Book & Music by Stewart D’Arrietta & Louis Nowra
Chapel
Off Chapel, Sep 27 to Oct 14, 2012
Reviewer: Kate Herbert on Sept 27
Stars: ***1/2
Version of this review published on Sunday, Sept 30, in Herald Sun.
Stewart D’Arrietta,
Rebecca Mendoza
WE
SEE FEW NEW AND ORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN MUSICALS and those that prosper generally
have small casts and low budgets, as does The
Tuxedo and The Little Black Dress by Stewart D’Arrietta and Louis Nowra.
It starts with a shock and in near
darkness, with the frightening, thundering sound of a building collapsing and
the terrified cries of Jack (D’Arreitta) and Anouk (Rebecca Mendoza) who are
trapped in the rubble of a restaurant housed in the old ballroom of a grand,
old hotel.
These seemingly incompatible strangers
are forced into unwanted proximity and intimacy as they await rescue and suffer
the aftershocks of the earthquake. (Strangely,
this is the second show this week that is about an earthquake. See my review of
DasSHOKU Shake!)
Original songs by D’Arrietta and Louis
Nowra pepper the narrative as the relationship between the pair slowly develops
into a kinship that thrives on adversity and is built on shared secrets and
their individual stories of love, betrayal, joy and loss.
Peppering the
narrative are D’Arrietta and Nowra’s original songs with a jazz flavour and
latin beats, sung by two performers with very different vocal styles.
D’Arrietta’s distinctive, husky voice is a dead ringer for US singer, Tom Waits, and his gruff, playful, cynical and impertinent Jack is strangely charming.
D’Arrietta’s distinctive, husky voice is a dead ringer for US singer, Tom Waits, and his gruff, playful, cynical and impertinent Jack is strangely charming.
Although Mendoza’s acting is initially
awkward, she is sassy as the uppity, disapproving Anouk, and accompanies her
cabaret-style singing with some vivacious dance moves that make Anouk
increasingly attractive and seductive, particularly during her song, Losing
Myself.
Links between songs and dialogue are
often clumsy and need some tweaking, because the couple falling in love at the
end is sudden and improbable.
Nowra’s lyrics are wry and
entertaining, and D’Arrietta playing sultry jazz on the grand piano is a treat,
although the mix of live with recorded music is odd and some songs seem out of
place, such as Zombie Dance.
The world created by director,
Christopher Parker, is evocative and atmospheric, however there is an
uncomfortable imbalance between the music, story and dialogue.
By Kate Herbert
Cast:
Stewart D’Arrietta,
Rebecca Mendoza
Song list
Anybody out there
Maybe it's a cruel cruel world
Ways of the world
Spirits in this room
We're still here hanging on
What women really want
Anybody out there
Maybe it's a cruel cruel world
Ways of the world
Spirits in this room
We're still here hanging on
What women really want
Steamy Night in Savannah
Isadora's theme
Losing myself
When you fall in love
Zombie dance
No surprise
Don't give up on love
Game of love.
One step together
Losing myself
When you fall in love
Zombie dance
No surprise
Don't give up on love
Game of love.
One step together
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