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Give My Regards To Windmill
Presented by: Windmill Theatre Company
Venue:
Cardinia Cultural Centre,
Pakenham
Reviewer: Robbie Carmelotti
Date Reviewed: 13th October, 2007
I ventured to
the Saturday matinee of ‘Give My Regards to Windmill’ with an open
mind and no expectations, as I had heard nothing about the
storyline, song list or cast, so it was refreshing to go see
something with which I had no pre conceived idea about.
From reading
the program I was intrigued by the song list and director’s notes,
and how they were going to fit 50 musical numbers into the time
frame of a 2-act show.
A basic
outline of the plot is a theatre company trying to decide on songs
to use in their next musical. The company includes extraverted
characters such as the overly keen director, the overbearingly gay
male, the butch female stage hand, the footy loving set builder, the
quiet and awkward cleaner, the middle aged has-been, the “caring”
company president as well as many more cameos.
Over the
course of Act 1, we saw the committee members raise their ideas for
the show which included ‘Opening Night’, ‘Suddenly Seymour’, ‘Dance
with the Devil’, ‘One Day More’ ‘Aquarius’, ‘Dance with the Devil’
and many more
Act 2 was set
as the rehearsal of the show and featured songs such as ‘Seasons of
Love’ ‘Mr Cellophane’, ‘On My Own’ and ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’.
The plot for Act 2 is a massive fall-out between cast and production
team members, and how they pull together and get the show on stage.
All in all,
the production was very enjoyable and entertaining, it flowed well,
and clever use of lighting made the musical numbers come to life, as
well as excellent sound that meant missing none of the vocals.
Credit to the sound and lighting department.
Character
wise, Bronwyn Cuppen-Assendelft who played the role of Judy, the
butch stage hand provided many laughs, and was extremely funny to
watch through the whole show. Credit to the direction of this
character.
Stan Peters,
who played Gerard, was great. He has a beautiful voice that suited
all of the numbers he was in. His voice is very easy on the ear and
he delivered Mr Cellophane extremely well.
Leighton
Irwin, played the role Elliot, the young director, I was permanently
confused by this character, he seemed to have different love
interests with random love duets, with different girls. He also
featured in a good number of solos in the show, and though he
carried his whole performance with conviction, I am unsure as to
whether his voice type suited the array of styles he had to sing. I
liked him a lot in his slower low ballads, but not so much in the
faster up tempo sexier songs.
Individual
standouts were Abbey Jane Jones, Natasha Harvey & James Ness
Musical
highlights for me, ‘Aquarius’ from Hair, the cast held the harmonies
well and visually it was great. I loved the beginning of Act 2 where
we saw a mix of ‘Seasons of Love’, ‘Longest Time’ and ‘Let the sun
shine in’, this was done as a choir and a capalla, the only
complaint I have is that because the harmonies in ‘Seasons of Love’
are quiet difficult the cast struggled without instrumentation to
find there notes.
I felt the
dialogue in between the numbers some times lagged, but mainly
because the script had little depth. I personally felt there was an
over use of the gay character, Scott, played by Dean Gardiner in the
respect that all his dialogue centered around gay jokes or
innuendoes that were at times funny, but because that’s all this
character did, it drowned out the subtleties that could have been
explored and overpowered others with constant attention grabbing.
Also there was a very interesting storyline between two sisters, I
thought this could have been developed further as it gave the show a
dimension that was real to life and thought provoking.
Directorially,
Robert Harvey managed to make the show flow easily and without
confusion, a tricky job given that the dialogue had to lead into
such different styles of music. He cast the show well, though I did
feel some of the leads were performing songs not in their range, but
it was great to see him take a chance on some up and comers and give
some newbies a chance to shine and push themselves. His set was very
cleverly deigned and useful for the style of show.
Kylie Novotny
did a great job with choreography using her ensemble in many
different styles, I felt all the tap sequences were excellent and
the jazz numbers were strong and consistent. I believe this is her
first attempt as choreographer, and she should be really proud of
herself for giving this show a great visual.
Musical
Direction by Vicky Barden was the absolute highlight for me, she
must have spent countless hours preparing these orchestrations. She
truly did a magnificent job with her band, the entr’acte was full of
different rhythms, styles, tempos and quick changes in chord
progressions. It was a delight to listen to. I loved the cameo at
the beginning of Act 2. I feel Vicky has a lot to offer the musical
theatre scene and she added an element to this show that I did no
expect, as I have never heard her work, but she should be extremely
proud of her efforts as they paid off immensely. Can’t wait to see
her future offerings.
Congratulations to Windmill on pulling off a tricky show, I
thoroughly enjoyed it and the audience certainly loved it, and I
believe that’s the most important thing to satisfy the paying
customer, and it would seem from the reaction that you did not
disappoint.
Well done to
all involved.
Robbie has
most recently conceived/directed and choreographed 'Hearts on Fire'.
Prior to this, he has choreographed West Side Story for which he
received Lyrebird nominations and went on to choreograph the
Lyrebird awards. He has been involved with many theatre companies in
Melbourne playing lead, supporting and ensemble roles. He is a
professional Latin Dance Coach and adjudicator by trade for
Dancesport Australia, and has traveled the world competing and
demonstrating since turning professional in 2000.
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