Skip to main content

‘Never Before Musical’ // Ho Hum

 Ho Hum brought their A-Game back to this year’s Brisbane Improv Festival, hosted at Big Fork Theatre in Fortitude Valley. After a fantastic 2021 production, the critically acclaimed ‘Never Before Musical’ returned for its second year.

Improv is the art of creating art from scratch with no prior preparation; television examples include shows such as ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’ and ‘Thank God You’re Here.’ Improvisation is one of the hardest exercises for actors to execute well, and Ho Hum came up with scenes, musical and dance numbers.

The group’s hilarious signature show, ‘Ho Hum Musical Improv’, has been presented around Brisbane for the last few years. Audience members were welcomed to shout out themes for a potential musical that this improv troupe was to perform. On this occasion, the intriguing theme of “ReGrowth” was selected by the audience. This began an hour of hilarity, love and fantastic improvisation.

‘ReGrowth the Musical’ followed the story of Candy, a hair model, who joined the industry in 1983 with a dream of earning $2,000. The villain of the piece is determined to make “actors with hair” to replace those like Candy. Interwoven through this superb piece of improv was love between villains, a sandwich-making artist, an agent who was sick of the industry and beautiful metaphors. After all, the best “ReGrowth” is love!

Improv is such an ensemble sport with every actor playing a part to move the story along. Mandy Plumb played our Candy, the aspiring Pantene model. Plumb was instrumental in this story and brought fire and punch to the production. Anne Pensalfini was the hard-hitting talent agent. Pensalfini was nuanced and a perfect juxtaposition to Plumb. Pensalfini was grounded throughout their performance and clearly has many years of stage experience. Adam O’Sullivan was the villainous tech mogul and was a star of comedy in this production. O’Sullivan broke the fourth wall many times, drawing the audience further into the production. Ollie Windsor was utterly hilarious as O’Sullivan’s henchperson. Windsor played up the part of the lady henchman who falls in love with the villain (think Plankton & Karen from Spongebob!). Windsor was witty and sassy, which worked ingeniously for the production. Glenn Seaby and Brad Daniels played the sandwich shop owner and friend. Seaby and Daniels played off each other fantastically; the audience could see the fear in their eyes when they started to list their favorite things from 1983. It wasn’t an easy task but both actors pulled it off superbly.

Mark Grimes as accompanist and musical director was a fantastic player who brought ‘ReGrowth’ to life, perfectly underscoring the musical. Like the cast, this accompanist also had to improvise their piano playing to ensure the story flowed. Grimes created music that intricately fit in the story and helped our actors to develop their characters.

Overall, ‘Never Before Musical’ presented by Ho Hum was a fantastic night out filled with fun, hilarity and “ReGrowth”. This is an improv company to watch out for with talented cast and creatives who are a force to be reckoned with!

Original Article

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Big Yikes // Playlab Theatre

  Written by Jake Goodall Growing up can often feel like navigating through uncharted territory, with uncertainties looming at every turn. Big Yikes! encapsulates this sentiment within a concise 90-minute production, weaving the relatable journey of Loxie as she ventures into the complexities of adulthood. From grappling with identity to confronting the daunting questions of purpose and direction.  Reinventing herself to evade being reduced to mere stereotypes, Loxie embarks on a tumultuous period of transition—graduating from school, stepping into her first job, and embarking on the quest for independence while awaiting university acceptances. Set against the backdrop of a dilapidated share house and the tumult of tangled relationships, Big Yikes! delves into the nuances of boundary-setting, decision-making, and self-discovery, all while injecting doses of humor and heartbreak into its storytelling. Written by Madeleine Border, the script's casual tone serves as an accessible...
Post a Comment
Read more

Article: Circa turns 20! // Circa

  Australia’s mighty circus company CIRCA is celebrating its 20th birthday in 2024. It was on March 31, 2004, that Circa, then an ensemble of three, performed its first show. Fast forward twenty years, and Circa is an ensemble of thirty, with five full time directors and designers; from its original base in Brisbane, Circa now has additional homes in Cairns and satellite bases around the world.   Firmly established as one of the world’s leading performance companies, over the past two decades, the company has achieved remarkable success to become Australia’s most internationally toured performing arts company, performing in over 45 countries, to nearly 2 million people and attracting superlative reviews wherever it goes.   In 2024, Circa is delivering a staggering 361 performances in 20 different countries 97 cities and towns. Australian highlights include the World Premiere of Dido and Aeneas, a new collaboration with Opera Queensland following January’s critically accla...
Post a Comment
Read more

Article: Free Dance Classes To Incentivise Boys to Dance - Queensland Ballet

This month Queensland Ballet launched The Ballet Boys Project , a series of initiatives designed to explore and address the decline of boys in ballet and dance. Since 2020, Queensland Ballet Academy has seen a 36% decline in male enrolments, a downward trend that Christian Tàtchev, Director of Queensland Ballet Academy, observes is evident across the professional training industry globally. Queensland Ballet Executive Director Dilshani Weerasinghe said the company is taking the decline seriously by taking a market leading stand and addressing what is potentially a sustainability issue for the artform. “As such, we are encouraging the dance and broader community to join this movement with us to ensure the tradition of ballet – although ever evolving, lives on with strong participation from male dancers,” Mrs Weerasinghe said. The company has established a The Boys in Ballet Committee to identifying the roadblocks and take action to address the issue. As the fi...
Post a Comment
Read more