Moonlight and Magnolias

The Adelaide Repertory Theatre. Arts Theatre. 6 Jun 2024

The Adelaide Rep delivers another strong production with its latest performance of Moonlight and Magnolias.

It's Hollywood 1939, and film producer David O. Selznick has a crisis. Production on Gone With The Wind has halted - the Writer and Director just don't 'get it. And with the ever-present - yet unseen shadow of Louis Mayer (co-founder of MGM), Selznick needs a new Director and Scriptwriter. And now! 

Lingering in the background is Selznick's own darkness - of just maybe over-committing on his investment? And thereto following in his own father's footsteps of bankruptcy.

The Solution? Find a new Director and a new Script Writer immediately and complete it within 5 days.

Enter Ben Hecht, as the experienced and successful replacement Script Writer. There is one hurdle however - he hasn't even read the book. 

Add in Victor Fleming as Director - who's been plucked from directing Judy Garland & Munchkins in a film called Wizard Of Oz (which he prophesies will be a loser) and what could possibly go wrong? Well, plenty.

Selznick's first safety-net is to lock all three in his office until the script is delivered. 

Their only sustenance is bananas and peanuts. Apart from a typewriter and plenty of paper, that's it.

What ensues over the next two Acts will ultimately redefine film history and shape careers.

The play Moonlight and Magnolias (written in 2004 by the now American, Ron Hutchinson) becomes a mix of storyline, farce and slapstick. A fly-on-the-wall observation.

But there is a darker counterbalance too. This was at the time of Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, and Selznick and Hecht are Jews. So too Louis Mayer of MGM. Even the British actor Leslie Howard (Steiner) rates a mention. 

Act I is so busy, it’s as if The Three Stooges were writing and playing Gone With The Wind - such are the manic moments. Yet too, these moments almost act as a guise or a deflection to what is seen as the hopeless and mammoth 5-day task of rewriting a film script.  

Yet intertwined, there is another event occurring in another place, and the slapstick scene explores this. It is ostensibly on how to best film a slap-scene (with the cast practising on each other!) but more importantly it is an allegory of the treatment then, and violence towards, the Jews in Europe. It is a continuing theme - though perhaps not fully explored on stage. 

If Act I centres upon delivering a tight-deadline script from this triumvirate, then Act II delivers conclusions and insights. A stage full of peanuts, banana skins, and exhausted bodies requires minimal explanation of the time, effort and commitment consumed. 

Yet even with a final script delivered, doubts surface and linger.

Is the ending right? Will the script deliver? Will it be a success? Should they take a set-fee, or a percentage-of-the-box?  

It's this ever-evolving storyline that maintains the pace and interest throughout.

It is too a subplot of humanity and morality. And it is now that it then engages the audience.

Some 80 years on, we know the answer. Gone With The Wind is a mammoth success. Yet too, those real-life social issues are as much at the forefront today as they were in 1939.  There is still the Middle East conflict, and from the play: "I can't deal with the race question"  or, "Great movie making is dead". What is old is new again.

This production needs a clear direction and a strong cast of four. 

Harry Dewar directs his multi-level production with strong purpose and subtly. Clearly appreciating his cast and encouraging them to explore. 

Adam Gregory Shultz as Selznick is powerful, driven and determined - yet full of self-doubt. His accent tends to be general-American - something more regional might add depth. Terry Crowe (Ben Hecht) is almost laconic and consistently & wonderfully underplayed to full effect. Scott Battersby (Victor Fleming) delivers a fine sense-of-reason and importantly becomes the conduit between cast and audience. And Rebecca Gardiner (Miss Poppenghul) delightfully under-plays her role reinforcing that less can be a whole lot more.

At the moment this production is more an historical and a philosophical piece, rather than a comedy - yet too this element will be heightened during its run. Well recommended and runs to 15^th of June at the Arts Theatre.

Brian Wellington

When: 6 to 15 Jun

Where: The Arts Theatre

Bookings: artstheatresa.sales.ticketsearch.com

Beating up the Beatles

Cabaret Fringe Festival. Charlee Watt. Carclew Ballroom. 31 May 2024

In the immortal words of Mick Jagger “Charlie’s good tonight, isn’t he?”. That was 1969 and he was speaking of his drummer Charlie Watts, but it’s a fitting reference for this Charlee Watt; she was having a good night tonight.

Charlee has presented a few shows variously featuring the songs of Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Mama Cass Elliot in past Adelaide Fringes and as a recipient of the Nathaniel O’Brien Class of Cabaret in 2021, she performed the songs of David Bowie. Watt isn’t the most polished performer you’ll see this year, but much of that is to do with the fact that she is only 19 (cue another song title!) and is barely at the beginning of what promises to be a remarkable career.

Charlee performed with her own fab four, all of whom have passed through the jazz portals of the Elder Conservatorium, which gives an indication of where this show is coming from. Lewis Todd (drums), James Ho (bass) Christina Guala (saxophone) and Musical Director David Goodwin on keyboards set the tone of this show from the start; it might be an homage to the Beatles, but not as we know it.

Watt and the band have drawn on the rich history of Beatles songs as performed / arranged by such jazz greats as Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McCrae, Diana Krall and Nina Simone, and while she stands on the shoulders of giants she does so with the greatest of respect, and with a warning that she’s coming.

Because Charlee can sing.

She moves with ease from a soulful croon to a jazz swing, through to a full belt, and while her voice and style have yet to fully mature, it’s all there. And power? Waiting for her to really let rip was one thing, the surprise when she did so, quite another. The microphone threw a tizzy in protest.

Watt is an early career performer, and while this shows in areas such as stage patter, it matters little when she is doing what she does well. Working comfortably with Director Goodwin, they present some beautifully nuanced versions of some very overplayed songs, bringing to them a freshness and simplicity that gives a new perspective to these compositions.

The band worked their way through a selection of songs that of course goes nowhere near reflecting the lexicon; one assumes that each iteration of the show presents a slightly different setlist. Songs featured included Things We Said Today (A Hard Day’s Night 1964) Got to Get You Into My Life (Revolver 1966) and Carry That Weight (Abbey Road 1969). All are immediately identifiable, even when presented in a fulsome jazz setting. You might think this is because they are among the most recognisable pop songs, but it is the songs that Watt renders almost unrecognisable that are the stars of the show.

For my money, highlights were, I Saw Her Standing There, which she gender-reverses and delivers as a sassy paean to the boy meets girl dynamic; Hard Day’s Night, a bluesy soul rendition which turns the song on its head; and She Loves You which becomes a haunting and almost tragic call to uncertain love.

I just need to make a confession here; I’m not a fan of the Beatles, being more a ‘Stones kind of gal. Charlee Watt entranced me from the get-go, and the arrangements, many of which were co-labs between her and Goodwin, brought a texture to these songs that one suspects would delight the original authors.

In the old ‘do-yourself-a-favour’ kind of way, catch her next gig. If you miss this, she’ll probably be at the Fringe ’25. Get in on the ground floor with this girl, because Charlie was good tonight.

Arna Eyers-White

When: 31 May to 1 Jun

Where: Carclew Ballroom

Bookings: charleewatt.com.au

Candide

State Opera South Australia and State Theatre South Australia. Her Majesty’s Theatre. 25 May 2024

One cheers and laments at the same time for this historic production.  One cheers its glorious might, its wit and perfection of production values, and one laments that it had an abysmally short run - too short for the word to get out properly and too short for enough people to see it. This is a tragedy. Everyone needs to know Candide and to have that immortal figure embedded in their knowledge. 

But this is a very big production; far too big to be practicable for a long season. There are hundreds of people onstage. There’s the State Opera Chorus, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra assembled en masse, plus the myriad trained voices of the Elder Conservatorium, not to mention the principals. So, for those lucky enough to have snared a seat, it has been a treat of the lifetime.

Rarely have there been even Festival of Arts headliner shows of this scale and standard.

Bottom line:   Magnificence is an understatement.

Candide was created by French philosopher Voltaire two centuries ago at a time of politico-socio-environmental upheaval. ’Twas satirical then and so is it now, with the world still in fermenting disorder. Its acid wit and pathos retain their currency.

And, while Candide does not rival West Side Story as composer Leonard Bernstein’s most popular work, it is indeed a rollicking operetta in which every word except the narration is sung.

Amid the operatic elite in this sizzling show cast as the vain and vapid Maximilian, is Adelaide’s Hans, the German, AKA Matt Gilbertson. He’s quite a musical maestro as well as the best showman in town, but an opera star? Well, yes, as it happens in this context. The opera bods have really discovered the breadth of our song-and-dance man and he is singing as never before. Takes the breath away.  The creatives, Mitchell Butel, Amy Campbell, and Anthony Hunt, have also allowed him to maintain his comic identity and he has ‘Hansed’ it up all over the place. 

Candide’s lyrics were penned over years by some of the greatest of Broadway lyricists including Stephen Sondheim and Dorothy Parker just for starters and they are delectably funny and quirky. 

Then again, the operetta also carries Voltaire’s serious philosophic message:  all will not necessarily turn out for the best in this best of all possible worlds, as espoused by the teacher Dr Pangloss. But, as is shown through Candide’s experiences as an innocent abroad in a big, wide, wicked world, the best is actually to be found in realising what one has in one’s own garden.

Clad in a glory of canary yellow, Mitchell Butel embodies Dr Pangloss and also the narrator in which latter capacity he has some of the best of all possible lines. Like Hans, he’s an accomplished song-and-dance man who brings verve to a stage. As does the inimitable Caroline O’Connor who plays The Old Lady who becomes one of Candide’s allies through the narrative. She’s stellar! 

The other principals are opera stars led by Alexander Lewis, who belies his comical costume as Candide by delivering his lines in a divine tenor voice. Then there’s Candide’s adored Cunegonde, the love object and much-misused and abused heroine sung by Annie Aitken. She is entrusted with Glitter and Be Gay, which must be one of the funniest and most demanding coloratura compositions of all time, and she performs it with vocal brilliance only matched by the wit and whimsy of her delivery. It is truly a “brava” moment.

Taylah Johns turns heads as Paquette, the sweet servant girl, and popular Adelaide singer Michaela Burger, stepping in from time to time as the narrator, shines with a speaking voice which might teach an elocutionist a thing or two. Ah, but there are yet more glorious voices in which to revel: the richness of John Longmuir, Rod Schultz, Ezra Juanta, and Rosie Hosking. These performers leap from character to character as they embody the foreign lands of Candide’s travails.

Attired in a wild folly of outrageous costumes from Brendan de la Hay and choreographed by Amy Campbell, the principals besport betwixt and between the tiers of the stage whereupon, of course, conductor Anthony Hunt presides over his wall-to-wall expanse of glorious musicians.  The massed choir sits as a human backdrop, adorning the story line with nods, costume embellishments, and Mexican waves according to the cue. And dare one forget the cubes? Ailsa Paterson, talent of a set realiser, has equipped the action with very clever multi-purpose cubes to light or not to light, depending on the action.

For those of us lucky to have seen this triumph, we shall carry it onwards through life as one of those magical achievements of high theatre. It really was the best of all possible shows in the best of all possible theatres in this best of all possible cities - which, indeed, all told is our very own hard-worked and beautiful garden.

Samela Harris

When: 23 May to 25 May

Where: Her Majesty’s Theatre

Bookings: Closed

The Trip to Bountiful

Red Phoenix Theatre. Holden Street Theatres. 23 May 2024

References to Texan playwright Horton Foote as “America’s Chekov” really hit home with one experiences The Trip to Bountiful. One could add a slice of Tennessee Williams to the style and spirit he imparts. Or one could just say that he was a gifted writer and his plays sing with the social and psychological eloquence of a graceful pen.

This play first was produced on stage in the US in 1953 but not on stage in Adelaide until now, since it is a Red Phoenix principle that their productions are fresh to the local eye. Of course, it has been seen by many on the screen, firstly in 1986  starring Geraldine Page and again with a TV remake in 2014 starring Cicely Tyson.

It has held up through the years through the timelessly triste humanity of its theme. It depicts a frail old woman facing her final years under the thumb of a shallow and domineering daughter-in-law in a Houston apartment. Through sleepless nights she plots her escape dreaming to smell the trees and salt air of the old family farm in the obscure little country town of Bountiful while her hapless son tries to keep domestic peace with the wife who must be appeased.  

Finally, she makes a break for it.

The play traces her trip and the people she meets along the way.

Red Phoenix has gone the whole hog, so to speak, with really complicated sets on Holden Streets’ Studio space, changing the theatre entrance and building partitions to create corridors and separate rooms. Even the dressing room door is cleverly a part of this ambitious Kate Preston design.

It took a large team to construct it and it requires some hefty action onstage for scene changes. They are clunky, but forgivably worth the work when one gazes upon, for instance, the bus station agent whiling away the night shift with a book in his wee ticket office. It is a vivid vignette superbly lit by Richard Parkhill, that stalwart quality lighting designer.  On opening night, he had to actually come onstage to rescue the lighting after a show-stopping emergency with an audience member. The actors and crew handled the interruption with admirable professionalism.

It was a crucial moment in Sharon Malujlo’s performance as the old mother, Mrs Watts. Malujlo has been carving an honourable reputation and this characterisation, and this work under the direction of Libby Drake, is really a definitive display of her acting prowess, down to the "little Red Hen” display of her compulsive housekeeping in the Houston apartment. It tells the audience everything about the domestic status quo. Also, she captures the timbre of the old Southerner’s voice, albeit not every Texan nuance. There is no accent coach among the credits for this production and accents are unneven. Krystal Cave, however, as the ghastly daughter-in-law, Jessie May, captures both accent and a very complex and credible characterisation. Leighton Voight looks the part as the son, Ludie, and delivers some beautifully perceptive emotional moments, while Laura Antoniazzi, as the friend old Mrs Watts makes on trip, does what she always does when on stage, a jolly good job.  The support cast also works well and hard - some fine old talents are among them such as Ron Hoenig, very touching as the Harrison sheriff with Brian Godfrey, Megan Dansie, and Stuart Pearce filling the bill nicely indeed.

The Trip to Bountiful is a very challenging play to stage, but a play very well worth seeing. 

Old Mrs Watts is a classic character, not only of the time of the play’s setting, but of our day, too: old women who have had to lose their autonomy. Then there are inter-generational stresses expressed in the play, another universality and also, the private stress of some couples who are without issue. It is a play with a wealth of themes. It is a meaty piece of theatre one has been very glad to see.

Samela Harris

When: 23 May to 1 Jun

Where: Holden Street Theatres

Bookings: holdenstreettheatres.com.au