Librarian Idol

Finegan is a librarian and doesn’t understand why other people don’t think that he has the coolest job on earth. He’s on a musical mission to elevate the librarian to historic heights of respect and fear – with plenty of Australian Idol references, while generally having a good old time at the piano. In the gorgeous cabaret venue, La Boheme, the enthusiastic but awkward Finegan takes the stage and shares his story – of hiding from bullies in the school library, his fear and reverence for Ms Reynolds the terrifying lesbian high school librarian, and his own quest to elevate librarian hood to the inner realm of coolness. Currently running a suburban library in Darwin, Finegan harbours ambitions for idol hood – and we live through his fraught Australian Idol experience. As a performer Finegan spends most of the show swinging between painful and endearing. He doesn’t seem to know what his personal strengths are in order to play to them, nor is he relaxed in his timing. It is not until two thirds of the way through the show that his ballad to Marcia Hines lifts him to the heights that we so wanted him to reach. He really should record this song and send it to Triple J. Having hit this height the final third of the show is sheer delight. A self developed show, this would greatly benefit from dramaturgical advice and professional direction. The structure needs significant work, and Finegan needs to learn how to play an audience. His songs are clever and I would love to see where he goes in his next performance. His jokes are somewhat self-indulgent and esoteric – although to be fair, Finegan seems genuinely surprised that the audience is not made up of at least 80% librarians. Kudos for pulling a non-librarian crowd. With a few more years of vocal training, and better developed timing that only experience can give, Finegan could be someone to watch out for! For full article, read --> http://tinyurl.com/2agmbq