Friday, June 1, 2012

Review: Moonshadow (World Premiere in Melbourne)

Moonshadow, the latest musical to open in Melbourne, is beautiful - to look at, and listen to. 

With 40 songs by Yusef (Cat Stevens) one motivation for getting a ticket is for the songs alone, but they are not the end of it. Moonshadow was always going to be different.

But while the music and the visual components cannot fail to impress, some dramatic moments leave the audience confused. Continue reading

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10 comments:

  1. Do you have any comments on the work of Jolyon James?

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  2. Hi Anon,
    Yes of course. With a limited word count sadly one can never say everything.
    I was immediately taken with Jolyon's stilt work on which he travelled so smoothly and with such apparent ease. I would love to know about the training he may have received for this. Having not heard Jolyon sing previously, it is quite apparent why he won the role of Mooshadow. His lyrical, rich, honey-mellow voice, together with his elevated stature and unconventional movement, effectively build the notion of other-worldliness. I enjoyed Jolyon's performance very much.

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  3. Hi Lucy
    While really enjoying the piece as a whole I too found some bits of it a bit strange. I thought the placement of "morning has broken" to be quite jarring for instance. Still, with fantastic songs, costumes and sets it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

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  4. Hi Jill,
    Agreed. The songs and visuals are what holds it together. If only the script could be taken out and given a good shake.

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  5. Hi, I went to the show last 9th June. Disappointed with the storyline.cast performed well

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anon, It is a great cast with diverse talent to be sure.

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  6. Went 9th June. Also disappointed with storyline should be set in era songs were written. Cast and musicians performed well.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anon, I think they were aiming for a sense of 'timelessness', but the floor length costumes made it feel like it was set in the past. Did you like the arrangements of the songs?

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    2. The truth is that this show has been written to further the return of a broken down man with opinions that have yet again been rescinded for the short term gain of another "boost" towards his goal of being seen as a wise and spiritual individual. A tissue to clothe the now naked self after yet another "revelation" that there are no definitives in life and that we all move on as we grow older and gain experience in life. The storyline is weak because it's derivative and generalist, there are is least 1 other shows like it doing the rounds. Sorry being genuine and honest is te main reason to write a semi-biographical show not a retrospective rehashing of things long since criticised, condemned and then abandoned as UN - this or UN-that.

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  7. Interesting ideas Theodore. Did you see the show? And if so, did you like anything about it?

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