Addams Family - Review

I had been looking forward to seeing this ever since I found out it was going to be go. There is nothing like an evening of escapism and giggles.
The Addams family are a quirky family who live on the darker side of life. Gomez, the father, played by John Waters, is very much the head of the family but very much under the thumb of his beloved wife Morticia played by Chloe Dallimore. These two are the centre of much of the musical. They were well chosen for the roles they played; which were faultless.  The story revolves around their daughter Wednesday (Teagan Wauters) who has fallen in love with Lucas Beineke (Tim Maddren) Usually Wednesday never smiles but love has changed her.  Gomez is torn between his wife and daughter as he tries to keep it secret that Wednesday wants to marry Lucas. Wednesday is terrified that something will go wrong when the two families meet. Of course some chaos does ensue but all works out in the end.
The singing and dancing in this musical are great. I particularly enjoyed the larger choreographed routines with some of the former Addams family members.  The set design was very good, just as you would imagine a stage set for the Addams family. The use of the red curtains was very good and helped keep the flow of the show. Many of the producers and creatives had worked together before, notably on the Jersey Boys, which must have helped when putting this show together.
It was a great show and if you want to catch it, it is playing at the Capitol Theatre at until mid May, tickets are through Ticketmaster.

A Chorus Line - Review

A Chorus Line may have won 9 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize but this production was sadly lacking.  Some have said that A Chorus Line is dated, I would have to disagree many of the topics that it covers are just as relevant today and some more so.
A Chorus Line is not an easy musical to put on. No, it is not technically difficult, no, it doesn't have big set changes, location challenges and costumes to organise. Quite the opposite which is the challenge, if the music, singing, acting and dancing are not all 100% you can't fall back on props and scenery to help keep the audience captivated.
The Chorus Line is just that, it is an audition of a Chorus Line for a musical. You hear the stories from the individual dancers, about their lives, their dreams and how they have got where they are. Some of the stories are full of hope, some full of pain, some contain prejudice and others concerned about their appearance; are they too old, too ugly?  The stories which are either sung or narrative are interspersed with dance numbers.
There is no interval in A Chorus Line and for this production that was an issue. The show lacked energy in places and some of the choreography was repetitive and uninspiring.   It was a shame because it started very well and the audience were really pumped.  But once the first cull of dancers was over and we started on the individual stories it started to loose momentum.  Many found it very hard to sit through the two hours fifteen minutes and some people even left just before the end.  There were many comical moments which balanced well with some of the darker stories that were told.
I hope this was just opening night nerves and that during the season it will become a little tighter and have more momentum. It was all the qualities to make a good production and the orchestra were excellent.

A Chorus Line is playing at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney until 11 August

If you have seen it please leave a comment about what you thought.

Tap Dogs - International Act - Based in Australia

TAP DOGS will return to Australia early next year.
TAP DOGS, the internationally acclaimed dance sensation has won 11 major international awards the show has been created by Olivier Award winning choreographer Dein Perry. TAP DOGS will run for a five-week season from 5 January 2011 at Sydney's Capitol Theatre. TAP DOGS is designed and directed by Nigel Triffitt. Tickets are now on sale through Tickemaster.com
Video by Australian Network Entertainment