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Hey Hollywood
[title of show]
Date of Show:
Thursday, 26th August 2010 (All day)
Event:
[title of show]
Venue:
Theatreworks Jeff and Hunter are writing a show. This show.
Confession #1: Despite the rave reports and accolades, I missed [title of show] the first time around .
Confession #2: Listening to the cast recording of [title of show] gave me the urge to eject it from my cd player and throw it out of my car window.
This time around, with my school musical long over, I am no longer a tosser virgin, and I cannot wait to go back to the cd and listen to it with the context and characters clear. Back by popular demand, [title of show] is a tight, joyful show that is not to be missed by fans of music theatre.
Best friends Jeff (David Spencer) and Hunter (Darryn Gatt) decide to enter a musical in the NYMF, but entries are due in only three weeks. Workshopping with old friend Susan (Laura Fitzpatrick) and new friend Heidi (Lara Thew), they write a musical about… writing a musical.Just as Heidi has to fit workshops around her involvement in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Melbourne’s [title of show] has lost original cast member Michael Lindner to Disney’s Mary Poppins. Newcomer Gatt neatly matches the sparkle and verve of the returning cast. The camaraderie and trust between the four leads is palpable and makes the show even more of a pleasure to watch.
All musical fans will enjoy the show but Broadway aficionados will really love all the in-jokes and barbed comments. Rather than including the obvious crowd-pleasers, Jeff and Hunter work their way through more obscure references including Mary Stout, Dee Hoty, Broadway’s Naked Cowboy and many more.
The most admirable aspect of the show is that it actually is a totally original musical, which is what they set out to write. The easiest thing would have been to just include parodies of other songs and shows, having the audience laugh at the characters. Instead, we are taken in by the endearing leads and laugh with them at the vanities, paradoxes and roadblocks of Broadway. Jeff and Hunter dream of winning an OBIE, hope to be mentioned on NY1 and pray for support from the chaterrati on Talkin’ Broadway’s All That Chat
Knowing that we are watching their completed musical could remove some of the suspense but the pace and energy are maintained throughout, thanks in no small part to committed performances from the cast. Singing is also uniformly strong, sounding, in fact, much sweeter than might be expected for a comedy like this. The cheeky choreography is quite hilarious and very well executed, especially by Spencer. Congratulations to the dynamic team of Aaron Joyner, Director, Sophie Thomas, Musical Director (and ‘Mary’ the pianist), and Jessica Enes, Associate Director/Movement Director.
Spencer highlights Jeff’s neuroses and frustrations, while still making him a thoroughly likeable guy. Gatt has a gorgeous twinkle in his eye as Hunter. Fitzpatrick plays against type as the world weary Susan, but is, of course, gorgeous whatever type she is playing. Thew is a delectable Heidi, shining in her 11 o’clock number A Way Back Then.
[title of show] plays at Theatreworks until 11 September. A must see for musical fans.
State:
VIC