Paris
Sat, 17 Nov 2007, 10:37 amJodie Hansen49 posts in thread
Paris
Sat, 17 Nov 2007, 10:37 amI went with friends to see the opening night of Murray Music and Drama Club's production of Paris last night. I've been waiting all year to see this production as it is one of my favourite rock operas.
First nights are always twitchy and this was no exception. The biggest problem I had with the evening were the technical issues. The radio mikes had a variety of little issues - not on when they should have been, feedback, not working correctly, static, etc. Some of the mike volumes were also not balanced so that some lead players were much louder than others and, contrast that with the chorus, and it came across as a very distracting combination. The lighting was OK - a little slow in some spots and unfortunately when Menelaus was on top of one of the columns on the side of the stage, his face was mostly in shadow but his torso was well lit!
Overall, considering the logistics of the technical side (including coordinating the soundtrack) they did a tolerable job which will hopefully become exceptional by the end of the run. Oh, one more thing - if you have having sound problems, please don't converse about them at the sound desk at the back of the auditorium during the show - VERY distracting not to mention a dead giveaway that something has gone wrong.....
Now to the performance proper. Once again, overall a very entertaining show and please note that the opinion stated is my personal one and from a fan perspective of the musical.
Helen - lovely voice and musical interpretation of the role. I expected a little more from the acting side but considering she spends most of the production in relative angst, it was a decent rendition. Your interaction with Paris was lovely and pretty much had me convinced that you pair were in love come hell or high water….
Paris - You already know all the good things that you can do, I felt that you needed a bit more acting and action. I didn’t feel that you had the best rapport with the rest of the cast. You were lovely with Helen but I felt that you kept your distance from everyone else. And your hair constantly over your face drove me NUTS! I really enjoyed your performance but kept thinking that if only he got a haircut.....
Hector - Quite passable if a little unsure about your role. You warmed into the role as the evening went on and died an honourable death. Your scene just before going off to die was absolutely beautiful.
Cassandra - Good rendition of the priestess; lovely voice. Only criticism would be a direction thing - hands and arms moving in what seemed to be random actions that were very distracting.
Priam - maybe opening night nerves but timing for almost every song was off - keep a more watchful ear on the music.
Hecuba - Very nice performance - I was very disappointed that you didn't get to do the song when Priam is killed - it has always been one of my personal favourites.
Aeneas - A passable rendition of the friend and skipper. You could maybe look at showing a little more camaraderie with Paris otherwise I enjoyed it completely.
Laoceon / Sinon - I much preferred you as Sinon which you pulled off very very well. One of the people I came with laughed constantly during your Outside/Inside trio and you did it extremely well. A very nice job.
Agamemnon - Not what I was expecting at all. I wasn't totally convinced that you were a conniving rotten sod who started a war for the sake of starting a war. I felt that you portrayed him more as playing a game that didn't really matter and that you switched him on and off depending on when the attention would be on you. If I could make a constructive comment, get some singing lessons enough to feel completely comfortable with any song that you might be doing and relax into the character. He is great fun to play and you should be enjoying him through the singing as well.
Menelaus - Another one that I didn't expect. A much younger Menelaus than I had anticipated but vocally you pulled it off extremely well. Even
your high notes which I was originally concerned about were Extremely Well Done! A lovely job....
Ulysses / Helmsman - A great pity about the mike problems during a portion of your action. Otherwise you were fantastic and I really enjoyed your performance.
Achilles - Not bad...a little pirate-like but not bad. I was disappointed that the opening song wasn't the one on the actual soundtrack because the one that was done was a little lack-lustre. Put yourself more into the shoes of the mighty warrior and you'll be exceptional by the last night.
Patroclus - your mike was louder than pretty much anyone else's which was a little distracting but not your problem. You did very well as Achilles best friend and I really really enjoyed your performance.
The chorus were fantastic - kudos to the vocal director and the quality of the chorus itself. A great pity that a lot of times you couldn’t hear them a great deal due to the mike issues (were the mikes having from the ceiling on at all??). The bits that you could hear were absolutely perfect.
I only have a couple of criticisms – the direction overall was a little bland. There didn’t seem to be the level of excitement that the dialogue / libretto indicated and the characters were walking slowly most of the time even when imminent danger was anticipated. The fight scenes were active enough (if a little over enthusiastically and unchoreographed) and were very entertaining but the rest of the time needed that same level of intensity so that there wasn’t an up and down feeling. However, very creditably done considering the large cast, the multiple action scenes and the subject matter.
The other distraction was the determined applause from the back of the auditorium near the sound desk after each song by cast / crew. Sometimes, the song needed to end and go straight into the next bit of action – applauding after each one is not necessary nor (from a performer’s perspective) wanted as it breaks the mood created.
Since this was only the first night, there are little things to be sorted. The cast should be easing into their groove from now on. The technical things should be sorted as well.
The show is very enjoyable and I had a wonderful time there. Go and see it because the music alone is worth the listen.
A Rock Opera, or a Rock FLOPera?
Mon, 26 Nov 2007, 02:32 pmWalter Plinge
I too saw the performance of Paris on Friday night, 23rd November 2007. I have to wonder if perhaps the Murray Music and Drama Club have two venues where the show was playing, as I completely disagree with what Darren above says. I felt this show was APALLING!
My first point ladies and gentleman is that if you do not have the vocal talent to achieve a certain note then you simply should not be given the part! This was the case with many performers, but in particular, Jason Arrow as Paris, Gareth Jay as Menelaus, Damian Lalor as Hector, Russell Baxter as Agamemnon and Shem Le Scelle as Achilles. (Notice there are no females in this bunch - why is it that the girls are always better than the boys?) Although the worst note of the night MUST go to Gareth Jay - what a truly AWFUL sound you managed to produce while climbing the column; and then again while standing on top. I noticed a few people in the audience around me cringe at that moment - spectacularly bad!
Next I would like to talk about the sound. (And please, do not offer excuses through people who are clearly members of your club about technological glitches - if you knew your equipment well enough, the glitches wouldn't occur.) In short, the music simply was not loud enough. With such powerful music, why would you have the volume down so low. And the sound operator needs to be told that pushing up the master volume is NOT a good idea. This only led to the actor's vocals being amplified beyond distortion point, it did not allow anyone to hear the music better. Did we do sound checks people? And how often do you have your microphones serviced? It was very off-putting to hear a microphone dropping in and out during a particular number - particularly when the two other people singing did not have the same problem.
Your lighting design also left quite a bit to the imagination - and I mean literally. So often I saw peoples bodies but not their heads, so I had to imagine their expressions. You couldn't even produce a basic wash that lit the entire stage properly for the full cast numbers. And think about getting a competent follow-spot operator - anyone with half an eye for lighting would have noticed the numerous errors with the follow-spot - truly pathetic.
Now, cast member by cast member:
Anita Musca as Helen - actually, this girl was quite competent. Not brilliant, but clearly a stand out considering how bad most of the cast was.
Jason Arrow as Paris - Uninspired. I did not believe this boy at any time. And I don't care how good you look under lights on stage, if you don't have the talent, get off. Also, Jason's voice was simply not up to the standard needed for this part. He did not have the notes he needed and stretched for them too often - this wasn't a pleasant sound.
Damian Lalor as Hector - Where did you dig this one up from? He was atrocious. There was no evidence of musicality in his singing at all. His acting was stiff and almost painful to watch and there was absolutely no connection between him and anyone else on stage throughout the entire performance.
Sian Dhu as Cassandra - A passable performance and a pleasant change from almost everything else that was occurring. Although I note that the director's surname is Dhu also. One has to wonder about the connection. Vocally one of the stronger members of the cast, but still falling short of what this show needed.
Rod Mayes as Priam - Unanimated and completely unconnected to anyone onstage. His vocals had a nice tombre but other than that he was boring.
Jeanette Southall as Hecuba - Passable.
Garry Swindell as Aeneas - Once again, boring. Nothing about this performance leapt off the stage.
Patrick Cole as Laoceon/Sinon - I figure from the first post that this was the drunk greek man. A truly streotypical presentation without the slightest element of original thought in the character construction. Admittedly, you do have some stage presence at least - try to think a bit more about what you're doing on stage, you have potential that is getting wasted in the stereotype.
Russell Baxter as Agamemnon - Not the worst on stage, but his singing left a lot to be desired.
Gareth Jay as Menelaus - The less said the better - STOP SINGING! You do not have a base register and I feel I must tell you that despite what you may think you certainly don't have the top register. Stop singing now!
Sean Read as Ulysses/Helmsman - A generally solid performance except for one awful note at the end of your solo.
Shem Le Scelle as Achilles - Can anyone say Captain Feathersword? What a charming re-creation of the beloved Wiggles character. I'm not sure it was quite right for this story though. You also need to stop singing - you can't! Whoever it was that said you could sing was lying.
Patrick Kilcoyne as Patroclus - Nothing truly awful, but what is that accent? It really did not work for this character.
The rest of the characters can consider themselves part of the chorus and are therefore subject to the following critique.
Chorus - Overall, weak. The harmonics were not strong and chorus members clearly struggled without the leads to give strength in the larger numbers. Credit where it's due, certain chorus members at least gave the whole acting thing a go. Kudos to one young girl (quite tall with blonde hair) who drew my eye, particularly in a number towards the end of act I when you were standing in the down-stage-right corner. I felt the diction from the chorus was sloppy and their timing with the music bordered on ridiculous. However, this may have been because they couldn't hear it, I don't know.
I have to question the decision to use backing tracks. I always think this is a mistake as live music provides so much energy. Although, apparently (according to the program) performing the show to the backing tracks was one of the selling points. But then again, given the rest of the direction maybe the director just like to take the easy way out.
Overall, I felt that this show was well below the standard of community theatre in Western Australia. I don't think I will be heading to the country again anytime soon.
*You've been STUNG*