Blake Bowden & Phil Scott. Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Festival Theatre. 14 Jun 2014
Phil Scott is the critic's dream. He does the job for us by reviewing his own show during its performance.
He rightly says that the show takes liberties and that Blake Bowden's beautiful tenor voice is still not Mario Lanza. He also says that the "old bloke" is lousy, which is not right.
The "old bloke" is one of Australia's cultural treasures and, if he knows piano and satire, he also knows how to craft a show.
The Mario Lanza bio show is a very neat piece of work.
Written with a light hand, it traces the singer's life from teen bloom, through Tanglewood tuition, a stint in the army and into the realms of MGM and doomed stardom. Lanza died at only 38 and, until today, the cause remains disputed. His rapid weight gain and loss was doubtless a factor and it is a phenomenon well played out in this lively hour-long production directed by Eamon Flack. That there may also have been a link with the Mafia is too juicy a suspicious to ignore, so it is in there, too.
The narrative is delivered by Lanza in exchanges with the main influences in his life, a panoply of characters all played by Scott who does quick changes in the half light of a smoky cabaret stage. In assorted garb, he also is the accompanist.
It is not a conventional bio show. It is more of a double act, since despite his clear artistic generosity, Scott is still a star in his own right. He does accents and amusing cameos, and lifts the entertainment value with some virtuoso piano business - so much so that one is tempted to wild imaginings of Liberace accompanying Lanza.
Bowden's voice is young and clean and pure and beautiful. He's a sweet tenor. He looks nothing like the late Italian he's embodying but he has the acting skill and Scott-driven chutzpa to convince the audience that it must be so.
And then there are the songs - the old hits and movie songs of the Lanza era. Nostalgia reigns.
It's a fine confection of musical history.
Samela Harris
When: 14 & 15 June
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au
