Beaconsfield: The Musical

Note: This review is from 2009

Review by Steve Bennett

It’s pretty much its own sub-genre of comedy now; take an unlikely subject, shove ‘The Musical’ after it, and hey presto, instant show.

This one is based on the 2006 Beaconsfield gold-mining disaster in Tasmania, in which one miner killed and two others were trapped underground for five days. Not surprisingly, given the ‘+time’ part of the comedy equation is relatively brief, the idea generated a storm of controversy, with the family of dead miner Larry Knight forcing producers to drop the planned subtitle: ‘in A Flat Minor’.

However, the show rightly doesn’t mock the victims, but rather the media circus that swept into the small country town when news of the tragedy spread. Although by focusing on this angle of vast resources and airtime dedicated to a breaking story in which nothing actually happens, the piece isn’t exactly saying anything new about the vacuity of 24-hour media.

The cast do, though, lay into the personalities of the stars of Australian television newsrooms, with anchors and reporters from all the networks being stupidly impersonated and convincingly ridiculed. Eddie Maguire is a ruthless opportunist, Naomi Robson a preening ice queen with her lizard sidekick, and David Koch reduced to a gibbering muppet.

The comedy is very broad, probably too much so, but the strong cast bring a Knockabout stupidity to proceedings that mostly covers the gaping cracks in the script. The main standout is Dan Ilic, a brilliant mimic with an engaging style and cartoony face, who also wrote the show. Notable mentions, too, for the powerful and versatile singing voice of Amanda Buckley and the amazingly rich, mellifluous narration of Robbie McGregor which seductive draws the audience in to the advancing action.

So while the team fail to mine a rich seam of comedy gold, their spirited enthusiasm means there are worse people to be trapped with – even if the show isn’t quite the underground hit the creators might hope.

Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Melbourne, April 2009

Review date: 1 Jan 2009
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett

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