Britney Spears – Theatre Press

The turn on of reality TV

By Myron My

Media Release for this year’s Fringe Festival is a cautionary tale about the follies of fame, the foibles of being popular and the extent people to which seek such fantasies. The story revolves around a young woman April (Isabella Valette) who is at a audition and is asked to deliver her lines like specific Hollywood celebrities, such as Britney Spears, Emma Watson, and Mischa Barton – and to be sexier. From there, we witness her demise – in a lighthearted way – as she betrays family members, friends and herself in succumbing to the lure of being a reality star.

Spanning a two-year narrative time period, a lot is covered in this 55-minute show – so much in fact, that I feel there was too much going on to let the story feel fully organic and believable. It would have been nice to see the story driven by the actions of the characters, rather than the characters going through the motions to tell the story.

Apart from Valette, the rest of the cast (Oliver Waters, Maddie Chaplain and Luke Chaplain) perform a variety of characters, some of which are brought to life convincingly and others that don’t seem as realistic. Surprisingly, the latter appear more often to be the “straight” roles, rather than the over-the-top but more plausibly portrayed characters of producers, narcissistic “actors” and talent agents.

However, Valette brings April’s innocence and naivety to the surface with conviction and believability, as well as exploring her desire to achieve her dreams. The well-paced and cleverly re-written musical numbers performed by Valette showcase her voice and are definitely a highlight of Media Release.

Media Release is an entertaining hour of song and laughs for audiences that have been surrounded by and obsessed with reality TV “stars” for almost two decades, and there is definitely potential for this to develop into something bigger and generate an even more dynamic response .

Venue: Court House Hotel, Cnr. Errol & Queensberry St, North Melbourne

Season: Until 26 September | Tue–Sat 6:00pm, Sun 5:00pm

Tickets: $21 Full | $16 Conc

Bookings: http://www.melbournefringe.com.au

Take a turn on the dark side…

By Bradley Storer

Beginning the performance with a simple booming ‘Good evening ladies and gentlemen!’, the manically energetic Joe Black, making an immediate impression with his ghoulishly glittery face, barrelled onstage and launched into a song by fellow British cabaret artists Fascinating Aida, a spritely ditty about the pleasures of public fornication. This off-colour but hilarious opener set the tone for the rest of the evening, straddling the line between comedy and darkness expertly.

This is not an evening for the faint-hearted: subjects range from the joys of pyromania to the exploits of a heart-broken cannibal. Black covers many classics of the dark cabaret scene, including songs by the Tiger Lillies, Tom Waits and the Dresden Dolls, as well as original compositions discussing topics such as friends who ‘overshare’ on social networking sites. There are also more popular songs (Black’s Britney Spears cover is a particular delight), layered with a sinister twist – let’s just say I’ll never hear ‘You Are My Sunshine’ in quite the same way again.

Joe Black himself is charmingly demented. A musical and vocal chameleon, he swaps between piano and ukulele skilfully (which makes one regretful about his inability to smuggle his accordion past customs) and his voice switches at different times from a politely soft-spoken tenor, to a devilishly seductive Tom Waits-style croon, to a gospel-inflected roar reminiscent of Jason Webley.

The show itself still seems in development – segues between songs and the overall structure felt muddled, with connections in story not being as clearly developed as they could be. To be fair, this was probably not helped by Black’s admitted jet-lag or having to deal with an unusually talkative audience who interjected continually without warning – however this just goes to show, despite the darkness of his persona, how approachable Black made himself appear and how relaxed he had made his audience.

Despite some opening night glitches and some polishing still be done, Black is clearly a true cabaret performer, delivering a professional performance and forging such a strong connection with his audience that they spontaneously demanded a second encore – a rare sight! Such an enthusiastic response bodes well for the rest of Black’s first season in Australia, with the show undoubtedly growing even stronger with more performances.

Until Nov 27th at The Butterfly Club