Monster Songs hits a high note
Monster Songs; directed by Ben Emerson
BATS Theatre, until October 30 Reviewed by Sonya Stewart
Described as supernatural, Monster Songs aims to be ‘‘a love letter to the monsters, misfits and misunderstood – imagined as an underground pop concert spectacle’’.
It was like going to a Halloween party with performance majors.
A raised stage with lights, fans and dry ice makes the concert vibe strong.
And the keytar (keyboard guitar) resting with the other instruments in the back filled me with anticipation.
Then it began, seven singers in sexy scary style break into songs from Beetlejuice, Rocky Horror and Stevie Wonder in quick succession.
Next up are a couple of numbers I am not familiar with, and in general this is where the show flagged for me. I am not a musical theatre aficionado.
While I tried to keep note of songs for later Googling, I have never heard of Hadestown and had no clue there was a musical version of Beetlejuice.
There were glee-style medleys that had many songs I did not recognise and I was left pondering whether some songs need to be in the context of a musical/story to have their full impact.
But then the one-man band Daniel Hayles in the back pulled out a trombone and my interest was piqued again. This gentleman rocked his overalls, played multiple instruments and was the only one on stage the entire time.
The rest of the cast went in and out of the mysteriously lit backstage doors. While some of their entrances were very effective, having people in and out between some of the songs felt unnecessary and a bit clunky.
Impressive vocals from Jonathan Morgan and Kree McMillan for Sweet Transvestite were followed by an amazing torch song version of Creep by
Natasha McAllister which was visually and vocally enthralling.
Caitlin Penrose did a fantastic Goodbye Yellow Brick Road –it was beautifully done and was a strong, clear vocal performance.
Britney and Gaga are well represented, the choreography for Oops! ... I Did It Again was nicely done and the musical arrangement with the keytar was really good.
Bad Romance as a three-way tango brought the trumpet out again to great effect.
I enjoyed the harmonising, movement and spirit of some of the performances, which were filled with high notes, low notes and a very few bum notes, but think I missed out by not being familiar with half the songs.
Definitely recommended for musical theatre geeks.