Reviewed Friday 28th March 2014
Northern Light Theatre Company are giving an airing to that golden oldie,
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a show that has not been seen in Adelaide for a while. With a book by
Lawrence Kasha and
David Landay, music by
Gene de Paul and lyrics by the great
Johnny Mercer, it was based on the 1954 multiple Oscar nominated film version, with
Howard Keel and
Jane Powell in the lead roles, which won an Oscar for Best Musical Score. That was based on a short story,
Sobbin' Women, in turn based on
The Rape of the Sabine Women, the Roman legend from around 750BC, as told by both Livy and Plutarch.
Films are often adapted from stage productions, but this one was the reverse, the stage version not appearing until 1982, with only a few of the original songs and quite a few new ones. It did not come close to the success of the film. The film was filled with professional dancers and featured amazing choreography, which the stage show lacked. Although it was initially a flop on Broadway, revised versions eventually gained popularity.
Seven rough mountain men live together in the family home and the eldest, Adam, decides to find a bride to take care of them all. He goes to town to sell furs and meets Millie, proposes to her, and she accepts. She is not so pleased, though, when she finds that they are not going home to a cosy cabin for two, and that she is expected to be the workhorse for seven men, cooking, cleaning, chopping firewood, and a dozen other jobs. She decides that they need taking in hand and turned into eligible bachelors, married off, and encouraged to leave home with their new wives. What she doesn't expect is that Adam will lead them on a raid to capture six townswomen.
This company has built up a reputation for putting on some very fine productions in recent years, winning or being nominated for numerous awards, but this one, I am afraid, did not live up to expectations on opening night.
It must be said that, as the theatre's communications system had failed, and repairs got it working only just in time for the final dress rehearsal, the numerous technical problems on opening night can be attributed in some part to that problem. There were indeed many technical problems, from slow set changes, that had clearly audible voices hastening somebody to remove a piece of the previous scene's set, to people in black caught out still adding bits of set when the lights went up on a scene, pieces of set getting caught up in the black tab curtains, too late, or too early lighting cues, and lighting that seemed incomplete, leaving performers hard to see in dim lighting.
The sound mix often had the piano drowning the orchestra, or the music drowning the individual singers, as only the two leads had head microphones, and the microphones placed on stage were not picking up everything that they should have been. They did, however, pick up the rumbling noise of sets being moved, and footsteps as the cast walked around. Even some backstage noises could be heard.
Had that been all, one might have accepted it as an unusual occurrence, and lived with it, but the technical problems were only a part of it. The orchestra, under musical director, Helen Loveday, had continual problems with wrong notes in the brass, and poor intonation in the strings with, as mentioned, the amplified piano dominating and obscuring other instruments. It was hard to hear that there were fourteen musicians in the pit.
The leading man, Matthew Redmond as
Adam Pontipee, had problems singing in tune, constantly going flat, or completely missing notes, and becoming thin in timbre on the higher notes. His breathing was clearly intercostal, rather than diaphragmatic, which gave his voice little support and perhaps contributed to his sharply cutting off the last word of every phrase. Perhaps that, too, was what caused brief pauses between sentences in his dialogue. One must hope that this was all down to opening night nerves and, perhaps, distraction by his awareness of technical things going wrong around him.
On the other hand, the leading lady, Sophia Bubner as Millie Braden, sang like an angel, could dance extremely well, and certainly knew how to act. She also had great stage presence, owning the space whenever she appeared, and giving her character a believable and authentic personality. This, I believe, is her first lead role, but I am sure it will not be her last. I have noticed her before in less prominent positions in other productions around Adelaide. Some people just stand out.
Continuing that line of thought, there were a few people in the support roles who simply could not be ignored. Nathan Quadrio, as Frank Pontipee, has a marvellously rich voice and he can really dance, as well as act. Two of the brides drew the attention, too, Bianca Levai as Dorcas, and Alexandra Shelley as Alice. Levai, like Bubner, is another performer who stands out in a crowd no matter what the show or role she is given, even chorus. She stopped the show as the lounge singer in
Leader of the Pack. Shelley's Alice is as bright and breezy as anybody could wish, almost bouncing across the stage in the chase scene. She gives a high energy performance, with a nice touch of cheekiness in her characterisation and her character doesn't drop for a second.
The men, in general, were clearly not dancers, whereas most of the ladies were. Choreographer, Kerry Lynn Hauber, has tailored the dancing to suit both groups and, wherever possible, kept the best dancers to the front. There are times, though, when only men are dancing and shortcomings can be seen. Even in the singing, the harmonies are clear and accurate when the women have chorus work, but there are some inconsistencies in the male chorus work.
Director, Fran Edwards, has made good use of the space and has done her best to keep things moving along and ensure that there are always things going on to hold the attention. With luck, the whole production should pick up with a couple of runs to make up for the missing rehearsals in the theatre and get up to the standards that we are used to seeing from this group.
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