Falsettos, Stage Art, Chapel Off Chapel, Saturday February 3rd 2018.
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"Falsettos" was presented by Stage Art at Chapel Off Chapel on Saturday February 3rd 2018.
Vocally, Mendel played superbly by Nick Simpson-Deeks sang without going flat. Sadly the others hit bung notes on occasions. His performance had depth of character as he built up relationships with other characters, in particular Jason played well by Ben Jason-Easton.
The quality of the ensemble singing harmonies was questionable. This show should have lush harmonies to evoke emotion.
The lesbians from next door livened up the stage in Act Two.
Lighting Design by Tom Davies was awful and unfocused and barely made any distinction between locations. The execution of the lighting plot was laboured, mechanical and amateurish.
Set Design by Daniel Harvey was messy and dysfunctional, thereby creating obstacles for the staging. The stage left rostrum was under-utilised and jammed up the stage. The image of the chess set was a great idea and sadly under-utilised by not having the actors move into precise squares to create tension as in a chess game.
The set was awkward and dangerous as the actors navigated the squashed set. I cannot understand why the white cut-outs of the New York City skyline were not placed further upstage. The performers had to try and squeeze through to make entrances and exits. The lesbians from next door were the most obvious as they cautiously clambered over the upstage step to make entrances. These cautious entrances detracted our attention from the show.
The four men wearing toy soldiers' costumes was a nice touch for the "March of the Falsettos" quartet. Sadly the marching was very pedestrian except by Whizzer. Can't they lift their knees to create the mechanical toy image?
The choreography by Madison Lee was not fully realised in "March of the Falsettos". The emphasis on the inner struggle and trepidation of the words "one foot after the other" was absent. The full meaning of this song was lost in both the words and choreography. The "March" is both an inner struggle for each of the individual characters, and a struggle for the gay community at the time.. Remember, for example that the Stonewall riots had only occurred a decade earlier than when Act One is set in 1979.
Trina was played by Sarah Shahinian. Trina's Song was well executed and sadly some of the staging was lost as the front row of seating blocked the action.
The "Late for dinner/late again" sequence was lost on some audience members as Whizzer stood on the large rostrum on stage left. This sequence had no hint of suspicion, sexual innuendo or rendezvous or betrayal and thus lost any tension. More thought was required in both the staging and the performances to elicit a fuller emotional connection to the material. The lighting also let down this sequence and could have created more of the requisite tension between the characters.
Act Two was better than Act One, and it was obvious where the most rehearsal time occurred. The choreography by Madison Lee was slick for the opening of Act Two. Overall, the choreography by Madison Lee was better in Act Two, both in design and execution.
The Ball Game sequence was messy with the staging as the cast were squashed up stage right near the piano looking out to their audience right. By doing so, the sense of perspective was squashed. A simple method would be to have them placed further back on stage left or looking out into the opposite direction towards audience left. The lighting also let this scene down by flickering lights. The lighting cues seemed nonexistent. The best part of this scene had the six performers sitting on the bench executing slick choreographed moves. The focus on Jason playing baseball was at odds with any sense of perspective and distance.
The two lesbians created the most warmth in their relationship and had some sexual energy. Along with Mendel, the two lesbians, and Jason were the closest in making me feel empathy for any of the characters. The others made me feel distanced, cold and disconnected and I did not believe them on their separate journeys.
Nick Simpson-Deeks as Mendel created a fully rounded complex character that we could warm to. His idiosyncrasies did not dominate but textured his performance with qualities.
Ben Jason-Easton as the son Jason gave a very credible performance full of nuance and with great timing. His duet with Mendel captured the vaudeville style and flavour. This duet was a welcome relief. Their performance and working relationship was as good, if not better than other versions I have seen of this show.
The staging overall was very messy. In Act One, focus was drawn from the main action and there were missed opportunities to freeze some characters to emphasise the focus on the main action. For example Jason laying on the piano with his chess set was distracting as he kept moving. The lighting also did not focus our attention. The lighting plot seemed nonexistent.
The laughs were rare and are needed to cut through the story's building tension. Sadly the tension between the characters was nearly nonexistent, and so reduced the opportunities for laughs. One of the funniest moments was when Mendel was simulating an erection with a white scarf.
There seemed to be a lack of character research of what it was like in the early 1980's with sexual freedom of expression juxtaposed with the threat of a new disease.
There was no sexual spark or electricity between Marvin played by Don Winsor and Whizzer played by Sam Ward. They barely had any physical or emotional contact, and came across as contrived, frigid and stilted. They both sang okay with the occasional flat note. The final song "What Would I Do?" lacked any heart. I wanted the whole audience to be in tears as I had experienced when I saw the 1994 STC production of "Falsettos" at the Alexander Theatre at Monash University. Instead I felt relieved when this performance was over.
The quality of the ensemble singing harmonies was questionable. This show should have lush harmonies to evoke emotion.
The lesbians from next door livened up the stage in Act Two.
Lighting Design by Tom Davies was awful and unfocused and barely made any distinction between locations. The execution of the lighting plot was laboured, mechanical and amateurish.
Set Design by Daniel Harvey was messy and dysfunctional, thereby creating obstacles for the staging. The stage left rostrum was under-utilised and jammed up the stage. The image of the chess set was a great idea and sadly under-utilised by not having the actors move into precise squares to create tension as in a chess game.
The set was awkward and dangerous as the actors navigated the squashed set. I cannot understand why the white cut-outs of the New York City skyline were not placed further upstage. The performers had to try and squeeze through to make entrances and exits. The lesbians from next door were the most obvious as they cautiously clambered over the upstage step to make entrances. These cautious entrances detracted our attention from the show.
The set did not define locations and lacked any "neuro-linguistic programming" assistance for the audience. Good direction and set design uses principals from "neuro-linguistic programming" to heighten recall and emotional connection. A simpler design with more benches would not only free up the stage but create more flexibility in staging.
Costume Designs by Meredith Cooney was adequate and captured the essence of 1979 and 1981. The toy soldiers' outfits were fun. The texture of Marvin's jacket, shirt and trousers with contrasting fabrics was straight from a 1981 edition of GQ.
The four men wearing toy soldiers' costumes was a nice touch for the "March of the Falsettos" quartet. Sadly the marching was very pedestrian except by Whizzer. Can't they lift their knees to create the mechanical toy image?
The choreography by Madison Lee was not fully realised in "March of the Falsettos". The emphasis on the inner struggle and trepidation of the words "one foot after the other" was absent. The full meaning of this song was lost in both the words and choreography. The "March" is both an inner struggle for each of the individual characters, and a struggle for the gay community at the time.. Remember, for example that the Stonewall riots had only occurred a decade earlier than when Act One is set in 1979.
Trina was played by Sarah Shahinian. Trina's Song was well executed and sadly some of the staging was lost as the front row of seating blocked the action.
The "Late for dinner/late again" sequence was lost on some audience members as Whizzer stood on the large rostrum on stage left. This sequence had no hint of suspicion, sexual innuendo or rendezvous or betrayal and thus lost any tension. More thought was required in both the staging and the performances to elicit a fuller emotional connection to the material. The lighting also let down this sequence and could have created more of the requisite tension between the characters.
Act Two was better than Act One, and it was obvious where the most rehearsal time occurred. The choreography by Madison Lee was slick for the opening of Act Two. Overall, the choreography by Madison Lee was better in Act Two, both in design and execution.
The Ball Game sequence was messy with the staging as the cast were squashed up stage right near the piano looking out to their audience right. By doing so, the sense of perspective was squashed. A simple method would be to have them placed further back on stage left or looking out into the opposite direction towards audience left. The lighting also let this scene down by flickering lights. The lighting cues seemed nonexistent. The best part of this scene had the six performers sitting on the bench executing slick choreographed moves. The focus on Jason playing baseball was at odds with any sense of perspective and distance.
The two lesbians created the most warmth in their relationship and had some sexual energy. Along with Mendel, the two lesbians, and Jason were the closest in making me feel empathy for any of the characters. The others made me feel distanced, cold and disconnected and I did not believe them on their separate journeys.
Nick Simpson-Deeks as Mendel created a fully rounded complex character that we could warm to. His idiosyncrasies did not dominate but textured his performance with qualities.
Ben Jason-Easton as the son Jason gave a very credible performance full of nuance and with great timing. His duet with Mendel captured the vaudeville style and flavour. This duet was a welcome relief. Their performance and working relationship was as good, if not better than other versions I have seen of this show.
The staging overall was very messy. In Act One, focus was drawn from the main action and there were missed opportunities to freeze some characters to emphasise the focus on the main action. For example Jason laying on the piano with his chess set was distracting as he kept moving. The lighting also did not focus our attention. The lighting plot seemed nonexistent.
The laughs were rare and are needed to cut through the story's building tension. Sadly the tension between the characters was nearly nonexistent, and so reduced the opportunities for laughs. One of the funniest moments was when Mendel was simulating an erection with a white scarf.
There seemed to be a lack of character research of what it was like in the early 1980's with sexual freedom of expression juxtaposed with the threat of a new disease.
There was no sexual spark or electricity between Marvin played by Don Winsor and Whizzer played by Sam Ward. They barely had any physical or emotional contact, and came across as contrived, frigid and stilted. They both sang okay with the occasional flat note. The final song "What Would I Do?" lacked any heart. I wanted the whole audience to be in tears as I had experienced when I saw the 1994 STC production of "Falsettos" at the Alexander Theatre at Monash University. Instead I felt relieved when this performance was over.
I found the show lacked warmth and was forced.
The seats were so uncomfortable that what should be a pleasant experience felt pained.
The singing by Nick Simpson-Deeks as Mendel; Ben Jason-Easton as Jason; Francesca Arena as Charlotte and Jenni Little as Cordelia was welcomed. And these were the supporting roles!
The playing accompaniment by David Butler was assured and honoured the score.
From a safety perspective an usher should have been standing near the floor lights to direct audience members. This should have occurred as patrons were entering and leaving the theatre at the beginning, interval and at the conclusion of the show.
The programme is not worth $10.00. Yes $5.00 is reasonable but not $10.00! Thankfully ours was included in the season's package. I noticed very few people bought a programme. I congratulate the programme seller for walking through the waiting crowd.
Director, Tyran Parke is capable of much more. The set design limited many aspects of this production. More depth of characters and relationships was required as well as the reasons for doing actions and singing the lyrics.
Sadly this version of "Falsettos" is not one of Stage Art's better shows.
I wish this company would perform at the Alex Theatre in St Kilda as the seats are more comfortable and has better sight lines.
"Falsettos" obtained an adequate 6.5/10 while my partner gave it a 7/10.
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