Hamilton Hall The Musical

A simple story about a local town hall is turned into a hilarious musical memoir by a group of talented actors. The great song lyrics and humour turn the non-descript hall’s little stage into a fun night for all.

Hamilton Town Hall, Hamilton, Brisbane?
Front Row Theatre?
Friday, 2 October, 2009

A simple story about a local town hall is turned into a hilarious musical memoir by a group of talented actors. The great song lyrics and humour turn the non-descript hall’s little stage into a fun night for all.

When six members of Brisbane’s Hamilton Hall community must defend the hall’s importance to a potential high-rise developer to save the heritage-listed building from demolition, they realise “nothing exciting ever happens” there. But when they dig a little deeper it becomes apparent that it’s the everyday things that make the hall special. From dance teachers to karate students, toilet cleaners to card players, the hall holds a treasured place in all their hearts.

It’s Ivana Build-a-lot and her plans to knock down the hall that encourages the locals to stand up and fight for its right to stay. Played by Johanna Welke, this Russian power woman resembles the likes of Cruella DeVil. She intimidates the mixed bag of characters that use the hall, including soft spoken librarian, Marlin Windybottom, played by Tim Driver. Welke and Driver’s strong singing voices power through the range of amusing songs such as “Hello & Goodbye”.

Leah Pellinkhof’s delightful creation is part of Queensland’s 150th anniversary celebrations. Responsible for a large part of the songs’ lyrics, it’s her clever way of poking fun while creating something to be proud of that made the show such a gem. But it was the talented acting team that brought the piece to life. The quirky group of loveable characters caused uproarious laughter on many occasions. Sweep dog, played by Guy Bussenshutt, rapped the house down with his prose about toilets. Jesse Mason as Shakespeare Jones was the sensationally camp narrator whose swivelling hips stole the limelight many a time. Rio Holland’s hilarious “classterpretive” dance quickly transformed from classical ballet to death by invisible machine gun and then surprised the audience further with a seagull rendition. Bridget Canasta, played by Julie Bray, sang the comedic piece about her love of cards, and Samantha Lan karate chopped her way through the entire cast.

In act two the audience was privy to a documentary on Hamilton Hall. The home video recording of the regular goings-on at the hall brought a homey feel to the show that was all hilarity and thankfully no boring history lesson.

This lovely piece of theatre should be seen by all of Brisbane. Its amateur feel is nothing to do with inexperience or lack of resources, and rather honest performances delivering a unique creation.

Bookings on bookings@frontrow.org.au or 07 3861 0455.

Until 10 October, 2009