For me, theatre is always great still it is even greater when it is educational. Most everyone knows about the influence on popular music of the Elton John and Bernie Taupin with Elton being the composer and Taupin the lyricist. I, however, though I knew many of their songs, I did not know that the team of gay composer John Kander and his lifelong partner, John Kander, were behind these songs.
Love, desire and the ups and downs of relationships are a central theme in Kander and Ebb’s songs. Director and designer Alexander Andrews has structured his show around some of their songs, creating pop- operatic duets between performers, as they navigate the rollercoaster of emotions that love brings.
The show starts with a zing in the foyer with one of the performers boisterously singing a song whilst accompanied by an accordion player. We are then led in to the Loading Dock theatre, an intimate venue perfect fof this kind of a show, and the first things we notice are the piano player, we find out, a highly accomplished one, and a set that comprises a huge red heart with many arrows stuck in to it.
The set proves t0 be a good signifier as the show was performed at a high intensity, with, at differing times, feelings of great elation, others of great tenderness, and then others of great sorrow, with real tears shed on stage. The way the performers forcefully moved around the stage was in a kind of intentional contemporary dance way.
I loved this show. The performers, featuring some of Sydney’s finest LGBTQIA+ actors includingGavin Brown, Nina Carmen, Jayden Castle, Juliette Coleman, Izzy Hanly, Clara Harrison , Sebastian Nelson and Allegra Wilson were each excellent. Production values were good with direction and design by Andrews and Aaron Robuck as the music director.
This show got me thinking about how some of the great songwriters would benefit with a similar kind of shows being framed.around their songs. Joni Mitchell, who was forever writing about relationships, comes to mind.
Legendary french singer Edith Piaf, ‘the little sparrow’, said of love, ‘love is the only fire for which there is no insurance’. Or as a John Farnham song goes, I burn for you…
Recommended, the Little Triangle Theatre Company’s (what a great name for a theatre company and they always produce good work), is playing the Loading Dock Theatre until the 31st August 2024.
