Motherhood the Musical by Sue Fabisch
By HIT Productions
Athenaeum Theatre, Feb 17-27, 2011
Reviewerd by: Kate Herbert on Feb 22, 2011
Stars: ***
Ah, the trials of motherhood: nappies, crying babies, school runs, weight gain, sleep deprivation, weak bladder. Motherhood the Musical, by Sue Fabisch, is a collection of songs pegged together by scenes at a baby shower.
This show, directed by Terence O’Connell, is identification theatre. We all recognise these types. Rebecca Moore is Amy, the hopelessly naïve, expectant mum viewing babydom through rosy glasses. She sings the romantic, I’m Having a Baby, interrupted roughly by the others who set her straight.
Barbara, played by rich-voiced, sassy Amelia Christo, is jaded and exhausted at home with three kids. She sings about whining kids in Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, but also delivers a moving ballad about her love for her son.
Versatile Ziggy Clements plays Brooke who juggles her law practice with family and sings about her obsession with bulk buying in Costco Queen. Trisha, played by Jacqueline Hoy, a frazzled, divorced mum, sings about her loneliness when her kids are away in Every Other Weekend.
The dialogue is cheesy, the pace loose in the sketches and some tunes sound like songs by The Wiggles but the audience of women roared at the cheeky, accurate lyrics.
A couple of numbers are gutsy blues or rock tunes and the finale is a rousing, gospel song, The Kids Are Asleep, a celebration of that moment of peace and liberation for parents.
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