Should I See It?

MSO Pops: Some Enchanted Evening

2010-09-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

Concert: Some Enchanted Evening: The Best of Rodgers & Hammerstein
Presented By: The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Martin Yates
Date Reviewed: Saturday 14th August, 8pm.
Rating:

I am going to be honest: this review will contain numerous usages of the word beautiful and synonyms thereof.

Some Enchanted Evening was a wonderful night with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Selections were from Rodgers and Hammerstein's most popular shows: Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. I must admit I was a little disappointed not to hear some selections from their lesser known shows like Allegro or Me and Juliet, but you have to please the masses. Highlights of the night were definitely ‘The Carousel Waltz’ and the encore of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. ‘The Carousel Waltz’ was simply outstanding; the beauty of the melody demonstrated the ability of Richards Rodgers to create passion and feeling with only music.

The Orchestra were supported by vocalists and UK imports Jacqui Scott and Andrew Halliday. Ms. Scott was……particularly unimpressive. Her voice was weak, and she quite obviously struggled particularly in the selections from Oklahoma! Ms. Scott also committed the cardinal sin by managing to mix up the lyrics in just about every number from South Pacific. If you are celebrating the music AND lyrics of a particular writing team, then you really should get the lyrics right!

Though Halliday could pull out the full tone more suited to the style of a Rogers and Hammerstein score when absolutely necessary, notably in Soliloquy from Carousel and Younger than Springtime (South Pacific), his tone was mostly that of the modern pop musical theatre style that we are seeing more and more of today.

Overall, the show needed vocalists with warmer, richer tones that are more qualified to do justice to the beauty of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s work. Why did we need UK vocalists anyway? Isn’t there enough talent in Melbourne to do the score justice? It’s not as if Scott or Halliday are ‘names’ that could be potential draw cards. People are there to see the Orchestra, not the vocalists.

Apart from the average vocal performances, the only major misstep of the night was ‘Oklahoma’ (the song). The Orchestra were wonderful, but having only the two vocalists sing it left something to be desired. It felt empty. The song really needs a rousing chorus of voices to it justice.

Rogers and Hammerstein gave the world some of the most beautiful songs ever written. The lyrics are timeless; the expressions of love so simple that the songs will continue to transcend time.

Hearing these wonderful songs by arguably musical theatres most successful writing team made me realise that people don’t write shows like that anymore! Bring back the golden age of musical theatre!!!

For those who are not connoisseurs of classical music, the MSO Pops is a great place to start. They will finish their 2010 with a selection of Disney classics, which is a nice way to ease into the world of MSO.

Some Enchanted Evening played only 3 performances.

MSO official site here.

South Solitary Review

2010-09-02T01:34:00.000-07:00

Film: South Solitary
Directed By: Shirley Barrett.

Starring: Miranda Otto, Barry Otto, Marton Csokas and Essie Davis.

Plot: A woman accompanies her uncle, a lighthouse inspector, to the Island of South Solitary.

Rating:

This year has seen the release of a number of wonderful Australian films. Unfortunately, South Solitary is not one of them.

Within the first half hour of the film, I found myself wanting the film to be over (not a good sign). Even though the running time was under two hours, it felt closer to three. South Solitary was incredibly slow paced- and dare I say it (even at the risk of sounding unintelligent)- BORING. I can’t help but think that the material would have been more suited to a short film, at least then it wouldn’t have dragged.

As a viewer, it is frustrating to have characters who don’t learn from their mistakes. It is incredibly difficult to emotionally invest in Meredith, since she seems to have no powers of reasoning or any critical judgement. Meredith is an incredibly weak, incredibly flawed character, who annoys more than intrigues. Part of that has to do with Miranda Otto’s performance. The girly high pitched voice and attempts at wide eyed innocence do not convince, and only add to the frustration towards the character.

Barry Otto as the uncompromising head Lighthouse keeper is the only breath of fresh air in the otherwise stale film.

The resolution of the narrative with the relationship between Meredith and fellow lighthouse keeper, Fleet, feels forced and inorganic.

The scenes where Meredith has to run the lighthouse by herself show potential, but they are over far too quickly to alleviate the monotony of this film.

The beautiful score and beautiful location (shot at Cape Nelson and Cape Otway) can’t make up for the lacklustre script and poor pacing of the film.

South Solitary is a lot like life as a lighthouse keeper: Long and incredibly dull.