Arts

Theatre Review: Price Check! – the musical

Price Check’ is a great little Aussie musical set in a local supermarket and has been penned and produced by ex-Adelaidean, Sean Weatherly, and is currently performing here in his home town.

Presented by Loaded Productions
Reviewed 8 July 2016

There have been many, many musicals about many, many things but Sean Weatherly and Cerise de Gelder’s Aussie musical, Price Check, takes us to that wonderful, mystical and magical place – the local supermarket.

PriceWeatherly and de Gelder spice up our lives with beautiful, almost snapshot like looks at life for the employers and employees of our food stores and that dreaded of all beasts; the customer – represented by the character of Mrs Zimmerman, marvelously played by the scene-stealing Jacqy Phillips.

All the characters are well drawn and exhibit human emotions well whilst being delightfully stereotypical. The audience can laugh with them, but still feel empathetic towards them. Catherine Campbell as ‘cougar’ checkout chick, Narelle Sims and Fahad Farooque as the Indian Fruit and Veg assistant, Zayeeb Dash are particularly adept at balancing the laughs and the more poignant moments well.

Even though he plays the (more or less) villain of the piece, we love every moment that Rory Walker is on stage as blustery, bellowing Mr Butler, the store’s General Manager. Walker.performs his two major numbers, Do It Yourself! and Who’s Pulling The Strings? with marvellous gusto and elan. Weatherly carries off the sometimes theatrical ‘no-no’ of putting the creator/writer himself into the mix extremely well. He is the ‘common man’ who gives the script a strong foundation.

Price checkAll good musicals need a well oiled ensemble, and Price Check has some of the best Supermarket sprites to ever adorn the shelves and shopping trolleys in Celeste Barone, Selena Britz, Barbara Nutchey and Ali Walsh These girls are utterly delightful and add pop to a show that already has snap and crackle.

The songs are a good mixture of musical styles and played well by the always impressive Peter Johns. Dana Jolly’s choreography is fantastically ‘campy’ at times, especially in numbers such as Christmas In October and I’m Just Nuts About Fruit.

With fruity double entendres flying around, Price Check sometimes reminds one of a musical version of Are You Being Served?,but with feeling. This musical is just packed to the cereal box top with pure, unsaturated fun.

Go see Price Check! – the musical before it runs out of stock!

Reviewed by Brian Godfrey
Twitter: @briangods

Venue: The Bakehouse Theatre
Season: Until 16 July 2016
Duration: 90 mins plus interval
Tickets: $28 – $35
Bookings: www.pricecheckmusical.com.au or TryBooking

 

More News

To Top