BWW Reviews: Visually Unforgettable, If Flawed KING KONG Opens in Melbourne

The songs aren't memorable, the story is flawed, and yet King Kong the musical is one show that will stay with you long after the final curtain.

This is solely due to Kong, one awesome beast that captures your imagination and your heart from his first entrance, until the shows climax, where you have a strong affinity for him and his relationship with Ann played beautifully by Esther Hannaford. In fact, this is the only relationship that you genuinely care for in the show, far more than Ann's relationship with Jack (Chris Driscoll) which is barely developed or realised. The heart of the show lies between Ann and Kong, their stillness, alone under the moonlight, caring for one another.

Hannaford's 'Full Moon Lullaby' sung to Kong is the evenings musical highlight, it's reprise is heartbreaking. The connection Hannaford creates with Kong is special and it is in the stillness that their vulnerabilities are shared.

Besides the awesomeness of Kong, the other highlight of the show is Freider Weiss' projection design. The visual feast is spectacularly impressive and used to thrilling effect throughout the show. It is a beautiful symmetry between technical and theatrical world. Accompanying the optical wonder is Roger Kirk's costume design of which there are over 500 pieces. They capture the period beautifully in the opening of the show and contrast it magnificently on skull islands indigenous inhabitants.

While the cast are all talented performers in their own right they are completely overshadowed by Kong and his 10 King's Men, the extremely talented men manipulating and controlling the animals every fibre. This is not their fault, but the unfortunate way the show has been written.

Queenie van de Zandt as Cassandra, a clairvoyant type character who walks on, sings and then walks off without any character development, performs incredibly. Her voice is unwavering and unquestionably thrilling. But we are unfortunately left thinking...what was that all about...? The story isn't hard to follow, on the contrary it is quite simple, yet it is so underwritten in parts that it really does detract from the skill of the cast.

Adam Lyon as Carl Denham the money hungry film director determined to hunt down the beast of skull island does a fine job. His voice, though sounding tired on opening night, is a unique instrument that is at its finest in 'Colossus' a wonderful scene on board the ship as it sails from New York.

King Kong is a spectacular musical. It's gimmicky spectacular. It's taken five years to realise this show and somewhere along the way someone must have stopped and thought that a serious rewrite was in order. To quote Carl Denham, 'we're going to broadway baby.' Well, not yet you're not, and if you go now, it won't be for long. This show has an eternity of potential. It has all of the ingredients to be a show that spans generations. At present it's musically and verbally forgettable yet visually unforgettable. A show where the scales between these two were balanced would be a spectacular hit.

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