‘Truth, Beauty and a Picture of You’ – Neil Gooding Productions

TRUTH, BEAUTY AND A PICTURE OF YOU – MUSIC AND LYRICS BY TIM FREEDMAN – BOOK BY TIM FREEDMAN AND ALEX BROUN – DIRECTED BY NEIL GOODING – NEIL GOODING PRODUCTIONS – HAYES THEATRE 9 MAY – 1 JUNE 2014

INTERVAL CHAT

NOTE: We saw this at the very end of May. A very tardy upload. Life… it tends to get in the way.

Sybil: Very, very quick summary because we’re only in interval.
Lea: Yes.
Sybil: I love a lot of it but I don’t know what’s going on and where we’re going with it. It’s like an old fashioned musical in that the story stops when the song starts.
Lea: Yeah.
Sybil: The songs aren’t progressing the story.
Lea: And some of them are confusing – like ‘Pretty As You’ only helped her leave, it doesn’t… unless it reveals itself later.
Sybil: Exactly! Which we don’t know. So the other thing I think the three band members are FUCKING incredible. And I think the pianist is awesome. And they’ve all got rock / pop voices. And then the two younger people are music theatre, music theatre, music theatre, music theatre.
Lea: I feel like his voice and everything about him should be in Rent. He’s got that voice and that vibe and that…
Sybil: See I think he’s just so music theatre. He’s like a shorter Phillip Lowe. It’s a very good music theatre voice.
Lea: It’s stylistically not all fitting together. Unless they’re trying to make a generalisation about generational differences… but still though, Toby Francis is playing a younger member of the band who has taken the place of the member who died. But he’s still hardened and has been through shit and…
Sybil: And their voices work so well. They are musicians.
Lea: Do you know what? The guy who’s name we’re not sure of – the poker machine guy (Scott Irwin). His voice – how it blends, with…
Sybil: With the other guy. The guy who we do know the name of – Ian Stenlake. Oh. I’ve been on the brink of tears every time he’s sung. He’s amazing!
Lea: He is amazing.
Sybil: His voice and he’s so centred.
Lea: I knew of him first as a TV actor, but he did South Pacific with – golden girl…
Sybil: Rachel Beck?
Lea: No, other golden girl – they were both in Sea Patrol…
Sybil: Lisa McCune?
Lea: Yes. Yes, they both did South Pacific together, and I didn’t know he was a music theatre performer before that.
Sybil: I reckon Toby is awesome in this.
Lea: He is. Amazing! The whole band.
Sybil: And he doesn’t sound music theatre even a little bit. He sounds like a smoking, drinking…
Lea: But with great technique.
Sybil: Oh. I’m not saying that – I mean in a good way. Someone who has great technique but has spent their lives in bands, in smoky bands, drinking a lot. That beautiful cigar and whisky warmth to his voice.
Lea: Oh absolutely. I’m dying over Tim Freedman’s music. I’m dying over it.
Sybil: Yes, but I don’t know if it’s music theatre…
Lea: But I don’t think this can really be classified as musical theatre. It’s a different genre.
Sybil: Yeah, it’s almost like…
Lea: A rock musical.
Sybil: A rock cabaret… I don’t think it’s a rock musical. It’s in the same genre, and I hate to say this but it’s the same genre as We Will Rock You and Mamma Mia where they’ve taken stand-alone songs and tried to make them into a story. But it means that the songs don’t really progress the story.
Lea: Yeah, right. I see what you mean.
Sybil: So modern music theatre.
Lea: You have revelations in the songs.
Sybil: But old fashioned music theatre, you have a story, and then the story stops and you have a song that comments on the story. And then the story starts again. And modern music theatre the story progresses within the song. And that’s not happening
Lea: Yet.
Sybil: Yet, yet, yet. But I am loving it!
Lea: Yep!
Sybil: For what it is – which is not what I thought it would be.
Lea: Yeah ok. I had no massive pre-conceptions. I knew that it came from the band music of The Whitlams, so I didn’t think it would be music theatre.
Sybil: Yeah.
Lea: We’ll see what the next half brings?

Sadly due to technical issues, our post show chat didn’t record. 😦

IN SUMMARY

Sybil: So sad we had a technical issue, as we were totally brilliant and witty and erudite and articulate! I really enjoyed the show and I hope it has other iterations down the track. I particularly enjoyed the music, and the performances of the band, Ian Stenlake, Scott Irwin and Toby Francis, as well as the musicians across the board. It wasn’t what I was expecting – but in some ways it was so much more. I love that Sydney now has small theatres like this where Australian works can be presented – and I hope that this show goes on to have the long and successful trajectory it deserves.
Lea: Well, what a fascinating and successful way to weave a story through some amazing music! I could have watched the rich, layered history unfold between the original bandmates – Ian and Scott – all night. What the show needs is a better stylistic connection between the younger generation and the hard-yard musicians of the older generation. I also wanted to know more about the new member of the band – plenty of dramatic fodder there. Despite those desires I loved the show. Lots of heart mixed with a fat wad of reality.
Question: Do we need to classify what type of musical this is?

PRE & POST SHOW DRINKS: No time for much pre-show pomp tonight. So a hasty few wines on the Hayes balcony had to suffice. Lucky you can take said glasses of wine into the theatre too.