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Forbidden Broadway: Greatest Hits Volume One
Presented by: SHooSH Productions
Venue: St. Cromwell Road Theatre,
South Yarra
Reviewer: Chris Baldock
Date Reviewed: Wednesday 4th February 2009
If you don’t
know your Mandy Patinkin from your Carol Channing, your Sondheim
from your Herman, then I’m not sure if Forbidden Broadway is
for you. A loving but riotous send-up of Broadway musicals (and
plays too but they don’t get a look in during this incarnation) it’s
one of those shows that rarely sees the light of day on these
shores. It really does cater to a limited audience and is a brave
choice for any company to tackle, not only for the “bums on seats”
issue
but also for trying to cast performers up to the challenge.
Judging from
SHooSH Productions’ hot and steamy opening night, these brave lads
and lasses have taken a gamble that has paid off handsomely.
Throwing it into the Midsumma Festival was a good idea to begin with
as this revue-style smorgasbord of hilarious parody is a show
queen’s wet dream. The audience on opening night responded with
raucous approval to most of the numbers - and not just because of
they were friends or family of the production team. This was a tough
crowd and God help the actors if they were anything less than spot
on with their impersonations.
And, for the
most part, spot on they were. James Cutler, Rachel Juhasz, Gerard
Lane and Laura Marcucci, each expert vocalists and versatile all
round performers, worked harder than virtually any quartet I have
seen before. With multiple quick costume changes and bucket-loads of
exuberance, they grabbed the style of the comedy required for this
piece and didn’t let go, realising the subtle but vital difference
between larger-than-life and over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek from
knock-‘em-over-the-head. Their execution of Nathan Firmin’s clever
and, at times, inspired choreography had this reviewer
embarrassingly guffawing. Nathan and Brad Fischer, as co-directors,
know their Broadway as they brilliantly showcased the essence of all
the musicals parodied throughout the evening. Bob Fosse gets an
early ribbing with James and Gerard particularly hilarious as
supposed sexy
Chicago
dancers. Les Miserables and its infamous revolve gets a
popular end-of-Act-One makeover and Idina Menzel’s Defying
Gravity from Wicked was mercilessly but lovingly mocked
complete with SHooSH’s own “no-expense-spared” flying moment. Very
funny stuff.
The cast, as
busy as they were, each had a moment or two to shine beyond the
polished ensemble work. Expertly (and cheekily) accompanied by
Cameron Thomas on a mini-grand, it was clear that many hours of
study on the original subjects had been put it, with particular
emphasis on the vocal traits. Famous voices such as Channing, Ethel
Merman and Barbra Streisand were captured perfectly. For me however
there were two standouts: Mr Cutler’s take on Mandy Patinkin (Somewhat
Overindulgent) was sheer genius, capturing Mr Patinkin’s unusual
style to a tee (seriously, if anyone is starting a James Cutler Fan
Club please sign me up. This multi-talented performer never fails to
blow me away with his versatility); and Ms Marcucci’s fantastic take
on Liza deservedly earned the biggest audience reaction of the
night. Ms Juhasz and
Mr Lane
also had great moments including Rachel’s turn on Carol Channing and
Gerard’s I Enjoy Being A Cat.
As much as I
loved the production overall and was impressed by the talent both on
and off stage, there were a couple of moments that didn’t work for
me, most of it to do with the writing and it’s lack of relevance to
today’s audience. It’s important to remember that the songs are a
compilation of over 25 years of Forbidden Broadway
productions. I am unsure whether the directors were allowed to
choose whatever songs they liked to include or were forced to work
with what they were given. For example, as great as the ladies were
performing Chita/Rita, about the rivalry between Chita Rivera
and Rita Moreno, it is actually quite a dated premise and didn’t
seem to resonate with the audience. Also the lyrics are very clever
in all of the songs but quite often the tempo was so quick, or
diction wasn’t quite up to scratch, that many of the witticisms were
lost. You probably needed to know the recording to fully appreciate
it. And the final problem was one only apparent in Ambition,
a take on Tradition from Fiddler On The Roof. This got
the most tepid response of the night due not only to its lack of
relevance (being an actor in New York) but also to what appeared to
be a little bit of self-indulgence at the end. After a lovely
buildup with all 4 singers, it was left to James to bring the number
home. Well, it became so drawn out, it lost the energy that the
piece created initially and fizzled out. I assumed they were doing a
Zero Mostel indulgence-thing but theatrically it didn’t quite work.
But these are
really very minor grizzles in what was an outstandingly entertaining
piece of musical theatre fluff. To say anymore would ruin the
theatrical joy of this piece. The woman next to me did not laugh
once. But then again she obviously wasn’t the type to have a
Broadway show cd blaring in her car or while she’s doing the
housework. If you are one of those people, as I am sure most readers
of this site must be, then you would be crazy to miss this brilliant
confection of fun. Just leave your purist hat at home. This is a
musical that I always thought would not work locally. Thank you
Nathan, Brad et al for proving me wrong.
The show is
only on this week. See What’s On for details. Seriously, if
you are a Broadway musicals fan, do not miss it!
A director of
over 40 productions and an actor in over 80, Chris is a highly
respected director/actor in the "straight" theatre scene with 4
Victorian Drama League Awards, 2 Lyrebird awards and over 30 other
theatre awards to his credit. His production of The Laramie Project
for Act-o-Matic 3000 at Chapel off Chapel won the Victorian Green
Room Award for Best Independent Production as well as making many of
the year's "Best" lists and earning a rare 5-star review in The
Sunday Age, and his production of Love! Valour! Compassion! for the
Midsumma Festival was named by the Herald Sun as one of the best
productions of the year. He has also received Music Theatre Guild
nominations for performance (The Duke in MUMCo's
Big
River) and
direction (the Victorian première of A Slice of Saturday Night at St
Martins). He has been an in-house adjudicator for many theatre
companies as well as the Victorian Drama League Awards and the
Victorian Music Theatre Guild Awards. He is currently directing
Cloudstreet for Heidelberg Theatre Company and will be following
that with The Elephant Man for Malvern Theatre Company and
Kindertransport for Williamstown Little Theatre. By day Chris is a
manager for a major Ombudsman's scheme. In what little spare time he
has, he sleeps!
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