News2019 - Broadway World
MILF – THE MUSICAL To Present Industry Reading At The Jerry Orbach Theater, New York City Thursday, June 20 at 3PM Directed by Tony Speciale. Book, lyrics and music by Sally Knight. Produced by Jennifer Francis and Blaine Hopkins. Read the press release on Broadway World! Reviews2013 - Stage Whispers
MILF The Musical Written and composed by Sally Perricone (Knight). Directed by Daryl Kirkness. Avoca Beach Picture Theatre. May 24-26, 2013. During the past decade or so, independent, family owned Avoca Beach Picture theatre has had to dig deep to stave off obliteration by the two huge multiplexes on the Central Coast (which ultimately caused the Kincumber Ritz to close it's doors in 2007) by gradually morphing into one of Australia's premiere boutique theatres, providing not only a range of alternative cinematic experiences, but also an array of live events including concerts, plays and musicals. Presenting new material is always a gamble on the Central Coast, where the three longest-standing local theatre companies pay careful attention to bottom lines and demographics when choosing their programmes. Earnest small companies continually come and go. This preamble is essential to highlight the exceptional personal gamble Sally Perricone embarked upon to stage her original, contemporary piece. The catchy title seemed ride on the coat tales of the phenomenally successful Menopause the Musical – but rather than be a string of song parodies bleating on repetitively about 'symptoms', this is instead a zany romp with an actual story, interwoven with a slightly retro-style R & B soundtrack. The plot involves innocent housewife and soccer mum – Kate (Coastie favourite, Melinda Middleton) whose world is shattered when she discovers, via “Facepage” that her husband (newcomer, Michael Sheather-Reid) has been having an affair. Under the influence of jaded best friend Roxy (Sydneysider. Alana Lee Glover) and ditzy drag queen Frankie (veteran performer, Graham Rodger) she runs away on an exotic holiday misadventure. What sets this light-weight plot apart is the predominant theme of modern society's addiction to social media and the way it has come to hypnotise and manipulate our very existance. The script crackles with insightful, genuinely hilarious one-liners referencing 'text-speak', 'statuses', 'friend-lists' etc. The live action is interspersed with cleverly-filmed vignettes of video-chats via 'Shmype'. The cast is rounded out by a quirky eight strong chorus performing a variety of zany roles. With a bit of structural augmentation – the staging worked a treat. Technically speaking though – the show had one major shortcoming. Due to a limited budget, the musical accompaniment was pre-recorded – which diluted the true potential of the score. Not that it seemed to matter all that much. The more titillating aspects of the show were a bit more tentative than the name suggests but the audience hungrily lapped it up. As a trial season - this huge gamble definitely paid off. Four performances virtually sold out and audiences left the theatre highly entertained and with much to talk about. With some judicious tweaking – Perricone's brainchild possesses all the potential for genuine commercial success. Rose Cooper Read on StageWhispers.com.au |
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