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A
Musical Showcase
Presented by:
Mountain District Musical Society
Venue:
Athenaeum Theatre, Lilydale
Reviewer:
Felicity Hill
Date
Reviewed:
Saturday 18 April, 2009
(8pm)
Flying under the banner of Mountain District Musical Society ‘A
musical Showcase’ was a representation of performers from four
amateur musical theatre groups. Along with MDMS we had singers from
Babirra Musical Theatre, Players and SLAMS.
After taking in the ambience of the historical Athenaeum Theatre
which was kindly donated for the evening, I made my way to my seat.
Our MC for the night made his way up onto stage to introduce the
first bracket of songs. Now let me say up front that I’m not a big
fan of MC’s – I’d rather just let the items flow on from each other
without interruption. I do understand, however, that he had a job to
do in plugging forthcoming productions for these groups. And oh how
he plugged! I felt like I was stuck in an amateur theatre
infomercial at times. The curtain finally opened to the cast of
Oklahoma. They sang and danced their way through ‘Kansas City’ from
MDMS’ next production in June. This was a lively start to the
evening. I would have liked to see more ensemble pieces throughout
the night. This was followed by three songs from Fiddler on the
Roof, Babirra’s May/June production. Adrian Carr gave a polished
rendition of ‘If I were a Rich Man’.
Representing Players was Natasha Basset who has written and directed
her own production of Love/Sick. Along with Jonathan Guthrie-Jones
and Paul Watson, Natasha performed ‘Leavings Not The Only Way To Go’
from Big River. The trio’s strong voices harmonised well and
complimented the gutsy song. The Mason Sisters (Trish Guthrie-Jones,
Ruth Clift & Elizabeth Harvey) sang three songs: ‘There is a Ship’,
‘All Around My Hat’ and ‘Dream, Dream’. Their voices blended
beautifully and they handled the three part harmonies with ease. The
first act had a variety of songs including ‘Love don’t need a reason
(Jonathan Guthrie-Jones), ‘Can’t Help Lovin That Man’ (Kirsten
McMillan) and ‘Love Changes Everything’ (Julian Durham).
Act two opened with two songs presented by SLAMS from their recent
‘In Harmony’ concert. Brenton Cosier sang ‘Proud of Your Boy’ from
Aladdin and was then joined by Michael Butler and the pair belted
out ‘You’re nothing without me’ from City of Angels. I really
enjoyed the Crowded House bracket performed by Pineapple Head (Paul
Watson & Matt Skinner). It was great to have a bit of iconic pop
thrown in amongst the predominately musical theatre songs. Kirsten
McMillan really showed off her classically trained voice with ‘O’mio
Babbino Caro’ by Puccini. Another lady with a golden voice was
Rhonda Yates who gave a comical rendition of ‘Dolls Song’ from Tales
of Hoffman. The audience was delightfully entertained to the point
where one member (who shall remain nameless) almost laid an egg.
Slightly distracting for the rest of us. The concert concluded with
the title song from Oklahoma. Again, great to see another ensemble
piece and the audience obviously enjoyed it given the rousing
applause at the end of the number. Special mention must be made of
the accompanist who did a fantastic job all night.
This was a great opportunity for these companies to promote their
forthcoming productions and while there were a couple of great
performances, it did feel a little thrown together in places
particularly in the wardrobe department. I realise that performers
are normally asked to provide their own clothes and this usually
involves wearing something black, perhaps with a contrasting colour,
but somebody needs to oversee that the performers look presentable.
Some looked like they just got out of bed; others just shouldn’t be
allowed to dress themselves. Just because it’s a concert shouldn’t
mean that we don’t care what we look like. Yes I have a thing about
it!
On a more positive note, it was pleasing to see these companies
supporting each other by coming together for this event. A lot of
smaller companies are struggling and we need to do all we can to
ensure that they stay viable. They provide an affordable alternative
to professional theatre and the production standard is extremely
high in most cases. If you would like details on any of these groups
and their future productions please see the theatre people what’s on
and auditions sections.
Coming from a family background of musical theatre, Felicity has had
over thirty years experience, having been involved with many
productions as a performer, choreographer, director and costume
designer. She has received numerous nominations and awards from the
Victorian Theatre Guild and the Lyrebird Awards for performing and
costume design.
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