Eurobeat
Produced by Glynn Nicholas Group

Cast: Julia Zemiro, Lisa Adam, Francesca Arena, Louise Bell, Claire Chihambakwe, Jason Geary, Charmaine Gorman, Scott Hendry, Matt Heyward, Megan Hoult, Melissa Langton, Tyran Parke, Dom Phelan, Matthew Robinson, Angela Stapleton, Luke Taylor, Taneel Van Zyl, Zoe Ventoura and Nathan Wright.

Publicist: Amanda Buckworth (Sydney), Various nationwide

Australian Premiere: The Palms at Crown, Melbourne. May 18, 2006.


The Lowdown:
2006 musical that opened in Melbourne and toured the country.


AussieTheatre.com Review:
Since the 1950’s, aspiring performers have tried their hand at the Eurovision Song Contest, a concept that – particularly in recent times – provides plenty of light-hearted moments and gives news services around the world a nice soft story to finish their bulletins with.

Eurobeat is in some ways a tribute to Eurovision, but it’s more like an over-the-top tongue-in-cheek look at the fun of the contest, and it indeed serves its purpose – in the first half at least.

While Eurobeat won’t have any other major stage musicals running scared, it is plenty of fun and the first half provides exactly what is expected and promised.

While there’s plenty of talent on stage expressed via various characters, it’s Lisa Adam who impresses most. Yes, she had the easiest task of all with her character representing the UK, but her vocal ability was stunning and she absolutely stole the show.

Nathan Wright – musical theatre’s pocket rocket – again did not fail to disappoint and it is no surprise to see him in constant work.

The audience participation is set at a perfect level – it doesn’t disintegrate into an embarrassing luck of the draw, it’s essentially completely up to each individual member in relation to just how much they become involved.

The problem with Eurobeat comes in act two. I’ve seen plenty of shows where I didn’t want to return after interval but I’ve never experienced a production where the entire second act – every moment of it – was not required at all. The last hour of the show was utterly boring and dragged on way too long.

If Eurobeat stuck to a 90 minute format, which was originally indicated, a much better result would have been achieved. Unfortunately, the audience – who were extremely supportive and entertained in the first act – slowly fall away in the latter stages of the show and therefore the musical finishes extremely flat.

While the "voting count" is an interesting and unique feature, it very slowly becomes a tired concept and it needs to be refined. Quite simply, five or 10 minutes added on to the end of the first act could have wrapped the show up nicely, albeit the audience participation in relation to voting would have to be scrapped.

It’s a casino show – no doubt about that – and it will appeal to an audience just wanting a good night out and a few laughs. It’s got no chance of attracting a huge following though, and unless it is tightened up for its tour, the show could be facing major challenges when it comes to playing in other cities – particularly Sydney.

Someone called this show "pathetically entertaining", and that’s spot on. It’s a "so bad, it’s good" scenario, and one positive is that the show never once takes itself seriously.

Get rid of the second act and tighten up the first and you’ve got a nice little casino show that will provide plenty of entertainment for all.


Production Shots: