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Kismet - A Musical Arabian Night
Presented by: Diamond Valley Singers and
Eltham Orchestra
Venue: Warrandyte High School
Reviewer: Craig Maloney
Date Reviewed: 4th July 2008
Kismet
is a musical written in 1953 by Robert Wright and George Forrest,
adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and produced by Charles
Lederer. The musical was adapted from the book by Charles Lederer
and Luther Davis, based on the play by Edward Knoblock. It premiered
on December 3, 1953 at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York .
Kismet
weaves a lush tapestry of romance and melody around one fateful day
in the life of Hajj, an impoverished poet of legendary Baghdad.
Begging outside the Mosque, Hajj is kidnapped by a notorious bandit
convinced that the poet cursed him with the loss of his son years
ago. Tricking the credulous robber, Hajj returns in triumph to the
bazaar with a purse of gold to shower on his lovely daughter,
Marsinah, only to be arrested and brought before the evil Wazir.
Saved from certain death by the Wazir's wife, Lalume, who plans a
more entertaining fate for him, Hajj embarks on a dizzying series of
adventures at court. In the meantime, the young Caliph roams
disguised through the bazaar and falls in love with Marsinah and she
with him. Fate continues to play more tricks before the day is over
and Allah's last prayer sung,
the boy gets the girl and the sub plot romances all sort them selves
out, the villianous Wazir gets what he deserves and in true musical
theatre form they all live happy ever after,
Diamond Valley Singers are a true community theatre company, where
they give anyone who wants to be involved in the production an
opportunity to be involved they only audition their leads. All
proceeds of their productions get donated to notable charities. In
the 23 years it has been formed they have donated over $90,000.00.
how cool is that.
Saying that what an extremely large show and requirements DVS took
on to stage this one, it was performed at Warrandyte High School in
a theatrette which required clever staging in such a limited space
with an enormous cast and to meet the demanding set changes.
There was some good creative direction from Lyn Counsel, who has had
many years experience in the theatre scene as director, performer
and set designer overall the set was quite clever which was enhanced
by the colours used in the lighting, costumes were a little
disappointing as some of them were a little drab and didn’t quite
fit the era of the story, for example the Muslim women during this
time would not have been seen in the streets or in public without
their heads being fully covered. Why don’t costumers pay particular
attention to things like shoes and hairstyles also? This show could
have dazzled the audience in the costuming if costume director paid
more attention to detail, however it was a very large cast and I am
sure Maxine Lemcke did the best she could. Well done.
Overall there was some masking at times throughout the performance.
The very limited choreography that was designed by Julie Geddes was
well executed, but I felt there was more opportunity for some very
experienced dancers to really strut their stuff, and entrance the
audience with some real balletic dancing this however didn’t do it
for me.
There were some really notable performances Lara Slavin who played
the poets daughter “Marsinah” was an absolute joy to watch and
listen to her singing was absolutely amazing, faultless and was an
outstanding performer. We will see a lot more of her in the Amateur
theatre scene no doubt great work Lara.
Gerard Schnieder who played the Caliph showed that he had the triple
threat factor, he could sing dance and act and was a good choice to
play the role, and he was a pleasure to listen too, as well as he
showed that when he was on stage the audience took note of him.
Great stage craft, Gerard.
John Filonzi who is very well known in the theatrical arena, held
the comic villainous role of the show as the Wazir. He gave a
performance that was faultless and showed his years of experience,
he had some great costumes and sang nicely and executed some great
comedic moments. Great work, John.
Graham Ford as the poet, who I believe is the founder of DVS, held
his own up there with some very experienced and dynamic leads,
however his diction was a little unclear in his dialogue, having
said this he was still a solid performer.
Meg Warren, who played the seductress Lalume was well cast. Her
diction and timing was a joy to observe and she drew the audience
into her character (some could say she even seduced the audience), I
personally would have liked to see her do some more choreography.
She is another we are definitely going to see more of.
There were many other great performances. Some cameo roles that I
would like to mention is Brad Buckingham who played Jawan. He did a
fine job and was very convincing.
The three princesses of Abadu, Suzie, Louise and Catherine Wilton
(who are actually sisters) did a splendid job in these roles they
were a joy to watch they exuded energy and enthusiasm
Overall a great job and well done to all the cast, crew and
production team of Kismet, I am sure there are no disappointed
theatregoers when they come and see this production. Chookas for the
remainder of the season.
Craig is well known in Musical Theatre circles and has over 20
yrs experience in professional and non – professional theatre. He
has directed over 20 musicals for various companies, numerous
cabaret shows and plays, his highlight shows include; Grease, Sound
Of Music, Annie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,
Anything Goes and Guys & Dolls - 3 times. He directed and adapted
the script for the premiere production of Priscilla, Queen of the
Desert for Camberwell Theatre Company. He recently returned to the
stage as an actor playing Walt Waldowski for the Australasian
premiere of M*A*S*H for PTC and is co-directing the upcoming
September production of The Full Monty. He is member of the
management committee for Music Theatre Guild and is the current Vice
President of the Lyrebirds Awards and will be co-directing the next
awards ceremony. |