The Wet Hot Beauties run a water-tight operation. In groups of 15 the audience is ushered to take their seats pool side to watch (as well as receive the odd splash of water) the company’s latest unique contemporary spin on the Water Ballet genre for Auckland Fringe: Swan Song. While we wait, the Parnell Baths are filled by the incredible 65-strong cast who create a series of tableaus and pageantry: some lie in the water and float, some do ballet plies in the water, and others play with pink lifesavers. All performers are completely “on” and focused in their world. What a sight! It is a visual extravaganza-and-a-half, and the water show proper hasn’t even begun.

Swan Song reimagines the story of the classic 1876 romantic tragedy Swan Lake as a tongue-in-cheek water ballet. The broad strokes of this version: Prince Siegfried (Stephen “Butters Bee Arch” Butterworth) falls in love with the beautiful Odette (Emily “Lady Low Tide” Trent). Jealous of their love, and desiring the Prince for herself, Odile (Jule “Water Jewell” Kunkel) plots with her Father (Liam “George Benard Shore” Fennell) – who handily happens to be a Sorcerer – to win the Prince for herself. [More] 

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In their fifth season, the current 250 strong whanau of the Wet Hot Beauties have a formula in Swan Song that combines the best of community dance with dollops of humour, joy and ingenious site-specific choreography. The 70 performers provide quality and integrity, and OK there were moments of uneven execution but for me these added to the endearing result. I’m not going to pick outstanding performances because the essence of the success, I feel, is in the whole being larger than the sum of the parts, and I include the whole backstage and front of house crew in that. My friend and I spent a great deal of time talking about how much we’d like to be in this next year!

This refreshingly none-too-serious telling of the classic ballet story Swan Lake makes clever use of simple movement in its flowing (no pun intended) group formations, exits, entrances and transitions. The children’s pool of Parnell Baths is used to maximum effect in weaving a spell of pantomime, parody and moments of epic proportions. This is melodrama on steroids!

Music selection (Elton McAleer) ranges from the opening Shirley Bassey through to other ‘big’ numbers from The Prodigy, Prince, and the synchronized swimming / dancing more than meets these aural challenges in its impact.

There is an eye for detail in the production value, for instance in the stunning make-up (Louise Molloy) and costumes (Lara Fischel-Chisholm, Joanna van der Sluis & the WHB Stitch’n’Bitches). The lighting (Brad Gledhill) plays on the water to create ghostly woodland glades, a lake of ever-changing moods, fun, romance and evil.

The funders of this production, of which there are many including the use of PledgeMe, an online funding platform, are to be congratulated in investing in this work. Reading the long list of thank yous in the programme also indicates what I’m imagining is a mammoth amount of work that the creators have put into making this production happen. It is worth the effort though. If you haven’t bought a ticket yet it may be too late, and you’ll be missing an event featuring what is some of the best of what our dance community has to offer.

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer