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A PEP Perspective
Presented by: PEP Productions
Venue: Cromwell Road Theatre, South Yarra
Reviewer: Melissa Trickey
Date Reviewed: 22nd February, 2008
A
perspective on the PEP Perpective, which brought many musicals into
the audiences’ perspective with success, presented by PEP
Productions.
PEP are a relatively new company whose objective is to present
contemporary works that are not often presented on our stages. The
concept of the PEP Perspective, which I think is extremely smart
thinking by the powers that be at PEP, is to present songs from
musicals that they are considering producing in the immediate future
and letting the audience vote on which one they would like to see
PEP produce.
As their past shows have had varying audience numbers, I think
gauging the opinion of potential audiences is a great move to ensure
the success of the company, as new companies often struggle
financially. Perhaps more companies should follow suit. But, on with
the review of the concert!
The eight shows featured were: Songs for a New World, The Full
Monty, The Last Five Years, Bat Boy, Assassins, I Love You You’re
Perfect Now Change, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown and Parade.
They also threw in other songs for a tasty treat, like The Nicest
Kids in Town, The “C” Word, and You Could Drive A Person Crazy.
I
thought some segments worked better than others. The best presented
segment overall was The Last Five Years, but my favourites were
You're A Good Man Charlie Brown and I Love You... (what's with the
long show titles, it makes it more difficult for me, guys!)
TL5Y was the best, in my opinion, because of the songs chosen and
the people chosen to sing them and the way they were presented. I
could appreciate the thought that went into the staging. It got the
most ticks is what I'm saying! I do love the musical very much, but
that's when I'm hardest to impress, as I don't like it when people
“ruin” my beloved favourites. So, very well done on impressing me!
Charlie Brown and I Love You... were both very entertaining
segments. I'm not sure why I thought TL5Y was better, perhaps it
just had more impact. I think the key to the success of these three
segments were the songs chosen.
Other segments floundered in this respect. People rave about Bat
Boy, but I wasn't overly impressed by it, I think it has to do with
the song choice. The songs were boring and the way it was presented
didn't grab me, it had nothing to do with the performers.
And I must say I'm not a fan of Assassins, it's boring and
depressing, DON'T DO IT, PEP!!!! Too hard basket! I loved the songs
of Parade but it was lacking a certain something. It's so hard to do
songs out of the dramatic context that they are intended to be
performed in and I think this was the case with the Parade songs,
which is in no way a criticism of the performers. I think this is
another wrong song choice situation. There are a million amazing
songs in that show, I'm not sure what PEP gave was the most
effective representation. A very, very difficult choice for a new
company.
The only criticism I have about the format of the concert is that it
was too long, 31 songs may be a bit excessive! But the added in
songs were a great addition for the most part. Nicest Kids in Town
had a fantastic energy to it, and great chorey. You Could Drive a
Person Crazy was hot! The only song I really didn't like was Louder
Than Words, I found it a bit bizarre when all of a sudden one of the
a spectators of the Trial of Leo Frank was standing to sing “Why do
we play with fire.....?” Didn't work for me at all.
Overall I thought the direction was good, but a patchy, perhaps the
staging of some songs within the segments didn't help with the
cohesiveness of segment, didn't really convey the story. And as I
said before, I really didn't agree with the inclusion of Louder than
Words. Concerts are so difficult to stage, perhaps more so than
full-scale musicals because you everyone has to work harder to pull
songs off. But there were certainly more hits than misses in this
case.
The cast were great, but there were too many of them. Not many
people were given the opportunity to shine as there were simply so
many talented people and the standard was so high that it was hard
for people to stand out. Some people only got half a song to sing
and that was it, except for chorus numbers. Some performers did grab
the spot light, turn it around and dazzle me with it however. For
example:
JESS BARLOW. FREAKING AMAZING.
This girl can do it all, she sings and dances, but she can act too,
she's funny and poignant, dude! It's not fair! Share some of that
with the rest of us! With three knockout renditions of Surabaya
Santa, Climbing Uphill and Diva's Lament, this girl rocked my socks
alright! I'm not sure I can deliver any higher praise, so I'll leave
it at that.
There were, of course, other standouts in the cast. James Cutler
once again shows his versatility and fantastic vocal control with
Shiska Goddess. Particularly, his duet with Kathryn Moloney, The
Doctor Is In, was just a joy to watch, the delivery, the comedic
timing, simple brilliance, well done to the both of you!
One of the standout songs of the night - Will Sayers has a hot voice
and a flare for the dramatic delivery with solos in The New World
and The Gun Song. Michelle Crupi's rendition of Life With Harold had
it all: not only does this girl have a smokin’ hot voice, but the
delivery was dead on! What a presentation! Emma Caldwell's
presentation of My New Philosophy was another example of a perfect
delivery, with stunning and effortless vocals. Luigi Lecentre is
extremely engaging, an astounding actor, and great with accents!
Musical Direction was pretty tight. The standard of the singing
overall was quite impressive, the ensemble singing was to die for!
And the band, though I have no idea where they actually were,
performed very solidly. (Pretty good for someone who went to Monash,
Tony!)
The sets were minimal but appropriate and effective. The lighting
however was not always as effective, with spotlights being
continuously wrong, having to be turned off and on again, I'm not
sure if this was because of incorrect cues or cast blunders, but it
was a little distracting.
Overall I was quite impressed and entertained. However, what I am
most concerned about is what PEP get out of this concert. I think
they have a lot riding on this next show, and they couldn't have
picked a tougher bunch to choose from! I really hope they choose the
right one for them, but of course, only time will tell. There are so
many factors they need to consider, and I think which company, doing
what, when, will affect their potential audiences. There is a limit,
even for dedicated theatre people like all of us, to how many
productions of the same show we can see in a year. I wish them all
the best with this arduous task and urge all of you readers that you
support them in the admiral goal of presenting lesser known works to
us.
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