Jonah - A Musical Worth Seeing!

As if the duet "Square Peg, Round Hole" between Gillian Binks and Maree Cole isn't enough of a reason to brave the cold and attend Jonah, the stellar cast gave an almost faultless performance on opening night. With superb direction by veteran director John Milson, what at first looks like a dreary and dismal set comes to life as each character appears. This is complemented by the musical skills of Alistair Smith, who commendably tackles the hand written musical score alone at the keyboard. The vocals throughout are secure, with stand out performances by Gillian Binks (Clara Grimes), Breeahn Jones (Pinkey Partridge), Tyler Jones (Jonah Jones), Maree Cole (Ada Yabsley), Rodney Worth (Chook), and my personal favourite Carolyn Latter, who is so convincing in her role as Ma Yabsley that the audience is immediately drawn to her. While there are a few weak links that perhaps let the cast down slightly, on the whole it is a greatly enjoyable and enthralling musical which made for a great night's entertainment. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the performance. Kudos to Milson and Smith for taking on the challenge of bringing an Australian musical set in the late 1800's to life.