REVIEW: Macabre And Magical, RIDE THE CYCLONE Is A Heartwarming And Hilarious Musical

Tuesday 28th May 2024, 7:30pm, Hayes Theatre Potts Point

Richard Carroll (Director) brings Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell’s obscure musical RIDE THE CYCLONE to the Hayes Theatre stage for its Australian Premiere.  Dark and as twisted as the rollercoaster at the center of the story, this is a wonderful carnival ride of music, imagery and movement.

Set in a fictionalized version of the now near deserted northern Canadian mining town of Uranium in Saskatchewan, the carnival has come to town but tragedy has struck the “Cyclone” rollercoaster.  The story of the children of the Saint Cassian Chamber Choir, the victims of the ride’s demise, is presented by a mechanical fortune-telling machine, The Amazing Karnak (voiced by Pamela Rabe).  The Amazing Karnak is an oracle that has always been accurate but hampered from bringing down the mood of carnival goers by being set to “Family Fun Novelty Mode” and uses the show as a last chance to redeem herself by granting one student’s soul the opportunity to return to earth and life before her own time is up.

The work takes place in the wreckage of the mangled rollercoaster, represented on stage by Benjamin Brockman’s detailed broken spirals of rails and structural beams that draw focus to a large circular screen which echoes the crystal ball held in the fortune-telling machines hands.  The carnival theme is reinforced with spots of light lining the beams representing the bulb marquees of old-world carnivals and the fortune telling machine is given an eerie illumination to add to her macabre mystery.  Ryan McDonald also enhances the mood and shifts the tone of each student’s story with the lighting design.  Esther Zhong’s costume is relatively simple as all six students were representing their school on the day of the carnival so are in uniform.  Simple additions enable the ensemble to transform to support each student’s solo. 

The six performers portraying the children stuck in limbo are equally strong and each capture their character’s energy with honesty and intuition.  Karis Oka is wonderfully obnoxious as Ocean, the overachiever that thinks she’s better than her classmates.  Mel O’Brien captures the nervousness of Constance, the “nice girl” who has lived in Ocean’s shadow, afraid to stand out.  Bailey Dunnage is sassy and seductive as Noel, the lone gay student at the school, and possibly in town, who writes poetry and dreams of tragic romantic notions.  Lincoln Elliott is suitably gruff and damaged as Mischa, the teen from Ukraine that is ignored by his adoptive family.  Justin Gray ensures that Ricky’s revelation is a surprise with a significant shift once he’s encouraged to share his story.  Ava Madon is hauntingly creepy as the girl that the others, and the police, can’t remember and can’t identify, Jane Doe.

Supported by Victoria Falconer’s (Musical Director) band, RIDE THE CYCLONE is a thrill of a 95 minute ‘ride’ and it is easy to see why it won Best New Musical in the 2012 Toronto Theatre Critics Award and became a viral sensation when clips of the songs were circulated online.  The second in Jacob Richmond’s “Uranium Teen Scream Trilogy”, this is well worth seeing for anyone that enjoys dark twisty stories, bright new musicals and seeing emerging new talent. 

https://hayestheatre.com.au/event/ride-the-cyclone/

Photos: Prudence Upton

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