“Go and see the show. You will have a great laugh and be highly entertained. I don’t think the domination of the arty protest music and cheesy kids songs will have you lining up to see it a second time, but you will love it the first time.“
Lynden Jones
3 1/2 Big Red Cars
Riverside
This new Australian musical comes to us loaded with so much talent that without even trying it is sitting high on a pedestal as you walk into the venue. Written by Keir Nuttall, Music and lyrics by Keir Nuttall and Kate Miller Heidke. Directed by Simon Phillips, a killer cast of Max McKenna, Georgina Hopson, Maxwell Simon, Joe Kalou, Dave Eastgate, Amber McMahaon, and Chris Ryan. The rest of the creative team is also oozing with talent. Does it achieve these lofty expectations? Yes and … maybe no.
Millennial generation band (I apologise, not band, “Onstage Conceptual Art Slash Music Oriented Happening) “Kitty Litter” have one fan and are currently touring country Australian cities and towns. They see themselves as creating challenging music that will change the world. But it is really just angry nerd music. One fateful matinee performance in Goondiwindi is inexplicably sold out. They discover mid performance as they slice open a toy pig, removing fake entrails, that the audience is full of children and their protest song ‘Bananaland’ is top 10 of the streaming charts for kids. Suddenly they are faced with a decision, continue in obscurity or ride the wave of a successful children’s band. A brilliant concept that draws many references from, and digs at, The Wiggles and Hi-5 (especially hilarious as Joe Kalou has been a member of Hi-5).
Lead Singer, Ruby struggles with the decision to follow the latter option. It is her calling to bring down the patriarchy, Big Corporations, the government and everything else she is rebelling against. She now enters her own personal version of Dante’s Underworld as the Wikki-Wikki Wah Wahs are unleashed on the world. There is a particular delightful moment when the ‘Wikkis’ are retooling one of their songs to make it kid-friendly – a lovely homage to the re-tooling of the Cockroaches’ Hot Tamales into The Wiggles’ “Hot Potato”.
The music can be broken down into three main groups, the angry/arty protest songs and the cheesy kids songs make up the majority of the show. But there are a couple of beautiful soulful numbers scattered throughout. These songs are more traditional musical fare and are used successfully as a device to isolate the inner thoughts of a character from the rest of the ‘noise’. It creates some surprisingly emotional moments in the fun chaos. The two styles are so diverse that, while they they generate a lot of the comedy, they also create one of the problems. Act 1 is predominantly arty protest music and Act 2 is predominantly cheesy kids music. For a musical to sustain long term viability you need songs that people will know and want to come back for, tied into a great story. You are not going to be humming a Kitty Litter or Wikki-Wikki song on the way home. But you will have a laugh at the jokes and characterisations. This is where the show has its strong points. It is very funny. A couple of jokes fall flat and one or two just miss the mark but they are rare. It is very funny. There is at least one very, very funny send up of a current Australian celebrity and lots of other enjoyable references. There are many industry in-jokes too that may not have the same impact as they did on opening night but I don’t think this will undermine a non-industry audience member’s enjoyment. Musical Direction (James Dobson) is flawless as is costuming (Simone Romanuik).
The vocals are nothing short of amazing. Max McKenna gets a number of opportunities to show us the range and power of their voice. Georgina Hopson has her own show stopping vocal moment as well as a tender and funny ballad about motherhood. Most of the performances are wonderful to watch Max McKenna’s performance is very strong as is Georgina Hopson. With a couple of small missteps, Amber McMahaon, and Chris Ryan are hilarious. They are run off their feet with the character and costume changes that is required of them and jump into each cleanly and effortlessly. Both have some comic show-stopping moments of their own. Maxwell Simon, Joe Kalou both have strong moments but at times lose the depth of character and become one dimensional. Eastgate’s outback manager/on stage roadie is very funny but stays firmly as a caricature.
The direction of this show is tight. Simon Phillips keeps the pace going. Maybe the first act is a little long but the laughs keep you in the show. The only real misstep is the relationship between Max McKenna and Joe Kalou. At no point does the relationship seem plausible which undermines McKenna’s big moments.
The other real issue with this production is the ending. I understand the reason for the choices made but after such a joyous ride, it felt a little lifeless. Nevertheless the feeling is still a happy one as you leave the show.
Overall this is a very funny show. Written in lock-down and produced with a clear desire to entertain. Go and see the show. You will have a great laugh and be highly entertained. I don’t think the domination of the arty protest music and cheesy kids songs will have you lining up to see it a second time, but you will love it the first time.
Lynden Jones, Theatre Now
