Chorale’s Divine Ave Maria

Ave Maria presented by the Geelong Chorale directed, conducted by Allister Cox,  All Saints’ Anglican Church, Noble St, Newtown. November 30, 2024.
With this innovative concert, our Geelong Chorale and its director Allister Cox gathered together, packaged and presented choral tributes to the Virgin Mary over the centuries.
It made for a fascinating, and somewhat novel approach to Christmas.
For inside this concept was a second innovation. The songs were categorised into four segments, with each introduced by a medieval chant delivered by three male voices, those of Tim Gibson, Stephen Pollard and Allister Cox himself.
The trio stood at the very back of the church’s Apse, which allowed it to act as a sound shell, resonating their voices around the rafters in a glorious monks-in-a-monastery sound that set an entirely appropriate theme.
Further in the programme, Allister squeezed the entire Chorale into this small space with a similar brilliant effect – but more of that later.
This Praise Mary concept probably meant that now the Geelong Chorale holds the record for singing the most Ave Maria’s in a single concert, certainly in our city.
It definitely allowed them the opportunity to sing vocal works from Bruckner, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Rachmaninov as well as several modern 21st Century writers.
The concert began with two works from the Renaissance period, G B da  Palestrina’s Alma Redemptoris Mater and Tomas Luis de Victoria’s Ave Maria, both delivered with delicate precision by the full Chorale, after the male trio’s from Alma Redemptoris mater intro.
The second section, of songs drawn from 19th Century England and Western Europe, was preceded by the trio’s chant Regina caeli.
It opened with Herbert Howells’ Regina caeli then moved to Louis Vierne’s Ave Maria, Virga Jesse and then probably the world’s favourite version of  Ave Maria, that written by J S Bach and arranged by Charles Gounod.
This was perfectly delivered by the Chorale and garnished with a  delicate piano accompaniment from Kristine Mellens.
This was followed by a selection from the Orthodox Church, introduced by the male trio’s Ave Regina caelorum and comprising Pytor Tchaikovsky’s Dostojno est, Igor Stravinsky’s slow-movement Ava Maria then  Sergei Rachmaninov’s sweet, gentle and quietly reflective Bogoroditse Devo.
The trio’s 10th Century chant Salve Regina introduced the concert’s final selection, taken from  the late 20th and early 21st Centuries.
This opened with Morten Lauridsen’s Ave Maria – delivered from the Apse with resounding spine-tingling authenticity – Then moved to Dobrinka Tabakova’s  Of A Rose Sing We before the Chorale returned to its more accustomed position to sing the concluding piece, Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria (Angelus Domini).
Together this concert presented so much more than a collection of themed sacred songs. It was a glorious showcase for our region’s principal choir, and as a lead-up the the 2024 Christmas season, it was, quite literally, divine.

– Colin Mockett 

Born To Be Awkwardly Musical

Awkwardstra Geelong in Concert conducted by Joel Carnegie, Vines Rd Community Centre November 25, 2024. 
Geelong’s Awkwardstra is unique. And that’s not just because of its ungainly name. The orchestra is unique – and awkward – because it’s open to all musicians, regardless of experience or skill levels. Nobody is turned away, for any reason, and the orchestra will help potential members overcome obstacles to their joining.
Added to this, each member’s instrument of choice is incorporated into the orchestra’s growing 50-strong ensemble without question or quibbles.
So the Awkwardstra has a unique sound – sometimes it’s bass and percussion heavy because that section has the numbers, sometimes sweetness prevails from a wealth of violins, violas and cellos – and sometimes the brass section overwhelms with its sharp clarity. 
What’s more, Geelong’s Awkwardstra is a democratic unit whose members decide what music it plays.  So its repertoire ranges from classics to funky pop, all chosen by members’ votes.
These are all valid reasons for that ‘unique’ tag.
But the number one reason is, because of a culmination of all of the above, Awkwardstra Geelong is a living, breathing source of absolute joy.
It’s key is the sense of energy, fun – and simple joyful exuberance – that exudes from every member,  embracing its audience and leaving everyone with smiles on their faces, music in their heads – and happiness in their souls.
And that’s what truly makes Geelong’s  Awkwardstra unique.
That’s my way of explaining  why this is a somewhat sketchy review of a highly uplifting concert.
It wasn’t easy because there was no written programme, all the pieces were announced by trumpeter Scott and/or cellist Lauren – who are, respectively, Awkwardstra’s president and vice-president – using a muffling PA system.
Conductor Joel stood quietly to one side, regaining his breath. And that’s worth explaining. Joel Carnegieis a highly qualified and talented sought-after musician with seemingly endless energy and a fine sense of fun. He’s clearly respected by every member of his Awkwardstra, and at this concert, that respect went both ways.
It also started the show off, because it began when he bounded on stage, leading his dancing musicians who entered from several different directions and took their positions while simultaneously playing Aretha Franklin’s Respect.
The happiness in that introduction grew through the next number – a medley of James Bond themes which drew plenty of audience participation then applause. This was followed a poignant musical narrative of The Lord’s Prayer, then a sitar version of Hooked On A Feeling – featuring a lead Irish bouzouki – and then two tastes of Russian classics from Beethoven and Shostakovics. This had  conductor Joel encouraging all to ‘think like sad Russian clowns’.  Then followed another highly poignant moment when bassist Phil’s original musical piece – a memorial tribute to his two deceased sisters – was beautifully interpreted by members of the string section.
But then the Awkwardstra shifted back to joy mode with a brass-section-led version of The Peter Gunn Theme followed by an instrumental treatment of Steppenwolf’s Born To Be Wild.  Then came another unusual piece, the orchestral backing to Britney Spears’ Toxic specially arranged for them by the composer Peter Davis and brought back from London by Awkwardstra saxophonist Marie and flautist Moira. The concert culminated with a hand-clapping, foot-stomping encore – of Elton John’s I’m Still Standing  which quite appropriately had the entire audience on their feet and calling for more.
This was to be the concert’s opening number – Respect – delivered with as much joyful enthusiasm as it had been some 90 minutes previously.
It made a fitting finale to what was a delightfully happy, moving  musical experience. If you get the chance to see and hear Geelong’s Awkwardstra in the future – I can’t recommend it enough. If you want to experience their musical exhilaration, they meet every Monday evening at the swish newish Vines Rd Community Centre.  I am absolutely sure you’ll be welcomed with smiles and open arms. Find more on  awkwardstrageelong.com.au  

– Colin Mockett

Tradition With Modern Benefits

Snow White, directed by Scott Graham for Medimime, GAC’s Story House November 8, 2024
Geelong’s Medimime company, which celebrated 50 years with this production, is, I’m almost certain, unique.
I don’t know of another city, town or community – worldwide – where its annual pantomime tradition has been taken over by its medical community.
This began in 1974, when a small bunch of (mostly) Geelong Hospital workers decided that their town needed an annual children’s pantomime; resolved that they would stage it and donate all profits to the hospital. Their production of Cinderella raised $2,200 which bought the hospital a new respirator for its newborn intensive therapy unit.
Now, 50 years and some 43 productions later (the missing years were due to financial woes and lockdowns) Geelong’s Medimime is a City tradition in its own right. It not only entertains families every year – enthralling youngsters unused to the colour, movement, music and wacky live action – but it has raised more than half a million dollars. All of which was donated to what is now Barwon Health – the community health facility that grew from the former Geelong Hospital.
Our main health facility’s name isn’t the only thing that has changed over that 50 years. Geelong’s Medimime has changed pantomime itself, by applying 21st century mores to the centuries-old British tradition. This production, for example, was of Snow White, with no mention of  the small companions who befriended her in the enchanted forest. They were there, all right, but now known as ‘The Seven’ with names like TD (Top Dog) Grouchy, Snoozy, Sniffly, Cheerful, Ditsy and Junior. This change meant nothing to kids in the audience and brought no more than knowing smiles from their grandparents. Because those older audience members know that Geelong always wins twice from its Medimime, with its children amused and its health system improved.
There’s a third benefit, too, in a happy cross-collaboration between our city’s health and theatre communities.
Because this Medimime anniversary Snow White was packed with vibrant colour, movement and theatrical energy.
Its music was loudly, joyfully rock & roll, thanks to MD Mae Udarbe’s tight 5-member band and Liz Kearney’s vocal direction. Its movement was crisp and innovative due to Charlotte Crowley’s choreography and stage manager Shani Clarke’s shepherding skills.
Its concept look was cheerfully colourful thanks to teams led by Mandee and Ashlea Oakes and Mandi Dempster & Sara Bialecki.
And its lighting and sound were spot on thanks to Ben Anderson and the GAC techs.
All of the above are reliable theatre stalwarts – while the show’s director Scott Graham had brought together an experienced team of on-stage Medimimers led by a trio of exceptional performers. 
These were Alannah Farrar who sang, danced and acted consistently well in the title role; Daniel Grocott who, as the pantomime’s Dame, Dolly Dumpling, spectacularly overplayed his/her/their every move and  Erica MacKinnon, whose arrogant and uncaring stepmother Queen Grimelza was portrayed with rare panache and a rich, true singing voice.
Their partners – because true pantomimers always travel in pairs – were well-chosen and equally well portrayed. There was  Seamus Kennedy as Snow White’s ardent suitor Prince Frederick, whose attributes included a prominent sword and fine voice; while Alysha Kitchingham played Danny, Dame Dolly’s astute son and Snow White’s love-struck friend while Ged Sweeney was staunchly stoic his Queen’s efficient fawning (and sometimes crowing) butler.
This panto’s goodies and baddies came in neat pairs, too, with good fairies Alicia Neels and Sophie Cutropia delivering their lines in rhyming couplets while Scott Bradley and  Kate Gore displayed excellent comedy chops as hapless villains Bogwart and Stinkwart.
Jenna Irvin’s true voice sang from the mirror, while Ms White’s seven height-challenged companions were well played by Amelia Hay, Samarah Parke, Baxter Hudson-Collins, Noah Hopper, Ella Tiddy, Lulu Christou and Oscar Buck.
All there were backed by another Medimime tradition – the show’s huge  all-singing all-dancing ensemble which comprised Jess Anderson, Donna Baldock, Jane Bellicow, Erin Bloye, Bonnie Clissold, Madilyn Dyer, Kim Edwards, Deanne Elliott, Chloe Farrar, Georgia Hermans, Belinda Hynes, Loretta Kingston-Brown, Karen Long, Joanna MacCarthy, Isabelle Mckenzie, Eliza, Ethan & Liam O’Brien, Peter Sharp, Julie Taylor, Ryan Tenne, Deb Troop, Paige van der Chys and Lily Walters. A Junior ensemble, which provided charming woodland creatures among others, were Jacob Baré, Maddison Cornell, Charlotte Kearney, Georgia Nguyen, Vincent Seraiocco, Maya Tiddy and Ruby Walters.
All can feel proud to be part of Geelong’s fifty-year and ongoing tradition, while we audience knew that we were part of – and helping – something of true benefit to our community.
Snow White continues in the Geelong Arts Centre until November 16.
Book online at www.geelongartscentre.org.au
– Colin Mockett

Excellence Delivered By Halves

Heroica, concert by Geelong Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fabian Russell, Costa Hall, October 26, 2024
When a review begins ‘This was a concert of two halves,’ it’s usual followed by a critical comparison of the merits of each, good and bad.
Not this time.
For our Orchestra’s final concert of the year truly fit the description as one of two halves – but that was very much by design.
Each half featured the music of a master composer in Mozart and Beethoven. They gave fascinating fascinating aspects of the glories of classical music, with each composer’s signature styles impeccably portrayed. 
What they had in common was that each piece was beautifully, faultlessly played by what is now recognised as Victoria’s foremost regional symphony Orchestra.
The concert’s first half was given over to two lesser-known Mozart works; his Horn concerto No.2 in E flat major K.417, then his Bassoon concerto in B flat major K.191. They’re lesser-known because they feature unusual instruments that take exceptional musical skill to deliver well.
In this regard, the GSO had secured the abilities of two world-class soloists in Nicolas Fleury (French Horn) and Lyndon Watts (Bassoon).
Nicholas was, fittingly for a French Horn player, born in France where he began playing at age eight. Following a distinguished international career, he was recently appointed Principle Horn  at the MSO – an appointment largely missed by the media now fixated on the orchestra’s current legal and management problems.
Nicolas was first up in this concert; a tall, slim, immaculately suited young man striding easily to centre stage looking for all the world like a young Paul Keating. Only casually holding his glittering instrument.
He was immediately followed on stage and shared his welcoming applause with conductor Fabian Russell, who chooses to make his way to his dais through his musicians.
Once together, and following the briefest of tune-ups, the pair combined to deliver Mozart’s work with consummate skill. Each of the works’ three intricately patterned movements were punctuated by a shy smile from Nicolas to conductor Fabian, then the audience, followed by a casual touch of his iPad to turn a virtual page. Each movement, from cheerful Allegro to crowning, flowing Rondo was played with clarity and flawless ease, rewarded at the end with lengthy applause and three curtain calls.
After a brief pause, Nicolas was replaced by Lyndon Watts with his bassoon. Australian-born Lyndon is slightly older than Nicholas, with an image more comfortable than stylish. But his CV is probably stronger. As Principle Bassoonist with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra for 18 years, he has played in all the world’s concert halls to acclaim. He returned to Australia in 2016 and is now lecturer in bassoon at the Melbourne Conservation of Music.
At the Costa Hall, he chose a position on the other side of his conductor to Nicolas, and made his friendly personality apparent by chatting and acknowledging conductor and musicians before delivering a perfect opening movement in sonata form following the orchestral introduction.
When this drew a hesitant scattering of applause – not unusual in the pause between movements – he answered with a wide smile saying ‘You can applaud if you want…’ which brought laughter, then a gust of warm applause. Following his own piece’s three movements, which displayed his instrument’s beautifully mellow tonal range, Lyndon, too, took three curtain calls before returning with Nicolas and the pair played a short bonus duo piece, Astor Piazzolla’s Oblivion which brought the concert’s first half to a satisfactory conclusion.
But then came the second, contrasting half which was entirely devoted to Beethoven’s Symphony No.3 in E flat major Op.55 – known as the Eroica Symphony.
This work was credited in the concert programme as Beethoven ‘redefining the form of all who came after him’. It’s widely considered the work that ushered in classical music’s ‘Romantic Era’.  It’s three movements all depict heroism in its different forms. They were written at the time of Napoleon’s armies’ victories in Europe, though Beethoven described it as ‘Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man,’ which enabled it to be played in honour of other princes. No fool, Beethoven. His Eroica‘s thematic progression flows from a bright processional march tempo through sombre funereal tones to a set of triumphal variations.
All of these were challenging pieces, and all were met by Geelong’s Orchestra, its modest leader Ben Spiers and equally unostentatious conductor Fabian Russell with consummate skill.
If the orchestra had literally played second fiddle to its star soloists in the first half, it flourished, proudly and rightly on centre-stage in the second.
For this concert  again saw the GSO delivered a faultless, confident performance that further cemented its place at the pinnacle of our region’s classical music scene.
Inserted in this concert’s programme – behind a classy front-cover close-up of its featured composers – was an advance flier of the orchestra’s 2025 series of three concerts.
This begins 5pm February 22 with Scherazade featuring the music of Khachaturian, Saint-Saens and Rimsky-Korsakov.  It’s followed by an 3pm All Tchaikovsky matinee concert in May and Beethoven and the Enchanted Flute is back to 5pm in October. All are Saturdays in the Costa Hall and series tickets are on sale now. Find full details at gso.org.au – and I highly recommend that you book now. For the whole series.  You won’t be disappointed. 

– Colin Mockett

A Glorious Must-See Production

Into The Woods directed by Paul Watson for Geelong Lyric Theatre Society. Story House at Geelong  Arts Centre  October 4, 2024. 
It’s a recognised truth that Sondheim’s Into the Woods is the most difficult production to stage for any theatre company.
James Lapine’s storyline is complex, veering from comedy to tragedy, light to dark inside a reimagined melding of several well-worn fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm.
Added to this, Stephen Sondheim’s musical score is a complicated, challenging masterwork which displays the genius lyricist at his most elaborate. His intricate lyrics are sometimes shared by several characters. They’re frequently packed with tongue-twisting phrases – and each song’s chord structures rarely follow expected musical patterns.
So it was a courageous decision by Geelong Lyric to choose this production to celebrate it’s 50th Anniversary. But the company did know what it was doing, having staged a very good version some 20 years ago with, if I’m not mistaken, the same producer in Derek Ingles.
This time around he was joined by Deborah Iversen.
And I’m here to tell you that their, and Lyric’s judgement was sound.
For this excellent production will surely go into our city’s art and entertainment history as a triumphal example of all that is good in community theatre.
It ticked every box, from brilliant staging, sound and lighting to excellent casting, costuming, make-up and wig making. It had superb movement, singing and flawless, flowing direction.
And that challenging musical score was achieved with ease by an accomplished 16-piece pit orchestra.
The backstage team, led by director Paul Watson with MD Brad Treloar, vocal director Tania Grant and movement director Venessa Paech – I like that title, it says much more than ‘choreographer’ – and Michael Wilding’s repetiteur role coached, teased, demanded and created a superb production from their highly talented on-stage ensemble.
Such are the demands of the show’s writers – and the above group –  that this version of Into The Woods had no fewer than eleven lead performers, each of whom displayed individual excellence.
But before I go into detail, I have to note that if Sondheim and Lapine were alive and in Australia today they would  be leaders of our republican movement, for they clearly have little regard for the Monarchy. The Royals in Into The Woods were depicted as ineffectual dandies while all he show’s positive elements were achieved by strong people power. And inside this was subtly portrayed elements of female ascendancy.
This was shown by all those eleven leads. The main couple were the Baker and his Wife, portrayed by a waveringly intrepid Andrew Lorenzo and single-minded Emma Langridge. Both sang, moved and acted impeccably. They discovered that their childless state was because they had been cursed by (of course), a wicked witch, played with over-the-top relish by Chelsea Gibb. She set the couple a series of tasks to remove her spell, causing them to venture Into The Woods.
These woods were, they discovered, populated by a number of Grimm characters including Cinderella (a surprisingly assertive Daisy Valerio) along with Stephanie Beall’s operatic Rapunzel, who turned out to be the witch’s secret daughter.
Both Cinderella and Rapunzel were pursued by Royal Princes in Nick Addison and Andrew Smith, each foppishly self-obsessed in their strutting rivalry.
Add in Molly England’s brightly optimistic Red Riding Hood – harassed by a delightfully eccentric Wolf, (played by former Prince Nick Addison) and Liam Erck’s troubled reluctant bovine-vendor Jack and his dominant mother Jennie Kellaway.
All of these intertwining stories were loftily explained by James Lee as the show’s narrator who doubled as its Mysterious Man. And although every one of this magnificent 11 sang with beauty and acted with style, they were still, at times, upstaged by some of their support actors and ‘phantoms’.
These included Cinderella’s Stepmother and Stepsisters in Ruth McGurk, Jasmine Dober and Georgia Ellen; her ineffectual father stiffly portrayed by Dominic Muirhead and a loyal Royal Steward played by Brendan Rossbotham.  The show’s smallest cast member, Amy Curtis, pulled off an unusual triple by playing Red Riding Hood’s digestible granny, her tree and the vengeful Giant.
But  without doubt the most effective scene-stealer of the whole production was Shani Clarke operating her silently eloquent Milky-White Cow to mesmerising effect.
Shani’s fellow black-clad Phantoms, Christie Walter, Alisha Jones, Jess Senftleben and Ryan Milich displayed perfect timing in achieving silent, aloof on-stage changes and bird effects.
This Into The Woods was without doubt the best version I have witnessed, in both professional and the unpaid passion-driven volunteer mode now called Community Theatre.
This was most evident following the show’s interval, when the momentum shifted to darker elements as each of the leads had achieved their wishes – but then faced subsequent human consequences.
For this beautifully staged piece of Sondheim magic may have been written around children’s characters, but it was undoubtedly adult theatre.
Outstanding, memorable, adult musical theatre that made a wonderful marker for its company’s golden anniversary.
So please go see this show, for,  believe me, you will regret if you miss it.
– Colin Mockett

Jules’s Intense Sibling Rivalries

True West produced by Derek Ingles for a new independent Geelong theatre company, Woodbin Theatre, Geelong West. September 6, 2024.

A little over a year ago, Jules Hart starred in Torquay Theatre Troupe’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Lonesome West, a story of two middle-aged brother’s corrosive relationship in their parent’s remote Irish cottage. 
Now here he was in Geelong Rep’s Woodbin, starring in Sam Shepard’s True West – a story of two middle-aged brother’s corrosive relationship in their mother’s small remote home in California’s Mojave desert. 
The similarities go well beyond the two play’s titles and sibling rivalry plotlines.
The probably say much about Jules Hart himself.
For this True West was never destined for Rep’s West Geelong venue. It was a last-minute inclusion when Rep’s intended production fell through.
In his programme notes, producer Derek Ingles described this staging as a ‘once in a blue moon opportunity… Because Jules already had a play in mind, set designed, marketing plan and a stellar group of creatives at the ready’ for when the theatre vacancy occurred.
Further in the programme, Jules is credited as being part of the play’s production and set designers, as well as marketing and digital, lighting and sound designs.
And as the play credits its director as ‘the ensemble and Derek Ingles’, it’s probably fair to count Jules as taking a big part in that, too.
But not as big as his principle role as Austin, a successful middle-class Hollywood screenwriter working in quiet solitude on a script while house-plant-sitting for his mother who was on vacation in Alaska.
Austin found his concentration broken by a surprise visitor – his polar-opposite brother Lee, who’s a homeless drifter and opportunistic petty criminal.
Lee was played with an intense, smiling, surpressed-violence menace by Calvin Langley.
It turned out that Lee’s complex sibling rivalry extended to having developed his own idea for a movie script, and he managed to convince executive Saul, played by Todd J. Curtis, to replace Austin’s script with his own.
This mostly occurred on an off-stage golf course, for this production of  True West was, for the most part, a two-handed play built around that highly toxic sibling relationship.
The brother’s mother, played by Sue Rawkins, made only a brief final-scene appearance  surveying her devastated kitchen.
For, during the play’s progress, the many clashes between Jules and Calvin had destroyed and wrecked Jules’s cleverly designed and skilfully worked set – along with his cosy American-dream lifestyle.
So what Sue surveyed was a trashed ruin, broken by her sons’ long-buried hostilities.
This True West was a triumph for both lead actors whose portrayal of their complex characters was as intense as their mastery of playwright Sam Shepard’s stark language. 
That understanding included a depth of family emotions that referred back to the effects of their father’s own addiction and personality flaws.
But mostly, this True West was a huge triumph for the multi-talented Jules Hart.
As an actor, he was excellent last year in The Lonesome West. He was then memorable in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert and now here he is outstanding in September’s True West. 
But still my abiding memory from this play was the amount of frustrated fury – and outright menace – portrayed by Calvin Langley as his brother. This appeared frighteningly real.
I guess you could say that the most remarkable winner from this True West was Jules Hart and his team of Geelong acting and theatre creatives.
For they really did, quite literally,  get their act together in record time. 
True West continues in The Woodbin until September 14.
Book Woodbin performances through Geelong Arts Centre.
– Colin Mockett

Carrie’s Surprise Package

Carrie directed by David Postill & Scott Bradley for Theatre Of The Damned. Belmont High’s PAC Theatre, August 23 2024. 

My research tells me that Carrie began as a 1974 horror novel by the American author Stephen King, which was so popular that it was quickly turned into a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Brian De Palma.
This in turn, was so successful that Hollywood produced  three follow-up films under the same name and theme.
Now comes Carrie the stage musical, written by Lawrence D Cohen, with lyrics by Dean Pitchford and music by Michael Gore. I’ve skipped several previous stage versions beginning in 1988, none of them lasted for long.
But it is fair to say that each of these different versions would have built their own themes and issues around the author King’s original storyline, which centred on Carrie White, a friendless high-school student who was bullied to the extent that she called on supernatural powers to extract revenge on her tormentors.
Those previous versions had intensities that ranged from supernatural thriller to full-on hide your face and scream-out-loud terror.
But I’m here to tell you the Theatre Of The Damned’s 2024 Geelong version is mild on the horror-scale.
But it is robust on morality and extra-strong on theatrical quality.
This Carrie came across as a well presented and staged American high-school graduation story cut from the came cloth as Grease and High School Musical but with lashings of extra emotional drive.
Much of this was due to the pace and discipline installed on a talented cast by directors David Postill & Scott Bradley.
Add to this Courtney Yengi’s high-energy choreography to a quality rock-to-classics musical group led Tom Fernee.
Underscoring all this was the show’s joyfully accurate 1980s costumes and props provided by Elise Dahl and Kim Edwards. Elise, with partner  hubby Tony were the show’s producers.
There were plenty of other differences that made this Carrie stand apart from the other High-School-Prom musicals, and it wasn’t the show’s horror aspects.
How many other musicals would have its lead songs performed by mother-and daughter duos?
Or name me another play (outside of Shakespeare) that finishes with its entire cast, bar one, lying dead on the stage.
The big surprise here was that they all got to their feet  and lined up to take rapturous applause from a highly appreciative opening-night audience. 
That long introduction was necessary to set the scene before introducing the dazzlingly talented on-stage team, led by the excellent  Alannah Farrar  as Carrie.
Alannah’s acting was impeccable throughout, her singing faultless, most especially when duetting with her mother, played with intense religious fervour by Simone Warnock.
The play’s heroine, and only survivor, Sue, was sensitively portrayed by Charli Rowe, while her best friend Chris – Carrie’s chief tormentor – was cleverly portrayed as beautiful, hard and lacking feeling by Ella Walsh. 

Beside these four lead women were two leading men, also possessing opposite traits.
Jake Birley’s good-looking sensitive and well-meaning boyfriend was balanced by Josh McInnes’ grandstanding rebel.
A pair of schoolteachers, the ever-reliable Barry Eeles and well-meaning Phoebe Grant completed the lead performance team.  All were accurate  in their portrayals, precise in their movements and singing voices.
They were ably supported by a vibrant group of fellow-students in Rosie Tuck, Casey Reid, Kaitlyn Eastwood, Eliot Cudmore, Ryan Baker and Colby McCallum with Connor Aspland, Leah Bensted, Maggie Evans, sisters Abbey and Claire Geddes and Nikita Ginoski.
This group’s unflagging energy, great voices and 80s-disco dancing skills added so much to the show’s big production numbers.
So too, Tom Fernee two-keyboard, two guitar band (Tom and Caitlin Murgatroyd on keys, Trent Shepheard and Patrick Consedine on guitars, Angus Sumner on bass, Patrick Hunte on drums – and Catie Martin adding another surprise – a glorious resonant mellow cello.
All up, this Carrie is highly recommended, especially in today’s climate of anti-bullying and youth violence.
For this glorious colourful musical experience illustrated a fun version of the ultimate punishment for youth intimidation – and somehow achieved this without mindless horror.
So please go see this Geelong version of Carrie.
You’ll have your eyes opened, not by fear, but by the talent on show.
– Colin Mockett 

Concert of Complex Beauty

 Requiem by Sir Karl Jenkins presented by The Geelong Chorale with orchestra directed by Allister Cox. Wesley Uniting Church August 18, 2024.
I have been attending and critiquing concerts by this group for more than 35 years, from when it was the GAMA Singers.
But never, in that time, have I witnessed them tackle a concert as challenging as this, or deliver with such skill to such a satisfying outcome.
For this concert was sublime; exquisite in its form and uplifting in its outcome.
Firstly, Welsh composer Sir Karl Jenkins’ modern Requiem, introduced in 2005, was astonishingly difficult to sing.
Half of the lyrics were in Japanese, the other half in Latin. Some pieces mixed and entwined both languages.
Most of the Japanese parts were taken from death poems written in the haiku form while the Latin lyrics mainly followed the rites of the Christian faith.
All of these were presented in sixteen separate movements with the Chorale accompanied by a full orchestra led by Patrycja Radzi Stewart. Both groups were under the baton of conductor Allister Cox.
Just to add a strand of extra complexity to this mix, composer Jenkins chose to use a different style of music for each of his 16 pieces, ranging from percussion-driven military-band style to the most delicate sounds of oriental calm quietude.
Given all of the above, this concert could have been a mish-mash clash of musical cultures and styles.
Instead, it was a triumph for all concerned with the full-compliment 34 member Chorale in outstanding form. This was a beautifully balanced, disciplined and well rehearsed choir at the top of its form.
This was especially noticeable in the passages that called for the male voices to sing their Latin text below the haiku, sung in Japanese by the female voices  – and both strains  intertwining!
This Requiem also called for an extra level of adaptability and concentration from the 20-piece orchestra, which frequently found itself playing outside of its normal balance, with the string section, the more usual providers of melody, supplying murmurs and drones that supported delicate Japanese melodies . These were provided by Brighid Mantelli’s flute, Clinton Royle and Wendy Steele’s French horns, Kristine Mellen’s keyboard on unusual settings – and the exceptional percussion/tempani section of Patrick Consedine, Sharon Huber, Greg Gosbell and Martin Greet.
Soprano soloist Phillipa McQueen, resplendent in a red gown worthy of the Logie’s ceremony, completed the concert’s out-of-the ordinary quality.
She spent the entire concert  singing among the Chorale’s soprano section, merely taking a couple of steps to the side when she was required to sing solo.
All of the above contributed to a concert of rare quality and style.
Though the event was titled, and designated as a celebration and recognition of death, this afternoon of music was at times as rousing as a military tattoo, at other times its musical patterns were as delicate as the wings of a butterfly.
But most often, the singing was smooth as a 1930s jazz dance band. 
My lasting impression was that this concert was the musical equivalent of a handcrafted Amish quilt, with its complexity of style, texture and colours coming together to make a complete whole of sheer beauty. 
We even had a moment of tense drama when one of the Chorale’s sopranos fainted and the concert halted as she was taken to the foyer.
After a short break, the curtailed movement was restarted, the two remaining movements completed – and the audience repaid all this effort with minutes of long, loud heartwarming applause.
So Bravo Chorale. Bravo MD Allister, orchestra and soloist Phillipa. But mostly, thanks to Sir Karl for providing the material to challenge our Chorale into presenting an uplifting concert of such rare quality.
Colin Mockett
** The fallen Soprano recovered and is reportedly fine.
The next Geelong Chorale Concert promises to be equally unusual. In the lead up to Christmas, it’s titled Ave Maria, a selection of chorale music inspired by the Virgin Mary.
5.00pm Saturday November 30 in All Saints Church, Noble St. 

Monarchy’s a-Go-Go in Geelong

Head Over Heels  directed by Ben McNaughton for CenterStage Productions, CentreStage’s North Geelong Theatre, July 26, 2024.
WOW! This 2015 American Jukebox musical hit the Geelong stage with all the subtlety of a Mack truck. 
It was high-octane high-impact energy-intensive fare delivered by a pumped-up colourfully-costumed cast driven by the music of 1980’s rock band The Go-Go’s.
It was also really puzzling as to its format.
Was it 16th century farce as framed by its costumes?
Or was it Shakespearian comedy? Some of its language was, as were some of its plotlines involving switched identities and genders.
Other themes were Biblical, with people driven from their lands and a  couple of resurrections.
Others clearly derived from folklore, with oracles delivering predictions  and still others referred to classical Greek theatre.
But most owed their allegiance to plain old pantomime.
Enough to say that this show was like no other in its tangle of classic theatre themes.
Initially it was interesting to note how the writers manipulated their script to incorporate the lyrics of their chosen 1980s pop songs.
That was because trying to make sense of the storyline was a task akin to Medusa’s hairstylist.  But eventually those themes emerged.
It was apparently about the Royal family of mythical Arcadia, which was ruled by a despotic King Basilius, played by  David Postill in full belligerent bellowing Brian Blessed mode; and his wilfully wily wife Gynecia, portrayed with arrogant authority by Alicia Miller.
The couple had two daughters, the elder of which, Pamela (Laura Harris-Rilen) carefully avoided marriage despite dozens of suitors, while her gently determined  sister Philoclea (Hannah Senftleben) was madly in love with penniless shepherd Musidorus, played with rare  ability by Martin Nguyen.
Martin’s character, in the hands of Head Over Heel’s bonkers writers, shifted from shepherd boy to Amazon warrior woman, was killed, resurrected and ended up King. (I think).
It was quite difficult to follow the plot on opening night because distractions were everywhere. There were bouncing beach balls, messages delivered by forest skeletons  and the weird predictions of oracle Pythio (Jye Cannon) about the king committing adultery with his wife and Pamela  consummating a marriage with no groom and other such riddles.
Then there were inputs from the king’s loyal courtier Dametas – played with assurance by David Senftleben – and his daughter Mopsa (Kristen Wigg), who, as Pamela’s handmaiden, realised their common gender differences and similarities. All of this was supported, enhanced and distracted by a high-energy Greek Chorus filling in other characters and wildly dancing to that Go-Go’s score.
Take a bow Kaitlin Woolford, Ava Wiese, Hannah Smart, Chanelle Tait, Bec Del Bianco, Laura McKenzie, Trent Inturrisi, Elliot Cudmore and Will Johnston. 
The dance moves were expertly 1980s restyled by choreographer Rebecca Wik and director Ben McNaughton kept all the action moving at a suitably frantic madcap pace.
Somewhere unseen backstage was an excellent eight-piece drum-driven rock band under the control of MD Mae Udarbe which accompanied the show’s 20 Go-Go’s numbers.  
Anyways, you’ll be pleased to know that everything worked out fine, in true pantomime style, with every character eventually assuming their correct gender and all matched with their correct partners.
And (I’m assuming that) they all lived happily ever after, singing Go-Go’s songs in their new Kingdom of Greater Arcadia.
Head Over Heels continues in Centre/Stage’s Roderick St Theatre until August 10.
Book through try booking
– Colin Mockett

They’re Creepy And They’re Kooky
-And Wonderful Fun!

The Addams Family directed by Charlotte Crowley for Quadschool Productions, The Story House, Geelong Arts Centre, July 25, 2024.

There are eight musical theatre production companies in Geelong, and any one of them would have been proud to stage this vibrant, happy, energy-filled show.
Its first-night audience was laughing, clapping and singing throughout and after the final long and lasting applause, they left buzzing with excitement and glowing with local pride. 
The surprise was that this show was’t produced by any of Geelong’s established musical companies. Instead, this was a school production of exceptional standard. The cast and orchestra were drawn from four local Catholic schools in Clonard, Sacred Heart, St Joseph’s and Iona colleges. 
Pulling together and rehearsing students from four seperate campuses must have been a challenge for the creative team headed by director Charlotte Crowley.
But that team comprised a rare mix of experience and emerging talent. It included musical director Keith Wilson, vocal director Marcia Howard and choreographer Natalie Ferrarese. Keith is an experienced veteran musician of some 43 years; Marcia, the ex-Goanna singer songwriter forging a new career nurturing young singers while Natalie is a vibrant young charismatic dance teacher.
Director Charlotte took on the role when the initial choice, Paul Watson, pulled out. But Paul remained as the team’s mentor and associate.
Together, Charlotte and her team shaped this school version of The Addams Family stage show into the vibrant, energetic, disciplined production that wowed its first-night audience.
The whole thing was driven by a tight and together 18-member full orchestra under MD Keith’s baton; the vocal numbers’ excellent standard was thanks to Marcia and some unobtrusive support from Matilda Hassall.
The 10-strong team of lead actors, drawn from all four schools, were each well-cast and confident. The show’s production numbers were disciplined and memorable – and its lighting and sound were always spot-on. 
This Addams Family was near faultless, for clearly the on stage talent was as appreciative – and enchanted – by the show’s quirky humour and chirpy songs as its audience.
The lead couple of Gomez and Morticia Addams were portrayed by Alexia Ficca and Tess Chapman with style and panache. Alexia played her conscience-stricken  husband role with confidence and an outrageously wild Spanish accent. Tess’s Morticia was all macabre style; shimmering in a long black sheath dress that did not in any way hamper her elegance – or energetic dance routines.
Their rebel daughter – and chief tormentor – Wednesday was played by Ruby Casey with a forceful attitude and powerful singing voice, while Devi Berends portrayed her brother Puggsey with hurt  emotions. He felt rejected because of his sister’s new love Lucas Beineke. In Lochie Slater’s hands, Lucas was blithely unaware of any Addams morbid quirkiness – he shared some, and besides, he was lovesick with longing for Wednesday. 
The play’s main action centred around Lucas’s parents meeting the Addams family over a dinner and truth game, with his mother Alice – sharply and sympathetically  portrayed by Claudia Soppit – shedding her inhibitions after drinking one of Grandma’s truth serums. As her shocked husband, Charlie Bowman went through a gamut of emotions, from belligerent to understanding to remorseful without any loss of credibility. Meanwhile Molly Brown’s artful Grandma, Tyler McNicol’s looming, growling butler Lurch and Zara Massey’s wacky and zany Uncle Fester did their utmost to steal scenes with ever-increasing gusto.  I’m delighted to say they frequently succeeded.
But then… Behind these ten lead roles was a benign super-chorus of mummified living undead brought back to life by Uncle Fester who unexpectedly brought joy, support, and sharply disciplined choreography to each of the show’s production numbers.
So take a creaky, eerie, deadly bow, Addams Ancestors  – Eve Bibby, Nellie Bishop, Alannah Brajkovic, Zara Darby, Grace Dorman, Evie Gielen, Ainsleigh Gray, Ava Greensmith Bound, Sophie Jordan, Ruby Kelly, Alana Khallouf, Chloe Luzar, Sienna Lecchino, Laura McConnell, Lily McIntosh, Evie Montano, Sophie Morrish, Eliza O’Brien, Isabell Pankhurst, Ella Plowman, Annabelle Scott, Yu-Ru Tan, Maddie Thompson, Lily Walters, Mia Wilde, and Tayla & Zoe Winiecki.
Together, you created a theatre event packed with humour, high energy and rare, refined talent. A thing of delight.
There are three more performances of this high-quality fun Addams Family stage show.  I strongly recommend that you catch one. It’s a hoot – and a wonderful showcase for Geelong’s emerging talents. 

– Colin Mockett

ROARING’s Immersive opening

ROARING written by Fleur Murphy, directed by Kirsty Reilly, at the Vue Grand Hotel, Queenscliff, July 3, 2024.

Perhaps the coldest evening of the year was not the ideal night to begin a season of immersive theatre at which two of the venue/stages were open to the elements. 
The invitation to arrive in 1920s dress didn’t exactly help. Those filmy fringed flapper dresses and evening suits weren’t designed for Victorian midwinters.
But an intrepid crowd of theatrical adventurers turned up for the opening night of a company that is so new it’s yet to be named.
They experienced a theatrical event like no other.
For ROARING  was a 1920’s immersive theatre show.
This meant that it occurred in seven different areas of the elegant old Vue Grand Hotel, with the audience invited to choose where they wanted to go and which character(s) they wanted to follow. 
Then, as the 75-minute play progressed, they were able to piece together the different scenes they had witnessed to trace the action to its conclusion.
This put a heavy load on to writer Fleur Murphy and director Kirsty Reilly, for many scenarios took place simultaneously.
They each held clues to the plot and its common ending, and there were enough red herrings to stock a 1920s local fishmarket. 
For ROARING wasn’t just a period piece – it was set in Geelong with a storyline that loosely referenced local characters and events. 
So the challenges for the play’s actors were not just moving between warm and cold stages while underdressed for the occasion – their outdoor scenes were played to dwindling few patrons while space was limited in the crowded warmer rooms – they were also faced with interacting with and among those different populations.
Yet they managed this with some aplomb, with a core group of actors holding the fragmented audience’s attention enough to each gather their own loyal followers.
Leading these was the central couple of Libby Brockman and Jake Crawford, whose charity fundraising event was the reason for all of us gathering at the hotel.
Their marriage was not untroubled; Jake had financial and libido difficulties while Libby harboured suspicions and unresolved ambitions.
Their evening was further complicated by an advance on the host by glamorous flapper Emily McKenna and political wrangling from the elderly mayor, played by a doddering but agile Ryan O’Connor. 
Ms McKenna’s accurate 1920s vocal renditions – and vigorous Charleston dance – were accompanied by a four member ‘Big Band’ seated in a corner of the ballroom.
Added to ROARING’s quartet of leads were Stephanie Katherine’s ambitious journalist asking curly leading questions while coping with her reforming gender-bending sidekick played by Juliet Hindmarsh, and occasional interventions from  progressive female doctor Lisa Martin – and there were plot twists enough for everyone.
I can’t really mention Angus Leyton’s champion footballer, Oliver Tapp’s Irish bookie, Liam Ball’s war-veteran barman or (stage manager) Derek Ingles stone-faced roulette croupier because the immersive format meant that I didn’t actually see much of their performances.
But that clearly made the point that audiences can return for subsequent performances, follow different characters around the venue and arrive at the same ending via a different route.
It’s a fascinating concept and one that deserves further exploration, preferably at a kinder time of year.
Ideally ROARING would make excellent entertainment on a balmy summer evening, playing to period-dressed audiences sipping cocktails. But that would be  difficult, because the venue would then be busy with holidaymaking guests and local diners.
Perhaps the ROARING team might consider a different midwinter-themed storyline at the venue for next year? Maybe a theme of shipwreck survivors and rugged-up saviours?
Either way, this production can now take its place as a trailblazer of immersive – and interactive – theatre in Geelong
– Colin Mockett

The Effect is exceptional theatre

The Effect directed by  Douglas Montgomery for Torquay Theatre Troupe, Shoestring Theatre, Torquay, June 6, 2024 

For centuries the role of theatre has been to inform and warn societies alongside its ability to entertain and make people laugh.
This production ticked all of the above boxes as well as being the most absorbing and thought-provoking play I’ve encountered in years.
More than that, it can also claim to have the cleverest script and four of the best acting performances I’ve seen this year.
That’s a raft of big claims, which I’ll now justify.
The Effect is set in the present time at a medical facility that is carrying out a clinical trial for a new anti-depression drug. The participants are paid to stay at the facility and are subject to a fairly strict and rigorous regime where their movements, actions and reactions are monitored at all times.
Two young people, Connie and Tristan – each excellently portrayed by Stacey Carmichael and Xavier McGettigan – struck up an acquaintance at the induction and began gently and easily falling in love with each other despite their reservations. Connie is a first-timer at the facility, while Tristan is a knowing regular who uses the trial’s payment to take annual trips abroad.
He’s also experienced at getting around the clinical lab’s restrictions.
The couple’s principal concern – aside from their personal outside relationships – is that they are each unsure if the feelings they have for each other are real, or due to the effects of the drug they are taking.
Added to this, they both know that some participants are on a placebo – and the dosage is raised at intervals causing them to experience irrational feelings, emotions and moodswings.
Against this background, it turns out that their efficient doctor-in-charge, played with cool aplomb by Lisa Berry, has a past history with her egotistical male superior,  portrayed with conviction by Matthew Bradford.
I’m not going to explain the storyline further, because I’m highly recommending this production and don’t want to spoil any of its twists, surprises, subtle touches of humour – and dramatic ending.
Enough to say that The Effect is extremely well written by British playwright Lucy Prebble; it is cleanly and crisply directed by Douglas Montgomery on a clever, simple set built by Michael Baker.
The set, like the play itself, proved to be elaborate with a host of hidden surprise elements.
But without doubt the most memorable element of this play was the excellent performances from all four lead players.
They were each, in turn, disciplined and faultless in their delivery, believable in their characterisations and each adapted and changed as circumstances altered around them.
Stacey Carmichael’s initially vulnerable, wary innocence made way to a final confidence through a myriad of emotions without losing an iota of credibility.
Xavier McGettigan’s brash, knowing swagger masked his own fears, many of which were realised. His reactions were both accurate and recognisably real.
Lisa Berry’s ultra-efficiency literally and visibly crumbled as she struggled to keep in control of her overwhelmed emotions, while even Matthew Bradford’s superior confidence evaporated as it was revealed as being self-illusionary.
Jake Witcombe and Claire Elder were silent lab assistants keeping the play’s action flowing with their stone-faced medicine deliveries then choreographed background scene changes using four transportable boxes and removable wall tiles.
A mention too, for Ethan Cook’s video projections which added gloss to the play’s visual experience along with Jackie Grills’ precise lighting and Jock Hossack’s sound effects. 
Kudos, too, to the Torquay Theatre Company itself, not just for sourcing and staging this exceptional play, but also for its ongoing improvements to its theatre premises.
Every production the company stages shows new updates to their venue and I would now place Torquay’s Shoestring Theatre as the most comfortable and inviting small venue in our region.
It’s obligatory for me to mention that The Effect contains some course language, mental health concerns and a simulated sex act. But beside all that, it is an exceptional play on a highly relevant subject that is unusually well staged and performed.
The Effect will have you smiling, laughing and recognising several common elements about today’s social concerns and attitudes. It will then leave you with much to ponder about where our society stands regarding our collective mental health – and the direction we are travelling.
And all that makes for very good, highly relevant theatre. 
I heartily recommend that you go to see The Effect. Tickets are  now at trybooking.com/CQRCH

– Colin Mockett

A Wonderfully Witty Frolic

Have Some Madeira, M’Dear produced & directed by Allister Cox, for Theatre of the Winged Unicorn, Scarecrow Patch Studio at Ceres, May 25, 2024.
This concert was not so much a step back in time as a nimble backwards tumble through the ages landing in England in mid 20th Century.
That was when and where the talents of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann surfaced, were lauded then applauded for the dual genius that they were.
They’re largely forgotten these days, of course, except by a coterie of connoisseurs, many of whom gathered in the Winged Unicorn’s Ceres Scarecrow Patch Studio for its traditional Winter Dreaming program.
For here, under the title Have Some Madeira, M’Dear, TOWU regular (and Flanders and Swann chief Geelong cognoscenti) Allister Cox gathered together a group of willing performers – several of whom were unknowing participants – to present a concert celebrating the works of the deft and dexterous musical duo.
These were, from the left, Alex Hunt,  Tim Hetherington, Allister himself, Carol Fogg and Jocelyn Mackay. They returned to that formation throughout the concert, whether performing or seated and waiting to perform.
Throughout, each were immaculately accompanied on the studio’s baby grand piano by the exquisite Sonoka Miyake.
The concert began with everyone on stage to present A Transport of Delight – which paid homage to the London Transport double decker scarlet 97 hp omnibus. A trip on which, they musically explained, was worth a pound a ticket. I understand that this song is still the anthem for London’s underground resistance movement.
This was followed by Design For Living,  delivered by Allister and Carol, threading though the audience extolling the virtues of their new home boasting the latest decor, which still resonates today with lines like ‘the garden’s full of furniture and the house if full of plants…’ 
This was followed by Alex presenting the first of the duo’s famous ‘talking animal’ songs – this was the famous correction to a zoo visitor from the other side of the fence of ‘Im A Gnu’.
Then Jocelyn and Tim combined – and contorted – to present the witty Misalliance which bemoaned the union of a honeysuckle plant with its beloved bindweed, only to find that each spiralled in different directions.
Then Jocelyn sang a solo  tribute to The Sloth, lauding the benefits of slow living with clouds beneath her feet, before Tim’s tribute to escaping the pressure of life to relax In The Bath, amid a cloud of bubbles blown by the others.
This was followed by a clever (and them highly relevant) lament to Britain’s closed railway stations The Slow Train before the well-known,  brilliant and neatly drawn The Gas-man Cometh delivered solo by Allister.
Then it was Carol’s turn to sing her speaking animal song with an odd love story about The Armadillo  before the whole group finished the concert’s first half in style with a tongue-in-cheek explanation of just why the English are the best  in A Song of Patriotic Prejudice.
After a short interval, the group returned with Bedstead Men,  about the mysterious gang dedicated to dumping bedsteads in English beauty spots. Today, they would be shopping trolley depositors.
Then Alex and Tim explained the difficulties of being a Reluctant Cannibal, before Carol and Jocelyn presented their A Song Of The Weather forecast, a monthly guide to just how miserable England’s weather was. 
Then quick-change moustachioed Allister with top-hat and cane presented the concert’s title song Have Some Madeira M’Dear as an ill-intentioned lecherous rake (something I never thought I’d write about Allister Cox) before Tim delivered his tongue-twisting tribute to the French Horn with An Ill Wind.
After this came Alex’s tribute to a bottlenose whale complaining about the cold in Antarctica with The Whale  before  the concert’s all-on-stage grand finale The Hippopotamus, which had the entire studio singing along with the wonderful attributes of mud, mud, glorious mud!
To this (admittedly biassed) critic, this unusual concert was pure undiluted delight.
It was a wonderful combination of a tribute to Flanders and Swann’s largely forgotten song-construction genius and a charming, curiously satisfying look back to a happier, less stressful time. This was when performers were admired and applauded for their wit, clever word-play and astute observational skills.

It’s something that has gone missing in the heater-skelter of modern life. But not necessarily for you.
Have Some Madeira M’Dear will run in the Scarecrow Patch studio until Sunday June 2. It’s cabaret-style with BYO finger food. Tickets are limited – so I recommend that you move very fast to get them.
Sloths need not apply.
– Colin Mockett

Lyric’s Magical Landmark Musical

The Wizard Of Oz, directed by Mandy Calderwood for Geelong Lyric Theatre Society, Playhouse at Geelong Arts Centre May 24 2024

This production was always going to be special, for it celebrated Geelong Lyric’s 50th anniversary. Naturally, the company had lavished extra care and attention for such an occasion – but I think that even Lyric’s committee, producers and long-time supporters would have been surprised by just how good their choice of show turned out to be.
For this celebratory Wizard Of Oz displayed levels of excellence at every level; from its tight and effective 21-piece orchestra to its spot-on sound and lighting; its cheerfully flamboyant costuming to its crisp dance moves.
It showed inspired casting that placed the company’s seasoned talent alongside precocious newcomers –  but most of all, this big, colourful production displayed flair in abundance – everywhere!
The show’s professional gloss started even before the first entrance was made and  the first note played. For the set, with its giant stage-wide curved emblem/backdrop had  many audience members photographing the empty stage on arrival. Its curved image was to become a clever backdrop for projected images that added finesse to a show that already glowed.
For this production had a wealth of talent on show, steered by an inspired quartet of lead actors led by 16-year-old Ava McInnes, who made a forcefully determined and faultless Dorothy, singing and dancing with an assurance well beyond her years.  then Nathan Fox brought a fabulous, gawky, feather-light dancing straw Scarecrow who in turn made a perfect foil to Michael Hardiman’s stiff and sad  plodding heartless Tin Man. Meanwhile Lachy Joyce’s Cowardly Lion was an absolute joy to watch, bringing pseudo pathos – and laughs – at every opportunity. All four played their parts to perfection – they had to, because they were sharing the stage with an ultimate scene-stealer in Maggie McInnes, who played Toto, Dorothy’s loyal canine companion. I swear that this small dog charmed every person in the theatre, distracting audience attention with affectionate glances at her mistress, while bristling and showing real animosity to Davina Smith’s delightfully overplayed Wicked Witch and dog-snatching Miss Gulch. So that ‘inspired quartet’ of lead players should really be an inspired sextet, including a witch and a four-legged attention magnet.
But then the Oz magic – and Toto charm – was carried through to the support players and ensembles, thanks to the care and imaginative touches of director Mandy Calderwood and her assistant Molly England, their MD, Brad Treloar, and vocal director Tania Grant along with choreographer Alicia Miller.
Together they combined to produce a rare combination of stage musical magic using a talented straight support team of Jessica Harrison O’Toole’s good witch; Sue Rawkins’ and Jack McPhail’s concerned foster-parents and Gavin Dean’s dual cameos as knowing showman and ultimate Wizard. 
Then behind these leads was an excellent ensemble which became comedy crows, testy trees, elegant poppies, tap-dancing jitterbugging dancers, Cossack-style marching and dancing Winkie Guards all with straight-faced finesse (and the occasional Toto caress). So take a bow Alannah Farrar, Alice Taylor, Alysha Jane, Chloe Farrar, Emilia Ramos, elegant dance captain, Esther Mathers, Jack McPhail, Jo Senftleben, Jorja Parson, Karina Whytcross, Lauren Nicholls, Lola Fry, Maddy Horne, Nieve Smart, Nina Chivers, Peyton Greiner, Phil White, Ryan Milich, Sally Venn, Savannah White and tap-dance master Will Johnstone.
But wait! There was more. A bunch of  tumbling, somersaulting flick-flacking singing, dancing acting Munchkins in Alex Barber, Amelia Ware, Annabelle Scott, Archer Crowe, Beatrix Ware, Bella McConachy, Clementine Oliver, Elsi Fletcher, Evie Walsh, Georgette Dwyer-Coote, Georgia Nguyen, Georgina Laidlaw, Jacob Smith, Jai Wilson, Lola Duffie, Noah Hopper, Pollyanna Sutcliffe, Riley Kohl, Rosalind Chamberlain, Samarah Parker, Thomas Altman and Willow Fry.
Much kudos, too, should go to Paul and Lyndall Watson’s set and projection design and wardrobe co-ordinator Leeanne Gregory’s team for their parts in turning Lyric’s 50th Anniversary show into such a memorable occasion.
For when it was first written at the turn of the 20th Century, The Wizard Of Oz  was seen as portraying parallels and allegories for the politics and economics of that time. It’s now viewed simply as a much-loved fantasy tale and a film vehicle that launched Judy Garland on her yellow-brick road to stardom.
This production will now, I’m sure, cement the show as a landmark anniversary event from one of our region’s premier musical entertainment companies.
I urge you to go see Lyric’s 2024 Wizard. It’s magical as well as musically enchanting – a true landmark production.
– Colin Mockett

Strauss to Superman – via the GSO

Music From The Movies presented by Geelong Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mario Dobernig, Costa Hall, Deakin Waterfront Campus, Saturday May 11.
This compelling concert held its audience spellbound from the very first note. That was a two-bar bowed drone from three double basses that gave way to a bright clear Ta-Darr from the orchestra’s augmented brass section. This was followed by a longer and tone higher Taa-Darrr  and by now everyone in the packed auditorium had recognised the opening chords to the classic 1968 sci-fi movie 2001 A Space Odyssey.
The work was actually written in 1896 by Richard Strauss. It’s a musical version of  Sunrise from his work Also Sprach Zarathustra. It made a memorable opening to the film – and it perfectly set the tone for this concert.
For, along with playing themes from a dozen movies, this was a subtly informative occasion exploring the differences and similarities between classical music and classic film themes. 
That brilliant opening led to a clever analysis of the two musical styles packaged inside a really well-delivered afternoon of fine music. And the audience of Geelong families clearly lapped up every note, every memory and every revelation.
Behind this innovative approach was guest conductor Mario Dobernig.
Austrian-born Mario is, among other things, Artistic Director of Melbourne’s Art and Sound Orchestra. Online he’s ‘one of the most inspiring music makers of his generation.’  A slim, young, smiling slightly coltish figure, he was described in the programmes thus… ‘Mario enjoys conversations in English, German, French and Italian and he has a keen interest in geopolitics…’
And here he was explaining to the people of Geelong why cinema’s adoption of the Dolby sound system changed the way film orchestras played by leading our orchestra in a beautifully crafted concert.
He showed this by following that brilliant Strauss opening fanfare, he escorted Susan Pierotti from her concertmaster’s chair fronting her string section to stand as solo violinist and lead an inspired, perfect version of John William’s sweet and poignant Theme from Schindler’s List.
Then followed a helter-skelter parade of carefully selected, wonderful film tunes – from The Mission to Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord Of The Rings, to Zorba The Greek;  Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone to a magnificently rousing finale from (who else) Superman.
And the Geelong Symphony Orchestra was with their energetic, smiling guest conductor every step of the way. They responded to his musical challenges with style, understanding, outstanding ability and their new-found confidence. They even helped him with his occasional struggles changing the height of his soloists’ music stand.
For, always musically proficient, the GSO has lifted to a new, excellent status in its last three concerts.
This one built upon that confidence.   And this GSO was big. It’s 67 members included an augmented brass, woodwind and percussion sections – film music calls for clear bright sounds – along with keyboardists Sonoka Miyake playing synthesiser harp and Brad Treloar playing synthesiser organ, celeste and piano. Also counted in that GSO 67 was Geelong soprano soloist Lee Abrahmsen, who was dressed in dramatic black to deliver a memorable In Dreams from The Lord Of the Rings.
Lee was just one of three faultless soloists for, in the style of leader Susan Pierotti, Oboist  Salvador Blasco Celda was reluctantly plucked from his seat among the woodwinds to lead a wonderfully nuanced version of Gabriel’s Oboe theme from The Mission. 
Between each contrasting piece – every one of them warmly applauded – conductor Mario explained the musical styles, and the differences between instruments, with a clarity spiced with droll humour.
And he wasn’t above a slice of hammy play-acting, either. He arrived for John Williams’s Star Wars Suite dressed As Darth Vader  threatening to  conduct the players with his lightsaber.
But where he excelled was when he invited the audience to compare the delivery of film music to a genuine classical piece in Beethoven’s Symphony No.7 Allegretto. This was appropriate, for it was also used a theme for the movie The King’s Speech.
And then, after that small slice of Beethoven, he led the GSO in a rousing version of Zorba’s Dance from Zorba The Greek, before moving on to Harry Potter and then that Out-Of-This-World Superman ending.
All told, this delightful concert worked on so many levels. It brought in a new audience to appreciate the delights of hearing a full symphony orchestra at its best.  It gave them new reasons to be proud of our City’s artistic talent. And added to this, it ably illustrated how composers and musicians have adapted and adopted strategies to keep delivering beautiful music through ever-advancing technical challenges.
And we all thought we were simply enjoying an afternoon of music from the fillums.
How good was that?
– Colin Mockett

Harmony On The Orient Express

On The Orient Express presented by The Geelong Chorale, conducted by Allister Cox, St Paul’s Anglican Church, May 5, 2024

This was billed as a musical journey on the Orient Express from Istanbul to Paris, with each station providing a sample of that nation’s music.
In practice, that meant Geelong’s premier choir singing 14 songs in seven languages which they did with practiced ease.
Fittingly for this concert, the Chorale had shifted from its usual church venue in Noble Street to St Paul’s in LaTrobe Tce. The Chorale likes to use church spaces for their superior acoustics.
St Paul’s had advantages.  It’s loftier and narrower than All Saints, allowing added resonance and hard-surface echoes. Plus, it’s built next to the railway, so occasional train noises to add a little authenticity.
The acoustic  effect was further enhanced by the choir taking three positions, with its 15 sopranos and altos facing conductor Allister, and the audience, while the eleven male voices were split into two groups facing each other in the choir stalls either side of him. Accompanist Kristine Mellens’ piano was situated to Allister’s left.  This arrangement sent voices and accompaniment swirling and resounding through those high rafters.  
Our mythical journey began in Istanbul, meaning that the first two songs were delivered in Turkish. The first carried a message of love, with the choir’s females, alto and soprano, combining to sing sweet melodies contrasted by lusty male choruses from their tenor and bass counterparts.
Ismail Sezens’ Çamdan Sakiz Akiyor was about a girl looking at her betrothed, longing for him to turn to her side and embrace her, while the second Turkish song, Melike Yersiz’s Gelmis Dunyanin Dört Bir Ucundan delivered escalating lyrics with the message ‘We speak different languages yet we get along. We are green branches from the tree of earth’…
Luckily, there were translations of each song in the concert programme.
This complimented Allister’s always-interesting between song introductions, or in this case, announcements before we arrived at a new destination. 
The second of which was Varna, Bulgaria, where the Chorale effortlessly switched languages and tempos to deliver Dobrinka Tabakova’s deliberate and sombre Of A Rose Sing We, which paid homage to the Virgin Mary and was sung with due reverence before the mood switched to, well, subtle innuendo with the traditional folk tune Dilmano Dilbero which used the act of planting peppers as an (ahem) physical metaphor and built to a suitably climactic finish.
That delivered us to Bucharest, Romania where Gheorghe Cucu’s Christmas  anthem Domnulet Is Down Din Cer was cheerfully delivered in the Chorale’s third language, followed by adult prodigy George Enescu’s  soft and gentle Waldgesang.
Next we went to to Budapest,Hungary, where the two chosen Bohemian songs were divided by gender.
First, Ann Pilgrim left the soprano ranks to conduct the Chorale’s female singers in a sweet song about an escaped nightingale – Zoltàn Kodàly’s Fuor De La Bella Caiba. Allister then led the male voices through Franz Liszt’s lusty male boast Wir Sind Nicht Mumien – translated as ‘We are not mummies, are not corpses…. We are still showing signs of life, look, we are men!
That thought took us all the way to Vienna, Austria, where the genders reunited to deliver Josef Haydn’s bubbly  Alles Hat Seine Zeit – described as ‘Champagne music’ with lyrics ‘Live, love, drink, make noise, crown yourself with me…’ 
Then, Anton Bruckner’s Os Justi, which proclaimed ‘The mouth of the riches utters wisdom and his tongue speaks what is just…’ 
And that moral proclamation carried us all on to Munich, Germany, and three very different short songs; first Clara Schumann’s delightful love song Gondoliera , followed by Josef Rheinberger’s contemplative  Abenlied Op 69 No 3 then Felix Mendelssohn lyrical, pastural Auf den See Op 41 no 6.
But then Allister was announcing our imminent arrival at Paris, France, our final destination, for which he had selected Georges Bizet’s Les Voice! March of the Toreadors and Chorus from his opera Carmen.
And remarkably, Allister’s intro did not at any time mention football, Geelong or Cats.
He did, at this point, though, personally thank his Chorale for their dedication and loyalty in completing the gruelling journey through some tongue-twisting language lyrics.
That heartfelt thanks drew the afternoon’s loudest and longest applause – and there had been plenty before. Then the Chorale and accompanist Kristine delivered a much more complete version of The Toreador Song than we are used to hearing, detailing each bullfighter’s duties and never once veering into AFL territory.
In all, it made for a highly satisfactory – if challenging – absorbing and enjoyable multilingual Chorale concert.
– Colin Mockett

Scoundrels with a Damned clean hit!

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels directed by Elise Dahl for Theatre Of The Damned. Belmont High Performing Arts Centre May 3, 2024.

Theatre reviewing is not as easy as you might think.  After 35 years experience, I can recount many shows where it was necessary to employ the language of diplomacy to avoid bruising sensitive artistic egos. Other productions needed a rare variety of composition gymnastics to describe shows that were sub par for an amazing number of reasons. 
But then, just occasionally, a production comes along that is pure joy, both to experience and review, making the morning-after write up not just easy, but  a pleasure.
Such is the case for this, TOTD’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. 
For this was a memorable, happy and enjoyable production that worked on many levels, which I’ll detail below.
But for now, just accept that this highly satisfactory version of a neat and clever musical comedy deserves full houses and extra performances. So I recommend that you get online asap and book tickets. They’re bound to go fast as word spreads.
Here’s the reasons. First, the show itself is that rare thing, a film-to-stage adaptation that comes across as better than the original.
The 1988 film, which starred Michael Cain and Steve Martin was clever and very funny with its plot line of two swindlers competing to con $50,000 from a gullible heiress on the French Riviera.
But it was a straight comedy, and the stage version’s added music and dance routines gives the opportunity to add extra splashes of colour, movement and visual humour.
Plus the big names of Cain and Martin, by virtue of their reputation and pulling power, tended to dominate the film and not allow the smaller characters to shine through.
The stage version spreads the talent – and laughs – much wider.
It essentially had three lead actors, three second-leads and – in the case of this production – an eleven-strong team of adaptable actor/dancers who shifted the scenery and then supported every scene with razzle-dazzle colour, movement, glamour and smiling splashes of humour.
All these talented performers were extremely well drilled and rehearsed thanks to director Elise Dahl’s dedication and flair. They moved with precision over and around a clever and effective set, (designed & built by Tony Dahl), thanks to first-time choreographer Laura McKenzie’s flamboyant dance moves.
They were musically supported by an excellent 15-piece orchestra led by MD Tom Fernee and situated on stage behind a fake window screen.
All at the front-of-stage was well-lit thanks to Courtney McCullogh’s efficient yet unobtrusive lighting design and th actors were clearly heard and discerned thanks to Ben Anderson’s sound skills.
Their eye-catching costumes were brought together or manufactured by Leonie Joynson, Mandee Oakes, Sally Smith and Deb Stallard. I don’t know who did the cast’s hair, but they deserve a mention, too.
That’s all necessary background info. 
But this show’s on-stage talent was the reason it’s included in the ‘exceptional’ bracket. And it was evident from the opening number. What’s more, as the show progressed the whole team gelled, with each member of the cast growing in stature and obviously enjoying every joyful on-stage moment.
Not least were the two lead scoundrels, played by Andrew Lorenzo and Jett Samsom.
Andrew, last seen in Geelong as Charlie Brown, was clearly in his element in this, very different, role. He was faultless as the middle-aged, suave, sophisticated self-obsessed and overly confident con-man Lawrence Jameson. 
While opposite, Jett played his self-appointed protégée – and later rival – Freddy Benson, as cheerfully gauche and animated with excess energy to spare.
Their on-stage interplay, with one  silky-smooth and the other awkwardly devious, made for enthralling watching.
Alongside this,  Ella Walsh played their rich-heiress target Christine Colgate with a rare skill, moving from an initial naive sincerity to gain a deal of confidence of her own.
Their three principle supports were equally well cast, in Charlie Bowman’s overly helpful French police inspector who reluctantly falls for Phoebe Grant’s gullible, peace-loving and pleasure-seeking American heiress Muriel Eubanks  – and a delightful cameo from Megan Bearman as a Barbie-pink boot scooting Oklahoma fiancee Jolene Oakes.  When not playing her delightful yee-hah howdee-pardner heiress, Megan joyfully joined the team of 11 scene-shifting, dancing, role-filling ensemble actors, all of whom forged their own individual identities as the show progressed. 
So take a bow, Elodie Bennett, Leah Benstead, Maggie Duncan, Kim and Maggie Evans, Madeleine Hoogstra, Abby Livesay, Ryan Milich, Keira Murray, Josh Giblin and dance captain Martinique McKenzie.
Together, all of the above combined to create a production that was perfect in its execution and deliciously funny throughout.
It delighted and elated its audience – and it definitely gladdened the heart of this grizzled critic.
Now go and book. Trust me, you won’t regret it. 
– Colin Mockett

Comedy that’s a walk in the park

Sylvia, directed by Paul Friend for Torquay Theatre Troupe, Shoestring Playhouse, March 14 2024.

It’s been a long time since I last experienced a play when the audience laughed throughout and applauded the end of every scene.
Both these happened in the Shoestring Playhouse at the opening night of A R Gurney’s delightfully dog-friendly play Sylvia.
Possibly this was because so many people had bought companion dogs during the COVID lockdowns that it struck a chord. Perhaps it was  a reaction to the relentless cycle of miserable news that we’re currently subjected to; maybe a combination of both.
Or conceivably there’s a simpler reason.
Could it be that this Sylvia was the right play at the right time? That it releases the 2024 social pressures when our news cycle is dominated by either the high cost of living, Trump and Dutton politics and a seemingly endless cycle of wars?
Either way, this Sylvia made a stark contrast to the usual fare.
It’s an exceptionally well-written, well cast and very well presented comedy that also had underlying themes recognisable to every babyboomer in the audience. And that was, at a guess, 96% of us.
Sylvia, the play’s plotline is straightforward.
It’s set in a smart New York apartment in the 1990s around a middle-aged couple adjusting to new downsized lives after their children had grown and left home.
She is building a new career teaching Shakespeare in primary schools; while he, unhappy about changes in his workplace, is on the threshold of experiencing male menopause.
She, Kate, is played with graceful, cool sophistication by a stylishly dressed Tracey McKeague.
Her husband, Greg, as played by Steven Georgiadis, is a troubled soul with a much more homely, cardigan-clad appearance. 

Both these excellent actors were word, gesture and emotionally perfect in their straight central roles.
That’s is worth noting here, because their performances, once established, were pretty much overwhelmed and overtaken by the play’s other two actors.
But more of that to come.
Greg and Kate’s catalyst for change occurred when he took an unscheduled afternoon off work, sat in the park and found an apparently homeless dog.
That was Sylvia, who had a name tag and no other identification.
Sylvia was energy-filled and bursting with canine charm.
She’s grateful for her rescue, ultra-friendly and downright loving – at least in Greg’s mind, because she speaks fluently to him.
This prompts him to take Sylvia home, which in turn sparks a conflict between wife and dog. 
And this in turn gave rise to a number of dogged comedy-style situations.
The dog Sylvia, is played with boisterous, glorious animal awkwardness by gaudily-dressed Liana Emmerson, a vibrant young actress.
Liana makes a wonderful job of her role, she’s an audience-magnet, stealing every scene and throwing into sharp contrast the differences between the two females, loves – and factors – in Greg’s life.
But there’s more.
Add in a fourth actor, Michael Baker, playing three very different – and wacky – connecting roles and you’ll understand just how the central characters were engulfed then inundated by their co-actors.
 The  Baker roles were a dorky lisping bookish fellow dog owner that Greg encounters in the park; an alcoholic pretentious female friend of Kates and a gender-swapping guru-style councillor, all brought to life with glorious deadpan panache and perfect comic timing by Michael Baker’s accomplished acting skills.
The combination of zany dog, marital crisis and Baker encounters were behind our opening-night audience smiles and laughter.
But then, at the play’s climax, much deeper, more profound emotions were revealed giving the evening a believable, satisfying conclusion. 
I’m not explaining the plot moves and details here because I want you to book and see this Sylvia for yourself.
It’s a play that deserves a good audience because it’s about perfect; from Paul and Meryl Friend’s crisp direction to the Torquay Troupe’s clever, stylish set design and spot-on costuming.
From its sharply observed scriptwriting, neatly inserted musical highlights to its smart lighting and props scene changes. 
But mainly, you will experience four excellent comedy performances in a show that is guaranteed to lift your spirits.
Bravo TTT, cast and crew. You have a play that is as refreshing as a good walk with a cheerfully friendly four-footed companion.    

– Colin Mockett

Music Man’s Big, Colourful Puzzle

The Music Man directed by Michele Marcu and David Greenwood for Centre/Stage, Geelong Arts Centre March 9, 2024.
Since its 1957 Broadway debut, The Music Man has held a prominent place in the world  of musical theatre. It’s tale of a turn-of-the-20th Century flim-flam man’s con-job on a small mid-west American town has become a regularly-staged staple. That’s because it showcases prominent singing/dancing male actors – a version starring Hugh Jackman only recently closed in New York – while its catchy tunes, colourful costumes and large cast makes it a favourite for school productions.
So you can see the attraction for Centre/Stage, which has a reputation as Geelong’s flamboyant musical company attracting big-name actors and also has its own large teaching school in the Centre/Stage Performing Arts Academy.
This production’s triple-threat performer playing con-man Harold Hill was Jesse Simpson, who wowed audiences earlier this year in Footlight’s Strictly Ballroom, while his female lead, company and city newcomer, Georgia Ellen, possesses a strong stage presence and excellent singing voice.
Add in a skilled, experienced support cast, a talented ensemble and some thirty energy-packed junior players from the company’s academy (divided into two teams performing alternate nights and bursting with scene-stealing charm); an experienced back-stage unit, tight orchestra and excellent choreographer and vocal coaches and there was only one thing left to bother the show’s co-directors.
This was the seemingly insolvable problem that came from writer Meredith Willson’s mid-20th Century social mores.
Because, as written, The Music Man, is a 1950s reflection of 1910 social values. In short, it’s  about  a dominant male-led society with subservient females throughout. 
Centre/Stage directors Michele Marcu and David Greenwood, aware that this could  raise problems with their 21st Century equality aware audiences, acknowledged this in their programme notes, along with the fact that they were obliged to stick to the written script.
Then they tackled those perceived problems using the skills of their principle actors.
So the show’s lead female actor, Georgia, playing librarian Marian Paroo, kept exactly to Willson’s script, but instead of coyly shrinking from Jesse’s Harold Hill’s bold advances and winning him over with feminine charms, she initially met him with defiance and struck assertive poses – and attitudes – throughout.
Where possible this strengthened gender attitude was reflected by the show’s support female cast members, most especially by Terri Powell, playing Marian’s mother as a worldly Irish sage.
It was a system that couldn’t work throughout the show – there was what we now describe as an inbuilt male workplace and authority imbalance – in that all the show’s travelling salesmen were that – salesmen – and the town’s men of importance, like Trent Inturrisi’s intractably stubborn Mayor Shinn dominated his wife and daughter for storyline purposes. This was counteracted by Mayoress Tammy Berry’s clever use of mimed humour, and daughter Chloe Lewis channeling a rebellious teenager.
But the biggest challenge this nuanced Music Man’s script made was to its lead actor.
And here Jesse Simpson made an astonishingly generous stage gesture. 
I should add that every previous version of The Music Man that I have seen – and that’s many – was invariably a platform for its lead actor who was always what is known in stage language as a triple threat. That meant that they could sing, dance and act everyone else off the stage.
Jesse showed this ability early on with a series of smooth-as silk dancing moves, a word and note-perfect performance of the tongue-twisting patter song (Ya Got) Trouble followed by leading the anthemic Seventy Six Trombones while holding the unwavering attention of both the audience, who were in on his scam, and the townspeople, who weren’t.
But inside this stage dominance, he then conceded his personal stage ascendency by degrees to Georgia’s Marion – and all without losing an inch of authority. 
It was a remarkable feat – but it did leave us audience with our own credibility gap.
For this hybrid Music Man was a production that was so obviously stuck in 1910 America, but with puzzling elements that reflected 21st Century mores and thinking. There were plenty of distractions, of course, from the show’s classy four-part-harmony singing group of school governors – take a bow Jack McPhail, Jack Bartell, Joel Lane and Jules Hart; and the delightful Mayoresses’ comedy dance team underplayed with much deadpan panache by Jen Stirk, Zoe Rossbotham, Jessica Wynhoven and Chanelle Tait.
There was Tim Maloney’s hearty – and timely – interventions as the Con Professor’s  old friend and supporter, Marcellus Washburn;  Flynn Wilkie-Clarke’s misunderstood and agile dancing teen hoon; Charlton Keogh’s remarkable recovery from lisp-induced shyness and Emily McClure’s pert worldliness.
And there was a precision ensemble dancing up a storm as well as shifting some classy scenery and showing off the company’s costume and wig-making skills.
They was led from within by tall, elegant, high-kicking and eye-catching Shaun Pegoraro. 
And there was a good orchestra led by Gabriel Taburet that clearly relished their rare opportunities to deliberately deliver wrong notes.
So there was much to like about this Geelong version of The Music Man – but – and this is a personal but – I was left reflecting on its strange mix of historical values.
To summarise, I would have preferred to see an accurate depiction of the show as it was written, allowing me to draw my own comparisons to today’s social values; or a complete rewrite into a modern setting. The hybrid version I watched, even though it did deliver Jesse Simpson’s memorably subdued star performance was, to me, unsatisfactory.
But don’t take my word for this.
Centre/Stage Geelong’s The Music Man will run in the Geelong Arts Centre Until March 23. 
Go see for yourself and draw your own conclusions. 
– Colin Mockett

GSO’s Titanic performance

Titans featuring Geelong Symphony Orchestra, conductor Richard Davis, Costa Hall, February 24, 2024.

“I believe,” said a female voice as the post-concert audience shuffled toward the exit at 7pm, “that this orchestra is as good as the MSO.”
Her comment, aimed at nobody in particular, drew an affirmative response of murmurs and nods from the politely social crush, and it almost certainly sparked conversations when we dispersed through post-Paka-Festa traffic.
It was, as they say in sports circles, a big call, but one with some merit.
For Geelong’s Symphony Orchestra, in existence only for a scant covid-affected eight years, to draw a comparison with Melbourne’s premier orchestra is a very big call.
The MSO, established for more than a century, is able to choose from the best Victorian musicians and is supported by government and a considerable capital-city audience. Indeed, the MSO routinely draws full-house audiences at the 1,400-seat Costa Hall.
Yet on the evidence of this concert, there are plenty of reasons to debate the parity.
Our GSO’s string section, always a strength, was faultless under its quietly unassuming stand-in leader Susan Pierotti. The ensemble’s always-reliable woodwind section achieved new heights, the two percussionists and four bassists were  unpretentious and precise in their timekeeping;  while the horns were outstanding, most especially in the concert’s final piece, Brahms Symphony No.4
But that’s just the individual sections. What makes an orchestra special is its integration; the combined effect when those components gell together.
And the evidence of this concert was, yes, the GSO, at its best, rates alongside the MSO for sheer musical value.
The concert was titled ‘Titans’, after its two selected composers, Sibelius and Brahms, both of whom featured on the posters and programs.  But in truth, there were five titans involved in this evening of musical excellence.
For apart  from the two composers, the GSO itself met the ‘titan’ definition of ‘a person or thing of great strength, intellect or importance’.  
And its conductor of choice, the beautifully flamboyant and richly talented Richard Davis, certainly qualifies as (small t) titanic, too. For it was he who brought the orchestra’s component parts together to meld so well.
The fifth titan on show was the evening’s brilliant Ukranian-Australian violin soloist Markiyan Melnychenko, who, on other days is the GSO’s concertmaster. (Hence Susan Pierotti’s quiet promotion.) Markiyan not only dazzled with his expertise, but he introduced real-life tragedy, compassion and a bonus musical gift to the evening’s experience.
The two men, Conductor and concertmaster, are friends. They’re both world-class and much in demand musicians, and their friendship showed through their mutual musical understanding as well as their dovetailed introductions to the pieces they performed. They explained the sorrowful parallels between Finlandia’ s suppressed nationalism – it was written and performed at a time when Finland was occupied by Russia – and marked the concert’s date as the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 
This led to the bonus, which came after Markiyan had received a standing ovation following his brilliance performing Sibelius’s seriously complex Violin concerto in D minor Op. 47.
After a short word with Richard, he asked our permission to perform a piece  unpublicised in the programme titled Melody by contemporary Ukrainian composer. Myroslav Skoryk.
It meant that the audience went to an interval not just musically fulfilled, but informed and more than a little awed by the emotions their soloist  had evoked.
The concert’s second half was entirely given over to Brahms Symphony No.4 in E minor Op.98, which was the composer’s last work, and the one which critics reasoned he had finally reached his peak.
The four movements are each very different in their emotions, colours, tempos and musical patterns;
All are challenging and difficult to perform.
But all were flawlessly executed by the Geelong Symphony, with with an outstanding contribution from its four French Horns.
And conductor Richard, always generous in spreading his praise, made sure that they stood tall to accept their applause. As he did for flautist Brighid Mantelli, clarinetist David Gardner, percussionist Marcus Govan for his triangular precision, and, of course, the reluctant Susan Pierotti and her string section.
In all, this concert displayed our orchestra, its component parts and its conductor all perfectly in harmony – and that’s something only the very best orchestras achieve.
The GSO’s next concert ‘Music From The Movies’ is scheduled for the family friendly time of 3pm Saturday May 11 at the same venue.
It’s recommended to book early for tickets, for word is already on the streets comparing our orchestra’s quality with the State’s best.
And I might venture that the coming concert might be even more Titanic. 
– Colin Mockett

43rd concert hits elemental peaks

Geelong Summer Music Camp end of camp concert, Costa Hall, January 12 2024.

The uniform colour for this 43rd annual GSMC concert was teal, the concert’s theme was ‘The Elements’ meaning most of the selected music were about Earth, Fire or Water.
So naturally the concert began with smooth jazz from the Balyang Stage Band conducted by Sean Rankin. First was  Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen’s Here’s That Rainy Day – with tutor David Gardner a stand-in late replacement sax soloist – followed by the more uptempo Hayburner written by Sammy Nestico. 

Then came the Bellarine Concert Band with its popular conductor Ari Farrar wearing a velvet jacket for the occasion. His group’s mastery of the theme was as complete as its playing style. They began with Brian Beck’s Fireball, followed it with JaRod Hall’s Through The Storm then Johnnie Vinson’s arrangement of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez’s Let It Go,  while Randall D. Standbridge’s Dark Ride brought a neat finish.
Next up was conductor Michelle John’s young Otway String Orchestra bent on having some fun, as witnessed but the number of smiling faces. Their contribution to the evening’s theme began with musical fireworks – K & H Colledge’s arrangement of Handel’s Menuet from Music for Royal Fireworks – then a spell of Arctic Fire by Stephen Chin; Nova Jornada by Loreta Fin then an experimental piece written by the musicians themselves titled Nature’s Harmony – The Elements At Play before ending with the New Zealand folk song Wellerman arranged by Larry Moore.
Some of the older, more experienced students (that is, those in their high teens) came next with the Surf Coast Wind Symphony conducted by Edward Fairlie. They even managed to include the t-shirt colour in their choice of numbers, by opening  with Percy Grainger’s Spoon River, leading to Samual R Hazo’s Blue and Green Music then ending with a spectacular visit to Dana Wilson’s Colorado Peaks.
The concert’s choral group Djilang Singers, led, coaxed and conducted by popular Kate Notini brought linguistic skills into the mix, singing in Korean, Samoan and Swahili in their five-number set. This began with Jason & Theresa Thomas’s arrangement of Zac Sobiech’s Clouds, continued with Opetaia Foa’i & Lin-Manuel Miranda’s We Know The Way then a new arrangement by Kate Notini of Kate Miller-Heidke’s The Last Day On Earth. Then came the challenging language skills with Wallace Hornady’s arrangement of the Korean folk song Nodle Kangbyon (Beside The Nodle River) then Christopher Tin’s Baba Yetu – essentially The Lord’s Prayer sung in Swahili – arranged by Roger Emerson.
The senior Swan Bay String Orchestra conducted by Trish Timmins brought a Bohemian element with Themes from the Moldau, a trip to modern Britain with  Richard Meyer’s Folk Song and Shanty then finishing with a fun fiddling flourish from America with Samuel Gelfer’s Frost On The Plow.
Then Edward Fairlie returned to conduct the expanded GSMC Symphony Orchestra with a couple of  fiery South American flavoured numbers beginning with his own composition  Death By Tango then every Geelong footy fan’s favourite, Bizet’s Toreador Song. 
All of this led to the evening’s spectacular climax when everyone involved in the camp – students, staff, tutors, committee, some 250 plus musicians and singers – squeezed on to the stage creating a sea of teal to deliver Africa by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, songwriter members of the band Toto. The number, arranged by Geelong’s Kym Dillon, was conducted by GSMC’s president Martin DeMarte. It began with the hand movements of 250 people replicating rain and finished with a double encore chorus of   “I bless the rains down in Africa…. It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you; There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do…’
Well, I can tell you that 250 students, tutors, conductors and staff can conjure up a storm of applause in Geelong’s Costa Hall from what was a very appreciative audience. 

– Colin Mockett. 

You’ve A Great Show, Charlie Brown

You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown directed by Paul Watson for What’s On? Productions, Story House Theatre, Geelong Arts Centre January 11 2024.

What happens when the 1950s whimsical charm of Charles M Schulz’s Peanuts strip cartoon is reworked by a cutting edge 21st century theatre company?

The answer is a live production of joyful, colourful delight. One that’s suitable – and relevant – to all generations.
It’s probably more accurate to describe this production as a new version of the 1967 Broadway stage musical of the same source – and name – credited to  Clark Gesner which was revised and updated in 1999 by Andrew Lippa.
But this new production from the Geelong-based creative team of director Paul Watson, choreographer Venessa Paech and musician Brad Treloar has taken the concept even further.
They brought together a highly talented team of adult actors to play Schulz’s pre-teen kids going through the period of dashed expectations, self-doubts and character-building angst that every child endures as part of growing up.
That shared experience of laying the building blocks to adulthood is the lasting charm that propelled Peanuts through the decades.
It now drives a fast-moving music-driven theatrical event.
For this new show has undergone a quantum shift from the original two-dimensional black-and white strip-cartoon images. It’s now a brilliant primary-coloured athletic action show set to an upbeat razzle-dazzle musical soundtrack and enhanced with spot-on synchronised projected images.
Yet at its base, the show still retained the Schulz magic of sharply’ observed childish behaviour patterns spiced with mischief and innocent humour. 

This production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown is not only staged by the same team that brought Geelong’s pre-Christmas smash musical Jersey Boys, but  two of the main characters came from it, too.
The lead part of self-doubting ultra-shy Charlie Brown was played by Andrew Lorenzo, whose previous role was the opposite – brash crook/founder Tommy De Vito in Jersey Boys. While Andrew Smith, last seen as the Jersey Boy’s singer/songwriter Bob Gaudio was here playing Charlie’s gentle but worldly piano-playing Beethoven-obsessed friend Schroeder.
These two were joined by an extremely well-cast bunch of actors having a ball re-enacting and expanding their childhood experiences. 
These were led by Chelsea Gibb playing Charlie’s chief tormentor, the bossy and demonstrably crabby Lucy Van Pelt; with Quinlan Kelly bravely standing up for himself as her blanket-carrying younger brother Linus.
Sophia Katos played Charlie’s dizzy younger sister Sally Brown with a touching innocence while much of the time all these excellent players were upstaged by Luke Alleva’s portrayal of Charlie’s ever-loyal but chronically daydreaming dog Snoopy.
All of the cast’s character traits were played out in musical numbers, the most memorable of which was the showstopping ‘Suppertime’. That began when Snoopy  was asked by Charlie why he  made such a big production out of mealtimes. This led Snoopy to do just that with the surprise introduction of a team of high-kicking Woodstock dancing girls in Marlee Barber, Jessica Blakemore, Jessica Chilver, Annabelle Dimitriou, Mairéad Gallagher, Phoebe McDougall, Sienna Palamara and Ava Papadopoulos.
All up, this You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown was totally professional in every department, from its neat, clever colourful set, its well-chosen costumes, excellent lighting and effects, its disciplined precise choreography, and faultless musical backing. It is a credit to everybody involved, on-stage and off.

But most of all, this You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown is an outstanding piece of delightful musical theatre.
Go see it. You’ll love every moment. 

– Colin Mockett.