The Boy From Oz
THE BOY FROM OZ – The Production Company at the Capitol Theatre to March 17, 2011. Photos: Jeff Busby
IF THERE IS A GOD: God bless Jeanne Pratt and her unique boutique musical theatre outfit, The Production Company. It’s one of the things worth moving to Melbourne for; or at least visiting occasionally. The not-for-profit company has been mounting musicals – from Broadway classics onwards – since 1999. They do three shows each year through an economical formula of new performing talent, top creatives and a scattering of big names. Rehearsal time is a frenetic two weeks and sets are minimal. And for the most part the recipe works brilliantly.
Unfortunately, touring these productions hasn’t been factored into the balance sheets and the only one to make the trip to Sydney was Hair! and that didn’t capture the public imagination. Not so the Company’s latest hit, The Boy From Oz – the story of singer-songwriter-showman Peter Allen, told as a cabaret version of his too short life.
The Boy was a smash hit in its original lavish incarnation. Opening in 1998 with book by the late and much missed Nick Enright into which he wove Peter Allen’s music and lyrics, it was directed by Gale Edwards and made a household favourite of Todd McKenney over the two years of its amble around Australia. When it opened on Broadway in 2003, its star was discarded in favour of the marquee value of the Hugh Jackman brand. It was a hit there. Later Jackman toured a stadium version around Australian capitals and that was also a money-spinner.
Fast forward to 2010 and McKenney, now expanded in the public eye into a somewhat notorious television personality, is enticed (was it hard?) to reprise his great role in Melbourne. It was a smash yet again and played a second season in January this year before travelling north to the Capitol just in time for Mardi Gras. Quel serendipity.
Catching up with it on a plain old Wednesday evening, with an audience of real people, is a test of a show’s professionalism and performance discipline. There’s no first night hype to woop up the performers, the adrenaline has soured in their veins and it’s all uphill. And that’s where McKenney demonstrates what a pro and a genuine theatre talent he is. The 1000w grin, the energy, the sharp interplay with the audience and the total commitment to the role are breathtaking to watch. As the great entertainer, McKenney is a perfect mix of camp and homely, daggy and delirious. He gives the show its strongly beating heart and the rest of the equally strong cast are swept up in the dazzle of his enthusiasm. Dazzle is also evident in Trudy Dalgliesh's lavish and well thought out lighting design: starry nights, glittery theatricals, limelight, spotlights, follow spots – you name it, she employs it, with wit and to great effect.
Director Nancye Hayes keeps the complex narrative flowing smoothly and comprehensibly as Peter entertains an audience from his white grand piano and looks back on his life. There’s the small boy growing up tough and tragic in northern NSW, the early success on the Gold Coast as half of “the Allen Brothers”; the grotty tour of South East Asia that led to the fateful meeting with Judy Garland; his relationship with Liza Minnelli and their eventual coming to terms with his homosexuality and his great love Greg Connell; and on to their too early deaths from AIDS. What is actually a rather sad and cruelly truncated life is buoyed in the theatrical telling by Peter’s triumphs in the USA: an Oscar, dancing with the Rockettes at Radio City Musical Hall (the first male to do so) and those indelible autobiographical songs.
Choreographer Andrew Hallsworth has performed miracles (in the short time available to him) with the 20-strong company and the second half opening – featuring the Rockettes – would be a showstopper if it wasn’t actually starting it again. Played with a tight and terrific band (musical director John Foreman) occupying the centre of the Capitol’s cavernous stage, the only props are two pianos – the beaten up pub upright of his childhood and the glamorous white grand, and a flight of stairs that allow entrances and exits to and from heaven (Judy Garland doesn’t stay dead for long, of course).
In the absence of the wondrous Chrissie Amphlett and Angela Toohey (boy, were they brilliant) Christen O’Leary and Fem Belling sound and look very good as Judy and Liza; while Robyn Arthur puts a lump in your throat as Peter’s loving mum Mrs Woolnough. Alex Rathgeber as long-time partner Greg Connell shares a touching scene with the star in the singing of I Honestly Love You. It’s one that has obvious extra poignancy during Mardi Gras and at a time when gay rights in marriage are being publicly debated. Some of our politicians could learn a lot by sitting in the stalls of the Capitol this week: their beloved “mums and dads” are packing the place, quietly singing along with the two lovely boys and snuffling into their hankies at the needless tragedy of it all.
Meanwhile: The Boy From Oz is a total delight all over again; the season is giddily short – don’t miss it.
