Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Friday 12th December, 2014
As the year draws to a close it is time, once again, for that great Adelaide seasonal tradition, the Christmas Proms. When it comes to family shows, this one takes the cake. Long before he was appointed the CEO and Artistic Director of the State Opera of South Australia, Timothy Sexton brought together his Adelaide Art Orchestra and his singers, along with a couple of special guests, to put on these Christmas shows. This year the special guests are the much loved musical theatre star,
Rachael Beck, who is in enormous demand at this time of year with just about every carols event in Australia wanting her to appear, and the extremely personable and versatile tenor, Michael Falzon, who has done everything from Gilbert and Sullivan to his recent success in
Rock of Ages.
Each year, there is a theme and, this year, it is
A Swingin' Christmas Proms 2014. This is not difficult for them, as some of Adelaide's best jazz musicians are members of this orchestra. This is the orchestra that goes from playing in State Opera's performance of the
Philip Glass opera trilogy of
Akhnaten,
Einstein on the Beach, and
Satyagraha, to accompanying many of the world's top cabaret stars during the annual Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The Glass trilogy won the Professional - Group award for State Opera at the Adelaide Critics Circle Awards a week ago. There has to be something that they cannot play, but we haven't found it yet.
Even before the audience enters the auditorium, the fun has begun, as the Christmas Clowns, Boppa and Mista Moose (Alan Holy and Michael Newbold), perambulate their way around the foyer, interacting with the audience and putting even bigger smiles on faces that were already cheerful in anticipation of what was to come. These are certainly not the sort of clowns that give small children sleepless nights. They are more likely to turn up on lists of requests to Santa begging to have them visit for Christmas Day. Their comic antics continue at intervals throughout the performance, often at the most unexpected moments, adding their quirky brand of hilarity.
But, is a sensational orchestra, two big name, all round entertainers, and a couple of hilarious clowns enough, one asks. Of course not, comes the answer, we want more, and more there is. A marvellous vocal quintet, The Mellowtone Singers, working either alone, or backing the special guests, is there, and so are the six Ding Productions dancers, who can go from strictly ballroom, to showgirls and boys in a moment. The members of The Mellowtone Singers are well known to State Opera audiences, comprising: Kristen Hardy, Rachel McCall, Gabi Carter, Adam Goodburn, and
Mark Oates. That is an impressive line-up, which accounts for the superb harmonies. There is, of course, one person who absolutely has to drop in, and Santa made an appearance, not in a sleigh, but on a motor scooter. Well, snow doesn't even fall on Adelaide in mid winter and so, as it is now summer, he has to find some way to get around.
The core parts of the performance, naturally, were the music and songs, and there were ample quantities of both, opening appropriately with a medley of
Carol of the Bells and
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, followed by lots more seasonal music, and all with a swinging feel. Michael Falzon's first contribution to the evening was the
Irving Berlin classic,
White Christmas, and then
Rachael Beck told us of
My Favourite Things, not as we know it, but in a very funny and personalised update. Of course, we in the audience also got to sing, as usual, on carols and songs including
Hark the Herald Angels Sing, a very swinging
We Three Kings, and not forgetting the old favourite, the
Twelve Days of Christmas. One of the very nice conjunctions was the rendition of
Cole Porter's
Night and Day, so often sung by
Frank Sinatra, turning up on what would have been Sinatra's 99th birthday.
The entertainment just kept coming with more solos and duets from Falzon and Beck, with and without dancers, plenty of swinging instrumentals, comedy and, what else, that visit from Santa. Beck appeared in a different stunning dress for each number making, I am sure, some people very jealous. Falzon went with suave, but with a touch of colourful style, and Sexton chose sophisticated, resplendent in his white dress jacket.
Robert Booth and David Polain contributed to the arrangements, this year, as well as many more by Sexton.
Kathryn Sproul's design, based around Christmas trees that were flown in and out and beautifully lit, with a curtain constantly changing colour at the rear, all looked great, and director, Catherine Fitzgerald, kept the excitement high and maintained plenty of pace.
Like all good things, it eventually came to an end but, warning of the popularity of these annual Proms and the need to book early, Timothy Sexton very happily announced that 2,000 tickets have already been sold for the 2015 Christmas Proms. Yes, you read that correctly, next year's season is already a quarter sold and, yes, the place was packed to the rafters at this performance. A sea of smiling faces left the theatre, showing that Christmas was definitely under way.
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