Broadway Bingo (Outside the Jukebox)
Brisbane Powerhouse, Underground Theatre
April 19 – 21
If you familiar with Sondheim, Lloyd Webber, and Rodgers and Hammerstein, “Broadway Bingo” is the show for you! The unpredictability of the musical experience, however, means that not all of these musical theatre heavyweights will necessarily appear in every show… which is actually much of the reimagined Broadway concert’s appeal.
The unique and clever concert-game hybrid, which is the first 2024 mainstage show for Matilda Award nominee Outside The Jukebox, operates on many levels. Pulling out bingo cage balls to determine the songs creates a different show for every performance as, with bingo cards on their phones, audience members are at-the-ready to mark off different song mentions, quirky on-stage observations and alike. Added to this, performer power cards can also be played on each other to modify the songs, direct the performer, or even operate them like a puppet.
The show, which was created by its four performers (Hannah Grondin, Creative Producer and Designer Hayden Rogers, Musical Director Marcia Penman and Technical Producer Oliver Samson) is, consequentially, a little bit loose, which makes for lots of fun, especially in its performer ad-libs and audience interactions. It’s best summed up as Broadway meets bingo with a bit of theatre sports thrown in, as Penman’s ‘You’ll be Back’ is ‘enhanced’ not only by her regal costume-box additions, but more so by Rogers’ puppet-like operation of her limbs. Indeed, Rogers provides many such comic moments as he leads a ‘The Song of Rebellion’ workout from “Matilda” as a pirate-hatted Miss Trunchbul and showcases some iconic interpretive dance moves while otherwise poignantly delivering the slow-build emotion of ‘She Used to Be Mine’ from “Waitress”.
For all of its fun, there is an underlining respect from the Broadway musical genre and songs themselves, reflective of the fact that all four members of Outside the Jukebox hold a Bachelor of Musical Theatre degree from the Queensland Conservatorium. Samson’s arrangement of a Sondheim ‘Heartache Medley, is both wonderful in and of itself, but also in its duet between Samson and Rogers. This reflects the truth that beneath all the colour of its concept, the biggest highlights of “Broadway Bingo” come from the vocals. In opening night show solos, Grondin gives us both a considered, moving ‘Bring Him Home’ and a bold and attituded ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’. Samson, meanwhile, delivers a heartfelt early ‘Waving through a Window’ (complete with appropriate Evan Hansen prop), hitting all the right notes in all the right places, and later passionately rips into the essential desperation of ‘Heaven on their Minds’ with such impressive vocal gusto as to elicit mid-song responses from the packed opening night audience.
Within its unpredictability, the program is arranged to ensure a mix of solos, duets and group numbers, such as in a stunning “Rent” opener and iconic “Wicked” closer in four-part harmony and with some audience assistance. For all of its familiar Broadway bangers, the program also features some more obscure numbers from works such as “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” and “Little Women”, which slow the show’s otherwise energetic pace.
Things work best when the gloriously chaotic momentum of its hijinks is allowed to build, especially given how the intimacy of Brisbane Powerhouse’s Underground Theatre affords an infectious party atmosphere. Still, there is much frivolity on offer with “Broadway Bingo”, even for those who may be hearing of “Jesus Christ Superstar” for the very first time, and it is easy to appreciate how the inaugural season (because hopefully it will continue as a new Brisbane theatre tradition) is virtually sold out.