SINGular productions - March 2007
As the title suggests, this musical comedy revue tells the stories of over 60 diverse characters as they struggle with love, sex and relationships told through the voices and song of four of Adelaide’s best operatic performers. The tale begins with the opening passage of the bible, spoken over the tuneful hums of the chorale entering the stage from the auditorium dressed in hooded robes. The reading begins quite sincerely, word for word as religiously written, but very quickly the one liners’ are slipped in setting the audience up for a great night of laughs.
In the first act our 4 performers take us through the first date, and onto the complexities of first time sex, leading us melodically through the wedding and the joys and encumbrance of marriage, children and family. The singers continue in act two with tales of divorce, re-joining the dating scene, and finally losing the one you love and finding companionship as a widow.
With performances by Johanna Allen, Deborah Caddy, Adam Goodburn and Benjamin Rasheed, audiences should expect an outstanding interpretation.
But in this production they get much more than that, these world class performances combined with skillful set design by Victoria Lamb, beautiful music by Nerissa Pearce on piano and Imants Larsens on violin, and brilliant lighting design by Marie Docking, make the cabaret atmosphere complete and audiences can sit back, relax and enjoy a masterful piece of writing and musical production. This production was superb, but could have benefited from some amplification. Although all of the performers are accomplished opera singers, this cabaret style performance lends itself to a more inclusive sound, allowing the audience to truly become lost in the music rather than struggling to catch odd words, hoping desperately not to miss any of the fantastic lyric.
Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts, creators of this piece, have hit the nail on the head with this comic look at a slice of humanity, letting audiences laugh at themselves, whilst enjoying some of the best singers Adelaide has produced. See it.
Paul Rodda
