Gilligan's Island, Humdrum Comedy and Left Bauer Productions, Chapel Off Chapel, Saturday March 3rd 2018

Gilligan's Island, Humdrum Comedy and Left Bauer Productions, Chapel Off Chapel, Saturday March 3rd 2018

"Gilligan's Island The Musical" was presented by Humdrum Comedy and Left Bauer Productions at Chapel Off Chapel on Saturday March 3rd 2018.

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.

"Gilligan's Island The Musical" created the atmosphere of the iconic television show as soon as you entered Chapel Off Chapel.  The stall for programmes was attended to by a couple sporting Hawaiian leis.  On their table was a large book containing cut-outs that appeared to be a copy of the programme.  The programme cost $5.00 and was exceptional value and other theatre companies' should take note of both the price and quality of the programme.  The inside cover states the full date of the season, including the year 2018.  So many other companies' do not put the year which can be off putting.  Notice how few of the posters in the Chapel Off Chapel foyer actually state the year of their production.

Entering the theatre was a joyous welcoming experience.  "The Skipper" (full name: Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby) was played by Sam Marzden welcomed and directed patrons to their correct aisle.  Other cast members acted as ushers to direct patrons to their seats.  This was all improvised in character and developed an atmosphere of fun.

As "Gilligan's Island The Musical" was about to begin the cast assembled on the makeshift stage.  "The Skipper" graciously asked that audience members who wanted to take photos do so now and then to turn off their phones.  He also requested that there be no photographs or recording during the performance.  The cast struck poses and allowed about two minutes for photos to be taken.  Then the show began.

The opening number was well staged and slick.  Sadly a rude woman in C Row held her phone up recording and blocked people's views.  I hopped out of my seat and asked her to turn it off.  A few people were aghast, but my partner told me after the show that another man jumped out of his seat and did the same thing on audience right.  By turning off your phone is showing respect to the  performers and other audience members. More people need to call out this rude and selfish behaviour.  (At "American Idiot" on Thursday someone called out "Turn off your phones").  We do not pay good money to watch or be distracted by screens, phones and other devices!

"Gilligan's Island The Musical" pays homage to the iconic television show, "Gilligan's Island" and is a fun dinner theatre style show.  It is a perfect vehicle as a sing-a-long for the opening and closing numbers.  The show is light and fluffy with lots of double meanings.  The cast made the most of the material and thin plot.  The cast are better than the actual material.

Gilligan played by Riley Nottingham with requisite panache and vaudevillian interaction with "The Skipper".  Physically he was not skinny enough with his muscular frame, but more importantly he captured the spirit and essence of Bob Denver's Gilligan.  Riley Nottingham has a good voice and charismatic presence and he is a performer to watch in the future.  The traditional coda scenes, where "The Skipper" and Gilligan bed down for the night, were staged simply and effectively.  Standing up sleeping gave us the illusion of a plan-view that was used in Sydney Dance Company's  "Poppy" and  the musical version of "Hairspray".  As each performer held the top of the hammock above their heads the sense of  swinging was immediate.  Riley Nottingham's timing was terrific particularly when leaning on the bench and sliding forward.

Sam Marzden was terrific as "The Skipper" and paid homage to Alan Hale Jnr with his moves and facial expressions and vaudevillian antics.  At times his voice sounded similar, and his characterisation was not an impersonation but an honest portrayal of the essence of "The Skipper".  His performance was beautifully understated as it could have been hammed up.

At first I thought that Thurston Howel the Third and Mrs Lovey Howell played by Joshua Monaghan and Lauren Jimmieson were too young for the roles.  They are twenty to thirty years too young for the roles, but wow they both did a terrific job of capturing these wonderfully flamboyant characters.  Sadly the costumes for them did not do their performances justice as the costumes lacked the classiness of their characters.  In particular the yellow dress and green stockings for Mrs Lovey Howell looked ridiculous and tacky.  Joshua Monaghan was cartoon-esque with his make-up, but his facial expressions, twitches and tones channeled the immortal Jim Backus.  His soft shoe dance was a bit heavy and needs more vaudevillian lightness and ease.  Lauren Jimmieson captured the glamorous spirit of Natalie Schafer.

The movie star, Ginger Grant played Alexia Brinsley captured the essence with her moves, though her vocals lacked the huskiness of Tina Louise.  Her audience participation was terrific.

Kaya Byrne captured the pedantic nature as the Professor Roy Hinkley.  Upon entering the theatre he remained focused on the stage correcting items rather than interacting with the audience which was a fabulous touch. He channeled Russell Johnson throughout, and his song "The Professor's Lament" was a fine solo where he resisted hamming up.
  

Molly Fisher as farm girl, Mary Ann Summers not only looked like Dawn Wells but sang like an angel.  Her duet with Gilligan was terrific as they captured the innocence of the 1960's youth.  Molly Fisher's characterisation was sincere, honest and solid. Her exit trying to emulate Ginger Grant's swaying hips was awkward, and hilariously funny.  She absolutely nailed this role and won so many hearts.

Director, James Cutler achieved a good job from this fine cast as they captured the essence of the television show and 1960's.  The quick sand antics were well staged, as was the sense of distances beyond.  James Cutler should be proud that he elicited so many fine performances from such average material.

Sadly some of the costumes by Jodi Hope did not work for the Howells as they lacked sophistication and class, while those for Ginger and Mary Ann were sensational as they differentiated the types of characters.  The costumes for the other cast members worked well.  

Musical Direction by Xavier McGettigan led a competent band.  Some of the individual singing was a little off at times and was not disconcerting as they nailed the essence of each character.  The harmonies were basic and generated a sing-a-long atmosphere.

Choreography by Kai Mann-Robertson was fun and particularly strong in the opening sequence.  The "Hieroglyphics" trio with Gilligan, "The Skipper" and Professor in Act One was fabulous, though some moves lacked definition and could have been executed with more precision.   "Gilligan's Island The Musical" originated in a demo-recording 1980 and preceded the stage musical version of "Mary Poppins the muscial" that included a similar gestural showstopper  "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".

Lighting Design by Rob Sowinski created definite locations and atmospheres.  He captured the moods of the television show and transported us back in time.

Set and Props Design by Adam (Gus) Powers was terrific, as he created that knock-about-quality of make-shift improvisation that were functional and effective.   The bamboo stage reminded me of the Hamlet episode from the television show.   Memories of that theatrical episode flooded back upon entering the theatre.  To have a stage upon a stage was a clever move as it highlighted the switching mediums of stage musical from a television show.   My favourites included the vaudevillian signage, the hammocks and back-scratcher hand. The classic prop of using sheets used as curtains still makes me laugh as to why a three hour cruise would carry so many items.  This was pure simple genius that captured the simplicity of the television show.  The suitcases could have looked a bit more battered around but that also adds to the ridiculousness of the show.  I really look forward to watching the career of this fine designer, and remember his name: Adam (Gus) Powers!

The cast and crew of  "Gilligan's Island The Musical" should be very proud of their efforts as they worked wonders with some very ordinary material.

This company should consider other iconic television show musicals as in "Beverly Hillbillies The Musical" by Theatre at the Centre that premiered in Munster, Indiana in August 2014.

"Gilligan's Island The Musical" obtained a 6.5/10.

First Date, Pursued By Bears, Chapel Off Chapel, Saturday September 10th 2016

First Date, Chapel Off Chapel Saturday September 10th 2016

"First Date" presented by Pursued By Bears at  Chapel Off Chapel, Saturday September 10th 2016

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.

"First Date" is better suited to Chapel Off Chapel than the Broadway Longacre Theatre.  This show is a really good Off- Broadway show and it is obvious why it did not have a longer run on Broadway.

Our waiter spoke volumes with his opening announcement to turn off mobile phones etc.  He did not have to say anything other than showcase a mobile-phone-ringing sound effect and say "You know the drill".  Sadly three people did not heed this advice as we had to bear witness to two long mobile phones that rang out and the third phone was switched off quickly. I am sick of paying money for these "Twankers" to potentially spoil a night out.  "Turn them off!"

Production Design by Sarah Tulloch is one of the best aspects of this show.  Sarah has incorporated a working coffee bar into the design and audience members queue to purchase a beverage.  This is similar to the working bar design in "Once".  The cafe tables at the front of the stage were similar to the 2010-2011 Broadway revival of "Le Cage Aux Folles".  At least these tables provided a buffer and we could see the action as sadly too many directors stage shows at Chapel Off Chapel with the action right up to the front row and denying many audience members with a clear view of the action.

Sarah Tulloch has the band upstage on a raised area that silhouettes the main action.  My favourite aspect was the kitchen area where meals would be presented for the waiting staff to deliver to patrons.  If you looked closely the chef was the drummer wearing a chef's hat.  Only audience to the left of centre would have been able to see this ingenious touch.

The set was functional, fun and funky.  The set also emphasised the intimacy and the potential vulnerability of being in a public space of a restaurant/cafe on a first date. The doorway was used effectively and swung around for the final scene.

The costumes worked especially for the quick changes.  The waiter's apron was a fun effect.

The other highlight was the choreography by Joel Anderson who paid homage to many Broadway shows with his insightful teasers.  Some of the obvious moments included "Fiddler on the Roof" and  "A Chorus Line", while the use of fans paid homage to "Chicago".

The opening scene was sadly cringe-worthy and my partner told me how he shrunk in his seat hoping the show would improve.  The opening had the women in particular yelling their lyrics.  The vocal levels were uneven.  Thankfully the show did improve but sadly the sound quality only improved slightly.

To put it bluntly the sound quality was awful throughout the whole show.  I wanted to yell out "Don't touch the other actor's microphone" as we had to suffer the annoying  thuds and thumps and tapping of the poor microphone.   The sound would drop out on too many occasions to list here.

Mark Taylor  has done a good job directing and staging "First Date".  My favourite aspect as discussed earlier was that the audience could see the down stage action as we had the cafe tables that allowed a gap between the first row of raked seating and the stage.

Mark Taylor directed the actors to freeze during moments - so that the audience could understand we were hearing a character's inner voices.  This freezing device was used effectively throughout and sadly not during the mother's letter song where the four upstage were distracting with their actions and thus spoiled the emotional arc of this song.

The singing overall was very average.  There was a lot of flat singing or yelling.  The main exception was Rebecca Hetherington as Casey who sang consistently and confidently without pushing her voice.

Stephen Valeri may not have had the sweetest singing voice but he certainly made up for it with his convincing portrayal of five well defined characters.  Stephen Valeri was terrific in clearly differentiating his five characters with a single pose, gesture or vocal phrase.

Nicole Melloy provided clear characters especially as Grandma Ida and Lauren (Casey's sister).  Her robot moves were strong and clearly mechanical.

Danielle O'Malley played the Siri role well and distinguished her from the ex-girlfriend character.

The robot sequence fell flat as it was too long and laboured.  Danielle O'Malley's moves needed to be crisper and more mechanical.

Jordan Mahar played  Aaron with honesty and warmth.  Jordan Mahar had the requisite awkwardness and did not overplay this.  At times his singing was flat.

The Lighting Design by Brynn Cullen and his Associate Lighting Designer, Rob Sowinsky was the best lighting in a show I have seen in a long time.  The lighting was terrific as it punctuated the action and developed clear focus for the internal dialogue "thinking" scenes.

The programme was expensive at $10.  The front page has white writing in a very small font on a grey background.  Too hard to read.  Please put the year on your programmes.  It could be September 2-11 of any year!  Three full pages of advertisements in a sixteen page programme for ten bucks is a bit rich.  I would gladly pay $5.00 for this but it is not $10.00 quality. Thankfully a song list was included.

"First Date" provided lots of good laughs and the actors timed these well.  Though the diction at times was not clear.

The sound, singing and diction dragged this down to a 5/10 from what could have been a 7/10.