Playwrights Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice wrote the hilarious storyline, Andrew Lippa, who was later nominated for a Tony Award for ‘Best Original Score’, then added the music and lyrics. Lippa has brilliantly written the score to match each character’s personality – e.g. Gomez a Spanish Flamenco-style melody.

The $15 million production (co-incidentally produced by Phoenix Entertainment) ran for 722 performances on Broadway, grossing over $62 million, third only to ‘Wicked’ and ‘The Lion King’. The Broadway production starred Brooke Shields as Morticia.

The Australian Premiere was in Sydney, March 2013, with John Waters as Gomez Addams.

Now is your chance to meet this ghoulish family in their two and a half hour, offbeat production, presented by Phoenix Theatre Inc. and Dark Psychic Productions at the Phoenix Theatre, 435 Carrington Street, Hamilton Hill on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8.00 until 10^th December. There is one matinée on 4^th December at 2.00 pm.

This show’s selected charity is Cystic Fibrosis (a debilitating genetic lung condition), so please buy a programme and give a donation to this worthwhile cause. Thank you.

The entrance foyer is lined with empty picture frames, gravestones, ‘Thing’ in a box, with various black magic and torture implements. Even the coffee counter had jars of ‘creepy specimens’ as tasty treats. Huge amount of work, but a great scene setter for what is ahead – the work supervised by Jessica Tarnowy, with props supplied for this and the musical by Chantal Kerkhof, Krispin Maesalu, Ryan S McNally, Allan Veal and Pat McMahon.

The set, designed by Ryan McNally, was simple but extremely effective. There were walkways off each side of the stage, around the orchestra pit, to the front of the audience.

The curtains open to show a decrepit, weatherboard house with a glow coming from the attic window. In front of the house, next to a wooden bridge, is Bernice, a 2-metre high Venus flytrap. At each side of the stage is a cobweb covered stone arch. There are various plinths for the ‘dead’ – as opposed to ‘living’ – statues.

The production manager was Alison Kovacs, who with stage manager Nikita Harwood ensured a fast and effective stage crew (Daniel Rooney, Eleanor Weller-Brown and Luke Locantro). Slick work. The technical director, Alexander Coutts-Smith, designed both the soundscape and, aided by Krispin Maesalu, the lighting. Benjamin Albert added the fun sound effects; the sound operator was Simone Ostle.

The live orchestra are in the ‘pit’ in front of the stage. The musicians were conducted by the musical director, Krispin Maesalu who covered the various scores from soft love songs to the loud, creepy and slightly discordant tunes required when the ancestors were around. The reed section comprised Jeni Stevens, Trish Telcik and Talitha Dunn, the brass players were Paul Marion and Emma Mondy. Chris Johnston was on guitar, with Josh Haines and Ethan Walters on keyboard. The string section was Benjamin Cooke, Amanda Reynolds and Greg Critchley.  Drums and castanets played by Jake Isard. The percussionist was also assistant musical director, Ben Albert. With the musicians facing a side wall instead of directly at the audience, I found the instrument balance better than normal.

       The orchestra strikes up their Overture with the well-known Addams Family refrain. As they play, a hand – ‘Thing’ – comes out of the centre of the proscenium curtains and beckons us to join the Family. Poised on a plinth to the side of the stage is a one-legged woman, ‘the Sideshow’ (Sally McMaster).

       The curtains open and reveal the Addams Family on their way to the cemetery. Even after many years of marriage, Gomez Addams (Paul Reed) and his wife, Morticia (Holly Denton) are still as passionate over each other as ever. Lanky and bald, Uncle Fester (Callum Siegmund-Bant) and young Pugsley (Charlie Martin) are excited about the annual family gathering and all of the decaying corpses they will meet. Sadly, if Wednesday gets married she will no longer be available to give Pugsey his daily torture on the rack. Scruffy and coarse Grandma (Devetta Ridgwell) enjoys meeting all of the family members, many of whom have been dead for centuries. Butler Lurch (Declan Roden) keeps her company.

      This year however, the daughter, Wednesday (Rosie McGavock) would rather be with her new boyfriend. She has fallen madly in love with caring Lucas Beineke (Matthew Arnold), who is unfortunately ‘normal’! Gomez and Morticia are horrified, until they discover that he wants to be an embalmer.

     Wednesday invites Lucas and his parents to the Addams’ Towers for a meal. Whilst the group were led in by the ballerina (Tabitha Kerlin), a gypsy (Chantal Kerkhof) with crystal ball in hand cast a spell. The straight-laced, passionless father, Mal (Lee Wilson) and Lucas’s inappropriately dressed Mum, Alice (Claudia Van Zeller) are looking forward to meeting their prospective daughter in law. On arrival, the ancestors were lined up on their plinths; there were the abandoned bride (Melanie Doust), the flapper (Charlotte Williams), the Indian (Bernadette Ward) and the courtesan (Steph Hickey). The gravedigger ancestor (Pat McMahon) took an instant dislike to Lucas, and had to be stopped before an incident arose. Uncle Fester calls for an intermezzo as he plays his ukulele, but nothing can prepare the visitors for ‘The Game’ at the end of the dinner.

      How can Wednesday and Lucas prove their love for each other with an apple? Or will the Grim Reaper (Craig Rickards) be called?

     The ancestor ‘flight attendant’ (Sara Urban) brought a smile on the curtain call.

 Other ancestors that visited the family included a puritan (Zack Inglis), the conquistador (Christopher Doney), the soldier (Allan Veal), the convict (Shaun Griffin) and the gambler (Julian Monck). Every actor and ‘ancestor’ extra had their moment of glory in this show, whether dancing, singing or merely their creepy presence adding wonderfully to the show.

The director, Ryan S McNally acted as a mentor for his assistant, Eleanor Weller-Brown. Ryan is certainly not one to accept ‘average’ or even ‘good’, he demands the best and then helps the cast give him the best and more. The script was extremely funny, and the cast delivered the subtle jokes perfectly. Gomez and Morticia’s love rapport was brilliant, even though delivered in Spanish, like ‘querida’ (darling) and ‘cara’ (my heart) it was when he spoke French that Morticia melted.

A couple of years ago, community theatre musicals would have one good singer, and the remainder would be able to dance OR sing. Recently I have noticed that invariably, all of the main characters in a musical can sing and dance brilliantly. The singing in this production was WAAPA standard, powerful, huge vocal range and a natural – full body – delivery. These stars strutted the stage, and engaged the audience from the moment the curtains opened. Even the fun songs like Uncle Fester’s, who sounding a little like Kermit, sang a beautiful song to the moon. Lurch’s song was possibly a unique event in Australian theatre.

The high quality choreography covered many genres from soft shoe, high kicking and a tango d’amour. The choreographers, Sarah-Rose Kelly, Ryan S McNally and Steph Hickey, amazingly managed to control this large cast, with several groups dancing simultaneously. The dancers were energetic and did not miss a beat.

With more than two dozen characters, all very different, the costume section (Ryan McNally, Rebeka Thomas and Rhiannon Thomas) had a great deal of work. Each costume was a masterpiece, well-tailored and created with imagination, whilst still ensuring a faithful reproduction of the character we all know so well. The makeup girls, Jessica Langdon and Amy Heath Murdoch, gave the finishing touches. For shows like this, the audience have a definite expectation as to what the Family should look like, and they were immaculately represented.

Superb acting, packed with energy and great fun. I expect rave reviews.

Despite this play being about all things macabre, I think that any children over nine would love the characters. Be warned, several performances are already sold out.

This two-hour play can be seen at the KADS Theatre in Barber Street, Town Square Centre, Kalamunda each Wednesday, Friday and Saturday until 28^th May.

For any new people in the area and potential audience members, may I suggest that your beautiful posters and first-class website mention which theatre the show is at, and where the theatre is situated?

The scene is the year 2014, in the shabby lounge room of Herringbone Manor in Sussex. Due to encroaching poverty, the buildings have fallen into disrepair, with many of the artworks and treasures having been sold off. The set is the work of Richard Woolman, Bill Weighell, Paul Hodges and the designer Geoff Rumsey. The stage manager is Liam Rogers.

       Act One – The pedantic and painfully overbearing, Lord Alfred Herringbone (Paul Anderson) is reading his ‘Times’ and sipping on a whisky. Meanwhile, his tolerant wife, Lady Penelope (Marsha Holt) tries to ignore Alfred’s demands for perfect syntax. Their aging butler, Wick (Geoff Rumsey) is now a luxury they can barely afford, but as the Wicks family have been attendants and loyal servants to the Herringbones for centuries, they keep him on.

       On returning from holiday, their daughter Caroline (Rachel Vonk) suggests that they contact her friend Alyce (Natasha Smith) who works as a producer’s assistant on a TV show, dedicated to saving old manors. Will she be able to help? What will she unearth?

 

     Act Two – We find ourselves back three centuries at the beginning of the Herringbone dynasty, where the first butler, Wicks (Les Marshall) takes care of handsome, debonair Amberley Herringbone (Paul Reed) who is being chased by a gypsy girl (Natasha Smith). When he rejects her, she puts a terrible curse on the House of Herringbone for generations to come. Perhaps antiques expert, Justine truelove (Charlotte Weber) may hold the answer to the misfortune.

 

The two stories are both very funny, the first Act was slick and worked well, however, the second Act suffered from the ‘Curse of the Herringbones’. With only days to go, two actors had to withdraw due to severe illness; unfortunately, this left the second story under rehearsed. A little bit of script editing would also help, but it was a good storyline and well thought out.

Paul Anderson gave a hilarious, supercilious performance, with Martha Holt brilliant as the frustrated, long suffering wife – great chemistry between the pair. Geoff Rumsey was perfect as the present day, gracious Wicks with all his subtle quirks.

Quite a complex lighting schedule designed by Don Allen and operated smoothly by Tiernan Stevens. Julie Hickling’s soundscape was operated by Jason Millman.

Having the author direct his own play can be a risk, but Bob Charteris has had plenty of experience both on and off the stage, and with this very good cast he did extremely well.

This Darlington Theatre Company production can be seen at the Marloo Theatre, Marloo Road in Greenmount on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings until 12^th December, curtain up 7.30 pm, Sunday matinees 2.00 pm.

Incidentally, the Marloo Theatre website now requires an ‘au/’ at the end of the address. Their real website is not ‘for sale’, so please use   http://www.marlootheatre.com.au/

All of the flats, at the rear and side of the stage, were very pale, dappled blue. Colourful fruit barrows and their attendants stand at the side. There was the exterior of a small cottage. In another scene was the corner of a harem and a small swimming pool.

      Thunder can be heard as beautiful Fairy Bowbells (Natasha Smith) strolls onto the stage, in search of her lost friend, Rosalind (Sophie David). She finds her pal locked in a cage, and as she releases her, there is a flash of lightning and the evil Esmerelda (Siobhán Vincent) – boo hiss – arrives. She cons Bowbells into giving her a magic neck talisman. With this new power, Esmeralda turns Rosalind into a black cat, Kitty (Tanya Doogan).

      In the town square, Bosun Bowleg (David Seman) and two seamen (Adrian Ashman, Paul Presbury) are searching for a new captain for Alderman Fitzwarren’s (Paul Reed) boat. The Alderman’s atrocious cook, Sarah (Suzanna Matla) is destroying even more food in her oven. Two local idiots, ‘I’ (Jonathan Quinn) and ‘Spy’ (Angus Cummings) have been hired to follow and kidnap, Alice Fitzwarren (Melissa Bull), the Alderman’s daughter; however, Esmerelda’s press gang, the evil Rats (Sophie David – radiated stage presence, Thomas Outred, James Dick,) led by King Rat (David Bain) – boo, hiss – were also out to kidnap any able-looking man.

      As handsome Dick Whittington (Channing Whitworth – good singing) is helping scout leader, Miss Peabody (Jacqui Ashman), he is captured and whisked away onto a ship. They set sail for Morocco but their boat sinks.

       The extremely wealthy Sultan (Michael Hart – at his best) and his gorgeous daughter, the appropriately named Maneeta (Tyler Morgan) capture the crew. The Sultan’s butler, Jeeves (Timothy Presant) pleads on behalf of the captives, but the Sultan continues to admire the harem dancers (Jenny Trestrail, Natasha Smith, Rachel Vonk).

       Will dangerous Esmerelda be stripped of her powers? Is there any happiness or love left in the World?

 

Marloo has one of the largest stages in the WA community theatre group, and although the small amount of set was of quality (George Boyd), the quantity let it down. The stage often looked stark. Whenever the chorus left the stage, the two or three actors remaining appeared lost in a void. Perhaps leaving a few ‘peasants’ loitering whilst the singers performed would have helped. There was good and speedy set changes by stage manager Hayley Derwort’s team of Jordan Tabb, Elanor Cooper-Ritter, Graham Dick, Michael Dick and Ashley Johnson. When the LED lighting changed from white to colour, it certainly helped make the scene more intimate and less clinical (lighting designed by Michael Hart and David Bain, operated by Mike Smale).

The lightning and explosion effects were MOST impressive, especially when topped off with Greg Rusha and Brendan Tobin’s inventive sound design.

The costumes (Rachel Vonk, Tracy Vonk, Sallie Ketteringham) were perfect for the characters, ranging from the beautiful gown of Fairy Bowbells, to the ‘horrible rats’ outfits. Then there was the diaphanous dress of the Sultan’s drag queen daughter, Maneeta – great fun. Then there is that very different camel (constructed by Annie Bramble) – not your typical Panto camel – it was meant to be ridiculous, matching the two mad characters inside.

‘Dick Whittington’ was enthusiastically directed by the talented Rachel Vonk. The intricate choreography was clever and well rehearsed, thanks to Joanne Neesham. The musical directors, Brendan Tobin and Amanda Minutillo gave us catchy tunes, with a sensible sound level to ‘accompany’ rather than take over the singer’s vocal cords. At times, perhaps too many different themes were taking place on stage simultaneously. Plenty of action is wonderful, but to have serious singing, with dancing and a comedic camel altogether can be a little overwhelming.

A thought :- Who was the Dame of this panto? What does a Dame normally look like?

When comedians crack jokes, the script can be first-class, but much of the success depends upon the style of delivery. The cast were word perfect and well-rehearsed, but often the lines were delivered as though they were part of a drama – clearly, at a good pace but in the wrong genre, so many of the jokes did not quite work correctly. The corny humour especially needs to be spelt out – as though telling a four year old a joke – with even a boom boom noise from the musical accompaniment or a simple bass drum just to drive home the point. Pantos are the one time that ‘ham’ is best.

‘Marloo’ can be relied on to entertain children of all ages. Your kids would love this.

The lighting for all of the plays was designed by Michael Hart and operated by Ryan Perrin. David Bain and Greg Rusha created the sound effects, there was one beauty that brought the house down.

‘The Tip of the Spear’ is an engrossing monologue from the pen of James Forte. Although James has written around two dozen plays, this is the first based on an actual event. It is the tale of an army Glider Regiment’s mission in June 1944. It has been described as the most daring and clever piece of flying in the whole of World War ll, as carried out by Staff-Sergeant Jim Wallwork, who died only a couple of years ago, aged 93.

The star of the play, Ray Egan, directed the piece himself.

This intriguing and masterly monologue premiered at the Old Mill Theatre, on Wednesday and Thursday nights this week to rapturous applause.

The scene is a local bar, just after a Veterans’ parade.

     An ex-army serviceman in a smart suit, proudly wearing his red service beret, and with a beer in hand, takes a seat at a pub table. With a wistful look on his face, he starts to relate the amazing story of his night mission to destroy Pegasus Bridge.

Ray is an extraordinary actor. Famous for his madcap ‘Dinner for One’; he now turns on the pathos, and with tears in his eyes, he recalls the ghastly happenings of that astonishing night. A magical performance.

‘When Darcy Rode the Mule’ a yarn written by Banjo Patterson.

An Australian farmer strolls on (Ray Egan) and in Strine, apologises for the Pommy bastard who has just been on, and now he is going to tell the story of a true Aussie.

      Ray then gave us another side of his talents, as he made the audience chuckle with his rendition of Banjo’s observations.

‘Chinamen’ a one-act farce from British playwright, Michael Frayn’s four play volume ‘The Two of Us’. Frayn was most famous as a political reporter for the UK ‘Observer’ newspaper; however, his translations of Chekov’s plays are the most popular in the theatre.

The title of this presentation is, by today’s standards, horrifyingly ‘politically incorrect’.

It was as the playwright watched the offstage antics of this farce that inspired Frayn’s hilarious play, the recently seen, ‘Noises Off’.

The scene is a dining room with table and several chairs. The table is laid for a dinner party. There are two doors stage right and one to the left Set design by Harry MacLennan.

This play has the unusual premise that only two actors play all of the characters. This means that only two people can be on the stage at any time!

     A young, London couple, Jo (Chantelle Pitt) and Stephen (Paul Reed) are having a dinner party. Jo has asked her best friend Bee around for a meal; she told Stephen, but typical male, he did not hear or pay attention to an important detail.

     When Stephen meets Barney in the street, he says how much he is looking forward to catching up on the news, and that the meal is planned for 8.00 that evening. However, Stephen did not realise that Bee and Barney were no longer married, and that Bee was actually going to bring her new, longhaired, hippy partner, Alex, for the meal.

     On hearing of Stephen’s blunder, Jo is petrified that estranged Barney will turn up and have a tantrum with Bee’s new partner.

     How will Jo and Stephen keep them apart? Will they clash?

Director, Harry MacLennan has taken on a most difficult and complex play to present. He cleared the first hurdle perfectly, by finding two talented actors who could keep a straight face whilst pandemonium ensued.

Harrison then had to convey the impression that the various guests who passed through the room, were in still the areas around the central dining room. This he conquered with the aid of his stage managers, Jordan Tabb and Adrian Ashman, by having them knock and pull at doors, handing out wineglasses, and signalling – just out of sight – from off stage.

The actors had to stand in doorways, pretending to argue and chat with each other, when in fact the other performer may be in the wings on the opposite side of the stage, changing into another character’s costume ready for the next entrance. Sounds complex? You bet it was for the actors, but astonishingly simple for the audience to follow. This mayhem went on for the full 40 minutes of the play, with not a flicker of stress on the actors’ faces as they flawlessly changed persona.

Very clever. Congratulations to all concerned.

Marloo had a few problems gathering and staging their selection, but in the end, they have come up with a well-appreciated, varied selection. Their only problem now is to attract the crowds. With eight shows opening on the same night, many of them being for a very short season, the audiences are sadly left in a quandary – which show they are going to miss?

This programme has everything, a tale of bravery and tragedy, a light-hearted Aussie yarn and a unique farce, all very well produced and acted.

John, who has been a jazz pianist for 50 years, named his play after Spencer Williams’ 1926 Dixieland song, ‘Basin Street Blues’, made famous two years later by Louis Armstrong.

In 1897, New Orleans turned its Storyville Street into an area for illegal, but accepted, prostitution. Being near the French Quarter, it became known as Rue Bassin (Basin Street), due to the land shape enclosed by the peripheral, surrounding canal.

The Darlington Theatre Players present this two hour, lively musical spectacular at the Marloo Theatre, 20 Marloo Road, Greenmount. Performances start at 8.00 pm every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday until the 8^th August. There are Sunday matinees at 2.00 pm.

The set was another ‘George Boyd special’ – does this man ever sleep? The effect was dazzling. It was the interior of a brothel, ‘The Rising Sun’, in New Orleans in 1917. The walls are dark burgundy, and a carpeted staircase on the right, went up to the working girls’ bedrooms. The band is situated in view at the back of the stage.

With George’s sets, when the curtains open, it is the little finishing details that make the audience gasp; such as the stair newell posts have carved lions on the top, the stained glass sunrise above the main door, nothing is too much effort. The gas lamps and other wonderful props (Lesley Sutton, Liz Rusha) gave the final touch of quality.

The lighting design (Mike Hart) was magnificent, truly a professional standard. David Bain and Mike Smale’s operation was sensitive and perfectly timed e.g. the lighting of the lamps really looked as though the gas mantles were warming up. The sound design for the street scene was at a perfect level, and gave excellent atmosphere (designer Greg Rusha, operated by Greg and Leighton Hughes).

       The stage is in darkness, a shadowy figure can be seen descending the stairs with a lit wax taper in her hand, it is Pearl (Kylie Isaia); one of the bordello’s most experienced working girls. No sooner had she unlocked the main door, than her so-called boyfriend, a bullying pimp, Frank (Pearce Patrick-McGrogan) burst in demanding his cut of Pearl’s earning. His cut being most of what she had. The Madame of the house, Lottie (Amanda Minutillo) seemed to have little sympathy; but the reliable bouncer, Wash (Richard Mananga) soon threw ‘The Dude’ out. It was easy to see that Tony (Toby Millar), the piano player felt deeply for Pearl.

       A lusty customer (Robert Beaton) tried to catch the eye of young Rita (Caitlyn Hughes), but even the impecunious old man (David Zuiddam) across the room seemed to being having more success with the girls.

      When a highly intelligent and attractive virgin, 16 yr-old Josie (Sarah Jackson) arrives, Lottie asks her to take over. Not even wealthy rail worker, Gus (Dowal Hall) who comes in for his weekly constitution, could he get pure Josie. Thankfully, he seems happy with the sassy Lulu (Rachel Vonk – wild) instead. On the other hand, when the Mayor (Iain Martin – great ukulele solo) arrives for some light entertainment – watching the slinky, sexy dancing girls (Jessie Ou Yang, Jordan Tabb) will Josie succumb? Or could it be the wealthy French businessman, Auguste (Paul Reed) and his sexually inexperienced son, Henri (Radomir Kobryn-Colleti) who wins her body?

 

The director, Aarne Neeme, has had a lifetime in the theatre. He has been in a senior position at the Octagon, Playhouse, Hole-in-the-Wall and even been Head of Acting at WAAPA, so it is little wonder that he was recently awarded the Order of Australia. Here, Aarne is assisted by Lee Thompson, the pair giving us a truly lively and uplifting show. The cast were coordinated and retained their powerful deliveries throughout this energy-filled show. Most of the songs were instantly recognisable, and pleasantly performed.

Choreographer Premala D. Sangarananda has learnt her art in several countries, and as a result demands the very best from her dancers. They waltzed, skipped, seductively tempted the audience, leapt, high kicked – those poor girls really had to work, but they smiled for every second and were magnificent, congrats to the whole team. The costumes (Marjorie DeCaux, Rachel Vonk) were delightful, from the simple cotton chemises and long frilly drawers, to The Madame’s glittering designer gown. Topped off with their crowning glories, hairstyles and makeup by Nicole Jelly.

Jazz tends to be one of these musical genres that people can take or leave. Mention jazz and folk will think of discordant, cacophonous music, with everyone in the band playing a different refrain, whilst you try to spot the tune. This band, under the musical direction of Iain Martin and John Beaton, gave the audience many enjoyable melodies, most with a light, sleazy, Dixie / Ragtime jazz foundation.

The highly experienced band comprised, on brass, Rob Anderson (trumpet) and Steven Martin (trombone) giving the authentic rasping depth of the blues. Stuart Campbell (saxophone) and Wayne Griffiths (clarinet) joined them on woodwind, then there was John Lee (banjo), John Perry (bass) and Richard Pooley (drums).

With an old upright piano centre stage, being ‘played’ by ‘Tony’; Radomir Kobryn-Colleti was actually playing another keyboard hidden behind the piano. A very convincing ‘duet’.

The final number ‘House of the Rising Sun’ was sung beautifully by ‘Pearl’, delivered from the heart and doubtlessly caused a few audience tears as it reflected on this prostitute’s life story.

This review refers to the opening night performance, a packed house. Not surprisingly, I understand that almost the whole season of this very different play, has already been sold out, so be quick or miss out. A very well thought out and presented musical. Top-quality.