Soweto Gospel Choir - African Spirit

In their third Australian tour and after a sold-out season last year, the Soweto Gospel Choir returned to Adelaide’s Festival Theatre with their new offering African Spirit.

In its short but spectacular rise on the international stage, the Soweto Gospel Choir has achieved much more than other performers would in a lifetime including winning successive Grammy’s in 2007 and 2008 for Best Traditional World Music Album.

For just on two hours, twenty-six performers costumed in a dazzling kaleidoscope of colour treated the audience to a musical program that is vibrantly enthusiastic and a celebration of community.

Performing in a number of different languages including English, Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho, much of the repertoire draws on a mix of traditional and contemporary South African gospel music interspersed popular song including Bob Dylan’s I’ll Remember You and a medley of Oh Happy Day with Bob Marley's One Love.

At times, the singers are accompanied by a band comprising guitar, keyboards, bass and drums, or dance in engaging traditional forms. However, the Choir’s strength lies within its vocal blends and harmonies, accompanied only by a pair of djembes providing a tribal underscore of rhythmic pulses.

The versatility of the choir is evident, especially in act two with a highly percussive routine titled The Canteen, where cutlery, crockery and glassware become the instruments. In a celebration of the strength of the human spirit, African Spirit is an inspirational program of music and dance.

The Soweto Gospel Choir once again prove why they have become a musical tour-de-force, in turn the audience offering them a well deserved standing ovation.

Soweto Gospel Choir - African Spirit
Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
Saturday 21 June 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season closed

Altar Boyz

The multi award winning and longest musical to play off Broadway in years, Altar Boyz, has had its highly anticipated Australian premiere to a very enthusiastic response at Sydney’s Seymour Centre.

The shows premise is very basic – the Altar Boyz, a five piece boy band in their final performance of their national ‘Raise the Praise’ tour. In just over ninety minutes, we bare witness to the trials and tribulations of life in a boy band, while they try to redeem the lost godless souls of the audience.

With the early proliferation of musical outfits such as Westlife and Human Nature combined with the evangelistic organizations such as Hillsong Ministries, there is much inspiration to draw upon.

While Altar Boyz has the potential to become a clichéd product of itself, director Kate Gaul has taken everything we have come to love (and hate!) of the boy band phenomenon to present a highly entertaining and fast paced production.

Gaul has assembled a dynamic young cast includes Cameron MacDonald (Matthew) Dion Bilios (Mark) Tim Maddren (Luke) Jeremy Brennan (Juan) and Andrew Koblar (Abraham), who sing and dance their way through twelve original songs penned by Garry Adler and Michael Patrick Walker.

Robert Gavin’s musical direction and leader of the four piece band offers a driving accompaniment to the highly energetic choreography by Anthony Ginandja. While some sound issues did mar the early part of the show, these did settle down as the show progressed.

While opening night audiences can be predictably enthusiastic, if you take the show for what it is - a tongue in cheek swipe at boy bands, Altar Boyz is a fun and entertaining night out. Amen!

Altar Boyz
Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney
Wednesday 11 June 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn.
Season plays till 2 August 2008. Bookings: (02) 9351 7940

Queenie van de Zandt – Cabaret in 12 Easy Steps

Queenie Van de Zandt’s Cabaret in 12 Easy Steps is a behind the scenes look at how to develop your own cabaret show.

At times irreverent and unashamedly funny Queenie is accompanied on piano by Peter J. Casey. These two performers have come along way since their early days at the Queanbeyan School of Arts Café.

In between tributes to Andrew Lloyd Webber - thanks to early home videos, the musical repertoire included gems from Tim Minchin and Eddie Perfect. Add to that the obligatory bit of audience participation in the form of a Dutch lullaby, the only low point being the politically correct rendition of Waltzing Matilda which dragged and felt out of place with the rest of the show.

Queenie’s rendition of Defying Gravity from the musical ‘Wicked’ was the standout highlight, making one ask why isn’t this woman in the show?

At just under ninety minutes, Cabaret in 12 Easy Steps is an interesting show that could benefit from some small revisions. With that aside, Queenie van de Zandt is one of Australia’s under-rated talents, who I would like to see more of.

Queenie van de Zandt – Cabaret in 12 Easy Steps
Artspace, Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Sunday 8 June 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season Closed

Amanda McBroom – Crimes of the Heart

Warm, generous and engaging, these are only some of the words that easily describe Amanda McBroom. Coming to public attention as the writer of the 1979 hit, The Rose, McBroom has carved out a career equally as a song writer and musical and dramatic theatre performer.

For 75 minutes, this extraordinary performer accompanied by the fabulous Michele Brourman, an award winning songwriter in her own right, mesmerized the audience with an eclectic program of classics, standards and original song.

In between her generous story-telling, musical treats included Porter’s I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Brel’s Carousel, Dorothy Field’s The Way You Look Tonight, and originals, Dance, Errol Flynn, The Rose and the title song, Crimes of the Heart.

Earlier in the evening McBroom was honoured by the Adelaide Cabaret Festival by presenting her with the 2008 Cabaret Crème Award for her contribution to the artform.

Amanda McBroom – Crimes of the Heart
Banquet Room, Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Friday 6 June 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season Closed

Everybody Loves Rhonda

Created especially for the Adelaide Festival Centre’s 35th Birthday and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Everybody Loves Rhonda is full of glitz, glamour and those infamous legs!

From the opening number of The Lullaby of Broadway and resplendent in a dress designed by Melbourne couturier Craig Braybrook, beaded with purple Swarovski crystals, Rhonda Burchmore treats the audience to a cavalcade of spectacular frocks and wonderful song, all backed by the Adelaide Art Orchestra under the musical direction of Ray Alldridge.

Musical highlights including Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, a Madonna inspired Material Girl, an earthy Birth of the Blues. Each number is a chance to show off her range from the emotionally charged In My Daughter’s Eyes, through to the finale of Abba’s Dancing Queen.

Dana Jolly’s choreography adds a certain style in the bigger numbers by including four male dancers, Trevor Holland, Nick Jones, Paul Malek and Troy Savic, all appropriately dressed in formal attire.

For each costume change, special guest Kane Alexander delighted the audience with his smooth interpretations of Oasis's Wonderwall, and the swing standard Ain't That a Kick in the Head, only to join Burchmore for Frank Loesser’s Baby It's Cold Outside.

In a fitting start to the 2008 Cabaret Festival, Rhonda Burchmore once again proves why she is Australia’s leading lady of the musical stage.

Everybody Loves Rhonda
Festival Theatre, Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Saturday 7 June 2008 – 1.30pm. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season Closed

French Connections, Festival Theatre, Adelaide

Paying homage to the legendary Ballets Russes, the Australian Ballet treated Adelaide audiences to a sumptuous triple bill featuring works by Krzysztof Pastor, Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine.

Set to Hector Berlioz’s magnificent score, Symphonie Fantastique, Krzysztof Pastor in collaboration with designer Tatyana van Walsum produce a visually stunning palette of projected clouds, rain, wheat and red poppies in a new interpretation of Leonide Massine’s symphonic ballet.

A work in five parts, it allows Robert Curran as the Artist to shine, amply demonstrating his ability with a rounded performance, as does Danielle Rowe as his obsession. Rachel Rawlins and Remi Wörtmeyer as the pastoral couple bring a subtle warmth and some fine choreography to the roles.

Set in a gauzy dance studio, Jerome Robbins has stripped away the mythological aspects of Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun. As the young couple, Olivia Bell and Adam Bull are full of wondrous yearning. Playing no defined roles, they dance, trance-like, as though the steps are only now occurring to them. A mesmerising beautiful performance.

Considered a tribute to the Maryinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and Tchaikovsky, George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial was a glorious finale to the evening as the dancers presented a dazzling display with plenty of Joie de vivre, with Hugh Colman's tutus looking stunning juxtaposed against a backdrop of a menacing sky.

Set to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2 magnificantly played by Lachlan Reed and accompanied by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Nicolette Fraillon, Curran and Rowe return and are joined by Lana Jones in a triumphant display that ensured rapturous applause.

French Connections

Australian Ballet. Festival Theatre, Adelaide.
Saturday 24 May 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season closed.

Image: Robert Curran in Symphonie Fantastique – photo by Jim McFarlane

Les Miserables, Scott Theatre, Adelaide

Do You Hear the People Sing? You certainly do in this new production of Boublil and Schonberg’s modern classic, Les Miserables, currently being presented in Adelaide by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society.

Les Miserables is not an easy show to stage, and full credit has to be given to David Lampard for his directorial vision and for assembling one of the finest non-professional casts seen in Adelaide for sometime, drawing on his experience as a veteran of a number of productions to deliver a new look, that doesn’t include a revolving barricade.

The main stage consisted of a number of levels connected by a series of ramps and stairs and a small revolve to facilitate movement in some of the lengthier scenes. Utilising a series of black curtains that sweep across the stage and an oversized French flag that flies in and out, Lampard creates a number of intimate areas at the fore-stage to accommodate the scene changes behind.

However it is the barricade that excels; a series of 200 window frames in various shapes and sizes that fly in, in three parts for the inevitable revolution, only then to disappear in the aftermath.

While there was the occasional opening night glitch with sound, projection and a wig malfunction, Lorraine Wheeler’s lighting with French inspired hues was apposite, though more attention could have been paid to the forestage scenes, as they tended to be starkly over lit and lost the required intimacy needed.

Ross Curtis as Musical Director has good control over his orchestra producing some very impressive sounds that extends to the cast with some wonderfully rich singing, especially the men who produced a wonderful energy.

The principal cast is outstanding, each bringing their own to their performance. Rachel Rai as Eponine and Rebecca Raymond as Cosette are subtly fine in voice, while Andrew Crispe as Marius and Paul Talbot as Enjolras produce well rounded performances.

Rod Schultz and Megan Humphries as the Thenardiers are superbly divine milking every grotesque moment, and Tom Millhouse as Javert is menacingly strong. Leah Harford and Zoe Borchardt are delightful as the Young Cosette and Eponine respectfully, while Tom Russell steals the show with his performance as Gavroche.

However, it is Mark Oates as Jean Valjean that is the standout performer of this show. A powerhouse performance from start to finish, with his rendition of ‘Bring Him Home’ a fitting highlight, full of depth and emotion that momentarily paused the show due to much applause.

Les Miserables continues to remain a firm favourite of amateur musical societies all over the country. In the absence of large scale musical productions visiting Adelaide in 2008, the Gilbert & Sullivan Society have filled the void with a magnificent production that is worthy of much praise.

Even after playing for more than twenty years, Les Miserables still manages to insight new fascination and awareness each time it is experienced.

Les Miserables

Gilbert & Sullivan Society. Scott Theatre, Adelaide.

Thursday 22 May 2008. Review by Rohan Shearn

Season - sold out!

Image: Mark Oates as Jean Valjean (photo by Eric Sands - Photopool)

Sanctuary - Bakehouse Theatre, Adelaide

Bob King, renowned foreign correspondent for his coverage of events in Cambodia, East Timor, Kuwait and Guatemala, is confronted in his luxurious home, his sanctuary, by an under whelming PhD student, John Alderston, whose thesis is a critical biography of King unearthing some hidden facts disguised as truth.

Written in the mid nineties, David Williamson’s Sanctuary departs from the light-hearted social commentary that we have come to expect, presenting a script that is fused with a resenting undercurrent on both sides, rich with black humour that ignites a time bomb of ideological and pragmatic dilemmas.

Joh Hartog’s direction allows the actors to fully expose their characters as flawed and lacking any moral conviction. Peter Green as Bob King and Kurt Murray as John Alderston handle the wordy script well, confronting the issues of truth and responsibility, life and death, building up each act to reveal a disturbing conclusion.

Bakehouse Theatre Company’s latest production, while morally challenging, is politically and psychologically engaging.

Every man may have his price but in the end will it buy him his Sanctuary?

Sanctuary
Bakehouse Theatre, Adelaide; Bakehouse Theatre Company
Saturday 17 May 2008.

Review by Rohan Shearn.
Plays till 31 May. Bookings: (08) 8227 0505

Headlock, KAGE Productions

In an exploration of the male psyche, Headlock examines the role and identity of masculinity and the invisible armour that young men wear in order to survive.

Presented as part of the ASSITEJ Festival for a limited number of performances, KAGE productions Headlock has all the makings of being a great production, physical theatre, stunning design and hard hitting material.

Using a wrestling ring as a metaphor for a prison, this work relies heavily on physical theatre with very little dialogue for the narrative. As the audience is catapulted into the lives of three brothers, we are provided flashbacks of happy memories of their childhood, as one of them spends his first 24 hours in prison.

While the content may confront some of the younger audience members this work was clearly intended for, with television shows like Oz and Prison Break, the grim reality of prison life in this performance is quite tame, retreating into clichéd portrayals.

For the most Kate Denborough’s direction is punchy, demonstrating her skills as an adept choreographer, but unbalanced as a director, as confusion reigns within the juxtaposition of youthful flashbacks and the depravity of isolation and terror of jail life.

The three cast members Tim Ohl, (stepping in for an injured Byron Perry), Luke Hockley and Gerard Van Dyckwork hard in developing the physicality of the piece. They hurl, flip and turn their bodies within the confines of the ring, only slowing for some poignant moments, all set against a backdrop of an oversized time clock, displaying the passing 24 hours.

Bluebottle’s (Ben Cobham and Andrew Livingstone) set and lighting design was visually stunning, with all the hallmarks of a wrestling match, while Byron Scullin’s hard hitting sound design rounded off the excellent quality production elements.

Headlock has gained critical acclaim since its original 2006 season in Melbourne, this work left myself and others around me somewhat bemused to what all the hubris has been about. While the narrative is weak, it is the powerful physicality of the performers and the visual elements that standout.

Headlock
Kage Productions, Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide
Thursday 8 May - 7.00pm. Review by Rohan Shearn
Season Closed

Pilobolus, Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide

Making their Australian debut and exclusive to Adelaide, the renowned American Dance company Pilobolus, presented an exciting program of five works that encompasses their 38 years of performing.

The ensemble of four males and two females display their amazing physical and artistic dexterity that not only mesmerizes the individual through a combination of athleticism and humour, but makes one forget how demanding their choreography really is.

Opening with the full ensemble in Aquatica (2005), we are presented with an exotic marine life fairy tale to probe the depths of the human psyche. Full of leaps and amazing forms, Aquatica is set to Marcelo Zarvos’s playful score.

In a change of pace and drawing inspiration from a bustling tumbleweed, Jun Kuribayashi performs a tumbling solo with contortionistic skill set to an all-percussion score in Pseudopodia (1973).

Completing the first half, Gnomen (1997) is a ninteractive exploration for four male dancers. Andrew Herro, Jun Kuribayashi, Manelich Minniefee and Edwin Olvera roll slowly onto the stage, offering a lyrically reverent work full of male sensuality that exercises unusually inventive and physical sculptural poses.

The second half of the program opens with Jenny Mendez and Manelich Minniefee in Symbiosis (2001), a duet which traces the birth of a relationship between two creatures that is sinuously and sensuously intertwined.

Set to a soundtrack from Brian Eno and Talking Heads, a modestly attired ensemble returns for the final work of the night in Day Two (1980). Enacting the second day of the creation of the world, this amazing work is tribally primitive in its formation, as the ensemble display an intense physical commitment to each other.

To only then emerge from under the tarquett, as if to take flight, as the dancers playfully slide across the flooded stage, splashing the audience and spouting water from their mouths.

Pilobolus set out to excite and amaze, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Adelaide audiences were treated to an evening of intense and physical sensuality. One can only hope we will see Pilobolus again on these shores in the not so distant future.

Pilobolus
Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide
Tuesday 6 May – 8.00pm. Review by Rohan Shearn
Plays till 10 May. Bookings: BASS 131 246

Image: courtesy of Pilobolus