“As if in concert with the original, this Clear Day takes an innovative approach for its current time.…The challenging libretto is intelligently re-worked without losing anything of the original magic.’
“A cosmic, comic, charming love triangle with a dose of Squabbalogic enchantment.”
Kate Stratford
4 magical flowers
Seymour Centre
To 15th April
Please note this review was for a preview performance.
Squabbalogic are known for their clever, affectionate re-imaginings of “older” musicals – On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is no exception. A creative reworking has taken the Streisand out (I promise you won’t miss her) and stamped it irrevocably with a 2023 intimate take; even to details such as replacing chain-smoking with chewing nicotine tabs. It is not an easy musical, attempting to transition the gap of the nostalgic Hollywood oeuvre to the modernistic style that the children of the 1960s wanted; one where thoughts are sung and choreography takes a back seat to character.
The irrepressible James Jay Moodie is Daisy/David; and it is the “Daisy” name which is the clue to this character. Beautiful in simplicity, vulnerable yet tough. Moodie gives a gender fluid character (part Daisy, part David) uncomfortable in their own body because others keep asking them to be something or someone else. Daisy/David just wants to be able to decide for themself. This is the tag of On a Clear Day; the dichotomy that exists between self and other, the ideal and real and between romantic fusion and frustrating separation.
Equally as far away from the Yves Montand film casting of Marc is Blake Bowden; but as equally he makes it his own. Come Back to Me was quite, quite mesmerising. His widowed Dr Bruckner has a core of sadness which owes as much to character grief as it does to a yearning for the fascinating Melinda Welles (Madeleine Jones), who is as beguiling as her character. On a Clear Day, the other hit from the show, is staged in a way which plays on both your heartstrings and funny bone.
Natalie Abbott, Billie Palin, James Haxby and Lincoln Elliott round out the ensemble, delivering a variety of characters with accomplishment and that spark of joy which is the elusive element found in all Squabbalogic productions.
The finale does not give us a traditional happy ending but a more modern, Ibsen inspired one. Daisy’s liberated self is both locked up in the past (in Melinda) and postponed to the future (her meeting-in-reincarnation with Marc). In the meantime, they are off to live their best this life.
As if in concert with the original, this Clear Day takes an innovative approach for its current time. Songs are beautifully delivered without being over sung and the backing orchestra (particularly the cello) give all the necessary other-worldly, wistful support. The challenging libretto is intelligently re-worked without losing anything of the original magic.
A cosmic, comic, charming love triangle with a dose of Squabbalogic enchantment.
Kate Stratford, Theatre Now
