Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The Banquet Room. Festival Theatre. 14 June 2014
Picture Perfect is a relatively new song cycle written by New York Composer Scott Evan Davis that explores, through song, the real life moments “either side of the perfectly composed family portrait”.
The production draws on original material in Davis’s debut album ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ and is in the thick of its developmental stages, growing from a concert to a stage review and now transforming into a song cycle. As an evolving work it is incredibly difficult to review, so I’m going to try and only make observations through a mixture of ordered thoughts and feelings about what I saw.
Thematically the show still feels a little raw, but all of the ingredients in this production seem just right. Individually the songs evoke powerful emotions, each connecting in different ways for different people. Musically the production is incredibly complex; undergoing multiple key changes from song to song - perhaps a symptom of the songs not originally being written with the whole in mind, but certainly contributing to the not-so ‘picture perfect’ feel of the piece.
Narratively speaking the cycle loosely begins with the early stages of relationships and progresses through to parenthood and family. Emotionally the focus is quite heavy; predominantly targeting the most challenging and life changing moments of the panoply of characters. As the characters suffered in their own personal emotional turmoil, the audience are taken on a sad, occasionally depressing rollercoaster, with only a few moments of light heartedness or comedy for relief.
The work is perfectly pitched for cabaret, and a better genre could not be imagined for such a show. Director, David Lampard, in conjunction with the Independent Arts Foundation has made this work possible, but the tight rehearsal timeline has clearly made mounting the show challenging. The whole cast and production team should be commended for bringing it together as quickly as they have.
Boasting some of Adelaide’s, and Australia’s, most well-known performers the show was in very safe hands. The production starred David Harris, Johanna Allen, Amity Dry, Naomi Eyers and Paul Talbot. The standout numbers in the show included the opening track ‘Cautiously Optimistic’, which featured all five performers and was a little tongue in cheek, ‘Walk A Little Slower’ sung by Naomi Eyres and Paul Talbot was very touching, the ensemble piece ‘Everyone Has A Vice’, which succeeded in lightening the mood of the heavy-going first half, Johanna Allen’s ‘He’s Perfect’ which was delightfully cheeky, ‘Someone Elses Eyes’ on which David Harris’s vocals were given the chance to absolutely soar, and ‘I Can Be’ where Amity Dry sang beautifully from the heart.
Composer and Lyricist, Scott Evan Davis, takes on the role of Musical Director and Pianist in the production and plays beautifully against the mellowed tones of the Cello, superbly played by James Clark. Davis’s writing talents are indisputable, even reminiscent of Jason Robert Brown. I think some inspired direction that compliments the lyric, and even slight reordering of the numbers, could help to focus the big picture themes in the production. One to watch and one I would love to see again with a few more years and incarnations under its belt.
Paul Rodda
When: 14 to 15 Jun
Where: The Banquet Room
Bookings: adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au
