CLOC Musical Theatre - Whats The Show

Nice Work If You Can Get It Rating

★★★★★

Click if you liked this article

“What the world needs now, is love, sweet love.” Quoted in the Director’s note in the program for ‘NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT’ playing at The National Theatre in St Kilda 16-31 May presented by CLOC Musical Theatre. Mark also said he would add the word “laughter” to the above quote, and this show has done just that with the whole cast wholly embracing the story with “froth and fizz”.

This musical was one I had not heard of before. How that is possible I’m not quite sure as it’s definitely my type of musical; full of comedy that has you laughing out loud, Gershwin songs we recognise from a bygone era and set in the 1920s with plenty of tap dancing to boot. Don’t know how I’ve missed this title to date, but very happy to now share my viewing experience and highly recommend all ages to go along and enjoy this hidden gem of Broadway. Ticket link: https://www.cloc.org.au/

CLOC Musical Theatre doesn’t need any introduction, especially in Melbourne; they have been operating at the forefront of amateur theatre for over 50 years! Their productions are of a standard that ooze professional quality and the set on this one – WOWZERS!!!

Imagine you are seeing on stage a ‘Barbie’ style dream-house for a moment and that’s where you’re going. A huge pink beach house on Long Island belongs to the mega-rich ‘Winter’ family, but is hardly ever used. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, those circumstances give way to a trio of goofy criminal friends who decide to hide their stash in the house. After all, no one will be there.

I don’t like to give away too much of the plot, because I know there will be others, like me, who will be seeing this for the first time, but if you like shows like Guys & Dolls and Thoroughly Modern Millie, you’re going to definitely LOVE this one. NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT is a quirky comical love story between two (or three) people with lots of equally amusing sideline stories which all tie in perfectly together at the end, even ties you don’t think will be revealed. It’s a bootlegging blast!

My favourite character was ‘Eileen’ (‘the finest interpreter of modern dance in the world’), played by Lisa Nightingale, her bath scene is hilarious and delicious! Shout out again to the set builders, the costume designers conjuring up the bubbles and flowing pink fabric, and, the amazing gals in the ensemble, who make this scene one to remember forever.

Lead roles were all faultless. Award-winning Will Hanley, back at CLOC for the 6th time, smashes the role of playboy ‘Jimmy’; opposite him is the exceptional voice of Lauren Holcombe playing wallet-stealing ‘Billie’ – these two are a communicative combo. Some of their sequences especially with dancing up and down many stairs required a lot of skill – well done; also to the choreographers who would have given much thought into pulling that step timing safely together.

Liz O’Hanlon playing ‘Duchess Estonia’, who falls for the impostering manservant of the house, is excellent; her characterisation being very clear and absurdly funny. I and my friend (giggling constantly beside me) absolutely loved her in the scene where she finally succumbed to the secret alcohol, and Joshua Saunders (famously known for his meme face) playing ‘Cookie’, who carries her off the table, is splendid – they both indeed precisely land these comedic situations.

The entire ensemble is colourful magic – well done to all of them, no show is complete without the ensemble and there’s great engagement from all of them in every moment. There are some well-known names amongst and a couple I personally immediately recognised were Tyler-Rose Shattock, a legendary coach in the world of calisthenics and Caleb Waterworth who has grown up from being a child in the professional show of Matilda to touring recently with the Australian Ballet. Caleb in particular had me in stitches with face expressions and his movement antics in the beach scene.

Our biggest laughs though came from watching the portrayal of Jimmy’s mother ‘Millicent Winter’ played by Lee Threadgold, her story unfolded gradually, but you will have to go and see the show to see why……
‘NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT – A New Musical Comedy’ is promoted by the President of CLOC as a chance to forget the outside world for a few hours. Just enjoy yourself – no need to think, no need to worry – enjoy the music, laugh, smile and be part of a simpler time.

Well, we nailed that, THANK YOU EVERYONE!

EVERYONE is:
Ric Birkett, President CLOC Musical Theatre
Mark Taylor, Director
Susan Lewis, Choreographer
James Rooney, Assistant Choreographer
David Clausen-Wisken, Musical Director
Victoria Horne, Costume Designer
Marcello Lo Ricco, Sound Designer
Justin Karakai & Sally Martin, Co-Set Designers
Brad Alcock – Lighting Designer
Will Hanley playing ‘Jimmy Winter’
Lauren Holcombe playing ‘Bille’
Lisa Nightingale playing ‘Eileen’
Joshua Saunders playing ‘Cookie’
Thomas Myszka playing ‘Duke’
Melanie Ott playing ‘Jeannie’
Chris Anderson playing ‘Senator Evergreen’
Liz O’Hanlon playing ‘Duchess Estonia’
Mike Gardiner playing ‘Chief Berry’
Lee Threadgold playing ‘Millicent Winter’

ENSEMBLE: Tim Allison, Bryce Dunn, Simone Lay, Madeleine Magetti, Robert Mulholland, India Morris, Thomas O’Reilly, Claire Robinson, Sujanthan Satkumarajah, Tyler-Rose Shattock, Ashley Tynan, Tailem Tynan, Caleb Waterworth, Hayley Wootten.

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT Music and Lyrics are by George & Ira Gershwin, Book by Joe DiPietro, inspired by Material by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse.

Venue: https://nationaltheatre.org.au/

To book tickets to Nice Work If You Can Get It, please visit https://www.cloc.org.au/nicework.html.

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Billy Elliot The Musical Rating

★★★★★

Click if you liked this article

This is the 60th anniversary year of CLOC Musical Theatre (formerly Cheltenham Light Opera Company) and president Ric Birkett is beaming proud of Billy Elliot The Musical.

I always thought this show was based on a true story, but to my surprise it is fictional. However there would be many boys in dance classes around and many successful male dancers worldwide that could totally relate to this script in more ways than one. Being accepted as a male dancer certainly has its challenges and though it has improved immensely in recent years in genres such as hip hop, tap, jazz and commercial, there are still not a lot of boys taking up ballet like the character of Billy.

There would only be a handful of boys who could even play this role in Melbourne and two of them are on stage here in their first show with the CLOC production team, being Lukas Elliott (his real last name) from Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and Sebastian Sero having trained with the The Australian Ballet School. I saw Lukas (and yes, he’s thrilled to be playing his namesake even though it is spelled differently) and he was a standout for his acting ability too. This show is all about Billy the whole way through, it’s demanding but a dream role for a young boy who loves to dance!

Set in the 1980s at the time when the closure of the North England coalmines saw the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher take a particularly vengeful and confrontational path, the language in the show takes “it’s OK to swear in art” to a whole new level! Being honest, it was a bit of ‘shock therapy’ as I settled into the atmosphere, but as the show goes on you realise the script writing does portray exactly how such a community would speak in this situation, so don’t worry, you get used to it and will likely laugh at a lot of quipped lines.

Billy’s father is played by returning loyal CLOC member, Chris Hughes. Seventeen years after his last show with CLOC, he’s a natural in acting the tough guy typical miner who does not want to see his son become a dancer, at least not at first. He does come around eventually after a dressing down from Billy’s secret ballet teacher played by well-known Melanie Ott in her 10th show with the company, but not before his other son, Billy’s older brother who is exceptionally characterized by Joshua Sumner, gives every reason under the sun not to allow Billy his chosen path.

This show introduces a ton of new talent in the ballet girls, all in their first show with CLOC and they are everything from funny to cute. The high pitched screaming as they run onto stage was probably not unlike what their parents heard at home when they got a spot on the cast. It’s a coveted place to get into one of CLOC’s shows and of course there are no other shows where this many young accomplished dancers get to twirl around, be silly and act like they’ve actually never danced a concert in their life, which in reality is far from truth. In particular, it was the chance of a lifetime for Emily Bon-Fuller and Isla Everett to play “Debbie”, the impertinent daughter of Billy’s dance teacher. I saw grade 6 student Emily who can definitely act with sass!

Billy’s close friend is played by youngsters Angus Hutchinson and Harrison Lloyd both also in their first CLOC show. I saw Angus and he was an absolute delight to watch, he must have had a lot of fun in this role and he surely has the most fun dance number with giant dresses and Billy by his side. Again, these boys can dance!

A shout out to “Grandma” played by Barbara Hughes, who has worked for almost 50 years in non-professional theatre but was cast in the ensemble as the Grandma cover in the last professional Australian touring production of Billy Elliot, cut short by COVID, so in this show she finally got her chance. Her character calls it like she sees it, something many a Nana can get away with. Age gives you that right.

Billy’s mother (deceased) makes appearances in his mind by Elise Stevens and you can’t help but envisage any child’s lost parent watching on from Heaven to see their child go for their dreams.

The amazing Ensemble truly makes the show. There is so much energy on stage. It is loud! It is mining! It is teamwork! In the audience you feel like you are part of the action, and heads up to the choreography skills that managed to have so many people on stage not bumping into each other (unless it was on purpose with fists ready).

Billy Elliot will appeal to anyone really. It’s got enough manly guts in it to take your hubby (even though he doesn’t like musicals) and enough softness to reflect upon standing up for your work colleagues, helping the cause about what you believe is right for your community and above all, supporting your children’s goals.

I wonder if there was a “real” Billy Elliot in that mining town, who perhaps just didn’t get the chance to shine like this show does. I hope it inspires other boys who like to dance to try ballet. I hope it is a reminder that boys dance too. The world needs more dancing.

Congratulations to the Direction trio of Lynette White, Chris White, David Clausen-Wisken, and the entire CLOC team, this show is superbly executed, so fight your way to a seat for one of the last shows coming up!

Tickets 10-25th May via www.cloc.org.au

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Connect Online