"King Kong" The Musical Melbourne World Premiere, review

Picture Source: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Unique, groundbreaking, overblown, a mishmash of styles, poignant, ambitious - all of the above. The sheer scale of the production means that Australians will only see this in Melbourne. Who knows whether it will play in Broadway or London. This is no traditional musical comedy. Sometimes you think you are watching a hi tech rock concert spectacular - the incredible mega screens and projections.
It's like Baz Luhrmann has hijacked the proceedings. But for 95% of the time, it works. There are some mind blowing scenes that you won't forget in a hurry. "Full Moon Lullaby" is the standout song. "Rise" sung by the urban prophet of doom (Queenie Van De Zandt) is also good. The first song with its references to the iconic N.Y. skyscaper construction workers photograph (see below) and the German cult film "Metropolis".
The 30's chorus girls motif is overused but this is a minor quibble. Sound (I bet the guests next door at The Westin can hear the performance, especially the BOOMS), lighting, eclectic score, sets, myriad costumes, vocal talent -  all top shelf. Where has Esther Hannaford been? She was Tracy's best friend in "Hairspray". Now the leading lady, Esther Hannaford is a star as AnneDarrow. Her interplay with Kong is compelling.
This is state of the art musical theatre. In two and a half hours you are in midtown New York, on board ship, on Skull Island, backstage, atop the Empire State Building.

Oh.... not forgetting the simian star, Kong. The band of 13 puppeteers got one of the biggest rounds of applause on curtain call. The facial expressions on the mammoth (6 metre tall) beast are incredible. The 15 metre serpent fighting Kong will knock your socks off. The trippy mega screens, undulating stage, creepy Skull Island denizens (crawling from the ceiling), techno music made me think I was at a rave party. This is a new breed of musical theatre.
So many things could have gone wrong - all the cables, moving stages, electronics, hydraulics - this is only a month into its run - everything was flawless.
The clincher is premiering in The Regent, Melbourne's most opulent (1929) picture palace.

A little question: bit surprised about the muted applause after each song, during some of the matinee performance. Was it too loud for the old dears?
Seating tip: get a seat in the centre (to appreciate the trippy projections and screen effects), not too close (we sat 7 rows from the front in the Stalls). Perfect, but first 15 rows in the centre would be good. The Dress Circle balcony starts way back in the auditorium. Last 10 rows of Stalls, beware (the overhang means your view of the top part of stage is obstructed). Google seating plan of The Regent.

"When artisans were real men" Source:Slideshare

RKO Movies you must see

Copyright RKO Pictures LLC/image www.lib.berkeley.edu

One of 'the big 5 studios' declined rapidly once Howard Hughes took over in the late 1940's.  

What Price Hollywood? (early version of A Star is Born); The Most Dangerous Game 1932 (filmed on the same set as King Kong, seriously weird)
King Kong; Flying Down To Rio 1933
The Lost Patrol 1934 (early John Ford effort, Boris Karloff featured)
The Informer 1935 (John Ford again); Top Hat (Astaire and Rogers at their peak, Irving Berlin music, great supporting cast, over the top sets, even if dancing isn't your thing, this movie is still a delight)
Winterset 1936 (ground breaking curiosity piece, Burgess Meredith starred)
Stage Door; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937 (released by RKO)
Bringing up Baby  1938 (screwball comedy, much copied (see What's Up, Doc?,1972)
Gunga Din; Five Came Back; The Saint in London; The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1939 was a great year for movies - see my  post on 1939 classic films
Pinocchio (released only); My Favourite Wife 1940 (remade as Move Over Darling)
Citizen Kane 1941 (Orson Welles peaked early)
The Magnificent Ambersons (a magnificent failure, Robert Wise edited 40 minutes from it) 1942
Cat People; I Walked with a Zombie (two Val Lewton films = creepy classy production on a shoestring budget) 1943
The Woman in the Window (Fritz Lang, kicking butt) 1944
A Game of Death (Robert Wise remake of The Most Dangerous Game) 1945
The Spiral Staircase (this is a seriously scary film, as good as Hitchcock); Notorious; The Best Years of our Lives; It's a Wonderful Life (what a Wonderful Year!!) 1946
Crossfire; Out of the Past (Robert Mitchum doubleheader, we are firmly in film noir territory here) 1947
Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House (Cary Grant made every picture watchable) 1948
The Setup (boxing theme mini gem, 80 minutes) 1949
The Man on the Eiffel Tower 1950
The Thing (James Arness in a carrot costume) 1951
Rancho Notorious (Marlene goes camp out West, quelle surprise!); The Narrow Margin (another gem, better than Gene Hackman remake, great twist) 1952
Second Chance (Mitchum again, in 3D!) 1953

a sad ending to a great studio....

The Conqueror 1956 One the greatest turkeys of all time, see John Wayne as a Mongol ravish Susan Hayward. Urban legend? Wayne, cast and crew including director, Dick Powell, later died of cancer due to A-Bomb testing in the Nevada desert after 13 weeks of filming, plus the same sand was brought back to Hollywood for more scenes! Hughes bought up all the movie prints.