★★★★★
Davine Productions. Star Theatres. 20 Feb 2020
Rave, rave, rave! Davine have done it again!
Methinks Producer / Director David Gauci is going to need a bigger awards shelf at the Davine production offices. Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is a theatrical triumph, and what’s more comprises an entirely local cast!
The jukebox musical, with book by Douglas McGrath, tells the story of Carole Joan Klein (stage name Carole King), from her discovery by Don Kirshner and employment at the Brill Building in 1958, through to her transition onto the stage as a performer in her own right in the late 1970s.
The story tracks the highs and lows of King’s career and marriage to Gerry Goffin, and cleverly intersperses many of her and Goffin’s greatest hits, still recognised today as standards of the genre.
Gauci and Davine Productions are no strangers to success, having produced multiple award-winning productions; this show undoubtedly will be added to that list.
Gauci has assembled a stellar cast (where does he find them?) of spectacular young triple threats who could have performed out of a cardboard box and still blown our socks off. Gauci's simple yet wonderfully techy set is brought vividly to life by Shenayde Wilkinson-Sarti’s delicious choreography, Tim Bates' lighting, and Louise Watkins wonderful costumes. The theatre is filled to the rafters with the awesome sound and musical stylings of Peter Johns' band, all perfectly amplified by Allpro Audio. This production is second to none.
The ensemble cast completely own their time in the spotlight, and special mentions are warranted for Jordan Coulter, Carly Meakin, Louisa Vilinne, Alisa James, and Anthony Vawser, for their solo renditions of various numbers which were all vocally spectacular.
Choreographers love it when dancers are up for a challenge, and Wilkinson-Sarti must have relished working with such a talented group. The big dance numbers reveal a choreographer and her dancers in perfect synchronicity; the energy and flow is electric and the choreography almost cinematic in its application.
But in this cast full of leading men and ladies, it is the actual leads that completely steal the show. Kate Anolak delivers comedy gold as Carole’s mother, Genie Klein; Brendan Cooney is measured and mature, and provides perfect balance to the youthful enthusiasm of his musical prodigies; Joshua Kerr is all at once funny and sincere in his portrayal of Barry Mann, and as his lover and music writing partner Cynthia Weil, Maya Miller is all exuberance and class packaged with a pitch perfect singing voice and enviable stage presence.
Trevor Anderson lays it all on the line as manic Gerry Goffin in what surely must be one of his best performances to date; his characterisation delivers on the rollercoaster of emotions that provide the spring board for King’s emotional and musical inspiration. Anderson is absolutely engaging to watch, especially singing Up On The Roof and Pleasant Valley Sunday.
But it is Jemma McCulloch’s performance as Carole King that will have them talking for years to come. What McCulloch gives is more than just performance, it transcends the stage, she isn’t playing Carole King – she is Carole King. McCulloch’s smoky, sultry tones are all at once filled with desire, delight, sadness, and love. She has a tonality that draws you in and envelopes you, taking your breathe completely away. McCulloch could sing me the phone book and I'd listen for hours. Sign me up for the first copy of the cast album!
The entire season of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical sold out months prior to opening. So beg, borrow, or steal your way in, or prepare to live with the regret of missing one of 2020’s best local productions; a big, but easy call to make so early in the year!
Paul Rodda
When: 20 to 29 Feb
Where: Star Theatres
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★
Adelaide Fringe Festival. The Peacock at Gluttony. 19 Feb 2020
The Fringe typically presents scores of circus and physical theatre acts, but By A Thread is atypical and is a must-see!
By A Thread comprises seven artists – four women and three men, all slim, trim and terrific – and a single long white rope suspended between two large pulleys high above. There is a cushioned mat on the ground and no safety net. The setting is minimalist in the extreme, and the artists have only each other and the harshly illuminated rope to rely upon.
For nearly fifty minutes the artists have us in awe with what they can do with their bodies. There are dazzling displays of balance, strength, grace, poise and razor sharp precision in all of their aerial and ground routines. And there is emotion. The routines are performed against a sensitively designed and carefully constructed soundscape that begins and ends with some wistfully evocative solo piano music by Philip Glass, one of the greatest minimalist composers alive. But there is nothing minimalist in what the artists do. Each piece of music establishes the tone and ‘feel’ for each gymnastic vignette, and there is almost a sense of narrative that weaves through the entire performance.
Beginning and ending on the same piece of music is a nice touch. It’s as if the rope finally loops in on itself bringing everything to a close.
The one constant in the performance is the rope that the artists use to hoist themselves and each other through the air and to support them in their poetic, complex and dazzling choreographed manoeuvres.
The interplay between the artists is palpable. Of course they indicate to each other about their readiness to do particular things, but the communication is deeper than that. One senses trust and genuine affection (even romance!), tenderness and even joyful mischievousness!
In some sense, the whole event is like a visual symphony, a kinetic piece of art: there is structure and robustness; delicacy and gentleness; power and presence; intelligent interplay and counterpoint. Above all, it is passionate and visually exciting.
This is the last Adelaide Fringe festival this company will be participating in. So, do yourself a favour and experience their art before they leave. For the final time. This is no ordinary physical theatre.
Kym Clayton
When: 19 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: The Peacock at Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. The Peacock at Gluttony. 19 Feb 2020
The best stand-up comedians have a well-honed ability to see the minutiae in the mundane and then exaggerate and embellish them so that they become extraordinary. They are opportunists, and through quick thinking and slick language can make the inconsequential become exceptionally funny. They make incisive comparisons and easily think about opposites: if this, then why not that? They have a sense of narrative and can connect disparate ideas to produce a coherent whole. Above all, they have a sixth sense about people and know how far to push boundaries, and in what direction.
Tom Gleeson has all these skills in spades.
Undoubtedly Gleeson’s show – aptly entitled Lighten Up – has a ‘play list’, but when a woman in the front row easily reaches and unties one of his shoelaces, Gleeson seizes the opportunity to make something of it. Within thirty seconds the near capacity audience (in a very large venue!) is dissolving in laughter as the act of re-tying his shoelace quickly becomes an entrée into discussing the audience member’s fertility and taxation status! No one laughed harder than the woman herself! Instant celebrity!
From then on one gag follows another, and his barbed comments about some of the unfortunate outcomes of the recent bush fire crisis lead to comparisons that are nothing less than comedic gold.
He gently mocks his own family, and himself, as sort of antidote for mercilessly lampooning others. A feature of his show is how he cleverly relates the tag line of one gag to another: every joke is enjoyed again, and again.
The highlight of the show is Gleeson’s comments about him winning his Gold Logie, and the audience all but falls off their chairs with gut wrenching laughter as he outlines the whole sorry saga. But a good gag always keeps on giving, and Gleeson takes the audience into his confidence about future possibilities, but to say anymore would be a spoiler. Suffice to say, “shoosh”! Too obscure? Well, you’ll just need to ‘lighten up’, go to his show and hear for yourself!
Kym Clayton
When: 19 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: The Peacock at Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★
Motley & Mac. Gluttony, Rymill Park. 18 Feb 2020
Motley & Mac is an Australian performing arts company created by American Tim Motley and Irishman Patrick McCullagh. Over the last six years they have hosted Prohibition, Best of Kids’ Fringe, and this revue, Best of Fringe Variety at the Adelaide Fringe.
Even with introductions but without a program or even a running sheet, it’s difficult to record who each of the entertainers are – certainly a handout would serve as a reference for attendees to look up and book those performers whom they want to see more of.
The show began with American Tymisha Harris’s channeling of black American Josephine Baker, an international cabaret superstar whose star had faded until Harris and company conceived of Josephine, on offer in the Fringe. Harris is a compelling chanteuse and her two numbers were an exciting exposition. The magician and master of ceremonies showed some wizardry with playing cards, and later he managed to pick which extended hand of an audience member held a coin - four times in a row - just like he said he would. He even tells us how he does it. I did the math – there is only a 6.25% chance of doing so. His comic and relaxed manner makes me want to see more of him. The acrobatic acts ranged from “When am I supposed to clap?” to “OMG, that’s amazing!” A balancing act involving a precariously placed dozen martini glasses took the breathe away. What goes through my mind is how much time must be spent rehearsing to earn a few shekels. High-energy hoopologist Anna Fisher passed Public Relations 101 and handed out flyers after the show for her Phat Cab Club circus cabaret in this year’s Fringe.
Best of Fringe Variety is on every night except Mondays until 15 March, and every show is different, depending on which Fringe artists want to entertain and/or promote their full-length shows, so it’s not necessarily the best, as advertised, but hopefully some of the best. And you can’t possibly have the full mix of lollies every night; the burlesque acts, comedians, illusionists, tap dancers, strong men, bubble sculptors and puppeteers cited in the blurb were absent in the show I saw on opening night. So life is like a box of chocolates.
David Grybowski
When: 19 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: Gluttony, Rymill Park
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★
The Chaser Quarterly and The Shovel Present. Gluttony, Rymill Park. 18 Feb 2020
Fresh from their national tour of War on 2019 – Live!, James Schloeffel and Charles Firth team up again, this time, to lambast the anti-scientific community. Opening Tuesday night was a near-full house of hundreds of anticipating fans familiar with Schloeffel’s political satire news headline website, www.theshovel.com.au and Firth’s all-media and politically merciless hit, The Chaser. A formidable team, indeed!
First in their sights is Swisse Vitamins who recently lost energy because of their unsubstantiated and vague claims about the efficacy of their supplement products. Next was Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop.com, a veritable treasure trove of anti-science with its overpriced and useless products. The anti-vaccination movement took a direct hit. Schoeffel and Firth trade ironies and barbs in a stand-up didactic format aided by slides and some video (when are we going to get new names for these things that don’t exist anymore?) that sees the humour in the stupor. The ringleaders are the blond mopheads, Trump and Johnson, and following up the rear, PM Scomo. The Chaser is famous for faking reality and the revelation of their bogus info website and the surfers caught in their web was amazing for its audacity and extraordinary results. Even theshovel was cited as a source for news when it’s entirely a well-known set up. Go figure. The team explains the modus operandi - you sidestep the well-educated and target the most dupable with fake graphs – even obviously fake ones, and you can do some real mischief – like the relationship between sultanas and car accidents. The most hilarious segment was requests for behavioural guidance based on the Bible directed to Israel Folau, that lightning rod of religious freedom. I’m not surprised they repeated it from the War on 2019 – Live! show. Homeopathy is not unscathed.
Opening night had its drop-out moments that you probably won’t see in subsequent performances. While the dynamic duo commands the audience, the appearance of guests or a funny song would be welcome. And yet, I laughed and laughed and laughed again. The subtext is frightening, so laugh while you can.
Book soon. Friday’s and Saturday’s 8 pm shows are sold out.
David Grybowski
When: 19 to 23 Feb
Where: Gluttony – Rymill Park
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au