Bright Star, Pursued By Bear, Chapel Off Chapel, Saturday October 26th 2019

Bright Star, Pursued By Bear, Chapel Off Chapel, Saturday October 26th 2019

"Bright Star" was presented by Pursued By Bear at Chapel Off Chapel and we saw the opening night show on Saturday October 26th 2019.

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.  I write for my memories of what I have seen, and is more of a stream of consciousness.

"Bright Star" has Music, Book and Story by Steve Martin while the Music, Lyrics and Story are by Edie Brickell.  They have created a beautifully heart warming story that is tragic, funny and full of love.  The music and lyrics are so relatable, bouncy and toe tapping one moment and then can change rapidly to become so emotionally tragic and gut wrenching as they move the story along.

The foyer was well decorated to create a sense of the era.  The programme sellers are not easily accessible and need to be on a raised dais to sell their wares.  Maybe they could be calling out "programmes" occasionally to vie for business as it would create atmosphere and also be in keeping with the era.  The reason I suggest this is a few people could not get close to buy a programme and I watched how the lack of access discouraged people from purchasing a copy.  Maybe they could have the programme seller centrally located or mingling with the crowd.

Programmes are a very reasonable $5.00 but should include the year, 2019 on the front cover or inside cover.  Readers and theatre historians should be able to quickly identify the year of production on any posters and programmes.  Some of the black text is difficult to read against the bridge in the background,  and against the dress, respectively at the top and bottom of the programme.  Look at the theatre posters at Chapel Off Chapel and see how few include a year of production.  Pursued By Bear would want people to remember 2019 as the year of such a great show!

As soon as we entered the theatre, the set comprising of wooden slats and about 16 fruit crates reminded me of “Come From Away”.  The wooden slatted wall upstage also reminded me of the set from the new "Fiddler On The Roof" in Yiddish where you can see parts of the orchestra.

Thank you for the best pre-show announcement that has ever been conducted at Chapel Off Chapel as it also included "That includes no texting during the performance."   Thank you Pursued By Bear for being role models as showing respect for all audience members, cast and crew with this specific announcement; as I am sick of spending big money on shows to be interrupted by phone's lights, people texting, scrolling, or, even receiving or making a phone call during a performance!

"Bright Star"is set during the 1920’s and the 1940s’ with costumes by Jodi Hope that captured the mood and atmospheres.

Anthony Craig as the Banjo player and Max looked respectably iconic in his ankle freezing length cuffed trousers.  This comical device is important as not every one could afford trousers during the Great Depression and the war period during rationing and many people wore hand-me-down clothes.   He played with gusto and so much personality that the relationship with Violinist/Edna played by Ruby Clark created fabulous cameo moments.

Sarah Tulloch's set designs were magical to transport us between the 1920's and the 1940's with the use of about 16 fruit crates.  The framing of the set with the wooden slatted walls and the plants captured the locations beautifully.  A raised stage stood centre stage where many scenes were played.  Even the back of the piano on stage left was used to store books.

The first major ensemble number was squashed as between 15-18 performers navigated the fruit crates and the plant on stage left.  But, wow what a great number.

Lighting by Mungo Trumble created clear locations and atmospheres that differed between scenes and between the different decades.  The revelation scene with the dry ice and lighting from the wings was slick and allowed for a poignantly gut wrenching denouement.  This scene in particular had hearts thumping.

I have rarely seen such good segues between scene changes. In fact one scene change received applause as it was staged so well with dance to continue the story without breaking the flow.  More importantly the previous number had received welcoming applause, and then to follow up with such a slick scene change was "icing on the cake".

All of the performers created solid characters for each role. The relationships between characters had more depth than most musicals that I have seen in 2019.

Choreography by Freya List has created some of the best movement and dance that I have seen for a long time. The choreography included lots of stomping, hand clapping and thigh slapping in keeping with the era and region.  She used some contemporary moves that were not out of place and could quite easily been in a 1940's film.  The cast performed her choreography with accuracy and requisite dynamics.  In fact, Freya List's choreography was up there with the eight Broadway musicals I saw this year  She captured so much more emotion connection to the story than some much more famous current shows.  Remember Freya List as a choreographer for the now and for the future.  I have seen her work in a few MTC shows and she is consistently reliable in delivering for the theatre.

Alice Murphy played by Kala Gare and Jimmy Ray Dobbs played by Matthew Prime were fantastic as the main characters and were so appropriate for the roles as they captured the warmth of their relationship during both the 1920's and the 1940's.  They both have great singing voices and their characterisations honoured the legacy of many people who had been through similar ordeals (of having a child out of wedlock during this era) with their respectful performances.

The casting for the entire production was one of the best I have seen for a long time.  There was not a weak link to the cast.

Callum O"Malley as Billy Cane, a soldier returning from WW11 service is a confident and fine charismatic performer who brought a sincerity to the role of being an aspiring writer.  With, Margot Krndija as Margo Crawford they created a restrained sexual tension.

Ellie Nunan as Lucy Grant and Lachlan Hewson as Daryl Ames created much of the comic relief with their gate-keeper antics.  These two resisted the urge to ham up these roles and gradually revealed hints along the way.

Major Dobbs played by Mike Gardiner has a rich voice with a menacing evil demeanour that created a defined journey for his character.

Anthony Craig as the Banjo player and Max looked respectably iconic in his ankle freezing length cuffed trousers.  This comical device is important as not every one could afford trousers during the Great Depression and the war period during rationing and many people had to have hand-me-down clothes.   He played with gusto and so much personality that the relationship with Violinist/Edna played by Ruby Clark created fabulous cameo moments.

Singing was melodic and emotionally charged particularly towards the end. The connection between Alice Murphy (Kala Gare) and Jimmy Ray Dobbs (Matthew Prime) was electric and raw in their final duet.   Her reaction was like the famous "The Scream" painting by Edvard Munch, but without the hand gestures.  I had tears rolling down my face during their performance of this song.  What a shame that the microphone cues really disturbed the flow of the show to the point that it not only jolted me in my seat, but others in the audience also.

Daddy Cane played by Tom Blair created an important arc in the story with his honest display of emotional revelations with his suppressed history.  His pain during the revelation scene was felt by the audience.

The entire ensemble should be proud to be in such a fine production, as you all helped to create such wonderful atmospheres that I am sure Michael Chekhov would be proud of.

The story's denouement is illuminating and comes as a shock. You could hear a pin drop, and, sadly, the solo phone vibrating!

Some of the musicians double as characters and do an exceptional job in creating some sensational moments. The final fiddle and banjo strum is worth a treat.

The mother, Mama Murphy played admirably by Lindy Yeates was restrained during the “sign here” manipulation scene as she watched from behind while her daughter was being subjected to the unspeakable. I felt Mama Murphy could have been more physically protective of her daughter.

Tref Gare played Daddy Murphy with religious restraint.

The microphone and sound quality let the show down a lot in Act One.  By Act Two this had improved slightly but was far from what should be tolerated in a production.

I stood immediately to applaud after the final blackout as I felt emotionally connected to the work and I wanted to show my full appreciation for such a great job.

This show has so much heart and emotion unlike “Frozen” that we saw recently on Broadway that should be called “tepid” for the lack of emotion and over-produced.  The "Bright Star" cast created more passion and allowed me to have more of an emotional response than the new, sensational and spectacular "Moulin Rouge" on Broadway.

My partner thought this was better than “Jekyll and Hyde 25th Anniversary Concert”. I agree overall with the consistency of performances and characterisations.  I repeat the sound quality let this show down!

"Bright Star" is my second favourite musical of 2019 as it captured so much emotion that was missing from some of the Broadway shows.  It did not score the 9/10 that I gave "Come From Away" (both here and on Broadway), but the cast and crew of  “Bright Star” should be proud as I saw eight musicals and three plays on Broadway this year.  "Bright Star" should have received a 9/10 except for my major complaint about the sound quality, and the staging logistics that should have been ironed out prior to bumping into the theatre.

"Bright Star" created much better emotional connections between characters than some of Broadway shows I saw that had much more expensive sets and costumes.

Directed by Mark Taylor, he has created a beautiful piece of theatre with emotion and honest human connections that created an emotional response from the audience that will resonate for a long time.  His work also reminds me of the simple staging and emotion of  the 1994 production of "The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol" by "Complicte"  from the UK.

The sight lines were terrific as so many shows direct their casts to perform too close to the audience at Chapel Off Chapel thereby limiting the view for anyone sitting beyond B row.  So congratulations for staging most of the show upstage to allow audience members to view the action.

"Bright Star" obtained an 8.75.

I wrote the following onto Facebook as soon as I got home:

“Bright Star” produced by Pursued By Bear is the best show I have ever seen at Chapel Off Chapel. The show is quite tragic but has some fantastic light relief to ease the tension.
I have never stood for a show at this venue, but this show deserves it. My main reservation is the microphone/sound quality needs urgent attention. Every performer contributed to the best choreographed show I have seen for a long time.

Congratulations.

Posted October 26th 2019

Note: I am disappointed that I cannot find a website or agent link for Mark Taylor as he so desperately deserves representation.

October 31st 2019:

Wow, I found Mark Taylor’s website.  Here it is:  https://www.markallantaylor.com/