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POSTED: 27 JANUARY 2012 Ordinary Days, music and lyrics by Adam Gwon | Directed by Grace Barnes Squabbalogic | Darlinghurst Theatre, Potts Point, Sydney | Until 19 February The narrative of Ordinary Days, conveyed entirely through song, is a simple one. Jason (Michael Falzon) and Claire (Rachael Beck) decide to move in together but their new found intimacy creates friction as Claire’s past relationship impacts on the present. Running parallel is the developing friendship between Deb (Erica Lovell), a graduate student who has left her thesis notes on a subway from where they are fortuitously returned to her by Warren (Jay James-Moody), an artist’s assistant. The play is precisely ordered — which is writer Adam Gwon’s strong point. His score blends the occasional comic moments with the poignant and shakes it into a cocktail — a Manhattan even — but few of the 21 songs stand out. Paul Geddes does an excellent job on stage as the piano man, nimbly and assiduously accompanying the cast of four, though everything is piano driven, which tends to render the melodies repetitious. Grace Barnes directs with precise and simple control over the play’s rather bumpy episodic construction. All four performers are competent and forthright and we are able to hear the lyrics clearly — a must in a sung-through musical. Michael Falzon adds star quality and brings his wealth of expertise and talent to the intimate stage at Darlinghurst. Coming as he does from big-stage musicals, such as We Will Rock You and most recently Rock of Ages, he is in many ways larger than life in the underwritten role of the male romantic lead. Rachael Beck is solid in vocalising Claire’s issues around commitment but at times struggles to capture the comic and emotional depth of her personality. Erica Lovell, as the acerbic and arrogant newcomer to New York, manages to explore her character’s eccentricities with energy and vitality, and she is seen at her best in her duets with Jay James-Moody. As the nerdy and obsessive Warren, James-Moody is the comedic backbone and announcer of the play’s major message. Sensitive and lonely, Warren spends his days promoting the inspirational thoughts of a jailed graffiti artist by printing his sayings on to coloured cards and giving them away to busy New Yorkers on the street, One by One. Little in the way of design suggests New York, so place is never convincingly conveyed. The cramped staging doesn’t help either, especially in the scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where creative lighting and a cursory nod to set design could go a fair way to evoking the frenetic and challenging environment of post-9/11 New York.
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All images: Scott Clare
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