Pro or not too pro?

I must preface this with a type of disclaimer and stae it 'WITHOUT PREJUDICE' to any and all associated with Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, as this is purely my view of events and it is not ment to discourge the hard work of anyone and future enjoyment of audiances and/or participants to this venue. (I am a whip and enjoy it)I received a comp ticket the other day, to see John Mac Nally at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. The provider was not MPAC, so to that extent I feel justified in being critical of the Centres show presentation. If they had of supplied the comp or I was a punter, I would have taken this up with them direct.John Mac Nally, is an Irish tenor - I should say was, he is more of a fiver these days - But still is a good and genuine performer, also a showman who has not forgotten his audience and gives that x-factor to his performances. I have done a couple of shows for John and found him to be a pro, unassuming and very easy to work with as far as a one show stand can be enjoyable. Sure, he is not eveyones cuppa , although he still churns out the recordings and sells them.John was not the problem, MPAC is, for sometime now there has been a lot of apparent faults with this space, which they assure me they are working on? Yes they are minor and probably picky on my part, to the extent I cringe every time I see a show there, my wife has finally said she will not go with me to anymore as I am too critical - so a BOS no more can I be, unless No! I think I have done it this time, at least till next time? - To give a run down;- The preset :- Half stage with the No 1 tabs in, no house curtain, open set.1. A baby grand (another name for flattened upright) still on its rusted truck dolly with various shades of paint - no attempt to mask it with black tats or some thing else.2. The house rag is at its out dead, the tormentor is in and past the tail of the rag - showing an uneven view of the white calico smother that backs it.3. The apron is extended covering the pit with various shades of black paint and gaffer tape on a washed out black mat masking facing the audience.4. Two boom mikes are employed to cover the sound board in the piano, with their stands against its hip and booms creating an obstacle at Johns eye height (he is not very tall).5. Lighting preset state was midnight blue and green assisted with a hint of peacock blue that added to the patch work from batten two overhead.6. Obviously two prefocused profiles specials at the centre of this batten that attempted to cross light in a up side down V on the tabs in bastard amber - all this did was create a dark shaded triangle on the uneven and badly profiled tab and brought out an its almost flat central features.7. No 1 batten was again bastard amber, with two 2k fresenels from the side in red leaving scallops of uneven light outlining the fresenel barn doors on the No 1 boarder drop8. The FOH was a number of profiles with washed out flesh pink gel (nipple pink was probably out of stock?) leaving a framed outline on the tabs where the light caught the teasers & tormentor masking.The result was almost MUD colour - these are pros, well at least they are paid. Its a pity they cant be sued for their past comments of Not another bleeding amateur show - again!". The show lighting:-1. Operation of colour change was jerky and unbalanced - manual mode.2. The illusion and support of the mood - was shot and did not recover.3. The building of light states - looked like an after thought.4. Mix and match of colour was not a "SUSANS" boutique - The "OP-SHOP" is more apt.5. When it came to creating feeling, in songs like "Danny Boy" - "On the beach" on a overcast day.6. Subtly of change and timing was snap on or off and at least 6 cues behind or advanced.7. The Dome (Lime or follow spot) had its own mind and iris out for a 7 foot performer in cold steel blue, probably because he was wearing a slate blue suit, that doubled his age and facial lines.8. Walk on pick ups from the Dome were handled well, they missed each time, showing up the leg drops that were badly bagged and hung incorrectly.9. I wont go on - as the presentation of stagecraft mise en scene was much better if you closed your eyes.Apparently the control of MPAC backstage has been handed over to a local sound company, who are quite adept at D J-ing and other rockn roll type shows. I believe it!Other wise I enjoyed John Mac Nally (I think he should have changed this to McNally) and look forward to his new show, next year, "Visions of Ireland" when he uses screen projections for journey through the history of Ireland in song. What he should include in this show is his own Lighting Director and/or Stage Manager - although they may have got the message by then? - or was this purely a one performance problems?????Joe McCabe