The Boy From Oz Australian Arena Spectacular - Doxy's Review Now Up!

For whom did you mistake Ms. Cook, Doxy?

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With regards to the head mics, the choice to use them will have been a sound quality issue- purely for the audience's sake. In such a large performance space, if the cast had used conventional lavalier mics, the sound would have been muffled, tinny and quiet. Put simply, the bigger the performance space, the close to the mouth the microphone needs to be, and the head mics used that you can see are the only realy way of doing this.

Barbara Cook was there because she's a HUGE fan of Hugh. She saw Boy from Oz on Broadway 15 times, and was at his final performance (he even brought her on stage).

Kenny Ortega directed this? I thought everything he directed looked like High Schoolo Musical......

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I just got back to Brisbane from Sydney today, and my review will be up tomorrow...

Thanks for the review, doxy! And that you were that close to a musical theatre legend!

Ok, so here is my belated review. I managed to get particularly good seats, right beside the VIP box, about 2 metres from Barbara Cook, and about 4m from Hugh's wife Deborra-Lee. That meant I had a particularly good view of the action, something that the people at the back of the arena probably did not have the luck to have...

The show started off on a great note, with NOT THE BOY NEXT DOOR. Hugh was fantastic from the first moment, interacting casually with the audience, no mean feat when that audience numbered around 13000. He did a fantastic job of maintaining the casual atmosphere throughout the show, even when things went terribly wrong. Midway through Act One, his mic dropped out, and after about 30 seconds was handed a hand-held by crew. He covered it fabulously, even the fact that the tech crew were talking to him through his earpiece. He really has the role perfected, I guess something that is to be expected. He captured the flamboyancy of Peter Allen, the drive, the passion, the heartache...

Two outstanding moments of the show came during TENTREFIELD SADDLER and I STILL CALL AUSTRALIA HOME. Both songs are revered Down Under, and there were few dry eyes left in the arena during the former. The audience was extremely energetic during I GO TO RIO, and the outstanding costumes just added to the effect of the song.

Chrissy Amphlett as Judy Garland was extremely solid, portraying Judy well in her depression and drug-riddled final years. Her performance of ALL I WANTED WAS THE DREAM was powerful, although perhaps a little restrained, at least vocally.

Murray Bartlett was one of the real standouts of the show. He played Greg Connell, Peter Allen's lover, and he did it with such heart and emotion. The lack of the kiss did nothing to hinder the way the relationship came across, and it was clear that it was both physical and emotional. His portrayal of the fear of his infection, and his fear of losing Peter Allen, was just gut-wrenching. His performance of I HONESTLY LOVE YOU was stunningly touching, a real tear-jerker.

Peter's mother Marion Woolnough was played admirably by an Australian theatre/TV/music veteran, Colleen Hewitt. She portrayed the raw guts and sheer steadfastness of the penultimate 'Aussie battler', a woman whose alcoholic husband committs suicide, leaving her to raise their young son alone. Her performance of DON'T CRY OUT LOUD, where she teaches young Peter to cope with pain, was awarded with a well-deserved Standing Ovation.

The most outstanding performance of the evening, however, came from Angela Toohey, who played Liza Minnelli. Her performance was spot-on, not just an impersonation, but a true realisation of the character. It was like watching Liza in performance, vocally, physically, from mannerisms to vocal timbre, everything was Liza. It was by far the most believable performance of the evening, she succeeded in making me forget I was watching actors perform...

Therein lies the biggest problem I have with the show. With the exception of Ms. Toohey and possibly Ms. Hewett, I never forgot that I was watching what seemed to be a concert of Peter Allen songs. It was Hugh Jackman AS Peter Allen up there, I could never get past that, no matter how brilliantly it was performed. However, the show did work remarkably well as a concert, and this suited the Sydney Entertainment Centre, a Concert Arena. Yes the book was weak, but that was not what we were there for. It simply acted as a linking narrative, between songs. And the songs were stunningly performed, with great choreography, costuming and direction.

I would definately urge anyone with the means to get to a performance of this to do so. It was worth every dollar I spent to get there, even if the airline lost my luggage on the way, and then to embarrass myself in front of Barbara Cook...

I can't wait to see what Hugh does next...

And there is a picture of Hugh in action as the picture of the day on the BBC Entertainment news page today. I'm going to attempt to post it here:

Updated On: 8/11/06 at 09:10 AM

Thanks for the great pic! There are a bunch more here:

http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?ei=UTF-8&p=hugh+jackman&datesort=1&fr=sfp&c=news_photos

and here:

http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/elements/2006/08/02/theater/photoessay1859021.shtml

If you are curious and don't mind SPOILERS --


let me highlight some of the new production numbers as well as the major changes from the Broadway show -


*Hugh Jackman/ Peter Allen opened the show with NOT THE BOY NEXT DOOR, after descending atop a white piano from the ceiling of the Sydney Entertainment Center. He was wearing an unbelievably kitschy sequinned suit and a thousand megawatt smile - a stunner of an opener!

*The special relationship between Peter and Judy was reinforced in two new numbers --

-Dressed like tramps ( quite Chaplinesque), they do a very playful dance number to the tune of ONLY AN OLDER WOMAN.

-Judy returns as an apparition ("only technically dead") while Peter sits dejected (" divorced, unemployed, and rejected") with TAUGHT BY EXPERTS, and Judy tells him that an emotional downturn can be perfect to draw out one's best talent.

*LEGS DIAMOND gets its own choreography to the tune of " My Name in Lights" - wonderful, FOSSE-like dancing from a stern-looking Hugh/Peter and ensemble in black and white pinstripe suits. Hugh can really dance!

*The Liza number ( SURE THING BABY) is a complete recreation of the FOSSE moves. Electrifying and well-executed choreography. Angela Toohey is excellent!

*No LOVE CRAZY, instead a celebration of the Aussie way of life in the Bandstand era( beach culture included ) as they recreate the crazy dancing of the 60's in PRETTY KEEN TEEN ( it was funny how they keep focusing on the swimsuit clad figures on the large screens -LOL!)

*The disco scene ( Days of Studio 54 and Elaine's) is recreated in a frenetic atmosphere where everyone connects with everybody, connoting the decadence of that era ( DON'T WISH TOO HARD)

*TENTERFIELD SADDLER - the most quiet and reflective moment in the show as Hugh/Peter sits atop one of the staircases leading down to the arena floor, to sing about the tale of Peter Allen. Beautiful song!


*And then there were the showstoppers --

**EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN -- this time, there are no trick mirrors ... Hugh/Peter in white tails, top hat, and baton descends from the top of the neon-lighted staircase and leads the lineup of beautiful, sequinned, and feathered Rockettes in their precision dancing. Some hilarious moments, too -- as he notices that part of his Rockette lineup are not of the same sex but beautifully made-up, sequinned and feathered, too ..."Not straight!", as he views the mixed row of chorine dancers

*I STILL CALL AUSTRALIA HOME

**Even if you were not Australian, this number would get you. Peter recalls that he wrote this song while sitting by the beach in San Diego and he is inspired by the foam ( of the same Pacific Ocean that rings eastern Australia). He wears the Australian flag on his chest and back, beautifully beaded with white pants - very striking. As he sings, a hundred young girls provide him accompaniment and then slowly go up to the tiered stands in the arena. They are followed by young men and women in stockmen costumes, who also provide backup singing to Peter. They slowly go down to the aisles of the arena floor...and as the song moves to the climax, several of these young men draw a huge Australian flag from below the stage and unfurl it over the top of the heads of people seated on the center section of the arena floor. Awesome and spectacular! Everybody joins in the singing, encouraged by Peter...and most do the emotional arm-waving as they sing. Very intense and deeply patriotic moment. I can't help thinking: Hugh Jackman has come home!

*I GO TO RIO

Think Carnival in Rio! Costumes ( some were flamingos, one was a huge pineapple, one was a music sheet, two were champagne glasses with bubbles, etc), color ( very Latin American! ), confetti, exhuberant dancing, and extravagant energy displayed especially by the silver-and-white-clad( with pineapples) Peter/Hugh with his rainbow-colored maracas. Hugh was leaping and dancing from one huge bongo drum to another... I can't describe it - you have to see some of the videos! The dancers go down the arena floor as the confetti and ribbon foils come streaming down from the ceiling! This is where the curtain call takes place... and the happy audience was roaring in delight and appreciation.

*ONCE BEFORE I GO

**Not a spectacle, actually a quiet but very stirring moment --as Hugh/ Peter sings this song as the show's finale. Dressed in somber blue and holding a hand-mike, Hugh sings the song that drew regular standing ovations on Broadway. Maybe this is the true finale to close the song of Peter?....But, somehow I felt that at that moment, Hugh had shed his Peter Allen persona and that he was singing his personal and signature song to his countrymen. He had left Australia to seek artistic fulfillment elesewhere but he has come home and is now sharing his success with them... he will leave again to perform for others elsewhere but Australia will always be his home...

Then he turns his back, after the crowd's show of appreciation for a brilliant evening ( standing ovation!)...and as he moves towards the curtain wall at the back, the name of PETER ALLEN flashes on the large screens.


Hope I have been able to share some of the highlights which we did not see on Broadway.


Jo

Updated On: 8/11/06 at 08:49 PM

I'm hard-put to choose between the two productions - Broadway had a stronger book ( from the perspective of someone who was not familiar with Peter's story) and more dramatic scenes and acting, plus many memorable audience interaction moments...

While the Arena production was very enjoyable and very spectacular. I was lucky to have seen both a number of times

By the way --

https://www.ticketmaster7.com/eventprofiles/profiles.asp?profileID=2468

It looks like there is further demand for tickets as they have just opened additional shows in Sydney - matinee and evening performances on September 17. Tickets go on sale on Monday, August 14.

This makes a total of 42 performances to-date. It's a good thing that he is due to film THE TOURIST in the second week of October or Hugh may just want to keep being Peter Allen or Hugh Jackman, the Showman, in his native Oz

Maybe Sydneysiders have also discovered the phenomenon of "repeat patronage" ( sounds familiar )?

Jo