When the audience applauds the ‘turn off your mobile’ announcement, you know the patrons are eager to be entertained and will appreciate anything that is presented to them on stage.  It’s a reminder that audiences have been in lockdown and perhaps have been craving performance theatre to immerse themselves in creative distractions. 

There was no need to feign enjoyment.  The Shows Must Go On is both a visual and auditory feast. the audience grooves along with every song and are thrilled with every performance.  

The Shows Must Go On include songs from The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Hairspray, The Greatest Showman, Evita and many other great musicals. I can imagine the show with a live orchestra would be phenomenal, but despite the ‘canned’ music accompaniment the performances are exceptional. 

Dave Spark (Pixel) and Glen Ruske (Bouncenz) along with Electro-Tech services and Hang -Up Entertainment, present amazing backdrops (reminding me of computer screensavers) which enhance the lavish feather-flowing, sequined, bejeweled, dazzling magnificent performers along with a lighting show not to be faulted.

A massive image of a moon landscape dwarfs Emily Burns as she performs an emotional rendition of ‘Memory’ from Cats. Candles appear to burn in large chandeliers; art deco images along with other fabulous backdrops complement all the live performers.

The image of the sun from the Argentinian flag flows behind the professional and immaculate performers singing songs from Evita. This, for me, is one of the highlights of the show.  

Songs from The Phantom of the Opera remind me of meeting the late marvelous Rob Guest a number of years ago.  Emily Burns sang with the late Rob Guest, in his Heartland Tour in 2009.

Akina Edmonds, a Billie Holiday sound alike, is the most animated of all the performers and appears to enjoy herself throughout the show.  She tries to connect with the other performers but they appear not to want to play her game.  A pity because this is the only disappointing feature of the show: where is the chemistry between performers?  

The Shows Must Go On is the top end of musical theatre.  A ‘must see’ and the songs from the show will stay in your head forever.

The Shows Must Go on, The Best of Broadway is on tour until 7^th November.

[The Editor takes responsibility and apologises for posting this review two days late.] 

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer

Spectacle and impact are the bywords that describe this songs-from-the-shows extravaganza from The Touring Company. Everything about this production is exceptionally well-done and jaw-droppingly sensational. In that respect, the unquestionable stars of the show are the visual and sound technicians.

Dave Spark (Pixel) gives us the most astonishing visual feast imaginable with every lighting effect and backdrop complementing and enhancing the live performers to perfection. The illusion of real and sumptuous theatrical backdrops alternating with out-of-this-world fantasy images is so remarkably lavish that the singers sometimes almost take a secondary role. The numerous outstanding costumes are also notably effective, and endlessly augmented and varied by the lighting.  

The sound design is no less impressive. Although it’s a pity that live orchestral musicians don’t get an opportunity here to get back to work after the virus restrictions, I certainly can’t complain about the end result of the ‘canned’ musical aspect. I can find nothing in the online programme (how exciting it is to have to scan a QR code other than the Covid-19 one) or anywhere else to suggest that real musicians are involved in any way, so I can only presume that music producer Hamish Oliver and sound designer Glen Ruske are entirely responsible for generating everything that we hear. And it is all presented to overwhelming effect.

I sometimes complain about the badly judged, over-saturated sound we too often get in Christchurch shows and events and, while there remains something of these faults in the higher ranges of Broadway belt of the vocal aspect of this show, the gloriously all-encompassing sound picture is otherwise superb.

While the usual hallmarks of polished professionalism and presentation are certainly evident from stage director Stephen Robertson and musical director Richard Marrett, the creative talents of the technical team are certainly the key to this show’s character and originality. 

So, what about the live performers? Yes, there are some! Six singers from Aotearoa New Zealand, three men and three women, with a bucket-load of international experience (but where else can they get on stage at the moment?) all give classy and committed performances. Hand-held microphones give the presentation more of a concert, as opposed to a dramatic, atmosphere, but this is probably a wise move given the rather aimless hand movements that can otherwise result.

Some of the chosen shows comprise pre-existing songs and, while Mama Mia works well as a stage show, ‘S.O.S.’ and ‘The Winner Takes It All’ are just Abba songs in this context and I can’t help missing the original versions. Somehow, the same isn’t the case with Queen’s ‘We Are the Champions’ from We Will Rock You, which lifts the end of the programme to a level of heart-swelling emotion, especially in such charismatic performances from Jack Fraser and all five of the other singers.

I confess some disappointment in the show’s opening medley where snippets of classic musicals from Mame, Sweet Charity, West Side Story, Chicago and others pass by so fleetingly that I’m left hungry for the full songs. But there is plenty more to enjoy in what follows from too many shows to list here.

Maybe Hayden Tee is a little too age-challenged to make the boy Aladdin totally convincing and, while Emily Burns’s ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ is engagingly presented, especially when the arrangement retains the essence of Robert Russell Bennett’s brilliant original orchestration, Jack Fraser’s ‘On the Street Where You Live’ disappoints both as a performance and an arrangement. The same disappointment arises with several ‘concertised’ versions of songs from classic musicals, especially the excerpts from Show Boat and Guys and Dolls, but more recent musicals fare better, possibly because many of their songs are designed as show-stopper ‘concert’ moments rather than being integrated into the momentum of the drama.

The most touching highlight for me is Paul Ross’s intimate performance of ‘I Honestly Love You’ from Boy from Oz. But the overall highlight of the evening has to be ‘Memory’ from Cats, in which Emily Burns’ ability to judge the gradations of emotion leading to a truly breath-taking climax is exceptionally moving. And, here again, the visual backdrop is wonderfully and spectacularly evocative.

Only two comic numbers feature in the programme. Hayden Tee’s hilarious performance of ‘The Smell of Rebellion’ from Matilda is delightfully sustained, and his earlier drag act as the fading stripper in ‘Take It All Off’ from Jerry’s Girls, had the audience belly-laughing throughout.

All three women, Emily Burns, Akina Edmonds and Verity Burgess, bring an impressive sense of ensemble and feeling to a very effective arrangement of ‘I Don’t Know How to love Him’ from Jesus Christ Superstar, but the series of torch songs that follow from Les Misérables, Hamilton and Wicked bring a bit of a lull in proceedings until ‘We Are The Champions’ revives both cast and audience energy levels, leading to a well-judged postscript of ‘What I Did For Love’ from A Chorus Line, whose quiet ending settles our heart rate as we leave the theatre, grateful that lockdown levels changed just in time for this show’s season. 

The Shows Must Go On is about to tour the entire country until 7 November. Let’s hope it can. 

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer