Tomorrow Morning

There was something delightfully different about The Loft at Chapel Off Chapel on Sunday, and it wasn’t just the new and improved seating bank. It was the music.

From the 10th to the 13th of March audiences were treated to a return season of Laurence Mark Wythe’s award-winning musical Tomorrow Morning by the Just Us Production Company, a welcome expansion to the repertoire of The Loft at Chapel Off Chapel.

Fortunate enough to be there on closing night, I found Tomorrow Morning's warmth and witticism, coupled with the intimate setting of The Loft, to be a sure-fire recipe for success and it is clear why Just Us Production Company decided to present a return season of the show.

That being said, we are all the richer for having four more nights of Tomorrow Morning than none at all, and I wish Just Us Productions greater successes and longer seasons for the future. Their choices of musicals in Bloin, Forman, and Salka’s I Sing and Wythe’s Tomorrow Morning so far indicate a sound understanding of the genre and what will work in an Australian market.

For those that don’t know Tomorrow Morning, it is an artfully interwoven tale of two couples (Kat and John, played by Krystal Shute and Blake Testro, and Catherine and Jack, played by Natasha Bassett and Jonathon Guthrie-Jones) at the beginning and seeming end of married life. These scenarios lay the platform for some of Wythe’s comic and heartfelt musical numbers and suspenseful drama, which has both a brilliant twist and a poignant message of redeeming love.

All performers were superbly mic'ed and mixed, however I would encourage Musical Director Glen Barnett to seek more dynamics in his direction of vocals. This is with particular reference to long and sustained notes that were constantly belted out, taking the shine away from the earnest song cycle. I would like to acknowledge the excellent work done by both Barnett and the band of Amy Cumming, Kara Williams, and Alex Welch in bringing Wythe’s score to life.

Of the four performers, Jonathon Guthrie-Jones should be singled out for praise. His enigmatic character of Jack anchored the piece and was a delight to behold. Guthrie-Jones showed himself to be a complete package, as his singing, dancing, and acting were all of a high class. He did, however, have a tendency to mumble at times. But again, with a longer run, these kinks would have been ironed out making the character of Jack a real highlight for the show.

Young performer Krystal Shute had a wonderful stage presence as the character of Kat, and really came into her own as the performance went on. Krystal’s scene-work alongside Blake Testro as John created some wonderful onstage moments. Shute could have, however, done with some more tutoring from Barnett as her singing faulted at times throughout the performance.

As with Shute, Blake Testro improved throughout the performance in both singing and acting, however his movements were heavily restricted onstage and he appeared to use too many gestures within his performance. This was most evident in the opening number of the Second Act, the highly comical song "The Pool Guy," which would have had greater comic effect should Testro have had greater freedom of movement.

Natasha Bassett played the character of Catherine, the emotional core of Tomorrow Morning. It is Catherine who illustrates Wythe’s message of loves redeeming qualities through her taking back of estranged husband Jack moments before the signing of the divorce papers.

Bassett’s character in Catherine therefore has the biggest character arc in the show. Bassett appeared to struggle with this task, but did rise to the occasion in some moments of scene-work with Guthrie-Jones and in songs that featured her lower register.

Like both Testro and Shute, Bassett grew in her performance as the show developed. However, ultimately the character of Catherine fell short of what was required. This, I feel, lies as much with Director Shaun Kingma as it does with Bassett. Particularly in the blocking, lighting, and stylistic choices of some critical scenes featuring Bassett’s character.

Kingma could have utilised the stage more effectivley to heighten the tension between both Catherine and Jack, for too often they were placed close together.

Just Us Production’s Tomorrow Morning borrowed from other productions of the play in utilising a split stage, however I would like to call in the use of the audio/visual screen for questioning.

Personally I found the audio/visual screen placed upstage-centre superfluous to the performance. It detracted from the numbers and showed that Kingma did not trust his performers to create similar images through song and storytelling.

Shute’s ‘'When I’m A Bride'’ was moving in and of itself, and did not need to have video footage of a flower-girl for cute factor. As Shute’s Kat moved downstage through the song and looked out over the audience (setting up a moving image like an imagined wedding march) she was upstaged by Kingma’s images on the screen; her final turn to be in seeming profile with the footage smacked of being contrite and ‘staged.’

Jack and John’s ''Look What We Made,'’ one of Tomorrow Morning's major turning-points again was the same. Again Kingma used stock footage, only this time it further displaced the meaning behind the song. ‘'Look What We Made'’ is just as much about Jack and John’s relationships with their respective partners as it is about the boy. It sows the seeds for Jack’s apology and John’s romantic act, so the focus on one distinct image dilutes Wythe’s storyline and the show's resolution.

Kingma’s lighting was also filled with hits and misses, with the use of warm amber and straw gels on blue-back lighting showing an adept knowledge of stage lighting to go with his minimalist set. His purple special on Kat was, in a word, breathtaking, however, the spread of ‘dead-spots’ and shadows was simply unforgivable and visually detracted from the piece.

All in all, Just Us Productions is blessed with a great knowledge base of musicals; a Production Team that selected its venue well; a gifted Musical Director that most likely would have wished to work longer with his cast; a Director whom attempted to do the best with the resources at hand; and a cast eager to share their love of performing who will only go from strength to strength.