Anne Boleyn theatre review

ATC's latest production makes quite a splash with its bold, colourful costumes and use of drums to underscore the drama.  Stephen Lovatt makes quite a splash as the flamboyant, large-living King James I.  That's all the splashing there is, though.  Nothing else manages to meet these elements on quite the same level of high drama and high camp.  While George Henare's Cecil  provides Lovatt with a perfect foil and excuses himself from such excesses with his claims he lacks imagination, I found the lack of imagination in the rest of the cast unexpected and unaccounted for.

To be clear: the cast do a great job of telling the fascinating story of Anne Boleyn's influence over England, its monarch and the predominant religion, and the story reveals fascinating theories of her motives.  But stylistically, I felt that the actors were often not united with the tone set by the pithy script and the outlandish costumes.  Well...were the costumes outlandish?  Yes and no.  Some were.  Some were not.  As with the actors making bold interesting choices: some did and some did not.  

I can't blame the cast, as I know these people can act.  I won't blame the script, because the script is consistent within itself and ekes out the plot points at a perfect pace.  I could blame the costumes for leading my expectations astray - but I feel the flashier costumes were right on the money.  So I will blame the director, Mr Colin McColl.  

McColl failed to get his whole team to perform within the same genre.  Was the end result part of his vision?  Did he want naturalism?  Did he fail to communicate his vision to the cast?  The vision was certainly not communicated to the audience.  Whatever the cause, the result is that Anne Boleyn lacks the finesse it often implies it ought to have.  Certainly, it was well rehearsed.  The show is tight, and it tells the story effectively.  It just lacks a certain spark that is hinted at by Lovatt, Elizabeth Whiting's costumes, and Simon Prast's delightfully dastardly Thomas Cromwell.  I would have preferred a more heightened drama that embraces the anachronistic vernacular and fashion sense.  I feel that would have best served the script, and today's audiences.

What else to say?  The many actors deliver perfectly adequate portrayals of their (even more) many characters.  Their stagecraft is hard to fault, with every action and intention reading clearly, every consonant reaching to the back of the room.  However, from the supporting roles I would have liked a little scenery chewing.  That would have felt right.  From the lead roles, I would have liked to have seen greater emotional connection.  The laughter didn't sound like true laughter.  The (potentially) tender moments did not provoke true tears.  Anne Boleyn failed to make me care about her plight or her feelings, indeed I wasn't sure she had any.  And considering the story is driven by her courtship with Henry VIII, I would have like to have seen some kind of chemistry between them.

It was just dry.  Why the lack of imagination?

See this show for the first chance in years to see some of Auckland's most luminary actors perform perfunctory roles in an interesting story.  See this show if you like colourful costumes.

King Kong theatre review

You have to see it to believe it.  This brand new musical at Melbourne's Regent Theatre is a most spectacular spectacular.  I thought I had seen most of the things that stageshows can achieve - and this introduced me to all sorts of new effects.

As a show and a spectacle, there is nothing like King Kong.  As a musical...it is a little baffling.

Marius de Vries' original music and arrangements of familiar songs are commanding, and often rather catchy. Our lead actress, Esther Hannaford, is given the most opportunity to demonstrate her vocal prowess - and that she does.  She sings with a modern blues/jazz sensibility that is easily accessible and feels true to both the 1930's period and today.  What lets the songs down are the banal lyrics.  When I could make out what they were, I was frequently non-plussed.  What is she singing about?  Why does she feel that way?  How does this relate to what we just saw?  There are a lot of songs, and the only two I am sure I understood are the lullaby sung to soothe King Kong (no metaphors or anything...it's just a lullaby), and the one in which our love interest explains to our heroine that his father built the Golden Gate Bridge out of vanity.

The rest of the music was lovely but hollow.  There is not much more substance to the script.  Really, this show is about an eight metre tall puppet.  

As it happens, though, the giant puppet is a fine actor.  It looks incredible.  It tells the story.  It got all of my sympathy.  The best moments all belong to Kong, and so they should.  The 17 puppet operators seem able to achieve any action, and any emotion - and the movements all look fluid and natural.  It's a marvel of engineering.  Kong's co-stars struggle to keep up.

Kong's greatest rival for attention is the bold and busy lighting.  There are an array of projections that create virtual sets, and alter costumes to make them something altogether new and exciting.  To be honest, I couldn't really figure out what the lights were doing or how.  Whatever it was, though, has me in awe.

Stray observations:

- I have no idea what the opening number was about, but it should have been about the opening of The Empire State Building.

- The prophetess who occasionally appears, sings, and covers a set-change seemed to have wandered in from one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's more gothic musicals.

- I found the song about The Golden Gate Bridge compelling because it was so unusual.  Perhaps it would have meant more if it had been about The Empire State Building.
- Weirdest makeover montage ever.

- I wanted more The Empire State Building.

See this theatrical production if you want a unique experience.  The puppet steals the show, but it is a feat of engineering that is more than a vanity project: it may change the face of theatre.

The Great Gatsby film review

The Great Gatsby is a giddy ride into a fantastic re-imagining of the past.  It's just the most stylish thing ever - but the story lacks heart.

Fans of Baz Luhrman will love the frenzied, colourful and oh-so-slick approach to illustrating the story.  Certainly, he stays true to the style that has brought him such acclaim.  He fills each frame to saturation point, that within the first half hour I felt the film had already achieved more than many films do over their full length.  I saw the film in 3D, and for the first time felt that the effect was used to accomplish something worthwhile.  Certainly, the 3D effects are not important - but they are fun and rather impressive.

So it all starts with a rush and a roar and provides quite the adrenaline rush, then it comes time to progress the story and the pace slows considerably.  It is an unusual story, with an unusual shape and Luhrman is very faithful to the source material.  For this reason, I wondered whether the film's problems were unavoidable.  He fails, though, to make the most of the weightier moments.  One of the greatest strengths of the story is that it is filled with fascinating, endearing characters whose paths cross in unexpected ways.  The film does well at painting these characters.  In particular, I enjoyed the female characters immensely.  Sadly, though, the audience is kept at too far a distance.  Despite many extreme close ups, the viewer is forever watching the action from across the bay.  I was not even sure whose side I should have been on.  This, then, means that the double tragedy the film builds to, means very little.  The character who I felt closest to was our narrator Nick Carraway, played by the evergreen Tobey Maguire.  Unfortunately, Carraway has no character arc.  He doesn't have a story or an ending.  He is no more than a plot device.  This is very true to the book.  Nevertheless, I felt Luhrman has done us a disservice by being so faithful to the book.  

Another strength of the book is the beautiful poetic nature of the writing.  Luhrman is conscious of bringing this to life, and his efforts to do so work well when done visually - the passage of the seasons alone is breathtaking. It is less effective when the poetry is thrust at us with flying words.  It is a literal approach - and literal poetry must be an oxymoron.

Ultimately, The Great Gatsby is beautiful, and it tells the story clearly.  It lacks intimacy to the story.  The friendship between Gatsby and Carraway should break hearts as the story concludes...and it just doesn't.

A special mention must be made of the music.  The majority of the music is fairly recent pop music.  I loved the new recordings of each song, and marveled at how well it all fit together.  

See the beginning of this film if you love colour and dramatic music.  See the rest of this film if you like a cool, detached story.  I enjoyed both parts of the film, but found the transition a little clunky.  Perhaps the transmission needs to be looked at...I know a good mechanic...

Tyran Parke: A Light in the Dark. Cabaret review.

Tyran Parke begins singing offstage and I immediately picture an adolescent, so clean and pure is his voice.  When he appears on stage, I am surprised to see that he is old enough to have seen Les Miserables on its first Australian tour.  Parke displays a youthful vitality, but as his show progresses, he also demonstrates a depth and strength that only maturity brings.

His song selection is of the musical theatre oeuvre, which is my chosen field of musical obsession.  I thoroughly enjoyed hearing fresh interpretations of some obscure material.  I was happy, too, to learn a few new songs.  That Parke is confident in presenting his audience with unfamiliar music is inspiring.  That he sells each story so personally is truly remarkable.  Parke has an amazing understanding of how to tell a story with a song.  He was so connected to every word, and his voice sounded so free and effortless it was easy to forget he wasn't just speaking.  Music may well be his first language.

The show's structure is in the mould of a typical cabaret.  Parke tells of his long journey to accepting his love of theatre, illustrating his story with anecdotes and songs.  I enjoyed his segues, and only a couple of early songs lacked the appropriate context.

Parke's talent is what made the evening so enjoyable, while the show was fairly bare.  I would like to think that if Parke continues to tour these songs and stories, he could dress it up a little more, with a sharper costume or two.  I also felt the show would have gained a lot to have played around with the musical arrangements.  While the keyboard accompaniment was adequate and ably played, the transition between musical styles was sometimes a little jarring.  It would be nice to see a musical director bring the various songs into a cohesive musical approach.

See this show if you love musical theatre.  Or just music.  Or just theatre.

Barbara film review

Barbara claims not to like the sea.  This rings true, as she would be better characterised by still waters.  The sort that run deep.  Like Barbara (the character), Barbara (the film) presents a story with much more beneath the surface than what the viewer is party to.  I found it tested my knowledge of German history and I drew conclusions that may or may not have right - but the film is all the more enjoyable because of it.

The story is specific to a certain time and a certain place, though this time and place is never exactly spelled out.  As I left the cinema, I overheard a fellow patron say "I'd be interested to know the era in which that took place".  And my immediate response was "But it was obviously...um...the cold war era...so probably...late seventies?  I think.  Obviously."  It is this ambiguity that makes Barbara a difficult film with which to connect.  The title character's coldness certainly does not help.  Yet I enjoyed it immensely.  The story develops naturally, never forced, and the cinematography is clean and precise.  The characters are sometimes likeable, sometimes not - but always interesting.  This stalwart refusal to endear the audience makes the film's resolve much more satisfying.  As the story progresses, we are given occasional glimpses into Barbara's true character and I, for one, found it quite affecting that her life depends on hiding her true character.  So when she finally reveals it well and truly it is a magnificent moment, and is typically underplayed by this most modest of films.

I recommend Barbara, and yet I know that it is not for everyone.  It is like that rare flavour of chocolate that doesn't quite work for you...until it really really does and then nothing could be better.

See this film if you know a bit about the cold war and East Germany, enjoy subtle characterisation and are open to a story being heart-warming or alienating...or both.

The Glass Menagerie theatre review

Tennessee Williams' most autobiographical play is perhaps also his most poetic.  ATC's new production of the classic is at its best when it embraces this poetry, while the plainer periods often left me wondering how intentional the melodramatic style was.

The cast of four are charismatic actors.  Indeed, Elizabeth Hawthorne seems perfectly at home as one of Williams' anxious Southern Belles.  Richard Knowles had me hanging on his every word.  Antonia Prebble and Edwin Wright created the most complex characters, but like two sides of a coin one underplayed the drama in their given circumstances while the other overplayed it.  This unevenness was somewhat jarring.

The action of the play is slight, but design elements such as a revolving stage, projected pictures, melodramatic lighting and musical undescoring are effective in maintaining momentum.  In fact, the journey is so pleasant, I was constantly engaged, despite the ambling pace.  This is a great achievement.

Where I felt let down was at the play's end.  The end seems to return us to the beginning.  This circularity was beautifully reinforced by the spinning stage.  Likewise, the insularity and seclusion of mother and daughter was underlined and reflected in the treatment of the titular collector's pieces.  This lack of change, therefore is rather affecting and provides enough tragedy for an ending.  However, one major element does change, and this felt all but ignored.  Our narrator reaches the end of a chapter, which is the start of a new life for him.  In choosing this new life, he chooses to abandon his family.  This is a big deal.  In fact, he has spent the duration of the play trying to find for them a replacement provider.  I did not feel that Wright understood this concept - which ought to have motivated his every action.  If he did understand it, he certainly did not attach high enough stakes to the scenario for his eventual desertion to resonate the way it ought to have.  Furthermore, the whole story leads to the point at which he deserts his family and it was hardly shown.  In such a visually bold production, it seems strange that this moment was given no memorable visual.

Plays need endings.  It is there if you look for it, but the resolve was certainly not given the attention it deserves.

See this play if you enjoy Williams' iconic style.  There is a lot here to love: Williams' words are pretty, poetic, and often profound;  this production is a visual feast.  

I Wish I Learned theatre review

Vicki Millar's new musical feels still like a work in progress, and more like a revue than a fully developed piece of theatre.  That said, it is consistently engaging and has some bright dramatic and musical moments.

It begins by establishing a simple format of reminiscing about life-changing events then singing about lessons learned.  I did not find this to be particularly interesting.  It seemed to suffer from telling more than showing.  I want to see stories unfold, not hear about how they did once unfold in the past.  However, this technique does serve to introduce each character to the audience and I was happy to find that as the play progressed, the music and story were brought much more to the present moment.

The musically able cast display a range of levels in acting ability.  Alexandra McKellar stands out as the most natural performer.  She is at all times in character, and flicks effortlessly between speech and song.  She receives laughs on most of her lines, despite the script's predictability and overblown tendencies.  Michael Murphy is believable as the lovesick rockstar, but he did not connect with his quieter, more tender moments in as truthful a manner as is necessary.  Shaan Antunovich and Nathaniel Ta'ase each paint their character  with rather a broad brush.

The biggest obstacle this show faces is that it lies somewhere between a cabaret and a play, but it struggles to make a strong enough claim to either style.  I felt it worked best when songs were used to recreate another time and place, as when the actors create an office scenario.  I would have liked to have seen more of that.  Its biggest strength, however, is in the honest connections the cast make with each other.  The cast manage to create a warmth and charm that carries the show's weaker moments.  

Vicki Millar's songs are reasonably catchy, and would certainly bear repeating.  I would certainly enjoy hearing "Flat E" again.

See this show if you wish to support new works of NZ musical theatre.