Marie Clark Musical Theatre Company. The Soul Box. 15 Feb 2015
This brand new show opened on one of those extremely hot February afternoons when you can shoot a cannon down Hindley Street and not hit anything. Having rode my bike to the The Soul Box, I craved a cool drink and downed 600 ml of icy cold water for $4. Enjoying the pre-show buzz, and while stuck to the vinyl seats - I overheard that the unmoving fans only suck hot air in from outside - I worked over the calculator and my SA Water bill for a comparison. Cold bottled water is 2,950 times more expensive than tap water. Aside from that grumble, The Soul Box is a great cabaret venue.
The genesis of this show is a neat idea - the Marie Clark players take a few songs and stand them on their head - say, by using a different key, or slowing them down to really get the import of the lyrics, or contextualising the lyrics in a different mood, by gender switching, that sort of thing - to derive a new and interesting slant on meaning or emotion. The concept was exampled in the opening number with minor key, jazz, classical, and other versions of ‘Three Blind Mice’. Nice warm-up but, huh? Followed by a jazzed-up version of’ Feed The Birds’ from ‘Mary Poppins’, the show didn't really start until Damien Quick walloped Alicia Keys' crooner version of Jay-Z's ‘Empire State Of Mind’, which is an incredibly inspirational anthem to the Big Apple. This theme was reprised later by Kristin Stefanoff in her moving feminine version of Frank Sinatra's ‘New York, New York’ - including a narrative of her own follow-your-dream story from the Eyre Peninsula to a life of music. An English song sung in German with the rather funny German-to-English back-translation projected on a screen is always entertaining, but a downbeat version of ‘Don't Worry Be Happy’ might be soporific in the wrong hands.
The second act of the show was a cracker! A superficially innocent Disney number from ‘Aladdin’ became a den of dangerous double entendre in a new arrangement saucily sung by Jessica Rossiter. Matthew Robinson's ‘Yes, I Know!’ complaint set to music is a female's observation of a bra ad on a billboard, but it became salaciously smutty and pornographic when the lyrics were winkled out by Chris Daniels.
Sting was disturbed about how many people didn't get his ‘Every Breath You Take’ - the worldwide #1 hit single of 1983. You won't misunderstand the meaning when Rachel Dow, deadpan and with a deranged twinkle in her eye performs the rather now obvious menace and malevolence of the lyrics in an eerie arrangement.
The crew finished off with a jazzy ‘Smooth Criminal’ by Michael Jackson voicing off copious instruments. The audience clapped for an encore but there wasn't one and too bad, the show was on a roll. Upstage left, Ben Stefanoff pretended to spontaneously provide the right rhythms on electronic keyboard, but of course, he knew exactly what he was doing all along, having musically directed the whole shebang. New musical arrangements were by his self and his wife Kristin.
In ‘The Other Side Of A Song’, the Marie Clark players shift the emotional goal posts of familiar songs and absolutely delighted the audience with their inventiveness and performance. But don't leave home unless you are well hydrated or you will pay through the nose. There are only two more shows so don't muck around.
David Grybowski
When: 15 Feb to 25 Feb
Where: The Soul Box
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
