Above and featured: Cast members of The Little Big Theatre Co’s second production- ‘We Aren’t Kids Anymore’. Images: Jesse Jay Photography
Growing up is hard to do – but infant indie theatre company The Little Big Theatre Co is doing a great job of it. Following the inclusion of Meg Robinson’s original musical Penpals in Qtopia’s first queer theatre season the group is back at the venue tearing up the busy inclusive stage with another modern classic.
The 2025 offering is no less than Drew Gasparini’s blockbuster theatrical song cycle We Aren’t Kids Anymore. Recently a hit album and theatrical staging in the USA and increasingly abroad. The musical theatre composer’s set of nineteen songs with his edgy lyrics and words from a Keith White poem is here delivered by a stunning, well-cast swag of talent Down Under.
All songs in the set are total bangers. Solo and ensemble music here is dense with regards to lyrics, challenging to harness their demands on vocal athleticism and triggering in relation to content and familiar to all contemporary families and friend of people heading way past childhood into their twenty-somethings and beyond, where life can stall our traffic and get messy.
Above: Meg Robinson and cast. Image: Jesse Jay Photography
The TV show GLEE’s diverse and emerging stars would have loved the discussion of vulnerabilities and the chance to belt out these recent songs. Here, our own home-grown talented crew brings the song cycle together with successful blend, joyous diversity and excellent precision of movement in the community centre style, support group suggested staging simply sing the hell out of these songs. Their brave, no-holds barred approach, individuality, inspiring energy and huge, nuanced voices bring the beautiful songs and some familiar, hard topics home.
All the major roadblocks are here, presented by this local theatre company on a very slick road of realisation and reassurance. Family, love, lost love, moving on after loss, being lost, losing yourself in drugs or alcohol, being scared at wanting to self harm or be lost forever all feature here.
Above: Jim Williams in the role of Nick. Image: Jesse Jay Photography
The cast bounce back from each contrasting area, with knife-edge differentiation and full body and voiced changes to match each new chapter explore via Gasparini’s deft poetry and contemporary, thrilling newness of melodic creation and creation of solo plus ensemble textural overlap.
Cast members Sam Hamilton and Jim Williams are given in this production their own consistent threads to follow, relating to vignettes of family and recovering from suicidal thoughts respectively. They are engaging in their adherence to mini-development amongst the song cycle of the one theme. All successive instalments in their story welcome us back into their hearts with different emotional hues throughout the flow.
The rewarding part of this show however is that all performers are capable, hard working stars. Managing some local Amercian content but mostly universal and emotional issues, the septet of powerhouse singers is consistently clear and watchable in this tightly written piece, here effectively produced for Sydney audiences. We are gifted seven huge hearts on stage here.
These souls are expertly directed by Sarah Campbell to shift around the stage with layered integrity. Danielle Loranzo and dance captain Katie Green guide the cast in short, sharp bursts of choreography and incredible frisson and trajectories result (the support group chair work is a winner).
Above: Sam Hamilton performing flashbacks of family dynamics. Image: Jesse Jay Photography
These tales, this talented cast, this safe space venue and the use of musical theatre to unravel something as fragile as growing up with touch you immediately. It will entertain you with solid new music nailed to life’s noticeboard and the rich scrapbook of this already mature new production company.
Catch the big issues presented by this little, growing theatre company- heading for very big things if this cast and team of creatives continue to adult so expressively.
The show continues until August 30 at Qtopia’s Loading Dock Theatre, 301 Forbes St Darlinghurst.
Cast: Sam Hamilton, Meg Robinson, Andrew Topinino, Wolfe Black, Jim Williams, Mo Lovegrove, Katie Green.
Producer: The Little Big Theatre Co
Director: Sarah Campbell
Musical Director: Renae Goodman
Choreography: Danielle Lorzano
Production Manager: Megan Robinson
Ast. Production Manager: Brea Macey
Stage Manager: Alice Chao
Lighting: Holly Nesbitt
Sound: Peter Miller
Marketing: Jake Severino
