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Zanna, Don't! | Quirky Productions |
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Written by
Vito Mattarelli |
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Monday, 02 February 2009 |
 Left
- Chris Buchanan & Jessica Carbone. Photos -
Adam Rafferty
Imagine a world where being gay is the norm
and heterosexuals are the minority. Such is
the premise of Zanna, Don’t!,
which is set at a high school somewhere in
the US.
Here the local match-maker, Zanna (Samuel
Kitchen) waves his magic wand to
enable everyone to find a loved one.
He ensures that lonely newcomer and football
quarterback Steve (Nic
Riley) falls for Mike (Chris
Buchanan), the chess champion and
school idol.
Roberta (Jessica Carbone),
who hasn’t had much luck in the love stakes,
manages to find bull-riding champ Kate
(Kate Williams) – thanks to
Zanna.
All goes well until the Drama Club decide to
create a musical dealing with the hot issue
of Heterosexuals in the military. While
performing a ballad about a hetero couple,
Steve and Kate realise
that they have feelings for each other – and
the world starts to change.
Originally created by Tim Acito
(book, music and lyrics), Zanna,
Don’t! starts off really well,
as it cleverly and charmingly sets the tone
for the show and plays with the
homosexual/heterosexual conventions.
Songs are mostly catchy and filled with
satire, such as the Village People-inspired
Be a Man, and Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell, which comments on the issue of
gays in the military. There are some very
funny lines and references to sexuality as
the show deals with the issues of homophobia
and equality. Of course, there is a
reference or two to Olivia Newton-John’s
Xanadu.
The cast of eight all perform very well
together, with stand-out performances from
Nic Riley, Jessica
Carbone and Kate Williams.
Unfortunately the second act lets the show
down slightly by attempting to resolve the
dilemmas all too quickly and
melodramatically, but without the charm of
the first act.
Director Luke Gallagher and
choreographers Tamara Finch
and James Rooney ensure the
production is well staged and moves at a
great pace.
In all Zanna, Don’t!
remains another fun filled Midsumma
experience.
Quirky Productions presents
Zanna, Don’t!
part of the Midsumma Festival
Venue: Chapel Off Chapel
Dates: January 30 to
February 14, 2009
Bookings/Further Info:
www.zannadont.com.au
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Zanna, Don't
Presented by: Quirky Productions
Date Reviewed: 30th January, 2009
Venue: Chapel off Chapel
Reviewer: Simon Parris - Theatre People
Editor
Quirky Productions have made their debut
with an enthusiastic production that bodes
well for future achievements. In a perfectly
selected offering for Midsumma, the show
offers socially relevant material, camp
designs, a disco-like score and lashings of
eye candy thrown in for good measure.
Suffering through Melbourne’s unprecedented
heatwave during production week, the
dedicated cast somehow found plenty of
energy reserves to perform at their peak on
opening night. Often literally dripping with
sweat, they had the strength to persevere
through multiple costume and wig changes and
vigorous dance routines.
Set in an alternate world where gay is the
norm and heterosexuals are shunned, Zanna
(Samuel Kitchen) magically puts the ‘extra
love’ of his friends to use by pairing them
with each other. Chess heartthrob Mike
(Chris Buchanan) falls for new quarterback
Steve (Nic Riley) while overbearing Roberta
(Jessica Carbone) is paired with bull-riding
champ Kate (Kate Williams). Samuel Kitchen
as "Zanna"
After performing a musical about straights
in the military (don’t ask, don’t tell!)
Kate and Steve are scared to share their
newfound attraction to each other with their
schoolmates. Zanna attempts to use his magic
one last time to help the world accept these
tortured straight lovebirds.
Kitchen gets his groove on, executing tight
dance moves and maintaining the focus and
pace of the action. Buchanan is in fine
form, commanding attention whenever he is on
stage and providing the night’s best ballad
with ‘I Could Write Books’. Making a welcome
return to the stage, Riley projects a
likeable presence, and has a warm baritone
voice. With a build more like a linebacker
than a quarterback, his ten push-ups were
very impressive! Solid support was provided
by Luke Taylor and Drew Downing in a range
of roles, with a highlight being their
mulletted butch lesbians.
Carbone, clearly a talented music theatre
performer is not well served by a
directorial choice to have her constantly at
full volume. Light and shade is a clichéd
term but that is what was needed here,
although there were still many enjoyable
moments of her performance. The character of
Candi (Nicole Kapiniaris) is already written
as domineering, so this did not help
distinguish these two characters. Kapiniaris
skillfully played a couple of other
supporting roles, with differing looks
achieved quite effectively.
L-R: Luke Taylor, Samuel Kitchen, Nicole
Kapiniaris, Kate Williams, Chris Buchanan,
Nic Riley,
Drew Downing and Jessica Carbone
Choreographers (and Artistic Directors of
Quirky Productions) Tamara Finch and James
Rooney have the company constantly moving,
with dance occurring naturally in the story
as required. The moves were tightly executed
and fun to watch, although some positioning
had the company too close to the front row
for audience further back to see them fully.
The cast had clearly been very well drilled
to allow them to perform so energetically
despite the heat.
Unfortunately sidelined due to illness,
Musical Director Julia Buchanan has prepared
the cast and small band to play at a
cracking pace, with the singers coping quite
well with the diction needed to deliver the
rapid fire lyrics. Luke Taylor’s costume
designs were cheeky and showed off the sexy
physiques to full effect. Highlights
included the bull-riding team in pink Kylie
cowboy hats and the glittered army fatigues.
The show itself has some flaws, with
characters set up in the opening number
never seen again and couples that were
established throughout the story gone in the
final scene. Still, there are many funny
lines, with some sly music theatre
references, and the catchy songs make the
score instantly accessible.
Zanna, Don’t! is a lively, enjoyable night
out, and is a chance to see a rarely
performed show. Readers of Theatre People
will be well acquainted with the cast and
crew, and will surely show them their full
support.
Mini-rant #1: legit music theatre singers
don’t need ‘madonna mikes’ in front of their
mouths – they just make the sound raw,
breathy and harsh, and get in the way for
kisses, taking clothes off etc
Mini-rant #2: conditions in the auditorium
at chapel off chapel were absolutely
unbearable for the cast and audience. How
does a modern, popular venue get away with
such poor ventilation? L-R: Drew Downing,
Samuel Kitchen, Nicole Kapiniaris and Luke
Taylor
Simon has appeared in more than 30
productions over the past twenty years.
Recent roles include Uncle Henry/Guard of
the Gate in The Wizard of Oz (Catchment) and
Eugene Fodor in Crazy for You (Whitehorse).
Other favourite roles include Mr Fox in Mack
and Mabel, Max in The Sound of Music, Freddy
in My Fair Lady, Julio in Paint Your Wagon,
Marcellus in The Music Man and Grantaire in
Les Miserables.
He is also a keen audience member, having
seen over 50 shows in five weeks on a recent
trip to New York and London. Simon has
choreographed Urinetown and Little Shop of
Horrors for St Michael’s Grammar School. He
is currently directing Hot Mikado for St
Michael’s, to be staged at the Athenaeum
Theatre in May. Simon has served on the
Music Theatre Guild of Victoria Committee
for five years, and is currently Treasurer.
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THEATRE REVIEW:
Zanna Don’t
By
Ronald McCoy
Arts Hub | Monday,
February 02, 2009
The opening night of the musical
Zanna Don’t for Melbourne’s
Midsumma Festival has brought a long
overdue injection of originality, energy
and freshness into the Melbourne music
theater scene. When I read the plot of
the show – about a queer world where
some people dare to come out as straight
– I must admit that I had serious
reservations about what to expect, but
this amazing cast and production won me
over in about 30 seconds.
The plot is exceedingly silly, but in
accordance with Mel Brooks’ observations
that, in the theatre, if it’s too silly
to say it, sing it, this production of
Zanna Don’t takes this to the
ultimate conclusion. However, this
doesn’t mean that the show lacks depth –
quite the opposite actually.
Director Luke Gallagher has assembled
and molded an impressive cast that
embraced the story and musical numbers
with expert skill and energy, many who
doubled up on roles to great effect.
It’s so unfair to single out
individual cast member performances, as
without exception, they all showed how
music theatre should be performed. You
could hear audience members in the foyer
during the interval fiercely debating
who was their favourite, or whose
performance was the best, with everyone
holding different views.
Chris Buchanan and Nic
Riley as the male love interest
leads were hunky and absolutely
convincing, as were the gutsy Jessica
Carbone and sparkling Kate
Williams as the contrasting girls
couple.
The so called “supporting cast”,
Drew Downing, Luke Taylor and
Nicole Kapinaris, re-defined the
term “scene stealing” in the diner scene
providing serious competition to the
lead characters – I’m not going to
explain why, just in case you see it.
As for Samuel Kitchen in the
title role of Zanna, how fabulous can
one person be?
The rock solid musical direction,
under Julia Buchanan, took the
audience on a journey of a multitude of
musical styles that provided endless
enjoyment. The element of musical parody
in this show is a real strength, but
again, I’m not going to give you any
spoilers here.
Luke Gallagher’s creative
direction demonstrated a real
understanding of music theatre form,
combining intelligence, knowledge with a
terrific sense of fun. He has managed to
get the most out of a great team of
choreographers, set and costume
designers, resulting in a great night
out.
With Zanna Don’t being their
first production, Quirky Productions
has raised the bar in musical comedy
standards in Melbourne.
The writing in Zanna Don’t is
bursting at the seams with silliness,
but it is this very element that allows
cutting comment on queer and straight
worlds that, adding depth to this show
without at any time sacrificing the
element of fun — a wonderful acheivement
of the writers.
Although Midsumma Festival has
political roots, it is still a
celebration and time of joy, and for
this reason, Zanna Don’t is a
perfect choice for Midsumma. Don’t miss
it, if it’s not already sold out.
For more tickets Tel: 03 8290 7000
and more information see:
www.midsumma.org.au or
www.chapeloffchapel.com.au
Ronald McCoy
Ronald McCoy is a Melbourne medico
and educator with a passion for the
arts. He is a singer and musician of
classical and traditional music, and is
the National Library of Australia,
National Folk Fellowship Fellow for
2007-08. He has been a regular reviewer
on the Melbourne scene for the past
couple of years, has published on a wide
variety of arts and medicine topics, but
still spends far too many hours putting
pen to paper writing.
E: editor@artshub.com.au
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NEW PHOTOS NOW
AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
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The Zanna Cast
High Res - 5.9 MB
Low Res - 24 KB |
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Nicole Kapiniaris & Luke Taylor (Candi &
Arvin)
High Res -2.4
MB
Low Res - 16 KB |
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Drew Downing (Tank) High
Res - 2.3 MB
Low Res - 16 KB |
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Jessica Carbone & Kate Williams (Roberta &
Kate)
High Res -
4.7 MB
Low Res - 15 KB |
PRESS RELEASE
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MUSICAL TACKLES GAY RIGHTS BY
TURNING THE WORLD ON ITS HEAD
While coming out in
high school today is becoming a less difficult issue
for many gay teens, imagine what life would have
been like for us all if everyone at school had been
gay. In fact, what if everyone in the world – your
parents and teachers as well – were happily
homosexual and heterosexuality was in the minority?
Just that scenario is
the set up for the award-winning musical Zanna,
Don’t!, poised to take to the stage
at this year’s Midsumma Festival in Melbourne’s
Chapel Off Chapel.
Starring a cast full
of hot young talent, Zanna, Don’t!
tells the tale of what happens when the
controversial school musical about ‘straights’ in
the military draws together a boy and girl who
discover they have an attraction for the opposite
sex. It’s down to the school matchmaker Zanna to try
and make the world safe for them and help his
friends overcome their ‘heterophobia’.
With hearty
dollops of humour and a dab of magic,
Zanna, Don’t!’s
message of embracing
diversity challenges the way we view love.
Zanna, Don’t!’s
original 2003 Off-Broadway production was hugely
successful and was nominated for many major awards
including Drama Desk – Best Musical; Best Music;
Best Book and Best Lyrics, the 2003 Gay and
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media
Award for Outstanding New York Theatre Production,
as well as being voted Favourite Off-Broadway
Musical in the Broadway.com Audience Awards.
The musical also
received another 2003 GLAAD Media Award for its “fair,
accurate and inclusive representation” of the
gay community and issues that affect our lives.
Most famously,
Zanna, Don’t!, is the show that
brought Jai Rodriguez to light before he shot to
fame on television’s Queer Eye for the Straight
Guy, as the culture consultant.
Zanna, Don’t!
features a poppy catchy score with a
musical style that lies somewhere between High
School Musical and Rent, covering the
gamut of genres and creating a procession of
memorable numbers. From high-energy, soul-laden pop
tunes, to rich character pieces and soaring ballads,
Zanna Don't! has something for
everyone.
Zanna, Don’t!
plays Melbourne’s Chapel Off Chapel as part of the
Midsumma Festival from January 30 to February 14,
2009. To book tickets and find out more go to
www.zannadont.com.au
Media contact
for further information, images and interviews:
Adam Rafferty,
adam@quirkyproductions.com,
0404 684 744
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