Review: BEYOND THE BARRICADE Brings A Taste Of The West End To Australia

Tuesday 26th June 2018, 8pm State Theatre Sydney

British Touring concert BEYOND THE BARRICADE delivers a delightful tasting plate of musical theatre to Australian Audiences. The concert, which has been touring for 19 years, makes its way to Australia with founding members Andy Reiss and David Fawcett joined by English Poppy Tierney and Australian Elise McCann and a four piece band led by Reiss.

Reiss and Fawcett, who met whilst performing in the original Manchester production of LES MISERABLES, have created an evening that celebrates musical theatre. Reiss and Fawcett are traditionally joined by two females with Tierney being part of the regular touring group and McCann replacing the regular fourth member for the Australia season. Dave Williams on percussion, David Lane on keyboard and Russ Kennedy on bass join Reiss on keyboard to present an economical recreation of the orchestral sound that supports the singers. The repertoire ranges from modern musicals that include WICKED and HAMILTON along with older favourites from WEST SIDE STORY, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and MISS SAIGON. The arrangements utilise the four voices together and solo with lighting and haze adding dramatic effect.

Vocally the stand outs are McCann and Reiss, particularly when Reiss is able to move away from the keyboard and present a purely vocal performance. McCann has a natural physicality and delightful expression with an easy storytelling style that allows the characters to be easily identified whilst maintaining consistent accents. Reiss' expression is hampered by doubling as the musical director playing the keyboard but when not constrained to the instrument has an easy, endearing expression. Tierney appeared much more reserved than McCann until the second act when she presented the more sultry and seductive CHICAGO medley, relaxing and playing up to the characters but unfortunately the song selection had her return to the more restrained presentation when it was clear that she has a fabulously playful side. Fawcett has a gravity and gruffness to take on the deeper male roles along with adopting the mantle of host for the evening, adding in an element of stand up comedy to fill time.

For fans of more traditional musical theatre, BEYOND THE BARRICADE is a nice trip through many of the standards with the occasional more contemporary piece thrown in. The quartet and the band do well to recreate the sound live without the use of click-tracks whilst still presenting a performance that is suitable for touring to locations that range in size. A satisfying night of standards and songs from musicals that haven't been revived in a while.

BEYOND THE BARRICADE

https://beyondthebarricade.com.au/tickets/