Flashdance The Musical: Reviews

Flashance The Musical: Reviews

Write On For the Arts

Flashdance is based on the 1983 movie of the same name and is about teen Alex who is a welder in a Pittsburgh steel mill during the day, and a “flashdancer” at a club at night. Alex dreams of attending the Shipley Dance Academy and the musical follows her challenges, friendships, and relationship as she works towards the big audition.

The lead role of Alex is being shared by Lily Burgess-Munro and Olivia Turner. Burgess-Munro stepped up to the mark and delivered a flawless and energetic performance as Alex. Utterly captivating, Burgess-Munro was immediately likeable and relatable. Turner was able to showcase her extensive dance talents in her ensemble role for the preview night.

The Riverlea foyer was buzzing at intermission, everyone was asking who was “the new guy” playing Nick Hurley? Most recently, Andy Derby actually played the saxophone for three local productions. Derby has the acting chops, a stunning voice and excellent stage presence. If Derby’s musical ability is as half as good as his leading man qualities, I can see future directors and musical directors battling it out for him.

Hannah Doherty (Gloria), Kyra-Mae Wilson (Kiki), and Alex Lloyd-Lewis (Tess) made a wonderful trio. Across the stage, the entire Flashdance cast worked hard and were enthusiastic and passionate. One particularly memorable scene (in a show of many) was “Justice” with the male cast.

Bearing in mind that it was a preview night, there were a few scene changes that should speed up as the season progresses. Hannah’s apartment could have been left in situ minimising the crew work. The hazer was working overtime which may have been a technical glitch but that was eventually resolved.

Award-winning Lili Taylor’s vocal direction was outstanding, and the harmonies were stunning. Stephanie Balsom drew from the film but also added her own flare to the choreography and produced a troupe that were tight and well-rehearsed. At this point, I just want to say welcome to musical theatre, Zion Jones.

Katie Wigmore had the band cranking. Flashdance has plenty of well-known songs including “What a Feeling,” “Maniac,” “Gloria,” and “I Love Rock N Roll,” and Wigmore kept the tempo up. Connolly and Singh’s grungy guitar effects were perfection, and the overall band mix was terrific. The band are talented enough to riff some underscoring, and that would be an ideal way to fill the quieter moments during scene changes.

Flashdance is Noelle Savill’s directorial debut. It was a great choice as it allowed her to honour her American upbringing and ballet training. Savill provided a fresh perspective for theatre in Hamilton while keeping the essence of this much-loved classic.

Tickets are selling like hotcakes. Head out to Riverlea for a toe-tapping musical that will surprise and delight, whether or not you were around for the drop of the original movie.

What a feeling!

Yvonne Milroy (23/11/2024)

Ross's Reviews

‘What a Feeling – Theme from Flashdance’ sat at the top of the NZ charts for 6 weeks in August 1983. I recall it at the end of RTR Countdown, on the black and white TV at the family bach. I had yet to turn four and is it probably my earliest memory. The Charlie Brown pastiche Flashbeagle was also the first thing we ever recorded from TV to VHS, rewatched for years to come.

On a broader level the film was something of a sleeper influence on fashion, music videos and films, so it’s not surprising that it made its way to the stage as part of the nostalgia remake wave.

Structured into a musical, you realize how much of Flashdance fits the Disney fairytale mould, albeit much more adult. Alex is a young woman, independent, working as a welder, expressing her passion for dance as a club performer but dreaming of being a pro. We meet her supporting cast Nick – the handsome prince; Gloria – the naive best friend; Hannah – the sickly mentor; C.C. the sleazy, greedy villain. The show skims themes of power imbalance in relationships, the perils of seeking fame for fame’s sakes, the impacts of Reganomics on the working class and the fine balance between empowerment and exploitation. But it never digs too deeply. That’s not what the show is for. Part of Flashdance’s charm is the simplicity of the story and the way that, when the music really has you moving, everything else fades away.

The additional musical numbers also fit the structure (the Introducing the Town song, the I Want To Be song, the romantic duet, the villain song) and they’re all solid in the moment but a little forgettable. The real punchy numbers come in the forms of the originals from the film (boosted further by the full on dancing of the lead) or the co-opted songs like I Love Rock and Roll and Gloria (also elevated by the expressive performance of their respective singers).

Lyrics are occasionally drowned out by music in some solo and chorus numbers, though some of this was clearly due to dress rehearsal issues with microphones. As the title suggests, there are plenty of dance numbers and the cast and choreographer (Stephanie Balsom) do a great job balancing out a variety of genres and skill levels, giving steady energy and some excellent moments.

The core casting is spot on, fronted by Lily Burgess-Munro as Alex. Spunky, insecure and passionate, she moves smoothly through emotional states with youthful vitality. She holds her own in musical numbers and really shines in the aerobic sway of the early 80’s dances, really embodying the core emotional premise the ‘the dancer becomes the dance’. And for those familiar with the original, her hair style and costume often make her a dead ringer for the screen version of her character.

Opposite her as a romantic lead, Andy Derby delivers the good looks and confidence of an entitled man, yet is able to display more facets to him as the show progresses. I appreciated Nick’s privileged world-view never goes away, that’s not how instilled values work, rather he gains more insight to them. His highlights are in the chorus number in which he’s the butt of the joke of co-workers and in the moments where he gets to cut loose with powerful and precise vocals.

In the supporting cast Hannah Doherty runs her Gloria through the ditzy to the tragic spectrum, putting her comedic delivery, soulful voice and emotive expressions to good use. Gloria acts as something of a mirror to her best friend Alex. While Alex dances for the passion of it, Gloria wants fame, a path we know is going to be trouble for her. As with the show’s other themes, her plot line dips darker but resolves them more lightly, keeping in tone with the show.

As Alex’s mentor Hannah notes, there are no small roles, only small people. Marianne Kay’s Hannah certainly manages this, bearing the poise of a grand performing dame wanting to inspire the future generations. Alex Lloyd-Lewis has fun with the more mature, self determined Tess, commanding the stage in her I Love Rock and Roll number. And Sam Armstrong is clearly having fun as C.C., greasy and predatory with a late 70’s style.

I’d also like to give an earnest tip of the hat to Daniel Thomas as Jimmy, a kind but inept stand up comic. After the most perfectly timed and in character line-blank I’ve ever seen on stage, Thomas, picked up again and finished the number on form. It was a perfect embodiment of the story theme of getting up after falling down as could be hoped for and I wanted to commend it.

Flashdance is a straightforward, fun musical driven by solid leads and high energy, toe tapping dance numbers. It captures the iconic moments and images of the film, and ably fills out the rest of the structure. There are some mature themes but there’s nothing salacious here, just a nostalgia kick, a contemporary fairytale, and a solid respect for dance and dancers.

Ross MacLeod (23/11/2024)

Auteur House

It’s inexplicable how nostalgia for a particular age can work its magic on those who are too young to remember the times being celebrated. As someone who lived through the 1980s – and who saw the film Flashdance on first release – I was rather outnumbered on Saturday night at Riverlea Theatre by those born closer to the turn of the millennium. The vast majority of these expressed themselves loudly throughout a musical adaptation of the old material, demonstrating opening night appreciation of a production whose energy cannot be faulted.

The film was always a flimsy affair, an exercise in, yes, flashy style over substance, coyly engaging with its welder-by-day-stripper-by-night narrative. Co-writer Joe Eszterhas would go on to pen Basic Instinct and Showgirls whilst director Adrian Lyne would later give the world 9 1/2 Weeks, a kitsch masterpiece of lighting and soft core pornography. Flashdance, by comparison, teased the sex, downplaying the erotic nature of the erotic dancing in favour of some old-fashioned if-you-believe-in-yourself-your-dreams-can-come-true wish fulfilment and a dose of romance. As a feminist statement it was counterintuitive: a manual worker skilled and respected in her field seeks fulfilment through dance.

Recapturing Lyne’s stylistics on a bare stage, albeit one fleetingly filled with screens and reflective material, used to project pre-recorded video or found footage, is challenging. Lighting and dry ice play a part of course but the show necessarily falls back on music and performance, the former supplied by an upstage band.

As a drama a paper thin script does the cast few favours and it’s particularly difficult to invest in the plight of our protagonist Alex, whose back-story of struggle is alluded to rather than shown and who in terms of employment and romantic options seems if anything advantaged. If only her prowess as a welder was up for debate or she suffered from work-place prejudice it could have been grist to the dramatic mill. Instead, beyond one early scene, Alex’s day job is forgotten as the focus shifts to a more essential plight: will she or won’t she date the boss, the scion of the family who own the company who is initially ‘undercover’ on the shop floor.

Olivia Turner brings undoubted dancing prowess to the part and delivers in two iconic moments, dousing herself in water and impressing the high culture skeptics with a routine that brings ‘the street’ to the academy. It’s just a shame that scenes with her aging and sick mentor never really gel, or that the character’s emotional dilemmas seldom go beyond complaining that her boyfriend has an excess of power and money. On opening night at least Turner’s nerves betrayed her in some of the difficult vocal numbers, too.

Andy Derby as Nick, the aforementioned besotted, poor-little-rich boy is everything you want in a leading man: handsome, charismatic and possessing a powerful and engaging voice. If the central romance lacks heat, Derby and Turner certainly look the part and have a measure of chemistry. Derby’s early Act Two song “My Turn” is a high point, a male ensemble number that brings to mind some of the comic moments from West Side Story. By contrast to Alex, Nick’s character has a meaningful internal conflict and Derby effectively communicates this.

There are further riches among the supporting cast. The ever impressive Cat Dwyer wrings everything possible out of the part of dance academy owner Ms. Wilde. Kyra-Mae Wilson has stage presence and fantastic vocal range as Kiki. Sean Hapi does plenty with the comic relief role of Jimmy – ironically, a desperately unfunny comic – and Alex Lloyd-Lewis channels Joan Jett all too briefly in “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Sam Armstrong is also outstanding as C.C., the sleazy club owner, the one character in the entire production who does seem like he hails from the world of cheap strip joints. Sadly, the script makes him a cardboard villain, symptomatic of its failure to confront the reality of its nominal milieu.

Threatening to steal the show is Hannah Doherty as Gloria, the best friend and confidant. Gloria’s story is in effect what Alex’s should be: she’s a character with actual romantic problems whose career dreams are out of reach, manipulated and exploited into sex work. Doherty brings humour and poignancy, spars well with Hapi and is at the centre of the production’s most effective musical number, “Gloria”, where a strong song is complemented by both choreography and acting.

The ensemble dancing dazzles at times in Flashdance, showcasing a number of styles, including professional standard pole dancing. That the poles are positioned as far from the audience as possible reflects a certain dollar-each-way attitude toward the erotic that was inherent in the original film. Judging by the screams of delight on a sold out opening night, Hamilton audiences will have no problem with that.

Richard Swainson (24/11/2024)

24/11/2024

Flashance The Musical: Reviews

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