Totes devo

"Is this painful for you?" asks Genevieve 10 minutes into tonight's performance of Urinetown at the ANU Arts Centre in Canberra...

Today I was to drive to our nations capital, catch up with Avatar Alex from Buck's Rock, and see Urinetown with sworn enemy of the musical genre; Genevieve Tait.

First off, I woke up real late. About midday. And I was supposed to leave at 1pm. So there was panicking, ironing and shaving before I raced to the petrol station 20 minutes late. From there, the 263km to Avatar Alex's house was a breeze.

Basically what followed was a dating-Kenney-Ogilvie experience, only we were not on a date, and one of us wasn't gay.

We had coffee and dinner at Milk and Honey which is located at this district called "The Civic". Which is, I was assured by Alex, the place to be on a Friday evening. And followed dinner with more coffee at a cafe across the street. And followed after dinner coffee and cake with a trip to the theatre. This entire experience involved me drinking copious amounts of cafe water, the result of which was not surprisingly, logical. Especially when the subject matter of tonight's performance involved urination. I visited the men's room approximately seven times from the time I left Milk and Honey.

Meeting Gen at the theatre, I was a little hesitant about the performance given her distaste in musicals. Unfortunately, within 30 seconds of Officer Lockstock opening his mouth, I dismissed the entire show as sub-bland, without a sent of humour the script undulates. The timing was appalling, the characterisations were ordinary and the subtle undertones of Brecht were completely dismissed. What I can say is the orchestra were amazing. Not creative or impulsive with any of the music, but beautifully correct. Which is more than I can say for some Sydney based musical theatre. Also, the chorus harmonies were good. Not as good as some other Urinetowns I have seen, but above average none the less. Caldwell was the best performance by far (pictured above with Hope).

Genevieve's review of the evening was "What did you expect for a show in Canberra?".

Disappointed by the underwhelming performance, I drove the three hours home to Sydney.

Fruit of the Moment: Truckstop coffees