Showstoppers is a wonderful idea, get together some of the country’s leading musical theatre performers, put them in front of a huge orchestra and have them sing some well known show tunes. Pretty simple stuff. The end result is a fabulously entertaining evening where you can forget your cares and woes and just clap along with the excellent music.
Aside from the fabulous Sydney Symphony under the direction of Guy Noble the stars of this show are five very talented (and experienced) performers who keep on singing and dancing for more than two hours. Todd McKenney, Judi Connelli, Chloe Dallimore, Michael Falzon and Trisha Crowe each get their chance to show off the skills that got them to where they are and the appreciative opening night audience lapped it up.
Some highlights include Todd McKenney’s heartfelt rendition of Peter Allen’s Honestly and Don’t Cry Out Loud. McKenney sang and signed the song alongside Australian Theatre for the Deaf director Caroline Conlon, it was truly touching and easily one of the stand out moments of the night. Michael Falzon’s version of Who Wants to Live Forever was breathtaking and elicited more than a few gasps from the crowd as his outstanding voice just kept on going up! Falzon is a revelation in this show and had the audience in the palm of his hand with some stellar songs.
Trisha Crowe and Judi Connelli did an excellent selection of songs from The Sound of Music, hitting Climb Every Mountain out of the park. While Chloe Dallimore reprised her role from the Producers before going on to deliver an outstanding rendition of All That Jazz.
If I had one criticism it would be song choice. While all of the songs presented are showstoppers, some of them are only that within the context of their show and hence do not work so well when taken out. Although they were all excellently performed I would have liked to have seen some more true show stopping numbers. Also, the video projection left a bit to be desired and didn’t add anything to the production, thank goodness that what was going on onstage was so captivating, I don’t think anyone noticed.
This is a fabulous night out with some premiere talent. If you’re free over the next few nights do yourself a favour and get along, you won’t be sorry.