Review: Queenie van de Zandt's CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE – ONLINE EDITION Delivers A Truly Interactive Online “Theatre” Experience

Via Zoom. Saturday 23rd October 7:30pm AEDST

Presented just days after Melbourne's latest lockdown lifted, Queenie van de Zandt's CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE - ONLINE EDITION was the perfect night in for people wanting to reconnect with live performance but still a little hesitant to venture outside. Using the full functionality of Zoom online conferencing, an audience dialed in from lounge rooms around the world to participate in an amusing mix of music, team competitions and all the things Queenie wanted to do during lockdown but couldn't.

The irony of a show devised during lockdown, scheduled with the expectation that Melbourne's 6th lockdown would still be in place, underestimating the speed at which Victorian's would reach the vaccination target that would lift restrictions, is not lost on van de Zandt or her audience but the timing just added to the fun of the night as audiences enjoyed one more night in comfortable clothes on the couch, connected by computer. While other online live performance events have tried to simulate the impression of zoom meetings, CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE - ONLINE EDITION utilizes the technology completely with each audience member/household sent and individual meeting code for the application. Although there is the firm expectation that everyone participates, the level and style of interaction will satisfy even the most audience participation adverse viewer as aside from a brief introduction to a 'room' of team members, the adventure is decided by voting polls and 'type in' entry forms for quiz results. The use of polls and quizzes along with the comments banner helps ensure that the viewer remains engaged throughout the 90 minutes compared to other straight 'stream and watch' presentations.

Broadcast from Queenie van de Zandt's studio, CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE - ONLINE EDITION, created by Van de Zandt and co-creator and director James Cutler, is part cabaret, part pub quiz, part Ted Talk and all fun. The selection of songs, of which the audience were asked to vote for which one they wanted to hear each time, were accompanied by Pianist Ned Wright Smith. The pieces that won the polls on the night included a heartbreakingly beautiful, sensitive and honest I Miss The Mountains from NEXT TO NORMAL, one of the shows cancelled by lockdowns and another was a reflective and thoughtful rendition of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now. Quizzes and trivia, with the question pool controlled again by audience vote, catered to what seemed to be a musical theatre heavy audience on the night which was just perfect for your BroadwayWorld reviewer. A frenetic musical theatre medley challenged the brain while showcasing van de Zandt's vocal versatility and her alter ego Jan Van De Stool also makes a cameo appearance.

At the moment it appears that CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE - ONLINE EDITION was a one off engagement but it has the potential to still have an audience appeal for people may still be hesitant about the amount of time they go out in the post lockdown world. The online capability of the show also may give Van de Zandt's overseas followers (or those living in Australian states that are yet to lift their border restrictions) to engage with her performances while international travel remains relatively cost prohibitive even when international borders are set to lift. The random element of the show where no two nights are likely to be the same as it is driven by the audience choice means that this would be a performance worth staying home to see again.

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