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Muriel's Wedding the Musical - Sydney Theatre Company |
"It’s the fractured quality in [Bernadette Peters'] singing voice and line readings that puts across the character as someone for whom resentment is sliding into madness." - NYtimes on Follies (2011).
I’ve seen some awful Australian theatre recently but I’m happy to report Muriel’s Wedding is not one of them. I’ve never seen the film and I hate jukebox musicals so I was a little skeptical at first but rest assured this show, although not perfect, is great *SPOILER ALERT*:
* The tone is somewhere a cross between Legally Blonde, Dear Evan Hansen, Matilda and what I imagine a Mean Girls musical would look like. It is genuinely funny at points and has great comedic and occasionally dark dramatic moments satirizing low class Australian culture, social media, shallow friendships, bullying, family relationships etc. As well as the central theme about an average-looking (ugly), quirky girl fitting in our shallow, cliquey society.
* The lead role can potentially thrust an unknown into stardom - giving an unconventional, quirky, non-traditional looking girl who has a great voice and a sense of humour a vehicle to show off their talents.The lead girl here has this personality and quirkiness to pull it off. You really feel and root for her and this show will hook a fan base of audiences in who think "I'm Muriel". If I were to be slightly critical, I wish this actress' voice was either more quirky or more powerful. Right now we have the typical pop girl sound that is good and sweet, but not particularly special or interesting.
* The score has a very interesting balance between new, original songs and 'jukebox' Abba songs:
The new songs are quirky, catchy pop/rock style-songs with sometimes clever and funny lyrics (albeit can be clunky and not quite as sharp as Tim Minchin) that very much suit the characters and stories. Some highlights: Muriel's duet after meeting her 'best friend' will melt your heart; Muriel has a couple of Carrie-esque moment where she gets to show vulnerability after bullying; a song where the 'mean girls' tell Muriel she can't hang with them anymore - which manages to be both hilarious while also making us feel so much sympathy for Muriel on stage; a catchy as hell song about the joys of moving to "Sydney"; an interesting duet where Muriel and a man she just met are singing about loving a 'stranger' but the man is singing about Muriel and Muriel is singing about her unrealistic/fanciful dream of finding a man that looks like the actor Stephen Madsen; a heartfelt 11'o'clock-type number when Muriel's mother dies (I personally think they do a good job to feature the mother enough - as well as us being able to relate to our own mothers enough - for this to feel 'earned'
.
If I were to criticise I'd suggest the score could still be tweaked. I'm not sold on a song about "Progress", which kind of stops the show and lame choreography (when you try to have a funny "oh he can dance" moment you better be sure he actually can dance and show off some choreography that actually looks impressive to pull off). I wish Muriel had a "greatest star" type song where she gets to show off her truly quirky personality through song. I also wish they would add an extra verse or two to the Carrie-esque vulnerability moments I described earlier. They feel too short - and I thought it was intentional and we'd get an 11 o'clock pay-off but we don't really as that attention is given to her Mother's death instead.
The ABBA songs for the most part actually serve the story so well. The idea being that Muriel is imaging the songs/ABBA to help her overcome adverse moments because its her favourite band. Needless to say the audience absolutely loved these moments. Sometimes I did feel it was slightly tenuous or the scenes were going longer than they should have to pander to the Audience, but for the most part, it was fine.
The book has a few twists and turns, although it's the type of show where most people will predict some of them from a mile away (e.g., the arc of the main character) - but that's ok. What's interesting is seeing how they execute some of these ideas in this story rather than present entirely new ideas. I think the show might benefit from having an experienced veteran come in and help out with some of the transitions and pacing. In particular, I found a transition from when Muriel has somewhat conflict with her friend about her illness to suddenly meeting someone for a sham marriage (which is a pivotal plot device/turn in the story) a little odd and quick.
.If I were to criticise I'd suggest the score could still be tweaked. I'm not sold on a song about "Progress", which kind of stops the show and lame choreography (when you try to have a funny "oh he can dance" moment you better be sure he actually can dance and show off some choreography that actually looks impressive to pull off). I wish Muriel had a "greatest star" type song where she gets to show off her truly quirky personality through song. I also wish they would add an extra verse or two to the Carrie-esque vulnerability moments I described earlier. They feel too short - and I thought it was intentional and we'd get an 11 o'clock pay-off but we don't really as that attention is given to her Mother's death instead.
The ABBA songs for the most part actually serve the story so well. The idea being that Muriel is imaging the songs/ABBA to help her overcome adverse moments because its her favourite band. Needless to say the audience absolutely loved these moments. Sometimes I did feel it was slightly tenuous or the scenes were going longer than they should have to pander to the Audience, but for the most part, it was fine.
The book has a few twists and turns, although it's the type of show where most people will predict some of them from a mile away (e.g., the arc of the main character) - but that's ok. What's interesting is seeing how they execute some of these ideas in this story rather than present entirely new ideas. I think the show might benefit from having an experienced veteran come in and help out with some of the transitions and pacing. In particular, I found a transition from when Muriel has somewhat conflict with her friend about her illness to suddenly meeting someone for a sham marriage (which is a pivotal plot device/turn in the story) a little odd and quick.
The physical production is a little tacky at times and probably won't win any awards but serves the purpose.
Will this move to Broadway? I think there is so much potential - a catchy score, an interesting story, humour, so much 'heart' - and I can't wait for the cast recording. I personally think the show needs a little bit of work before moving to Broadway. Also, it's selling very well in Australia but I wonder if this show could ever suit a Broadway audience. It is just so Australian - the jokes and humour may be lost on an American audience who might not get the references.
"It’s the fractured quality in [Bernadette Peters'] singing voice and line readings that puts across the character as someone for whom resentment is sliding into madness." - NYtimes on Follies (2011).
Updated On: 12/8/17 at 03:12 PM
joined:9/28/17
joined:
9/28/17
Posted: 11/4/17 at 4:06am