Music & show reviews

Albertine Tour - Brooke Fraser

Saturday 14th April at the James Hay Theatre, Christchurch

Reviewed by Brydee

Friend, it’s getting late / we should be going / we’ve sat here beneath / these flickering neons for hour’
These very lines cast a spell over the crowd as Brooke’s angelic voice rang out over the soft strums of her guitar. The James Hay was packed to capacity with people of various ages and walks of life, and Sunday night’s concert (which was added because of popularity) was already sold out, demonstrating how Brooke appeals to such a wide audience.

The stage was a magnificently crafted living-room filled with antique nick-naks, and large olden day furniture, where Brooke’s international two piece band consisting of keyboardist/violinist Beth Balmer and drummer Ben West looked very much at home as they bantered like old friends with Brooke throughout the show. As she mixed her most popular songs off her debut album “What To Do With Daylight”, in with all the tracks off Albertine, Brooke delighted the crowd with stories of her life and chitchat about the world in general.

Perhaps the most touching part of the night was when Brooke spoke of her time spent in Rwanda and specifically of a young orphan that she had the opportunity to meet; Albertine, a young girl who within moments had captured Brooke’s heart, and as Brooke re-told the story Albertine captured the audience’s heart as well. Every song was performed to perfection and my personal favourites were Faithful and C.S. Lewis Song as they were delivered in a very personal and intimate way. As Brooke was introducing Hymn she told us how it was her first attempt at writing a hymn and whilst she was performing it you could feel her passion and love for her religion filling the room.

As the concert continued Brooke became more relaxed with the audience and swiftly dealt with some cheerful taunts from a gentleman in the front row. In between songs she explained about tuning her guitar and discussed the habit of eating placentas. Her witty sense of humour and honesty helped to fill the crowd with laughter all through the night. You could tell that Brooke was a just a normal kiwi lady with a huge heart and love for the world.

The James Hay Theatre was a very open venue and even from what was the furthest away seat possible, I still felt like the stage was just metres away. For the most part the sound was faultless, although on a few occasions Brooke’s voice was overwhelmed by the immense sound of the instruments. The lighting throughout the show created a homely atmosphere and hanging lanterns were used as a feature.

Speaking with Brooke after the show, it was easy to see that she loved being on stage but she also loved meeting her fans. “This is the best part of the night,” she gushed as she signed CDs and gave out hugs.

This concert left the audience with a strong sense of who Brooke Fraser is and how she wants to help people who are less fortunate than her. As Brooke finished with Shadowfeet her latest single, you could tell by the expressions on the audience’s faces that they did not want this spell to be broken, and that they would’ve quite happily sat there listening Brooke for the rest of the night.

August 2007

Suessical the Musical

Reviewed by Min

If you think that Dr Seuss is just for the littles you are soooo wrong. this is a fabulous show with great characters excellent singing and a fun mix of Dr Seuss' most popular stories including a personal favourite of mine the Circus McGurkus. Best $12 I've spent in ages.

September 2006

Bounce Dance Event

Reviewed by Gregg

The Bounce Dance Event was absolutly incredible from the start to finish of the event, it was filled with multimedia and the world #2 Hip Hop crew was amazing. Well worth the $10 - Should seriously look out for this annual event next year.

September 2006

Beauty and the Beast

reviewed by Kerry

the singers were ok, but the costumes and sets were AMAZING!!! Seriously. I kid you not. I would definitely recommend it, but don't waste $80 on a gallery seat, u can see just as well from everywhere else.

May 2006

The Decemberists, Picaresque

Reviewed by James

Folk Rock, most people would run for the hills if they were asked to go to a folk rock concert, and i would have been one of these, un educated people. But when i was asked to go, i decided to face it and try to enjoy myself. I enjoyed it so much. I went to see the Decemberists when a friend of mine won some tickets. The name of this Genre sounds like it is country, but it merely means rock music with folk music instruments, ie: the Banjo and the Accordion. I know it sounds quite absurd, but it is really quite wicked. Acoustic, abit out there, and very upbeat, it makes you want to get up and dance, what more could you want

Bic Runga: Birds

(also featuring her studio band including Neil Finn and Anika Moa - Isaac Theatre Royal 23 March 2006
Reviewed by Chris

There's nothing like watching an artist perform their own work live, especially when they sound like Bic Runga. It's all heart and soul with her as she literally pours everything she's feeling into her music and it sure does twang the heart strings. She's stunning on stage. She came out and sat down at the keyboard and looked all arms and legs in a simple black dress with pockets. But any fashion guru could see it'd cost a fortune and was as well cut as her dynamite new hairstyle.

Nearly everything played was from the latest CD - Birds - and if there's one criticism it has to be the relentless bleakness of the lyrics and melodies. It seeped into and over the audience and the atmosphere became startlingly subdued at times and hauntingly beautiful at others - especially with her in the spotlight, guitar down by her hips strumming and humming her way through a simple solo and watching her, it was hard to believe that such beauty and talent had made its way outta Hornby here in Christchurch but it did and last night was living proof of that. www.bicrunga.com

The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (abridged)

Reviewed by Francesca

This was hilarious. It was so funny I had a coughing fit in the middle and it simply doesn't matter if you don't like Shakespeare - just go!

Suddenly Last Summer

By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Cathy Downes
Showing at the Court Theatre 19 Feb - 19 March 2005
Reviewed by: Tim Bain

Silencing the truth and erasing the past is a key slogan to Suddenly Last Summer, which is currently disturbing the peace of the Court One stage at the Court Theatre. Much of Suddenly Last Summer is autobiographical. Tennessee Williams' own sister Rose was operated on and underwent a pre-frontal lobotomy in 1943. He, like Sebastian, was homosexual. His personal experience must be what makes the writing so exceptional. He deals with issues of mental health and the threat of institutionalisation very well. The long descriptive passages are mesmerising as Mrs Venable talks about her summers with her attractive poet son, while the short lines of conversation are in themselves as poetic as the long descriptive passages.

Once again Cathy Downes is at the helm of a tricky piece of theatre which could go very wrong - emotions too strong could make it seem too melodramatic and not enough guts in the emotions would make it die and you would be looking at your watch every five minutes… However this is not the case at all. Suddenly Last Summer is brilliant and a very powerful piece of theatre which everyone needs to see. Yes, very, very powerful indeed …

The cast, consisting of Ross Gumbley, Jennifer Ludlam, Helen Moran, Andrew Laing, Anna McPhail and Tahi Mapp Boran all play their required characters in a form, which can be called no less than perfect. I may not have reviewed thousands of plays like one particular Press reviewer but I do not agree with some of his comments about how some of the actors felt "ill at ease" or "verged on caricature". Every single one of them threw themselves into their characters which made you totally believe in the parts they were playing and to be honest this is what separates the good actor from the great … and all of these actors are in the great category.

But I have missed out one person because she deserves a whole separate mention. Eilish Moran as Catharine Holly has the enormous job of carrying the entire play on her shoulders even though she does not appear until some way through. It is a huge role but she does it, she does it to the degree that the play becomes hers, and more minor characters are temporarily forgotten especially in the dramatic closing moments. The final monologue is worth the cost of your admission alone.

Unfortunately for Suddenly Last Summer - which deserves to sell out every night - it probably won't. I don't mean to offend Christchurch in the masses but it is just something that Christchurch doesn't "do". This is a city which likes theatre which is comfortable and familiar where we know the ending, that it is good humoured and that there is nothing in it which could make us feel uncomfortable. But good on Cathy Downes for giving us a chance to see some superb theatre which is a classic and if there is one final thing that I would say to anyone reading this …

Go and see Suddenly Last Summer because theatre like this doesn't come along often.

Tags:

Play topics

Play articles