Off the back of Evil Dead, Milky Way productions has continued its love for the sinister and spooky with its second major production: Lizzie the Musical.
Somewhere between a concert and a sung-through musical, this show was a true celebration of femininity with four powerhouse femme presenting vocalists and an all-female band (despite interestingly being led by two male directors).
Telling the story of Lizzie Borden – a woman tried for the axe murder of her father and stepmother in the 1800s – you wouldn’t expect it to be 90 minutes of punk rock bad-assery, but boy was I pleasantly surprised.
Lukas Perez anchors the show as the titular Lizzie, innocent and manic, all the while singing the absolute house down (and clearly having a ball doing it). They’re paired well against Jessica Huysing as Alice who brings a softness to an otherwise hard hitting show.
Brittany Isaia shows off her vocal prowess as Lizzie’s sister Emma – with her and Perez’ duet ‘What the F*** Now Lizzie’ a highlight. Sarah McCabe rounds out the small but mighty group as the eerie Borden house servant Bridget.
McCabe doubled as costume designer for the show and did not miss, with some beautiful period style outfits turned rock-princesses later on, and an excellent choice of colour blocking to clearly identify each character.
With an on-stage band (expertly led by piano-conductor Akari Komoto) and large set piece that dominates the space the cast are left with little room to make use of which both added to the concert-like feel though also made some moments feel constrained. This carried through to the overall movement and choreography which at times felt uncertain and squashed – again potentially due to perhaps the unexpected lack of performance space.
Technically, balancing a rock band against just four voices was always going to be a challenge, with the singers often overpowered in the louder points of the show. However, this certainly improved in Act 2, and I’m sure it was just an opening night teething issue.
Directors Kieran Ridgway and Luke Miller have rounded up the very best of Perth talent for this production, and believe me it shows. A master-class in vocal agility – do yourself a favour and buy a ticket because this cast is deserving of far more than its small (yet highly appreciative) opening night crowd and you certainly won’t be disappointed.
To book tickets to Lizzie, please visit https://drpac.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/144012.
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.
