Tag: musical

INDIVIDUALLY AND AS AN ENSEMBLE THE CATS PERFORMERS PURRED PERFECTLY

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By Diane de Beer

CATS

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by TS Eliot

Associate Director and Choreographer: CHRISSIE CARTWRIGHT

Musical Supervisor: PETER MCCARTHY

Assistant Choreographer and Director: MATT KRZAN

Musical Director: LOUIS ZURNAMER

Resident Director: DUANE ALEXANDER

Sound Designer: DAVID GREASELY

Lighting Designer: HOWARD EATON

Cast: A MARVELLOUS ENSEMBLE OF 20 PLUS PERFORMERS with a FANTASTIC BAND OF MUSICIANS led by LOUIS ZURNAMER

It’s pretty much a flawless production, this latest version of CATS, which has been staged 25 years after the first production was showcased locally.

How far we’ve come and how much we’ve seen and yet, this remains one of the best musicals staged locally with much of the praise due to a fantastic cast and production team including the musicians.

In a production of this size, it takes the very best to pull it off and that’s exactly what we have here. When looking through the cast list I was surprised that I didn’t recognize too many familiar names and yet the full ensemble was phenomenal with not a weak link to be seen.

I’m not going to single out any names because they simply all shone from start to finish and this is not an easy show to pull off. Not a paw or a whisker out of place. And the magnificent, choreographed movement and music sung to perfection made you part of this feline gang revitalizing and reimagining their lives.

Further enhancing the production is the dazzling lighting, which in turn enhances solo performances, spotlights sudden appearance or embraces the production full on.

But the clutter of classy cats are the centre of the attention and this clever musical based on TS Eliot’s poems adds innovative flair to this most unusual musical performed by cats.

That is what makes it so intriguing and mesmerizing and as this production pulls you in, it’s easy to see how hard these performers have worked to get this one right. It’s not an easy ask but they have met the challenge full on and we, the audience, are the winners.

I can hardly remember the production all that time ago but I do know that this is perfectly staged, with a cast that leaves you breathless. As someone remarked, they have been rehearsed to an inch of their lives.

It does, however, take that kind of performance to make this work. If we don’t get swept away by the performances and the music, it simply won’t work.

It is a young cast but one that has mastered the skill of presenting a show that never flags for a second. From the first furry paw and big back-stretching arch, we’re right there in the junkyard where this scrappy yet classy coterie entertains us with their memories and magical mysteries.

Pieter Toerien has long been the puppet master of local musical standards with shows that equal the best in the world. This one does his own high expectations proud.

Don’t miss seeing this breathtaking cast give a dazzling display of how to manage one of the toughest theatrical endeavours with ease. And as much as you admire the ensemble that makes it happen, it is also that the production team have encouraged each individual performance to be a standout.

It’s a musical put together of many magical moments with each individual performer creating their own gold standard. It starts with brilliant casting, young performers who achieve magnificence and breathe life into every move their feline characters make and a production team who reached for the stars.

With these performers grabbing the opportunity to show their best, it also looks towards the future of local musical theatre.

Here’s to the next 25 years!

TEEN TRAUMA EXPOSED AND EXPLORED

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REVIEWED BY DIANE DE BEER

Stuart Brown as Evan Hansen

DEAR EVAN HANSEN

MUSIC AND LYRICS BY: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

BOOK: Steven Levenson

CAST: Stuart Brown, Léa Blerk, Charlie Bouguenon, Keely Crocker. Kent Jeycocke, Shelley Lothian, Ntshikeng Matooane, Arno Meyer, Sharon Spiegel Wagner, Michael Stray, Justin Swartz, Lucy Tops

SET AND LIGHTING: Niall Griffin

MUSICAL SUPERVISOR: Charl Johan Lingenvelder

CHOREOGRAPHER: Louisa Talbot

SOUND DESIGNER: David Classen

RESIDENT DIRECTOR: Shelley Lothian

DIRECTOR: Greg Karvellas

Producers: Showtime Management and How Now Productions

VENUE: Montecasino Teatro

DATES: Until 13 April

PICTURES: Daniel Manners

Charlie Bouguenon (Charlie Murphy), Stuart Brown (Evan Hansen),Sharon Spiegel Wagner (Cynthia Murphy) and Keely Crocker (Zoe murphy).

WHAT struck me instantly while watching this musical was that being young a few decades ago was much easier.

No social media, less scrutiny, much less peer pressure because it had to be done person to person rather than through technical means or phones  – it was just a much simpler and less stressful life.

What young adults have to contend with at that vulnerable age when you start transitioning into adulthood is quite monstrous. One would think that the huge physical upheaval would be enough to deal with, but now there’s so much more.

It’s a musical with an intimate if weighty story as it deals with depression and hiding from the world at a time when you should reach out rather than go into hibernation, yet it has huge heart.

It’s not often that musicals deal with  mental health issues especially targeting teen and young adult audiences, who are particularly vulnerable. These aren’t issues readily discussed and this offers an amazing opportunity to ignite sensitive conversations.

Griffin, who is known for his ingenious designs, has hit the brief spectacularly. It’s all high-tech and could be quite alienating and overwhelming but also allows for the cast to flow in and out of the grand and gleaming structure (above) quite seamlessly.

It also allows the high tech environment we live in to dominate and underlines the world we cannot escape – even if that is exactly what Evan Hansen is trying to do.

That is the genius of the musical. It all feels quite overwhelming, almost as though you have to fight your way to the heart of the story, yet this is where the magic lies. At that centre is a timid and rather terrified young boy who can hardly get out from under the covers.

His way of communicating is to write letters to himself, hence the Dear Evan Hansen title. Many people, young and old, could identify at some stage in their lives with his struggle of dealing with life. His is the universal struggle to be seen.

His mother, a single parent, is so stretched to keep them afloat that she hardly notices her son or witnesses any of his anguish. He feels he has no one to turn to until an incident allows him to find a different persona and a family to hook onto.

This particular production has been gifted the perfect package in Stuart Brown, who engages with the audience and embraces his persona in the title role of Evan Hansen. The way he commands the stage and fills the auditorium with an emotional sensitivity that’s quite astonishing in such a huge space is extraordinary.

There’s nothing showy or superfluous in his approach to the role, he simply is Evan Hansen, which draws even those few souls  –  including myself  –  who don’t instinctively engage into the angst-ridden universe of a teenager whose whole being is fearful of the outside world.

Justin Swartz (Jared Kleinman), Keely Crocker (Zoe Murphy) and Stuart Brown (Evan Hansen) in conversation.

That and the music written by an experienced team of songwriters, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who are best known for their Oscar, Grammy and Tony-winning work on La La Land, The Greatest Showman and now this, each of which spawned albums that landed in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. That’s hard to beat and you could pick up from the audience that many of them knew the music and the lyrics, which would really add to a fuller experience.

There really isn’t much to fault in this production guided by the genius musical instincts of Karvellas supported by Lingenvelder’s music know-how, with a marvellously clever ensemble cast, all with voices that carry the music, it is a story well told.

It’s not just teens but also families that would benefit from the show. Communication, real person-to-person contact and, in this instance parents and children, is the other issue that is explored. These are not traditional topics for musicals and that is what makes this one so intriguing.

It also one of the finest shows to target the teen audience. At their most susceptible to be groomed as future theatre fans, this one ticks all the boxes. There’s a hero who explores and explodes, a story that ventures into almost forbidden territory and a production that unfolds beautifully with many different characters who find what they are looking for, a variety of issues to mine, and for those who want a softer landing, a story of romance.

But more than anything, there’s the glorious music and the explosive performances by an exciting ensemble who push the energy with joyful enthusiasm. You simply have to let go and engage.

SPRING AWAKENING BLOWS INTO GAUTENG’S PIETER TOERIEN THEATRE, MONTECASINO LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

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PICTURES BY CLAUDE BARNARDO.

Niall Griffin dying the costumes wearing protective gear.

When Niall Griffin was invited to take on most of the design elements (set, costumes and lighting) for the Sylvaine Strike-directed Spring Awakening, he was nervous going into the process because living up to the expectations of a legend can be daunting. He tells DIANE DE BEER about the experience, which he describes as the highlight of his career:

Spring Awakening, presented by Cape Town’s Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy (LAMTA) as their first book musical, also marks the first time that Sylvaine Strike has directed a musical. 

Based on the controversial play that was written in the late 1800s by Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening delves into the lives of a group of adolescent students discovering their changing bodies, their sexual identities, urges and desires, all while navigating the oppressive and draconian societal norms of the day. 

Under Strike’s visionary direction, this reimagined production (with a very young cast) brings the gripping and emotional story to life as it explores complex themes such as self-discovery, repression and the power of rebellion. 

Niall Griffin, a designer with a mission.

And while there was initial anxiety, once the work began, Griffin knew instantly that he was on safe ground. “The care, respect, trust and sense of magical play that Sylvaine instilled in our journey together are unmatched in my career. I think we both felt an immediate understanding of each other and were both amazed at how perfectly our style and ethos merged,” he says.

“We care immensely for our process, our casts, our team and our audiences, sometimes to our detriment, but finding someone with that same level of care has been one of the greatest gifts of my career.”

Being familiar with the level of detail Strike approaches when making a play, all of the above sounds like a match made in heaven.

The vibrant young cast in Spring Awakening

Accepting the challenge was a no-brainer for a designer who is also described as an industry legend. “There are musicals and then there are musicals. Some are light and frivolous and the perfect escapism and then some hit you harder in a place that truly moves you. Spring Awakening is the latter for me. The little rockstar hit that came out of left field to take Broadway by storm,” is how he describes it.

“It deals with things that we’ve all been through or are going through, both good and bad. All too often, in this day and age, we are driven into false beliefs and horrific mental health issues because we carry such shame from our experiences. The show, as heartbreaking as the story is, leaves one with love, compassion and a sense of togetherness. The human condition is not singular. We are not alone. We all need a little more love in our lives… and who doesn’t love a bit of Victorian-era deliciousness?”

Describing the process, he explains that what began as an exercise in replicating period fabric developed into an exploration on how possible it was to create an entire show from natural fibre. “Our planet has rapidly become saturated with ‘the synthetic’ and I believed this show needed authenticity in every aspect if it was to have the impact it deserved.

“The entirety of the show’s design is manufactured from purely natural fibre. Costumes began as neutral cotton that were dyed with natural dyes. The set is sustainably sourced wood and hessian made from vegetable fibre. It has been an incredibly educational and rewarding process.”

It is that process that piqued my interest, especially when basically the whole look depends on the outcome. Griffin understood that taking on the full production design across set, costume and lighting was a huge undertaking and not for the faint hearted.

“My driving force is to find a seamless synergy between all departments. What I term ‘one organism’. While taking on full production design is huge, it does make knitting a visual together far easier. Even though this show was Sylvaine’s and my ‘maiden voyage’, it was clearly destined, as our sensibilities and aesthetics couldn’t be better matched.”

And there’s the key, something they obviously both understood. “Theatre design to me, at its core, is about designing emotional response. I needed to immerse myself in the emotional journey of the piece, the high and low tides, in order to find its design core,” he notes.

For him texture is far more than paint and dye. “I spent a long time with the score and libretto and, to quote the Gen Z’ers, ‘felt the feels’. This is how I approach the majority of my design work, from a place of emotional honesty. It’s about finding the heart of the piece.”

Describing his process in more detail, he began with the sets, followed by costumes and finally lighting:

“When it comes to scenic design, my favourite moments in theatre are when a space manages to completely morph its texture, feeling and setting without all the ‘big toys’ and flash. A threatening storm can become something else, in mere moments, with a shaft of light breaking through the clouds. I wanted the space to morph seamlessly so that the emotional flow wasn’t interrupted by a clunky scene change. Finding the balance between something that can feel both oppressive and beautiful was a challenge. Using exposed wood was a no-brainer for me. Wood is a material that carries its growth with it forever. Its rings and knots and imperfections are part of it. This felt poetic to me.”

When it came to costuming, he wanted to create a uniform that felt prescribed by an oppressive regime, “a regime trying to erase the individual and force uniformity. I felt this would underpin the narrative journey of our characters rebelling against the blind norm by illustrating how prescribed uniformity cannot erase the burning fire of the individual.

“Every costume, from head to toe, has been lovingly made from scratch. They are all individually hand dyed and aged, and this is where I started to sneak the individual into the uniforms by aging and breaking down each individual’s garments with their own personality. Some of this detail may not be evident to the audience, but it was important to me that the cast could experience their costumes in this way. I truly believe that what the cast feels in their costumes translates into their performances.”

Lighting delivers the final flourish. “Sometimes, at the speed a musical moves, the audience needs to understand an emotional shift quickly, and this is where lighting was vital to me. I wanted the world to feel murky and rich, like an oil painting come to life.”

If the successful runs in Cape Town are an indicator, this has all been achieved, as the visuals will attest.

And Griffin has his final say: “Making theatre, especially non-replica productions, in South Africa in the current climate is hard work. Creating an entire musical from scratch was a feat second to none. I have a team of remarkable artisans that I work closely with and whom I would be nothing without. They all share my level of delivery standards and they all jump into the deep end with my crazy ideas. A tribe second to none. I couldn’t be prouder of the product, and watching audiences experience it in Cape Town has filled me with so much joy.”
* Performances run until 5 May 2024 at Pieter Toerien’s Theatre at Montecasino with shows from Wednesdays to Saturdays at 7:30pm and matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30pm. Tickets cost from R200 through Webtickets. Please note that Spring Awakening contains mature themes, partial nudity, sexual situations as well as explicit language. No persons under 13.