Encore: An Evening in Paris - 7 out of 10 stars The Murray Bridge Players & Singers Inc
Encore: An Evening in Paris is a wonderful Cabaret-style event with all things French, and a focus on musicals.
When entering the Murray Bridge Town Hall, the audience is quickly transported to Paris, with many French homages and even a stunning 6ft Eiffel Tower. It was clear that Foyer Designer Brenda Watts had worked in tandem with Jayne Rossiter to create a coordinated and consistent design both on and off the stage. The onstage set was simple yet effective just adding and emphasising each scene. The use of simple sets and a well-coordinated stage crew made set changes appear effortless and quick, which is always appreciated, however there were occasions this led to the audience waiting on the ever-quick changes required by the performers.
Using projected backdrops was another clever tool to transport the audience from one scene to another. This married nicely into Trent Baker’s lighting design which kept each song with lighting colours nicely mirrored from both the front and back of the stage.
This production is split into 3 Acts and while Act 1 fell short at times, both Acts 2 and 3 really shone. Each Act was quite short at only 30-40 minutes each, which left the audience confused at the lack of clarity and information when each interval occurred. While the acts were supposedly split into the colours of the French Flag, only the third act as ‘red’ was noticeable, which could have been a clever tool an MC could have taken advantage of to provide more information and weave the theme together for the audience.
Consistently throughout the production Lorelle Barton, Emma Love, Louise McCullough, and Eliza Davis each delivered enrapturing performances again and again. Sam Pope is credited, along with the team, for the glamorous costumes that made the show, with the enormous amount of detail and time placed into these items.
The show opening, Be Our Guest, led by Peri Strathearn, unfortunately fell flat. Admittedly this is a challenging number to do well, and a bit more characterisations could’ve really made this as memorable as the finale. A special mention to the tap moment of the song, that was great.
A quick recovery was made with the Ratatouille montage, led by Emory Chilvers, which recaptured the audience and kept them in Paris. I Will Wait For You allowed Jayne Rossiter’s finessed choreography to shine, and Hamish Plummer and Tenille Schulz’ dancing skills tied this together perfectly with vocals by Patrick McLoughlin. Closing the first act, the duet style arrangement of Beauty and The Beast was very endearing and sweet, led by Emma Love and Peri Strathearn.
Wilkommen/ Mein Herr was a very fun Act 2 opener led by Hamish Plummer and Louise McCullough. Following this with Master of the House was a clever choice, keeping the high energy flowing and keeping the audience enthralled. Rebecca Byrnes’ vocals and characterisation in The Sparkling Diamond was brilliant and overall, an enjoyable performance.
Act 3 delivered some big musical numbers in the musical world to the audience, and the Murray Bridge Players and Singers did not disappoint! One Day More had a strong mix of vocals provided by Darren Gurney, Hamish Plummer, Eliza Davis, Breigh Angove, Noel Kneebone, Patrick McLoughlin, Louise McCullough and Brendan Watts. Big Spender was a hit amongst the audience with its great characterisation from all and fun costumes. Capping off Act 3 was Moulin Rouge - a great end to the evening, letting everyone have a place in the spotlight.
A few inconsistencies took away slightly from the show including the mix between naturalistic and the more dramatic performances, sometimes in songs such as S’wonderful, causing some performers to feel flat. Jayne Rossiter, as Director potentially could have highlighted and worked on this more with the performers to fit the variety of acting into one vision. Jayne Rossiter overall had a good vision for this show, and all were cast well, which made for an enjoyable time. It would have been interesting to see more performers pushed out of their comfort areas and challenging themselves.
While tech issues can be expected during early performances, it was frustrating during quieter vocal sections where the audience was unable to clearly hear what the performers were singing over the band's incredible sound. Led by Musical Director Peta Davis, the band consistently nailed the notes and rhythms - the only downfall was during Your Heart is as Black as Night sung by Val Schubert, there was a saxophone solo by Ashley Crossman, however as they remained seated the audience was unable to easily identify and see this.
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