Review by Justina Lui (Union House Theatre)
Going to an UMMTA show is like snuggling up on the couch with a mug of hot milk and a chocolate chip biscuit: comfortingly satisfying. With a name like the “University of Melbourne Musical Theatre Association” it is pretty clear what they do and with last year’s productions of ‘Into the Woods’ and ‘Camelot’ garnering numerous Guild nominations and commendations it’s clear that they do it pretty well. Splendour in the Guild ventured into slightly different territory (more like a slice of rocky road: a mish mash of chewy bits and coconut but still involving chocolate). Billed as “a concert celebration”, co-director Hannah Dennison introduced the evening as “the songs that we’d always wished we could do”. Songs from newer musicals such as The Last Five Years, Spring Awakening and Avenue Q were mixed in alongside older favourites from Ragtime and Les Miserables.
From the very beginning there was a feeling that you were amongst friends – the cast were all familiar faces from previous UMMTA shows. The presentation was very clean and simplistic: the program notes were kept to a minimum, the staging was sparse, no costumes and only a single keyboard for accompaniment. It was performers who were on show and it was a miracle they managed to fit all their talent into the Guild.
A variety of musical theatre was on offer from ‘jazz hand‘ moments (Goodbye! from The Producers), comedy (No Me Diga from ‘In the Heights’) to heart warming (Wheels of a Dream from ‘Ragtime’) and heart breaking (Still Hurting from ‘The Last Five Years’). Moments from UMMTA history were relived: Agony from ‘Into the Woods’ and My New Philosophy from ‘You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown’ were crowd favourites. Sure there were some wrong entries, forgotten lyrics and interesting chord progressions but the audience were extremely supportive and vocal and were soon rewarded a hair raising rendition of Bui Doi from Miss Saigon (a flawless solo by Raphael Wong) and a very impressive full cast ensemble in One Day More from ‘Les Miserable’. The male chorus in Luck be a Lady from ‘Guys and Dolls’ packed a punch, looking and sounding a million bucks. Standout performances by Annie Johnson, Matthew Holt and Sarah Murphy-Gamble were the icing on an already delectable cake. But enough with the food analogies.
Congratulations to Giancarlo Salamanca for his top MDing efforts, the vocals were all exceptionally strong. Also congratulations to directors Hannah Dennison and Michael Leaver for managing to convey the context of each song effectively. ‘Dream team’ casting combined with a solid selection of repertoire left this reviewer convinced that UMMTA certainly knew what they were doing when they christened this show “Splendour in the Guild”.
Originally posted at http://union.unimelb.edu.au/theatre/review-splendour-in-the-guild