The film, which was directed by the Muppets’ Frank Oz, has many differences in the storyline to the musical. Jim Henson designed the movie’s puppets.

Roleystone Theatre Inc are presenting this wild, tuneful and darkly funny, two-hour musical at the Roleystone Theatre, 587 Brookton Highway in Roleystone, each Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening at 8.00 pm until 3^rd December.

This theatre has a large front of curtain apron area. The producers have removed a large central area and created an orchestra pit. The remaining area became the filthy streets of Skid Row in New York, with rubbish bins and homeless alcoholics. Props by Kathryn Ramsell included a dentist chair and other hard to source items.

Behind the front of stage, gauze drape was a well-furnished florist shop, with counter, buckets of flowers and a shop window. An easy set to manage – until the pod starts growing and then stage manager, Liam Tickner and his crew of Cassidy Bodenham, Montanna Tickner and Simon Walters have plenty of work.

Before the show began, an apology was made; the lead had taken ill at the last minute. Charlie Darlington was having to step in to this major part, ‘and so may have to carry a script’. This he rarely did, and even then, it was with minimal intrusion. As it happened, he turned out to be the best actor of the night.

       It is the 1960s, the flower power era. After a sparkling welcome from three of the local street urchins, Chiffon (Sarah Callahan), Crystal (Kimberley Harris) and Ronette (Niamh Nichols), the curtain rises.

       It is a new day, and miserable, grumpy, florist shop owner, Mr. Mushnik (Harry Olif) is ordering around his young assistant, Seymour (Charlie Darlington), whom he adopted – for slave labour – as a child. His other helper, nervous and distressed, Audrey (Alicia Walter) is late again. When she arrives, she has a black eye, the result of her brutal boyfriend Orin Scrivello (Luke Daly) a sadistic dentist who is hooked on nitrous oxide gas – laughing gas.

       One morning, Seymour finds an unusual plant in his stock. It is a cross between an avocado and a Venus flytrap. He calls it Audrey II (voiced by Paul Treasure) after his work friend whom he secretly adores. A wealthy customer (Molly Earnshaw) tries to buy the plant, but only has a $100 note, a rare thing in this depressed area of town. Later in the day, Seymour finds that the plant is wilting and only responds to fresh blood, constantly needing more.

       The word gets around about this unusual plant, now the size of half the shop. Entertainment impresario, Bernstein (Tyler Eldridge) is arranging a lecture tour, and a botanical news reporter, Patrick Martin (Luke Daly) pestering Mr Mushnik for an exclusive contract.

       Can there be happiness, or will the plant rule the shop?

I am afraid for the director, Lys Tickner and her assistant director, Brogan Smirke that there is good news and bad news. My main impression is that the show lacked subtlety. I know that it is a madcap experience, but some of the acting was well over the top. Certain musical numbers were powerfully belted out, but with an occasional loss of melody as a result. The quiet musical numbers were excellent, with a well-balanced, melodic band; however, there were one or two numbers when the drums totally took over, and even though I was near the front of the audience, the other instruments were drowned out and the lyrics of the performer could not be heard at all.

I understand that everyone wants the show to vivaciously, bounce along, but the music should be an accompaniment, and in a small venue that means holding back. This is not a reflection on the musical skills of the players, more an inability to adapt. Perhaps it is difficult to play the drums effectively without the volume, so perhaps electronic drums or muting mats could be used.

The Orchestral Direction was by Liam Gobbert and the Vocal Direction by Tyler Eldridge. The band musicians were Keyboard – Joanne Harnett and Jay Anderson. Bass – Hannah Fredriksson, Reed – Tara Oorjitham, and percussion – Alex Kent. The softer numbers were exquisite.

The choreography by Emily Botje was perfect for the era, with the well-known arm movements and hand gestures; but because of the robust song delivery, these movements tended to be dramatic rather than dreamy. Watch the Chiffons or the Ronettes performing – they are the groups these characters were based upon – and observe the soft vocal delivery of the day, and the wispy movements. The dance routines were very good, matching the tempo perfectly and well-rehearsed.

Gary Wetherilt’s lighting and Shannon Allender’s sound were particularly good. Linda Bickley’s costume design was excellent; she had everything from the flares with turn-ups, to the lavender, high buttoned Italian suit. The singers’ dresses were perfect for the 60s. The makeup by Yvette Drager-Wetherilt and Deni Mitchell was very good.

The ‘Audrey ll’ construction team was Gary Wetherilt, Jamie Thomas and John Barnes. They produced outstanding pods – plants. Molly Earnshaw and Montanna Tickner most convincingly operated them, with the plant’s mouth moving perfectly in sync with the dialogue. The tendrils at the foot of the plant flopped around giving an extra feel of a living creature. Although the plant was ‘real’, it is occasionally supposed that the voice of Audrey ll is an alter ego (or imagination) of Seymour and that he should actually speak all of the words – both his talking to the plant and its reply – however that is contentious.

When Audrey was about to go home she looked at the clock and said ‘Oh it is 6 o’clock’ – the dial had no hands on it. The trio were getting their photos taken – in the 1960s – with a mobile phone camera. Petty, perhaps but the quality lies in the detail.

I found Molly Earnshaw’s performance one of the most natural, and Luke Daly’s dentist delightfully horrendous and disturbing. Congrats to both.

As always, I am open to comments, but despite the fact that the whole cast and crew worked extremely hard, overall I left quite disappointed.

This 3-hour production is a joint venture between Stray Cats Theatre Company and the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. It is wonderful to see a local shire giving the children of the town a chance to see live theatre.

The musical came to Mandurah on the wettest and wildest weekend in years. After a wonderful first night, the Saturday matinee suffered a power failure – twenty minutes from the end. Five hours later the power had still not been restored, and most of Mandurah’s houses and streets were in pitch darkness. However, having seen ’Mary Poppins’ and ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ the audience was not going to be put off, the crowds still turned up, and the Arts Centre was packed. The cast gathered in the gloom and, unaccompanied, sang their hearts out, giving their loyal audience a few numbers from the show. I had made a 120 kms return journey to see the show, and it was this singing that decided me to return a further 120 kms next morning, for the full show – well worth it.

It was decided to cancel the performance and have an extra at 10.00 the next morning. The three-hour performance went flawlessly, finishing at 1.00 leaving only an hour before this energy packed show hit the stage again.

The proscenium arch and the railings around the orchestra pit were covered in gold painted bicycle wheels of varying sizes. On the ceiling of the theatre, a massive dragon flapped its wings as smoke belched forth. A map of Munchkin Land (Alan White) is projected onto the safety curtain.

       The citizens of Oz are in the streets, celebrating the death of the uncaring, Elphaba (Kimberley Harris), when, from the sky, a bubble descends carrying the much-loved, blonde, giggling Galinda (Lisa Taylor) who just loves to tell everyone how good she is. Even the monkeys (Hayley Pilcher, Terina Henry, Tracy Harrington) are excited, as they do their aerial tricks.

       Glinda tells the Ozians how Elphaba’s mother (Malia Bennett) gave birth to a green-skinned baby. Her father, the Governor of Munchkinland (Scott Hansen) loathed her and gave all of his affection to her disabled sister, Nessarose (Cassandra Power). The girls are sent to Shiz University where the nasty Principal, Madame Morrible (Alyssa Burton) rules with a stern hand and a little sorcery.

       Elphaba’s favourite lecturer is the history teacher, Dr. Dillamond (Erik Bunch), a goat-like animal professor who is discriminated against and sacked by Madame Morrible. When the unscrupulous Prince, Fiyero (Joshua Towns) arrives, Galinda is immediately in love with him. Unfortunately, when a poor Munchkin Boq (Braeden Geuer) declares his love for Galinda, she suggests that he should love Nessarose instead. Boq ends up guiding Nessarose’s wheelchair (creators Jo Bickford, Peter Sydney-Smith) whilst still yearning after Galinda.

       Having no friends, Elphaba is taught by Galinda how to attract men, and Fiyero then shows interest. The two help rescue and free a caged lion cub. Soon, the famous Wizard (Peter Sydney-Smith) asks Elphaba to visit him at the Emerald City. Madame Morrible, who now works as the Wizard’s Press Secretary, gives Elphaba the ‘Grimmerie’ – a priceless spell book.

       When the Wizard’s acrobatic, monkey servant, Chistery (Bailey Bridge-man-Peters) sprouts wings, Elphaba realises it is the Wizard who has been cruelly controlling the Animals’ freedom. Not only that, the Wizard cannot read the special codes in the Grimmerie, he is in fact a fraud. Elphaba, now known as ‘The Wicked Witch of the West’ grabs a broomstick and flies off to sanity (Mechanical crew Stephen Carr, Jamie Murray). Meanwhile, ‘Glinda the Good’ starts working for the Wizard and Morrible, against Elphaba.

     On hearing Elphaba is to be ‘melted down’, Fiyero ignores Glinda’s approaches and goes to Elphaba’s rescue. On the death of her father, Nessarose becomes the Governor of Munchkinland, but still she cannot capture Boq’s heart. Elphaba tries to help Nessarose by giving her sister special, magical shoes and the power to walk. When Boq still shows no interest, Nessarose tries the Book of Spells, accidentally shrinking Boq’s heart; he turns into the ‘Tin Man’.

       Whom will Fiyero finally fall in love with? Will Elphaba remain cursed?

Other major players included Malia Bennett, Matthew Walford, Elizabeth Willow, Cat Perez, Corinna Gosby, Nicholas Gaynor and Jared Pettit.

The scenery crew, under the supervision of head builder, David Hartly, produced lively, intricate and amazing pieces. The quality of every piece of scenery was top-class, from the crashed witch’s house to the massive talking head of the Wizard. There were the retractable wings on the monkeys (Peter Francis) and the magical Hour Glass (Paul Fieldwick). At no stage was there the impression of ‘that will have to do’, the finish was always immaculate – great work by Peter Francis, Duncan Anderson, Mal Thompson, Alan White, Wayne Gale, Daniel Corbishley, Steven Sallur, Vanessa Thompson, and Alex Paolino. There were also several impressive backdrops and sets designed by Bronwyn White. Sheryl Gale supplied the numerous props, such as spears and oil lamps.

The sound was magnificent, with a great soundscape from Peter Lovell. Ruby Liddelow flawlessly operated the dozens of dreaded microphone headsets, often famed for their unreliability.

Karen Francis’s complex lighting design was outstanding, completely capturing the mood. The bio-box operator, Clint Gerard was impeccable, and the two spotlight operators (Thea Clarke, Khaijun Pearce) were smooth and accurate, even on the narrowest of beams. Visually exciting work from the team.

Then comes the result of months of sewing. Head seamstress Cathy Wainwright had to design several changes of costumes for the cast, a total of more than 300 costumes. She was helped by Linda Lowry, Jordan Hopkins, Kerry Tarbuck, Rebeka Thomas, Rhiannon Thomas, Michelle Thompson, Bronwyn White, Erin Thomson, Geraldine Harris and Pat Francis. Again, all of the costumes were trimmed with extras, many actors wore hats and fancy tights; the result was a visual feast. Then in combination with the makeup team of Jodie Mars, Rhiannon Francis and Monique Kinnest, the characters of Madame Morrible, Dillamond, the monkeys and Chistery came alive. Superb work.

The director, Karen Francis, was the major driving force, being intensely involved in almost every aspect of the production; she gave the cast drive, enthusiasm and confidence. The vocal director was Kristie Gray, who luckily had several trained vocalists – a special mention for Kimberley and Lisa who were magnificent, strongly backed by Alyssa and Cassandra. Even Joshua, who has performed in numerous quality dramas, sang admirably in this his first major musical. The powerful backing singers, who were positioned in the orchestra pit, were Kristie Gray, Kim Moore, Daniel R. Nixon, Jason Arrow, Sean Williams, Andrew Coshan and Alexandra Cornish.

Choreographer, Megan Doohan bravely faced around 60 extras to train and direct, and yet each performer gave routines packed with every ounce of strength and enthusiasm. They smiled, danced, sang in perfect harmony.

Musical director and conductor, David Hicks, had at the end of his baton, on reed Jennifer Currenti, David Lawrence, Blake Howieson and Liam House. On Brass, Aishah Chadwick-Stumpf, Jack Sirett, Harry Josland and Ned Holland. On percussion and keyboard, Mark Beasy, Sam Bradbury, Bronwen Herholdt, Vanitha Hart, Brendan Talty and Sarah Palmer. On string Stuart Robertson, Darsha Kumar, Liza Kotze, Josh Dunne and William Christensen. The orchestra, playing first thing on Sunday morning after a late night on Saturday, were still impeccable. A three-hour show is a marathon for a musician, to have an hours rest and then another marathon, was mind boggling. well done.

Holding the whole show together were Production Managers Bronwyn White and Ashleigh Riley, aided by Anita Telkamp and Rach Hayter, and with a cast of over 70, this was no easy task. However, at the end of every scene, the packed stage would empty silently and without any pandemonium in a couple of seconds. I have seen shows where even two or three actors have struggled to leave the stage without crowding.

Kristie Hennessey took the cast’s headshots. Jon Lambert’s excellent 16-sided, full colour gloss programme was being sold for only $5 – too cheap. Some patrons were apprehensive of buying one, thinking that, like the Burswood, the price would be around $25.

This production was the ULTIMATE in community theatre, very many congratulations. I just hope it was entered for the Finleys Awards.

Breath-taking, amazing, spectacular with 400 giving a standing ovation – what more can one say?

Although I may be known for being politically incorrect at times, I still found the amount of coarse language and some of the themes of this ‘fun’ rock opera unnecessarily objectionable. I would suggest 14+ as an advised age group.

In 2000, ‘High Fidelity’ was also adapted by Stephen Frear into the hilarious, top box office family film.

This 150-minute show can be seen at the octogenarian Roleystone Theatre, 587 Brookton Hwy, Roleystone on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8.00 until 19^th March, with one matinée at 4.00 pm on Sunday 13^th March.

The front half of the stage was Rob’s home, with settee, foldaway bed and shelves of LPs. When the mid-stage screen was rolled up (flies by Ruby Higgins), there was a busy, specialist record store (clever designed by James Earnshaw, with excellent props Kathryn Ramsell) revealed.

The flowery shirts, vinyl skirts and unusual hairdos (Genevieve Brown) beautifully captured the 1980s atmosphere.

Montanna Tickner’s colourful and lively lighting design was well thought-out (rigged by Simon Walters). Cassidy Bodenham and Catherine O’Donoghue carried out the smooth stage management.

The lively and at times quite complex choreography was conceived by Kristen Twynam-Perkins and Emily Botje. It was enthusiastically performed by the cast.

Ethan Walters conducted the live, but hidden orchestra, comprising Liam Gobbert, Vlad Sturdy, Liam Richer, Paul Marion, Megan Pedlar, Krispin Maesalu and Emma Mondy. Dylan Shelton and Paul Marion were in charge of the sound. Although the live band was well-balanced, the overall sound balance between band and performer was a little off, with some of the dialogue lost to the accompaniment. Rob wore a headset, which helped, but perhaps a headset is required for every singer with live music, so the audience can appreciate the clever lyrics.

     Rob (David Wallace – well done), runs a specialist record store, the ‘Championship Vinyl’, with his assistant Barry (Richard Maganga) – a bandleader who is into weird music – and the nervous, slightly dim, Dick (Kyle Kash). Rob is getting fed up with the business as he spends hours dealing with strange nerds like ‘TMPMITW’ (Jake Tolich) – no one knows his real name – and the odd, unfashionable, middle-aged man (Paul Treasure) who is requesting a tasteless Celine Dion record for his daughter. Rob’s depression eventually reflects on his attitude to his loving partner, lawyer Laura (Caroline Perks).

     Laura, partly on the advice of her outspoken friend Liz (Kimberley Harris – excellent) leaves Rob to live with tantric-loving Ian (Luke Daly). Meanwhile in the shop, Dick has been spotted by attractive Anna (Molly Earnshaw), who is now trying every trick in the book to capture his heart.

     Rob feels alone, so goes to the local bar where he reminisces on some of his old loves, Charlie (Alyssa Burton), Alison (Emily Botje) and finally Sarah (Natalie Cox) who he drove to lesbianism. On the pub stage, the roadie (Caelan Steedman) and the sound engineer (Tyler Eldridge) have set up the microphones for the evening’s star act, Marie La Salle (Allison Harrison).

       Is there any love left in the world today? Or is there only heartbreak?

This is the type of play where everyone in the cast got their 5 minutes of stardom. Without exception, every singer performed mellifluously and some great singing. From the soft tones of Laura’s distress, to the powerful ‘belters’ by Liz. Dick sang a couple of songs with his shy approach; deliberately sounding a little like Kermit, he brought a smile to the audience’s faces. Paul Treasure and Jake Tolich provided a whiff of fame to the show, with quality, instantly recognisable, impersonations.

Director Kristen Twynam-Perkins, who won the ‘best musical of the year’ award for the rock opera ‘Bare’, has done another wonderful job with this musical. Faced with a poor script and mediocre story-thread, she has still managed to pump life and interest into the performance.

It is a little sad when you see so much skill and enthusiasm being put into a show, which is doomed from the beginning to being unremarkable.

The whole cast and team can be proud of their efforts, they gave their all.

Joseph served three years in the West African Republic of Senegal Peace Corps. He then earned a Masters in Dramatic Writing, before going on to teach Essay Writing at a New York university.

This high quality, 90-minute drama is filled with black humour, can be seen at Playlovers, Hackett Hall, Draper Street, Floreat on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 8.00 until the 25^th July. There are Sunday matinees, at 2.00 pm, on the 12^th and 19^th.

The set comprises a theatre makeup room, on the apron at each side of the stage; this is where the two cast members get changed, or should I say metamorphosed between every scene?

The stage itself is totally black. There are two metal-framed beds and other pieces of black furniture (stage managed by Cassidy Bodenham). The two cast members carried out the minor scene changes, but Cassidy had a great deal of planning for their costume changes and makeup. Three projectors are used to give pictorial information (Caitlin Telcik, Claire Taylor).

The story takes place from the mid 1960s, over a period of 30 years,. We see a meeting of the couple every 4 or 5 years, but not in chronological order.

 

       Most young boys who fancy a girl at school would, rather than profess his love, pull her hair or hit her. However, for eight-year-old Doug (Sam Barnett), he attention seeks by hurting himself with ridiculously dangerous stunts. The girl he is trying to attract is Kayleen (Kimberley Harris), who has a fascination with scars and blood.

       As the years go on, we see this strange couple maturing; but in his search for empathy rather than sympathy, Doug still needs to share his latest wound – and there are numerous – or a desire to talk about his bodily functions, is never very far away. Yes, Doug is a very confused young man. Kayleen, on the other hand, has a strong desire to better herself, to find someone to love her, but most of all, escape from her uncaring parents.

       Can Doug and Kayleen’s relationship ever blossom? Or will an awful existence befall them both?

 

These two wonderful actors have shown real talent. A two-hander play is extremely difficult at any time, but this 90-minute play has no interval, and the added undertaking of a mild American accent – both actors’ accents matched, yeeh!!, and were natural not grating. Due to an original cast member having other commitments, Kim was only given her part 3 weeks ago, what a remarkable performance. Both characters’ temperaments changed many times throughout the play, ranging from severely ill to downright aggressive, but with the strong guidance of the director, Kristen Twynam-Perkins and her assistant director, Natalie Cox, the result was amazing. Perfect pace, not a line missed genuine rapport and emotion between the characters. Excellent performances.

It was fascinating to see how much thought had been put into the makeup (gore courtesy of Manuao TeAotonga) and the costumes, as the characters’ ages changed, the subtleties of the fashion for the particular era always shone through. The well-selected music (sound operation by Dylan Shelton) set the year, with more serious Russian classical music being played for the reasonably lengthy costume and makeup changes. The lighting design (John Woolrych) was simple but most effective, smoothly operated by Catherine O’Donoghue.

I always admire a team that take on a play that is unusual and challenging, this team went for a difficult experiment and won.