Review Roundup: KING KONG Opens in Australia

The new stage musical KING KONG just opened last night, June 15, at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the show is already casting its eye toward Broadway, with a hopeful launch as early as 2014.

Global Creatures has been developing KING KONG for the last five years with an award-winning international team comprising: director Daniel Kramer, a rising star of the European opera and theatre stages; Tony-nominated writer Craig Lucas; BAFTA winner and Grammy-nominated composer and arranger Marius de Vries; young New York-based lyricist Michael Mitnick; American Choreography Award-winner John O'Connell; the multiple Helpmann Award-winning production designer Peter England; creature designer Sonny Tilders, the mastermind behind the amazing animatronics in WWD and HTTYD; Tony Award-winning costume designer Roger Kirk; the multi-talented UK lighting designer Peter Mumford; Grammy, Tony and Olivier Award-nominated US sound designer Peter Hylenski; Berlin-based, Green Room Award-winning projection designer Frieder Weiss; international aerial and circus director Gavin Robins and puppetry director Peter Wilson, a Sidney Myer Performing Artist of the Year.

The principal cast features Esther Hannaford (Hairspray) as Ann Darrow, newcomer Adam Lyon as Carl Denham, Chris Ryan (Thyestes) as Jack Driscoll, veteran stage actor Richard Piper as Captain Engelhorn and the queen of musical theatre and cabaret, Queenie van de Zandt as Cassandra.

Lets see what the critics had to say...

Cameron Woodhead, The Age: It's a show that will leave a colossal footprint. You can taste the future in this unique and visionary theatrical event, and it's mind-blowing...the real wonder is the ingenious physical realism, and the sheer agility and expressiveness of the puppetry...The music is especially adventurous...a viable and intriguing experiment. Two main problems stand out: the disjointed transitions from stage action to song, and the fact that some numbers sound pretty without doing hard yards dramatically. A somewhat flimsy book is the show's weakest link.

Peter Burch, The Australian: On the evidence of Saturday night's premiere in Melbourne, King Kong has redefined the musical form. The musical adaptation of the romantic adventure fantasy King Kong lived up to expectations of the capacity crowd, with a dazzling staging that had the audience on its feet, howling approval at the curtain-calls.

Vito Mattarelli, Australian Stage: Fortunately, the huge company of dedicated professionals managed to create something that was epic and operatic in scale, remaining largely true to the original. The storyline does suffer from a lack of character development and an over-use of musical numbers that are sometimes more razzle-dazzle than relevant to the actual story...However, having stated all this, the moment that Kong finally made an appearance, thundering and overwhelming, one could not but be amazed at the technoligical accomplishment that Global Creatures has realised in the magnificant beast...At any rate, King Kong is an achievement of note. A grand vision that succeeds on some levels - just not all.

Anne-Marie Peard, Aussie Theatre: Oh King Kong! You gorgeous, sexy, magnificent beast. Your entrance may be the most spectacular thing ever seen on a live stage. Every time you're on, the audience is yours for the taking, as all around you pale to dull, despite all manner of shiny costume. You are glorious and unforgettable. If only a fraction of the care, love, money and time that went into your creation was put into creating the story you are doomed to play in.

Jason Blake, Canberra Times: ...when Kong emerges from a snowstorm of video projections (Berlin artist Frieder Weiss's work is prominent throughout), he is everything you hoped he would be. He has weight (accentuated by the use of sound effects), power (thanks to his rappelling puppeteers) and personality. The scenes between Kong and Hannaford's delightful Darrow are charming...King Kong impresses on many levels. If it falls short, it's because our expectations are so sky high. As such, it is a showcase for a technology's potential and also its limitations. It is a novel, intermittently powerful but synthetic spectacle that seeks to be more.

Kate Herbert, Herald Sun: The six-metre Kong is the runaway star of this new musical and the most fully developed character on stage because of his expressive, almost human face, imposing physicality, majesty and grace...However, songs must advance story and illuminate characters and, although Marius de Vries' compositions are rousing and diverse, and individual songs by contemporary artists have a distinctive flavour, the repertoire lacks a consistent voice and unified vision...The story (Craig Lucas) gallops at a giddy pace for 45 minutes until Kong appears, with one huge chorus scene chasing another, and lacklustre dialogue does not enhance characters and relationships.

Kim Choe, 3News: Thankfully the show's creators have not been afraid to step outside the traditional ra-ra Broadway style, opting instead for a dark, reflective score with some brave contemporary staging. The real star of the show, however, is Kong himself. The 6m-tall ape towers over his co-stars, with a combination of marionette puppet and animatronic robot technologies making him alarmingly lifelike. But the expectation of Kong's arrival makes the opening somewhat sedentary in contrast. The dialogue is clunky in parts and initial character development is lacking, especially in film director Carl Denham, who is but a shadow of his previous delusional, megalomaniacal incarnations.

Cassandra Fumi, The Music.com.au: Despite having to size up against a giant co-star, Esther Hannaford doesn't overact as the Hollywood starlet Ann Darrow. This level of honesty in lead performances is rarely seen in big budget musicals...Though Kong's puppeteers/handlers are visible, it does not take away from the effect that a massive gorilla has overtaken the space. Kong has upstaged everyone. The music by Marius de Vries is brilliant, it enhances the story and utilises the strengths of the performers...Director Daniel Kramer has taken some paid-off risks putting together a cast with varying levels of musical theatre experience. And, what emerges is a truth in performance that doesn't employ the common razzle dazzle fluff of musical theatre acting.

Tim Carney, BroadwayWorld: 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, 'where 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.

Cassidy Knowlton, Crikey: The production is spectacular, in the truest sense of the word. The cast of 50 is mostly made up of dancers, whose acrobatic prowess, crisp timing and perfect steps are on show in several over-the-top jazzy numbers. There are 500 costumes used in the show, 100 of them in the first song alone. The lighting is superb and precise, rippling over each and every one of Kong's muscles and highlighting the costumes precisely and perfectly. And the sound is at times frighteningly powerful; every time Kong beats his chest, the reverberations echoed in my own sternum...But for all its razzle dazzle, King Kong is missing a few elements that separate a good musical from a truly great one. The first is the music...The other point that is lacking is the plot itself.

Hughesy & Kate: Kate and Magda Szubanski, NovaFM: The verdict is in... And KING KONG is a must-see according to Kate and Magda. Find out why HERE (audio)!

Photo Credit: Jeff Busby

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