The National Theatre – Theatre Press

Yes, they do

By Tania Herbert

StageArt‘s production of the Broadway version of The Full Monty with book with Terrence McNally and score by David Yasbek opened to a full house and enthusiastic audience, and a vibrant cast and impressive production team certainly gave it their all.

the-full-monty2017-stageart-wem-etuknma-scott-mackenzie-giancarlo-salamanca.jpg

That said, there is a reason that The Full Monty doesn’t get regularly produced in Australia – unfortunately the show is, overall, fairly awful. The same storyline as the wonderful 1997 British film is more or less followed, however by Americianising the storyline and approach, nothing is gained but so very much is lost. Lacking depth, sensitivity, and self-insight, it’s inherently a limited script which doesn’t even get close to doing justice to the range of social and emotional issues that the original film touched upon.

That said, this cast certainly performed the heck out of it– managing to bring likeability to a series of fairly unlikable American stereotypes. Scott Mackenzie took on the lead of Jerry and did an admirable job of pulling the story along, and sidekick Dave, played by Giancarlo Salamanca, sang beautifully. However, the somewhat dragging first act was well and truly saved by the character roles- Wem Etuknwa as ‘Horse’, Barbara Hughes as Jeanette and Ana Mitsikas as Vicki all enter the show quite late, but really added the comic element and brought about a much needed lift.

It said something that the musical’s showstopper was the filler number Jeanette’s Showbiz Number– although the better-paced second act not only brought a lot more laughs, but really built a sense of anticipation of the finale as the other big and highly enjoyable showstopper moment (and in case you’re wondering- yes, they do).

The music is neither memorable nor particularly interesting, with the exception of the exquisite funeral song You Walk With Me, touchingly performed here by Montgomery Wilson with Adam Perryman. Despite this, the musical direction (by Nathan Firmin) was superb, utilising the very vocally strong ensemble to the fullest.

The staging under the direction of Drew Downing was interesting and contemporary- a minimalist construction site set brought in lots of movement and levels, and the onstage band added a bit of a rock-musical feel.

The Full Monty is, unfortunately, not a great musical,- but StageArt’s production was still a highly enjoyable evening with a rocking cast, slick production and plenty of talent on show (pun intended).

The Full Monty is presented by StageArt and is playing at The National Theatre from March 3 until March 19.

Tickets: $49-$74 from www.stageart.com.au

Image by Belinda Strodder

Venture blithely into the deep dark wood

By Kim Edwards

The National Theatre was abuzz this week with excited pre-schoolers and little primary students eager to see one of their favourite picture books leap from page to stage. CDP Theatre’s touring production of The Gruffalo’s Child, based on the beloved rhyming tale by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, is a slick intelligent 55-minute performance that draws out the story and characters nicely into live action and features some exceptional young artists.

Chandel Brandimarti as the title character gives an assured and dynamic performance, balancing nicely between childish bravado and cutsey angst. Jessica Vickers holds the narrative together with demure charm as the Mouse who becomes a kind of high-energy Greek chorus, but it is Andreas Lohmeyer playing all the other characters who is given the most room to exercise his vigorous and impressive character talents: his self-parodying Snake and smarny Fox were especially entertaining.

The script is well-wrought, and the little meta-jokes were appreciated. The songs are fun and appropriate but forgettable (and the lyric about breaking necks was unpleasant!), the mobile forest set pieces are efficient and effective, and I respected the decision to have both open faces for the costumes (which prevented s scariness factor) and very simple evocative designs: the Mouse’s ears were buns of hair for example, and the Owl had some feathers sticking through his cardigan. If I was to criticise, it would be that some of these ‘theatrey’ touches were just a little too vague or confusing for the young audience, such as the Mouse enacting the footsteps, Lohmeyer having to openly discard his Gruffalo costume, or the final shadow appearing in the sky. I admire the ingenuity in dealing with these plot issues for a small touring cast, but some of the kids around were a bit bemused at times.

While the production couldn’t quite keep its lively audience constantly enthralled throughout the performance, there were regular and successful efforts to encourage audience interaction, and the final section of the show which invited the kids to finish the rhyming lines, included a fabulous slapstick chase sequence, and put a rather lovely twist in the Mouse’s closing act of kindness kept even my little toddler companion glued to the stage.

A charming and enjoyable morning all around – looking forward to more productions from this company.