The Choir of Man REVIEW 5 Jan 2024 ****1/2

MUSICAL THEATRE

Created by Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay

At Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne until 11 Feb 2024

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars: ****1/2 (4.5)

This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly on 3MBS on Sat in early Feb 2024. KH

NB: I've fixed a couple of misspellings. Apologies to those who I wrongly named. K

Cast-The Choir Of Man_Melbourne-pic Danysha Harriott

The Choir of Man is a rollicking night of singin’, talkin’, dancin’ and drinkin’ in a local pub and it is ideal entertainment for this lazy holiday period before the year starts making its demands on us.

 

Nic Doodson’s vivacious, uplifting and celebratory 90-minute production is set in an old-fashioned, English pub called The Jungle in which nine multi-talented blokes – AKA The Choir of Man – dance, spin yarns and sing an eclectic repertoire of pop songs, rock anthems, pub and folk tunes.

 

Accompanied by a tight, on-stage band, the performers fill the theatre with thrilling harmonies and a cappella singing, inspired musical arrangements (Jack Blume) of instruments including guitar, piano, banjo, trumpet, clarinet and violin, as well as the foot-stomping, percussive rhythms of a tap-dancing Handyman (Ethan Vijn).

 

The audience is encouraged to participate by singing along to songs such as a raucous rendition of The Proclaimers’ 500 Miles and a rousing You’re the Voice (Tom Brandon) that sends the Farnham-loving Melbourne crowd into vocal paroxysms of delight.

 

Some lucky audience members are invited on stage to drink beer, and on opening night, one saucy minx was a blazing hit, gesturing and flirting shamelessly with the Beast (Rob Godfrey) while he serenaded her with Teenage Dream.

 

There’s the Irish, piano-playing Maestro (Matthew Campbell), the guitar-wielding Godfrey, a perky Barman (Nathaniel Morrison), the Bore who has a velvety, Welsh bass baritone voice (Aled Pennock), the lovelorn Romantic (Bradley Walwyn) and the practical Joker (Christian Tyler-Wood).

 

This joyous show has many highlights, including a soaring and moving rendition of Adele’s anthemic song, Hello, a raunchy version of Queen’s Somebody to Love and an a cappella version of Sia’s Chandelier.

 

The nine men display their musical versatility in an instrumental number, three men sing a goofy trio standing at a urinal, and Higgins delivers the poignant melody, Dance With My Father and their finale is a moving Irish (or is it Scottish?) folk tune, The Parting Glass.

 

Doodson’s direction is inventive, assured, complex and seamless, while the poetic, social commentary (Ben Norris) spoken by the charming narrator, Alistair Higgins, laments the loss of pubs to luxury apartments – ‘the easy casualties of time’ – and encourages us to value community and communication.

 

However, do not expect a dramatic arc or a storyline. This piece might have explored more deeply the narrative of the fall of the local pub and the rise of shiny new towers, but it dodges that line and continues merrily as a musical miscellany.

 

The Choir of Man is a vibrant production that not only entertains but also urges us to preserve the spirit of those close-knit communities that meet at their local for a few brews and some yarn-spinning – until developers buy the block!

 

By Kate Herbert

 

CAST
Maestro -Matthew Campbell

Beast - Rob Godfrey

Barman -Nathaniel Morrison

Bore - Aled Pennock

Handyman- Ethan Vijn

Hardman -Tom Brandon

Joker -Christian Tyler-Wood

Poet -Alistair Higgins 5 Jan

Romantic -Bradley Walwyn 5 Jan

 

BAND

Craig Newman- Bass & Band Leader

Angus Burchall -Drums

Marcus Kurban- Guitar

Kyla Matsuura-Miller -Violin

 

Creators -Nic Doodson & Andrew Kay

Musical Supervisor etc Jack Blume

Choreographer- Freddie Huddleston

Monologues Writer- Ben Norris

Scenic Designer- Oli Townsend

Costume -Verity Sadler

Lighting -Richard Dinnen

Sound Design -Sten Severson

 

SONGS & MONOLOGUES LIST

 

1.     WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

(Intro Scene)

2.     SAVE TONIGHT

3.     TEENAGE DREAM

4.     THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

5.     50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER

(“Pubs” Speech)

6.     HELLO

7.     YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME

8.     PIÑA COLADA

9.     500 MILES

10.  UNDER THE BRIDGE

11.  CHANDELIER

1.     HOMESPEECH

2.     JUNGLESTOMP

3.     BRINGTOMORROWON

4.     DANCEWITHMYFATHER

12.  SOMEBODY TO LOVE

13.  YOU’RE THE VOICE

14.  SOME NIGHTS

a. SOME NIGHTS REPRISE

(Goodbye Speech) 15. THE PARTING GLASS