Brian Crawley then wrote the lyrics and Tony-nominated composer, Andrew Lippa the music for this Western Australian premiere of this contemporary Broadway musical,

With the sudden closure of the Playlovers’ Theatre building in Floreat, Stirling Players came to the rescue and helped them stage this dark, but charming play at the Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo.

The two and a half hour performances started at 8.00 pm, and the season ran until Saturday 12^th November, with full houses almost every night.

It is Victorian central Africa. A wall of tea chests and packing cases fill the rear of the stage. To the right is a domestic furnace. On the left apron of the stage is a bedroom set, with a mosquito net over the bed. Set designer and artists are Lisa Johnston, Amber Southall, Leon Olson and Cherie Tucker.

The Orchestra is in a side room, opening onto the auditorium. The melodic Musical Director is Paul Olsen and his harmonious musicians are Joan Millington (piccolo), Catherine Warnock and Wayne Griffiths (reeds), Seton Douglas-Smith (trumpet), Sandra McKenna (French horn), David Gee (guitar), David Thai (percussion), Elizabeth Lavalla (keyboard), Elise Rosenberg and Laura Carr (violins). Being in a separate area, meant that the balance of the instruments for the accompaniment worked very well, and the freshness of the instruments’ timbre was particularly clear.

Production Assistant, Celeste Underhill is famous for giving good value to a production, and Stage manager, Bronwyn Hammond coped superbly with the massive cast and the numerous scene changes were ‘instant’ and flawless.

     When widower, Captain Crewe (Paul Spencer) is told to travel to Timbuktu – the most dangerous place in the world – he takes his African batman, Pasko (Richard Maganga), but must leave the caring African house servant, Aljana (Shikuku Cuthbertson). He enrols his young daughter, Sara (Stephanie Shaw, Jasmine Dos Santos alternating nights) into a posh boarding school in London, run by the sadistic, frustrated headmistress, Miss Minchin (Celeste Underhill). At the docks, Captain Crewe waves goodbye, as the ship’s captain (Paul Anderson) and his crew (Alexander Fleckner, Steve Anderson) take good care of Sara on the voyage.

     Crewe pays for special treatment for Sara at her new school; so she has her own room and a nervous, caring maid, orphan Becky (Sophia Matthews). The kind but subservient teacher is Miss Amelia (Erin Craddock), the headmistress’s younger sister; who is also bullied by the Head.

       There are several children in Sara’s class, but she befriends tubby and dim, Ermengarde (Sienna Freeman) and little Lottie (Bella Freeman alternating with Josephine Ellis). A couple of the classmates, Jessie (Ella Hagon) and Jane (Ella Simpson) think Sara is a ‘princess’, and even the two bossy, older girls, Nora (Holly Jamieson) and Lavinia (Katie Price) tend to show her some respect. However, when Sara’s funds dry up, her life is about to change for several years, but her generous nature still shines through.

    As Captain Crewe is trekking north through Africa, a tribal chief, Widow Zuma (Tara Lynette Elliot) puts a deadly curse on him. Soon he is starving and ill – will he survive?

     Could Becky’s Mum (Meesha Williams) really be still alive? Why does Queen Victoria (Amber Southall) want to meet Sara?

Choreographer, Amber Southall and her dance captain, Jamie-lee Olson, could easily have taken the easy way out with their African ensemble (Samantha Chidoko, Sandra Chidoko, Tanyaradzwa Matibiri, Arthley Matibiri, Tamara Perrozzi, Kevin Romeo and David Thai. Faced with such a large and young cast, many choreographers would present a little soft shoe shuffle, or some simple tribal stomping; however, Amber has practically the whole cast dancing at a breakneck tempo, every limb flayed and vibrated, as the bodies bobbed up and down. The actors were flawless, never missing a beat, and with their broad grins the warmth flowed to the audience. Lighting consultant, John Woolrych and his designer Katrina Johnston gave a glorious multitude of colours, pulsing to the beat of the African music. Operator Katrina and Steve Ellis did a wonderful job.

The busy London street ensemble included Sharon Malcolm and Eleanor Rowe, with umbrellas – what else in London? Hair stylist, Erin Craddock’s creations along with Candice Mountford and Tara Elliott’s makeup, impeccably complemented the hard work of costume coordinator, Lyn Hutcheson and her creative team of Kimberley Shaw, Amanda Simpson, Fran Gordon, Shikuku Cuthbertson, Linda Matthews, Amber Southall and Talia Hagon.

The headsets (technicians Ian Wilson and Daniel Toomath) worked perfectly and the soundscape had real life to it. All of the singing was to put it mildly – SUPERB. One expects the adults to be harmonious, with good enunciation and note perfect, and they were! But with youngsters as young as 8 years old in the cast, one can only hope for a ‘reasonable’ bit of quality from them. It was obvious from the first few notes of music, that I had set my standard far too low, every single ‘school student’ could easily perform in a major professional production – and I am sure they will – the quality was mind-blowing.

The night I saw the show, Stephanie Shaw played Sara, and her stage presence was something special. Her whole body was acting. Her voice was flawless, reaching every note of the large vocal range demanded by the score. The storyline necessitated emotions from elation to deep sadness, and was tackled immaculately by this young performer. I have been assured that the ‘other’ Sara was top notch too.

For Director Lisa Johnston this was a massive task, but when a show looks smooth, with great singing and flawless performances then you know that there is a huge amount of work and many sleepless nights behind it.

Many congratulations to all, a vibrant and yet sensitive show.

Presented by Stirling Theatre Players, 25 Morris Place, Innaloo, this almost three hour musical can be seen on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 8.00 until 26^th September. There are Sunday matinees on 13^th and 20^th at 2.00 pm. It is a long show but time flies.

There is little scenery as such, but there are numerous, wonderful props used in the dozen and a half scenes. Michael Stronach, Jack Gordon and Luke Morgan constructed the brightly coloured sets.

The quality lighting and sound came from the reliable team of Ian and Carole Wilson. Sadly the dreaded headsets weren’t quite so reliable, which wasn’t really a problem until the noise of the pelting rain, drowned out the unfazed actors for a couple of minutes, as the storm passed through.

With so many scenes, it was imperative that stage manager, Liz Pemberton and her crew, Cassidy Pemberton, Brad Albert and Christine Pattison perfectly drilled and organised. The changes were slick, silent and speedy; indecisive work could have killed the show’s excellent pace. Well done.

The stage had a deep apron, with a central walkway leading into the first two rows of the audience.

Some of the youngster alternated nights, so both actors have been listed below.

       As in the Vaudeville Shows of the early 1940s, the placards (Annette Underhill) on an easel at the side of the stage were changed before each act.

        A middle-aged, frustrated and failed actress, Rose (Claudia Van Zeller) is shamelessly promoting her beautiful, Shirley Temple-like daughter, Baby June (Bella Freeman, Phoebe Tennent), whilst cruelly ignoring her plain, shy, older daughter, Baby Louise (Caitlin Knock, Mia Martin). At Uncle Jocko’s (David Cosgrove) TV talent contest, Rose berates the other young talent – a young clarinettist (Charlie Martin) and a pretty balloon girl (Elle Simpson).

      Back at her Pop’s (Paul Anderson) house, Rose tries to borrow more money for June’s career, but when she fails, she packs up, taking the girls from Seattle to LA, along with some newsboys (incl. Bailey Jubb) that she meets on the way. They all perform in down-market theatres for several years. (There is a clever transition scene where the family grow up and we rejoin them as young adults.)

     Rose meets Herbie (Trevor Preston) who used to be a theatrical agent, but is now barely scraping a living together. Rose’s gang move in with poor Herbie. The youngest has now grown up to become Dainty June (Tania Morrow), and Rose has added a pantomime cow (Jamie-Lee Olson, Kimberley Hill) to the cast of her ‘new’ show.

      Miss Cratchitt (Liz Pemberton) is the kind receptionist of an impresario, Mr Grantziger. She gives Rose’s troupe a chance, however, the adult newsboys Pastey (Terence Oliver Smith), Phil (Steve Anderson), Little Rock (Alex Fleckner) and Georgie (Caleb Stevens) after years of the same act, are now disillusioned actors.

      June quits, and so realising that they are broke Louise, now an attractive young lady (Madeleine Shaw) – who is in love with Tulsa (Liam Gobbert) – offers to join Burlesque. She shares a dressing room with dim Agnes (Tracey Endelbrecht); gone are the attractive showgirls (Olivia Taylor, Simonne Matthews), now Louise is with the old, worn out strippers (Helen Marshall, Paula Sayers, and Janet Brandwood – good on ya).

      What will happen to Louise, her Mum and her siblings?

The limitations of this community theatre forced the orchestra into a side room, off the main body of the auditorium, and yet the Musical Director, Krispin Maesalu, miraculously managed to follow the stage action. It was a cold night and so some of the embouchures took a couple of minutes to settle in, but after that, the melodies flowed well. From the soft romantic mood of “You’ll Never Get Away From Me”, to the sleazy striptease music; and the old classics the “Everything’s Coming up Roses” and “Together, Wherever We Go” added to the pleasure. The musicians played beautifully.

The orchestra comprised on reeds, Jeni Stevens, Catherine Motteram, Wayne Griffiths and Talitha (Dunn) Broughton with the brass section Sandra McKenna, Paul Marion, Harry Josland, Jo Coveney, Vanitha Hart, Emma Mondy and Ben Harrison. Josh Haines was on Keyboard, Alfred Bangezhano and drums, KudaKwashe Mateta. The string musicians were Rey Lecciones, Kristy Hughes, Stephanie Hughes and Amanda Reynolds.

Never work with children or animals? The brave – or mad – director, Celeste Underhill and her assistant Cassidy Pemberton did both. Without exception, the children were outstanding; from the one metre of dynamite, Bella, and all of the others, we were fed a meal of magic. They gave us splits – front and sideways – polished choreography (devised by Amber Southall, assisted by the director), and powerful singing with beaming smiles all of the way. Tremendous performances.

Fran Gordon was the wardrobe coordinator – a massive job – but with her costumes team of Carol Hughes, Lyn Hutcheson and Machelle Tennent we had everything from Technicolored dream coats that would make Joseph proud, to the stylish dresses of Rose who seemed to  ‘instantly’ change into 5 outfits in mere seconds – and ended with ‘nothing’. You could hear the husbands asking their wives why they could not get ready as quickly.

Congratulations to Claudia and Madeleine for their extra special performances. Liam and Tania for their dance routines and to Trevor for his moving act. The animals? A veritable zoo, all perfectly behaved. Wow!

When it came to the singing, the leads were powerful and clear. This was a long show but the technical skills, along with the quality performances, made it a must for all of the family – but be warned, book in advance, this show was a sell-out on our night, with NO tickets at the door.

Incidentally, Rose’s ‘strip’ routine was sexy and skilfully performed, but still safe to take your 12-year-old son or Grandma along to see. Thanks for a fun, fast paced, proficient spectacular.