Performance seen: 16th July 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
La traviata  
Opera Queensland (Lyric Theatre)

It's been 10 years since Brisbane has seen a professional La traviata — and it's been worth the wait. Elvira Fatykhova is a stunning Violetta in this sumptuous production of one of the world's great operas. The Russian soprano sings and acts with enormous depth of feeling. She entranced a rapturous first-night audience, with cries of "brava" and thundering applause celebrating her performance.

While Fatykhova is the standout, there are many elements in Opera Queensland's production of Verdi's masterpiece which add up to a very satisfying night of opera.

The direction and acting remind us of how much can be achieved within the constraints of a traditional setting. Julie Edwardson has effectively revived Elijah Moshinsky's brilliant 1994 Australian Opera production. Principals, chorus and dancers bring to life their scenes with animated performances. As the fin de siècle's equivalent of party ravers the chorus revel with decorous enjoyment. Belynda Buck's choreography works well on the crowded stage.

Adrian Dwyer's Alfredo is a gauche outsider, dressed down, ill at ease and uncomfortable with champagne, while his worldly-wide older rivals ill-conceal their jealousy and malice, to the amusement of the gossipy and stunningly-attired womenfolk.

The design is magnificent. Sets and costumes (Michael Yeargan and Peter Hall) are lush and gorgeous beyond belief, evoking spontaneous applause. Nigel Levings' lighting too is outstanding, from evening drawing room to autumn courtyard to gloomy bedroom pierced with light streaming through dusty windows.

Orchestrally, La traviata always seems an opera where the strings dominate, and the Queensland Orchestra under Peter Robinson certainly brings out the best of this section. The complexity of musical lines interweave and combine to shimmering effect from the very first moments of the prelude, and there are many moments of heart-wrenching intensity during the performance. Throughout, Robinson gives us a purposeful and measured interpretation.

Of the principals, Dwyer's light and pleasant voice suits his character. Unlike many productions, this one emphasises Alfredo's youth and naivety in trying to break into the corrupt and exploitative Parisian social scene with an offer of genuine love. Verdi has provided many challenges for the tenor, and Dwyer rises to the occasion, although not always firmly or with flawless intonation.

Douglas McNicol gives a rich if restrained rendition of Germont. He is particularly memorable in his confrontations with his son Alfredo and his wonderful Act 2 duet with Violetta.

The supporting principal singers add quality to the musical feast: Andrew Collis as the doctor, John Bolton Wood as the baron, David Hibbard as the marquis, Roxane Hislop as Flora, and Rosemarie Arthars as the maid, Annina. Adding to these are firm contributions from Bernard Wheaton, Stephen Beck and Sam Hartley.

Their work is superbly complemented by that of the Opera Queensland Chorus, trained by Richard Lewis.

The opera has many splendid moments, including Violetta's Act 1 "Sempre libera" aria as she agonises over the choice offered her by Alfredo, but for me the highlight of the production is the closing scene of Act 2, where principals and chorus lament the tragic turn of events following Alfredo's startling humiliation of Violetta. The multiplicity of vocal and orchestral lines are woven into a rich and balanced tapestry of sound.

Surtitles aid understanding of the libretto, although the the translation seems at times unnecessarily free and is often rather pedestrian.

But it is a truly splendid production, and you will go far to hear a better Violetta.


— John Henningham

(Performance seen: 16th May 2009)
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The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas  
Sunnybank Theatre Group


I’ve always penned new-age burlesque as a strip show you can take your girlfriend to and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas falls almost in that same category, albeit the shedding of clothes and better singing.

The musical is based on a true story involving a Texan whore house that operated for over 60 years but was eventually shutdown by a TV reporter named Marvin Zindler in 1973. The whorehouse was nicknamed ‘The Chicken Ranch’ because the prostitutes would accept chickens as payment during the Great Depression.

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas tells the tale of the TV reporter’s quest to shutdown the Chicken Ranch. Miss Mona Stangley (Lesley Davis) runs the brothel and is strict in her rules to keep the Chicken House respectable while keeping good relations with Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd (Marc James).

Business is going well until TV evangelist Melvin P Thorpe (Troy Granzien) starts snooping around and rallying people to shut down the Chicken Ranch. Troy Granzien embodies the irritating evangelist exceptionally well with his ol’ boy southern accent and corny smile that makes you want to punch him where it hurts.

In a musical full of wit, the best line has to go to Deon Spann as the Texan Governor who answers in response to a question about the situation in the Middle East: “I think those Jews and Arabs should settle their disputes in a good Christian manner.” It flew over a few people’s heads but I had a good chuckle.

Lesley Davis’ strong voice flies above the musical numbers and the harmonies are right on the money for both the men and women. Lesley Davis, Ashley Worsman, Ashleigh Harrie and Vicky Devon took care of the choreography and did a good job of it. Well executed musical numbers are the difference between amateur and professional theatre so it’s good to see they have put a lot of effort in to them.

Led by Matthew Bass, the band powers through each song confidently and hits all the right notes, never missing a cue. Bringing the flighty woodwind sound to country music, Sophie Cooper on clarinet is a nice touch.

Most of the actors pull off their Southern accents seamlessly however the few actors that have not quite mastered the voice stand out like a cow in a pig pen. This can be pretty distracting especially when someone slips in and out of an accent during a song.

As director Deirdre Robinson points out in her notes, ‘the story pokes fun at the hypocrisy of civic officials and their double standards’. The story does touch on these issues but is much more about having a good time at the theatre than a political satire. Certainly the Governor’s character shows all the traits of a hypocritical politician.

There is a little swearing and some skimpy outfits but it's all in good fun. The jokes are great, the music’s great and the set is incredible. Designer Ben van Trier and builders Mark Zoethout and John Mordacz have done an amazing job to create this working set.

There is so much packed into this musical it’s truly amazing a small theatre group in Sunnybank can create such an experience and says volumes about the dedication of all involved. If there’s one musical about a Texan whorehouse you see this year, make it this one. YEE HAW!

— Rhys McRae

(Performance seen: 13th May 2009)
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Hamlet  
Nash Theatre, New Farm

The full text of Shakespeare’s Hamlet can last around four and a half hours and includes a myriad of diverse characters, so for a cast of 11 to take on the play is a feat in itself.

A program note from director Brenda White says the cast and crew have dubbed their version "The Pocket Hamlet" due to its small production values. Most of the actors have multiple roles with Ralph Porter deserving recognition for his five-role workload including the gravedigger which, although small, is a stand-out performance.

Rhys Ward’s Hamlet is emotionally raw and unabashed — he throws himself about the stage in complete despair and his looks of contempt at Claudius were enough to almost pull me on-stage to kill the usurper.

Brenda White does not limit the action to the stage, utilising the entire space given to her including the courtyard outside to signal the incoming acting troupe. Enlarging the space in this way surrounds the audience with the action and creates a larger atmosphere for the characters to inhabit.

Some amateur mistakes plagued the play such as John Ashton (Claudius) coming on stage with his glasses still on and keeping them on for some time and some of the audience reactions were puzzling especially the laughter at the death of Polonius (David Bentley).

I have never felt comfortable with Polonius’ line, "I am slain", because it has never sounded natural. The fact is if I had a sword thrust into me I would more likely swear and curse until my murderer went deaf. Perhaps it was Bentley’s quick delivery that drove the audience into hysterics but I think it would be best to get rid of the line and replace it with some sort of guttural utterance.

Despite these downsides there are impressive performances from Carmen Travino as Ophelia and the five-role Ralph Porter. Travino embodies her character so well that at times she steals the stage from Ward’s Hamlet. Her sane Ophelia is coy, servile and fearful but after her father dies and her sanity is lost her entire countenance changes. Her speech becomes high pitched and her movements erratic. Costume and make-up departments helped to perfect this transformation while Travino’s acting created a truly fearful and eerie lunatic.

The use of steel swords during the final sword fight was incredibly brave, as well as moving the action in and out of the audience. At one point sparks were literally flying off the blades, adding to the drama and suspense that is often lost.

Minor slip-ups aside, this Hamlet gives Brisbane audiences the opportunity to see some truly excellent performances.

— Rhys McRae

(Performance seen: 9th May 2009)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Food of Love  
Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble (Roma Street Parklands)

An ambient glow resonates from Roma Street Parklands this month from the angelic voices and music of the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, transporting us into an Elizabethan world of love, lust and desire.

Food of Love is the brain-child of QSE artistic director Rob Pensalfini and director Cienda McNamara, a vision of a “Shakespearean cabaret” that has come to life highlighting the music composed for QSE productions of the past six years.

“Speak what we feel…. not what we ought to say,” said King Lear. Food of Love provides its audience a mystical and lucid journey, with the gentle weeping of violin played by Stephen Mackie and the communal folky songs of Pensalfini. A seemingly empty stage is often filled with joyous and connected voices praising the gods of love.

Shakespeare fans will be more than impressed with the range of prose selected by QSE to convey this beautiful dream. The production includes some of the moods and drama of Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, Othello and As You Like It.

The directors have discovered a "Shakespearean heart of darkness" in Food of Love, a production with a stage full of aching hearts that carry a linking theme of love’s tragedy by communal voices and song, transformed into a drama of desperation.

Hamlet’s "To be or not to be" speech as delivered by Pensalfini is a brilliant transitional device, shocking the audience into a new reality within the dreaming. From there the play spirals into a world of insecurity for Shakespeare’s characters, left to ponder whether it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Food of Love features QSE’s talented actors and singers. The audience is transfixed by the duet of Pensalfini and Angel Kosch. Colin Smith provides some of the rare moments of comic relief as Pandarus, a cheeky match-maker bringing star-crossed lovers together.

As bats flap their wings over Wickham terrace the hypnotic sounds of Pensalfini’s "gypsy" orchestra seduce the audience. A feeling of floating along with beautifully delivered prose dreams the audience to a theatrical place that I have never seen a Shakespearean production do before.

Food of Love is a new experience of Shakespeare, a transcendental tapestry of community and inter-connectedness through a rhythmic, physical and aural experience of William Shakespeare’s ever-questioning prose.


— Brett Barfoot

(Performance seen: 7th May 2009)
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A Streetcar Named Desire  
Queensland Ballet (Playhouse, QPAC)

This is a strangely beautiful journey into the violent excesses of desire.

The action is set in New Orleans in the summer of 1947. Blanche Dubois (danced elegantly by Clare Morehen) has come from the relative gentility of Belle Reve in the American South to the shabby and seedy Old French quarter of New Orleans. She has to travel “a street car named Desire” to reach her destination, the apartment of her sister Stella (Melissa Tattam) and her husband Stanley Kowalski (Keian Langdon).

This violent, passionate role was made famous by Marlon Brando on stage and film. Keian Langdon brings an earthiness and vitality to the role which he dances with genuine menace.

This is a drama about a woman destroyed by her immersion in a changed social order. It has special poignancy now in this time of uncertainty as the global financial crisis marks the end of an old order and heralds a new, changed order.

The shifting moods of the drama are reflected in the music played with gusto by X-Collective, a cabaret ensemble of the Queensland orchestra under the direction of Craig Allister Young. The atmosphere of New Orleans is captured in the jazz of Duke Ellington (“Black and Tan Fantasy”) and Theolonious Monk (“’Round Midnight”). Flashbacks to Blanche’s aristocratic life at Belle Reve occur with the fine music of Francis Poulenc, while Cesar Franck’s “Sonata for Piano and Violin” is chosen for the journey into Blanche’s emotional world. The music is simply terrific.

The dynamics amongst the leading characters have the audience on a knife edge. Blanche’s sister Stella, danced empathetically by Melissa Tattam, is the victim of domestic violence yet remains passionately attached to her brutal husband Stanley.

Clare Morehen skilfully expresses the decline and fall of Blanche, culminating in her rape, mental illness and removal to an asylum. This descent is made all the sadder through the love interest of the character Mitch, danced intelligently by Nathan Scicluna.

Flashbacks can be hard to manage on stage but they worked successfully in this production, thanks to the artfulness of set designer Graham MacLean, costume designer Noelene Hill and lighting designer David Walters. The contrast between the light, colour and natural surrounds of the Belle Reve flashbacks and the dun urban environment splashed with garish neon signs highlighted the tragedies which attend upon changing social orders.

The corps de ballet provided a rich context to the action as Blanche’s Shadows, Southern belles and Southern beaux.

In Scene One of his play Tennessee Williams has Blanche saying: “They told me to take a street car named Desire, then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off – Elysian Fields!”. Desire, Buddha said, is the cause of human unhappiness. Amidst the sex, violence and jazz of post-war New Orleans it proved so for Blanche.


Choreography by Francois Klaus.
Music by Duke Ellington, Theolonious Monk and Francis Poulen
Performed by the Queensland Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Mogrelia

28 March to 8 April 2009

Duration: 2 hours and 15 minutes (including 20 minute interval)

— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 2nd April 2009)
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He Died With a Felafel in his Hand  
Brisbane Arts Theatre

The lights dim and the rolling drum beat of Richard Strauss’s "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (from 2001: A Space Odyssey) blares out of the speakers. Gasps of awe and amazement are heard as the curtains open to reveal, centre-stage, one massive joint.

As we bask in its glow the actors come out of the woodwork howling and screaming in a parody of Kubrick’s classic. As they approach the ridiculously big doobie, the music abruptly ends and is replaced by the thumping beat of TISM’s classic "(He’ll Never be an) Ol’ Man River" and a drug-fuelled party erupts on stage with the doomed nameless felafel eater overdosing in the middle of it all.

Not bad for the first four minutes. Over the next two hours, the protagonist John Birmingham (Shaun King) introduces the audience to the squalid life of share housing, showcasing some of the oddballs he’s lived with, from the moon-tanning Peeping Tom to the work obsessed woman who refuses to leave her job although she was fired three months ago.

Jenna Saini is scarily good as the erratic business woman and Damien Campagnolo brings some of the biggest laughs as the masochistic MP caught out in the middle a dominatrix session by a current affairs program. Michael Fitzhywel’s character Popov is also memorable as the epitome of all the base desires of men falling in love with every scantily clad woman he sees and promising them all the herring in the world as a dowry.

Each character is unabashedly shown for who they are and scenes can become a little tense at times leaving you wondering if perhaps you shouldn’t be laughing so hard. The play switches from hilarious to depressing — a lot like a MASH episode; some scenes getting pretty serious for a comedy, touching on topics such as backyard abortions.

The script is rude, crude and so full of swearing that it would it make Guy Ritchie blush. Although it’s a recurring feature of the play, the foul language doesn’t feel forced and helps the audience feel at ease. (Unless you’re a prude, in which case you’ll probably leave the building five minutes after the bucket bong explanation.)

The work that has gone into adapting and updating John Birmingham’s cult book for the stage is tremendous. Simon Bedack, Steve Le Marquand and Michael Neaylon have intertwined pop culture references, musical breaks and action freezes that involve one of the characters stepping out of the scene to tell an anecdote directly to the audience. These stories generally have nothing to do with the main plot but instead act as background for each character giving the audience better insight of the actions.

Director Natalie Bochenski has not shied away from showing any indecency imaginable and has cast actors who execute her concepts with enthusiasm.

Nothing in this production is average or boring and the dance sequences are no exception. The choreography of the house-mates banding together to clean the house to Tchaikovsky’s "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" impressed me with its intricate choreography reminiscent of the "Sorcerer’s Apprentice" segment in Fantasia.

Keep a keen eye out for references to James Brown, Donnie Darko and even the Lucille Ball Show. These references don’t draw much attention to themselves and I’m guessing were included as in-joke for the geeks of the audience who could nudge their friends to proudly boast of their knowledge of pointless trivia.

This adaption of Birmingham's original book is almost entirely different from the movie but I enjoyed it much more. The laughs are bigger and the nonsensical nature of the whole thing reminds me of a modern day adults only Alice in Wonderland. If you enjoy foul language and would like to delve into the drug-addled world of the decadent and depraved, then see this play.

— Rhys McRae

(Performance seen: 26th March 2009)
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