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Nana’s Naughty Knickers – Naughty Good Fun

26 August 2024 Cheryl Lee

Nana’s Naughty Knickers Rating

★★★★★

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Hubby and I rode our scooter to our local theatre, The Arts Theatre on Angas Street, Adelaide, to see Nana’s Naughty Knickers.

What happens when Bridget and her lively grandmother become roommates?

Bridget saw a unique opportunity to stay with her favourite nana in New York for the summer. She found her running an illegal boutique from her rent-controlled apartment, selling handmade lingerie to all the senior citizens of the precinct.

Will Nana get arrested or, even worse, evicted?

Adelaide ‘theatre royalty’ Cast:-

Penni Hamilton Smith – Sylvia
Chris Galipo – Vera, Sylvia’s side-kick
Kayla Cranfield – Sylvia’s innocent grand-daughter, Bridget
Clinton Nitschke – Tom, the lovelorn police officer
Frank Cwiertniak – the owner of the apartment block, Mr Schmidt
Monique Millar – dominatrix Heather Van Pree
Therese Hornby – Mr Schmidt’s wife, Clair
Marcus Catt – the UPS delivery guy

A Katherine DiSacino play directed by Barry Hill, this piece has enough silliness to make you laugh out loud (even when you don’t want to) and forget your own troubles for just a little while.

At first, the American accents might catch you off guard, but as you become familiar with the quirky characters, they quickly become an endearing part of the experience.

The standout performance for me was Chris Galipo’s performance as the deaf, mobility-impaired best friend Vera, who had some of the best lines and delivered them to perfection. Also, Marcus Catt’s performance as the delivery guy had only a small part but made a fabulous impact.

It is a silly, uncomplicated play with quite a few plot flaws and unlikely characters. All is soon forgiven, as you find yourself just enjoying the simple pleasure of watching the actors revelling in their roles, just to make you laugh. And laugh we did, many times, the crowd broke out into spontaneous, joyous and sometimes guilty giggles.

The set design is quite simple but contains some very clever moving parts to hide the secret stash of merchandise. I personally would have preferred the ‘naughty knickers’ to be sexier to match the title of the show, but that’s me, and I do think the cast could have pulled it off.

Get out when you can, support local artists, and you’ll definitely have some fun!!

For Tickets:-

https://adelaiderep.com

Season: 22 – 25 August & 29 – 31 August

Remaining Sessions

Thu 29 Aug at 7:30pm
Fri 30 Aug at 7:30pm
Sat 31 Aug at 2:00pm (Saturday Matinee)
Sat 31 Aug at 7:30pm

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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Film Review: Mr Blake At Your Service!

9 July 2024 Cheryl Lee

Mr Blake At Your Service Rating

★★★★★

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2023 French comedy-drama directed by de Gilles Legardinier in his directorial debut, Mr. Blake At Your Service stars John Malkovich, Fanny Ardant, Émilie Dequenne, Philippe Bas, Eugénie Anselin, Al Ginter, Anne Brionne, and Christel Henon and is based on the director’s novel Complètement cramé! (Completely Burnt Out!).

At times, it was slow and dragged a bit, always seemingly waiting for something to happen. The tempo was slow, the speaking was slow, and you felt the need to know more about the somewhat implausible characters, but maybe that’s part of its charm.

For most of the movie, there is a sadness that lingers over everything with an unlikely collection of lonely, odd characters.

Having seen the lead actor, John Malkovich, depict the evil guy in many movies, I found myself expecting him to suddenly turn into the big bad guy with all hell breaking loose AND then all of a sudden he sort of does!!!

It seemed like the premise held a lot of promise but never quite lived up to it. And then suddenly, it sort of just does!!! The mood goes from sad to silly, and suddenly, you almost…… I did say almost—don’t want it to end.

The plot was holey, the characters thin, and the tempo sluggish, but, despite myself, I found I was enjoying it anyway. Even though finally, after all that damned melancholy, without giving anything away, I was so happy I actually cried – real tears – maybe of relief!!

If you want a movie that you’ll probably like even with all its faults, this one’s for you. It’s especially for you if, like me, you love a happy ending (no!! Keep it classy, please!!).

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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The Addams Family

10 May 2024 Cheryl Lee

The Addams Family Rating

★★★★★

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There is so much to love about the Addams Family Musical comedy presented by the Metropolitan Theatre Company of SA Inc., which was originally formed in 1958 as the ‘Metropolitan Light Opera Company’. Performances first took place at the Unley and Norwood Town Halls before moving to the Arts Theatre in 1964, where the Company has remained.

I love that it was performed three streets from my house in a gorgeous little old theatre in Adelaide, The Arts Theatre.

I love that we left home a little bit too late to race there in my high heels, so hubby and I jumped on our scooter and it took us three minutes to scoot there, longer in fact to chain the scooter up outside.

I love that I could pull this old dress out of the wardrobe and nobody batted and eyelid. In fact, I don’t think I’ve been complimented on my outfit so much that I might wear it again!?!

I love that everybody was chatting in the foyer before entry, like a bunch of old friends.

I love that you could stand outside the stage door after the show to chat to the artists, if you could recognise them that is, as they left to celebrate their opening night.

Even my husband who gets dragged along to these things, and he loved it, which is a really really big compliment coming from him.

But now to the important thing, the performance

Fans of the Addams Family you will discover and love these actors and their characters immediately.

The show is brilliantly cast :

Ben Todd (Young Frankenstein, Spamalot,Guys & Dolls) playing Gomez Adams.

Selena Britz (One Touch of Venus, All That Jazz, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs) Morticia Adams.

Vanessa Crouch (The King & I, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hello Dolly!) Wednesday.

John McKay (Jack The Ripper, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pirates of Penzance) Uncle Fester.

Elizabeth Lee (characters such as The Beggar Woman, Hedy La Rue, Mrs Higgins) Grandma.

Tom Sheldon (Winnie The Pooh, The Sound of Music, Hairspray) Lucas Beineke.

Krystal Dally (Annie, Nice Work If You Can Get It) Alice Beineke.

Andrew Mayer (The Boyfriend, Fiddler on the Roof, Pirates of Penzance) Mel Beineke.

Jason Clark (Le Mis, Grease) is Lurch.

Pugsley shared between 14-year-old Phoebe Clark and 11-year-old Elijah Proctor.

And also a cast of 15 ancestors who were absolutely perfect support to the story.

Each main cast member had their time to shine with their song. As each cast member sang, I thought, this is the show stealer, until the next one, and I thought, this is the show stealer, and the next one, and I thought, this is the show stealer!!

If I really had to choose, I would say Vanessa. Wednesday was mesmerising, and you couldn’t take your eyes off her. Vanessa appeared in her first show at age five, and her state experience is evident.

The storyline is fabulous, giving each of the actors their moment in the sun.

It has a great message about the importance of family, mother-daughter struggles, long-term husband-and-wife dynamics, and the trials and tribulations of bringing new members into families.

Which coincidentally coincided with the first time that our eldest daughter brought her partner home to our house to meet us and her four siblings for a movie night tonight, so that aspect of the story was particularly relevant to my husband and I.

It was a long show, but it was so much fun that you didn’t feel it was too long.

A bonus was that during the break, we could order some lattes on an app, and my husband walked down to the On The Run on the corner, arriving back just in time for act two with some nice hot coffees.

The production team consisted of Caroline Adams, Director, Jane Feast, Musical Director, and Jacinta Vistolli, Choreographer. They should all be very proud of what they have created.

The only disappointment of the night was that I would’ve loved to have seen more guests in the house.

If you can get out and see this show, support our local talent, support our local venues, remember that these guys do this for the love of it and do a spectacular job, so let’s get behind them.

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act

25 February 2024 Cheryl Lee

I love Fringe time – Adelaide comes alive for Mad-March, which starts in February. There are so many shows, many returning favourites, and hundreds of new favourites, such as Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act, waiting to be discovered.

Nestled on page 147 of 168 of The Guide between the hundreds (more than 1300 actually) of Fringe shows is Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act. Hubby Barry and I head to one of Adelaide’s old buildings, now a boutique venue for performing artists.

We are directed around the back to almost a mysterious secret entrance to “Studio 166” from the rear of the old theatre, originally the Goodwood Institute built-in 1887. We are filed past a surprisingly well-stocked bar into an extremely small theatre of just four rows, seating approximately 50 patrons. There’s not a spare seat in the house.

Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act is performed by Nigel Miles-Thomas, written by David Stuart Davies and directed by award-winning Gareth Armstrong. Being a newcomer to Sherlock Holmes, I wasn’t sure how much was actual Sherlock Holmes fact and how much was created by the writer, but it didn’t matter. Much of the time, if ever in doubt as to what was going on one minute, it was always made clear in the next.

Nigel Miles-Thomas is an amazingly talented actor who spoke the 65-minute monologue nonstop, not a stumble, not a misstep and held character the entire time; in fact, he apparently had multiple characters, 14 in total.

Father of five and I, husband Barry, are not theatre buffs by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, you more likely find us in the mosh pit at the front of a rock concert like The Angels or The Screaming Jets., therefore my thoughts are from an utterly naïve perspective.

In fact, the reviews from people who know theatre a hell of a lot better than I was so glowing I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it. But I must say Nigel Miles-Thomas grabbed my attention from the moment he walked out onto the sparsely decorated stage, and I did not take my eyes off him for the next hour.

Nigel has had an extensive career spanning five decades. He has worked with Steven Berkoff and performed a leading role in London’s West End and many of the regional theatres in the UK. Nigel has performed internationally in the USA, Europe and Asia. He is well known for his appearances in Doctor Who and many other popular UK programmes.

The story, not to spoil anything, is written to reveal the man behind the myth and expose the great detective’s fears and weaknesses, the devastating consequences of the dramas of his formative years, and, unexpectedly, his cutting sense of humour.

Fringe time is the perfect time to go out and see something new or try something different, and even if you’re usually an anti-theatre buff, I can recommend this one. You’ll thoroughly enjoy it as we did.

Remember to get out when you can, support local talent, and I’ll see you down the front!!

This review also appears on It’s On The House, and check out more reviews at Dark Stories Theatre to see what else is on in your town.

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