This was a buzz from beginning to end with the show starting with the four Sapphires belting out a tune as they do so many times during the performance.
This current production is a very special one as the original playwright Tony Briggs has directed the show and has kept very closely to the original text and has not been influenced by the film version.
The actors in a Q and A after the show spoke about how good it was to have Tony in the rehearsal room, guiding them and telling them stories about his family, on whom the play was based.
After the vivacious beginning, we go back to see the women as they first started out, struggling and looking for work. The three women, the loud and dominating Gail, played by Jade Lomas-Ronan, Cynthia played by Mindy Kwanten and Kay played by Matilda Brown. decide to perform at the local Tiki club. There they are joined by youngster Julie, played by Lorinda May Merrypor. Their performance brings the house down, and attracts the attention of the emcee, David Lovelace, played very well by Mike Smith, who is also a producer. He offers them a contract, to pay them each $100, as well as look after their accommodation needs. He also says that he wants to take them to Vietnam to perform for the troops. Their journey has truly begun.
In the journey there’s a lot for we, the audience, to engage with. There’s conflict between the women, for one of the women there’s an old boyfriend who keeps on coming back on the scene, there’s a a night where they have to camp out at the venue because David hasn’t organised digs for the night.. Lots of drama and also plenty of humour as the women have a good, positive outlook and nothin g will stop them wanting to perform.
The performances were all good, from the leads to the supporting cast. Anthony Lim was a big hit playing the quirky Vietnamese character Joe, who was always around the scene, being a bit of a nuisance. It was a mainly comic role and Lim did well in it. Certainly the school kids who saw the play, there were two school groups in the performance that I saw, loved every time he bobbed up in the play. Robby Etuknwa played the charismatic hunk Ronny and Leeroy Tipiloura played poor Jimmy who couldn’t cope with the relationship breakdown.
The music was great. Wonderful sixties music – ‘He’s So Fine, Respect, Stop In the name of Love’, ‘I Heard it through the grapevine…way too many to list from the pop, soul and rhythm and blues genres. The Sapphires sang them with great style and they were supported by a crack three piece band led by guitarist Mitchell Kwanten. The drummer deserves a mention…Jack Hickey really gave those drums a pounding,
Verdict. This was a winner. A good production..a heart warming storyline and a great score.
THE SAPPHIRES is playing the Lennox Theatre at the Riverside Theatre Parramatta until Saturday 28 September 2019.
