Pelican Productions. Musical Theatre Camp and Spotlight. Michael Murray Centre for Performing Arts - Westminster School. 18 Jan 2025.
Pelican Productions theatre camps and Spotlight programs are twenty years old already. Time’s speed is scary.
Directors Jen Frith and Kylie Green marvel in their program notes about the latest production named Twenty in honour of this landmark twentieth, saying it is “nothing short of phenomenal” that it all comes together. True.
The scale of Pelican productions is massive. There are so many talented young performers that their shows are divided into four huge casts so that everyone can have a spotlight.
It’s a talent factory on the grand scale and thank heavens that Westminster School has a really big stage and auditorium to accommodate it all - especially, as on this Twentieth anniversary production, an added vast array of alumni swarmed into the theatre and massed on and around the stage. And they were all wonderful. Love was in the air. So much love.
Pelican achieves all this with its Musical Theatre Camps and Spotlight programs, bringing top entertainers and masters of their arts in to train the upcoming entertainers and theatre workers. Hundreds of people.
The wondrous end product is a mass of young performers up there giving their all. Trained to a tee. Beautifully costumed, well miked... Every single one of them is focused on performance and works as if they are the only one on stage.
This 2025 first big show followed the Pelican productions pattern of excerpts from major popular musicals: a bonanza of hits and big cast numbers.
This critic attended the “Broadway” cast’s Saturday-night performance.
There were not many things to criticise. Mainly it was the tendency towards oversinging, which has become endemic in this era of “Everyone’s Got Talent” shows. Hence, singers who sang rather than belted were standout. A few issues with understanding lyrics but, then again, there were some pretty terrible lyrics. Not all musicals are works of art and one now knows that one never wants to see a full performance of The Great Gatsby Musical. Or &Juliet! (Then again, off the subject, keep an eye out for Romeo + Juliet which is really fresh youth version which is currently packing Broadway with teens.)
Pelican's spectaculars always are a bit overwhelming, and it seems unfair to see only a proportion of the talent in just one of the casts. But that’s how it rolls.
From the Broadway cast’s production, there are quite a few names for which to keep a future look-out.
There’s Sebastian Cox, a phenomenal dancer. There’s Lluka Wadey, outstanding from one of six stunners in Six the Musical. There's Gracie Cheung in Beettlejuice. There’s April Sprules as Annie. There’s Belle Letic as Daisy in Gatsby. There’s Casey Mifsud and Aidan Salmon from Book of Mormon which, incidentally, was delivered as a totally breathtaking opener to the show. The overall showstopper was Finn Green with Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat from Guys and Dolls. He’s a star alumni.
There are the soloists from The Lion King and big tick to the stilt-walking giraffes, albeit the Circle of Life animals were generally a tough call.
Further big ticks to all the techs behind the scenes. Production values were high and the projection sets were extremely effective. Ditto the costumes. Some of the choreography was beyond excellent. The discipline of the performers was copybook. The praise can go on.
Whoever the baritone was who featured in the alumni grand finale was just “wow”. But then again, there was too much to praise. This reviewing job is impossible.
Brava Jen and Kylie. You’re a class act delivering countless class acts.
This state and show biz owes you a lot.
Samela Harris
When: 17 to 19 Jan
Where: Michael Murray CPA
Bookings: Closed
