Review: LOLA MONTEZ THE MUSICAL Returns To The Stage For A 60th Anniversary Concert Celebration With The Hope Of A Larger Production.

Saturday 2 June 2018, 8pm, Riverside Theatre Parramatta

Old world musical theatre charm returns to the stage with the 60th Anniversary Concert presentation of LOLA MONTEZ THE MUSICAL. Stephen Helper (Director/writer/co-producer) and Meredith O'Reilly (Producer) gathered an incredible cast and creative team to bring the Australian musical back to the stage for one night but with a vision of bolstering public interest and tempting investors to support a full production.

For those unfamiliar with Alan Burke (Book), Peter Stannard (Music) and Peter Benjamin's (Lyrics) musical, LOLA MONTEZ THE MUSICAL focuses on the true story of Lola Montez's (Debora Krizak) brief visit to the Ballarat Goldfields in February of 1856 with a love story or two thrown in for good measure. It is as much a homage to the gritty gold rush town as it is a story of a fiery tempered exotic dancer trying to salvage a suspect career with the scandalous skirt raising "Spider Dance" and infamous horsewhipping of the local newspaper editor Henry Seekamp (Red Symons) whilst trying to regain her youth through the seduction of a young Irish soldier Daniel (Joel Granger) away from his true love Jane (Ashleigh Rubenach). The story of Montez's brief but eventful engagement in Ballarat is filled out with an insight into life in the dry and dusty town through its inhabitants from miners like Smith (Peter Cousens), Bill (Luke Joslin), and Harry (Brendan Xavier) to local Madam, Rose (Genevieve Lemon) and her working girls Cherry (Josie Lane) and Louise (Caitlin Berry).

Presented by an incredibly strong cast, the music, composed in the late 1950's, is very much a product of its time with a sound synonymous with the golden age of musical theatre. Beautiful love songs, wistful ballads and high energy ensemble numbers fill out this work with the occasional comic interlude and a nod to the folk songs that would have entertained the miners around the campfire. There is a bright perkiness reminiscent of OKLAHOMA, SOUTH PACIFIC and CAROUSEL along with a quintessentially Australian feel through the lyrics and the modern cast's rendition. Whilst the modern musicals that find success in the 21st century have a more edgy and progressive feel, the success of revivals of older works like MY FAIR LADY, THE SOUND OF MUSIC and THE KING AND I indicates that contemporary audiences still appreciate the 'simplicity' of the older works.

Whilst Krizak is wonderful in creating a formidable Montez, the underlying character does not seem to have the trailblazing spirit of a woman 'answerable to no man' that O'Reilly foreshadowed in her introduction indicating that any revival would be better predicated on providing a glimpse into history and a view of a famous charlatan and courtesan, so convinced of her own magnitude despite having questionable talents on the stage and running up debts wherever she went. Whilst Montez's past included wild child ways, early elopement, numerous 'love affairs' with wealthy and influential men, a multitude of mysterious deaths and most famously having influence over Bavaria during her time as mistress to King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Burke, Stannard and Benjamin have focused more on her temper, deception and desire for validation from men whether it be from the young lover she lures to prove to herself that she's not the aging amateur Seekamp implies or the reluctant acceptance of her manager Sam Vanderburg's (Scott Irwin) love and protection as he offers to support her return to America. When woven with the saccharine story of Daniel and Jane, the sweeter-than-pie quintessential girl-next-door who nursed him during the Crimean war, this is very much a piece that speaks to the values and tastes of the mid 20th century which often differ from the progress of contemporary society.

The concert staging was incredibly well presented for a work that only had 5 days rehearsal. Whilst scripts were in hand for guidance, the cast easily captured the essence and emotion of the work to deliver beautiful renditions of the songs and simplified dramatizations of the scenes supported by Kellie Dickerson's 10 piece orchestra. Along with a short film of Krizak and Mark Hodge waltzing as Montez and King Ludwig I, archive images of Ballarat are used to set the scenes. Simple costumes, with the exception of Montez's gowns, help identify the characters including allowing a number of the performers to double roles.

Debora Krizak has the gravitas to ensure Montez stands out as exotic and she brings Paul Mercurio's choreography to life with a fierce power. Montez's manager, the long-suffering Sam Vanderburg is presented by Scott Irwin with a charm and class that ensures that the audience sympathises for the man desperate to be acknowledged and have his affection returned. Joel Granger gives young soldier Daniel a wide-eyed innocence as the love sick fool who is easily distracted. Rubenach is delightful as Jane and her vocals are breathtaking in their purity and expression of innocence. Peter Cousens captures the truth of the goldfields miner with his poignant portrayal of Smith, the family man lured to seek his fortune each summer, longing for the winter when he'll return to his wife and children. Red Symons ensures Henry Seekamp is presented with the requisite cynicism of a critic and journalist forever searching for the hidden truth. Caitlin Berry, Genevieve Lemon, Kaeng Chan, Luke Joslin, Josie Lane and Brendan Xavier present the minor characters which often provide the comedy relief with a fabulous comic timing and playfulness.

As an Australian musical about a quirky piece of Australian history, LOLA MONTEZ THE MUSICAL has a place and deserves to be remembered particularly as not enough local content is recognised and supported. It has beautiful music that will satisfy those that enjoy the 'old world' musicals that had a greater simplicity to some of the more complex works produced more recently. If the work does achieve the requisite funding to mount a full production, it would be good to see the same cast bring the characters to life and the collection of voices is of a consistently high standard and your BWW Sydney Senior Editor would gladly listen to them again.

LOLA MONTEZ THE MUSICAL

https://www.lolamontez.com.au

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