Abroad

Dusty: The Original Pop Diva

 (The Arts Center, State Theater; 2079 Seats; A$89.95 ($67) Top)

By PETER H. KEMP

A Dusty Prods. presentation of a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by various composers, book by John-Michael Howson, David Mitchell and Melvyn Morrow. Directed by Stuart Maunder. Musical director, supervisor, and arranger, Stephen "Spud" Murphy.
 
Dusty Springfield - Tamsin Carroll
Reno - Deni Hines
Rodney - Mitchell Butel
Peg - Kaye Tuckerman
Kay O'Brien - Trish Noble
Mary O'Brien - Alexis Fishman
Mr O'Brien - Glenn Butcher
Pino Donaggio - Bobby Fox
 

A glossily packaged $6 million-budgeted bio-backstager, "Dusty" charts the rise and many falls of beloved 1960s "original pop diva" Dusty Springfield, in what is basically a (very) long song-stack bolstered with narrative padding. Melbourne auds are flocking and, by curtain-fall, are noisily leaping from their seats to be counted as twisting 'n' shouting Dusty-philes eager for a gaudy good time.

Evidently much effort and loving research has been injected into the mega-project, especially by co-writers, Jon-Michael Howson, David Mitchell and Melvyn Morrow. The team collaborated closely with creative consultant Vicki Wickham, a former manager of Springfield for some 15 years, and co-author of an authorized tome on Dusty entitled "Dancing with Demons".

And dance (and sing) with her demons Dusty indeed does. From a shy, insecure early girlhood in North London through to appearing on "Ready, Steady, Go" over to booze, bisexuality and breast cancer, the talented Brit "White Soul" songstress led what could only be termed a troubled life.

To help monitor the peaks and troughs of her existential roller-coaster ride, the show's creators have come up with Little Mary O'Brien (Alexis Fishman in feisty, full-throated form). This character, sporting the star's real pre-celeb name, is actually Dusty-as-child, an alter-ego who, like a kind of human Jiminy Cricket, pops in and out of the action to remind our wayward prodigy who and what she once innocently was.

But Little Mary represents only one of a number of synthetic amalgams populating the superstar's meteoric progress-cum-regress. There's camp wig-meister Rodney (versatile Mitchell Butel); dresser Peg (a spry Kaye Tuckerman); sweetly conservative Mum (the ever-lovely Trish Noble) and Pa (a delightfully nerdy Glenn Butcher). And so predictably on.

Not-so-predictable, however, is what the two exceptional female leads accomplish with two, again, fairly generic roles. Tamsin Carroll makes for a courageous, charismatic Dusty, despite a few scenes (mostly in the problematic downhill-slide of the second half) that might do in a lesser performer. Her singing is deep and true, at least to Dusty's spirit, and she looks fab in the period frocks.

Supporting Carroll as a representation of any number of the real Dusty's female lovers, Deni Hines shines as Reno, a black girl-group singer equally drawn to, and driven away from, the highly combustible, hell-bent object of her desire. Hines' entrance, in shimmering purple, singing the emblematic R&B classic "Dancing in the Street," is a stunner.

Ross Coleman's frenetic dance routines propel a multitudinous chorus across Roger Kirk's pop-artier-than-thou period sets, adorning (in act one) a massive circular spanning grid which also fits a striking giant vinyl-album front flap.

Stephen Murphy's huge, brassy orchestrations blast their authentic-sounding way through a playlist of poppy evergreens. And they're all there -- hummable hits that will please most demographics, nostalgic baby-boomers in particular. But while "Dusty" ultimately is memorable for its songs, their clipped phrasing, emotive poise and vernacular wit are too often absent from the script framing them.

Choreography, Ross Coleman. Sets and costumes, Roger Kirk; hair, wig makeup design, Corrine Day; lighting, Trudy Dalgleish; sound, Michael Waters; production stage manager: Jane Millett. Opened Jan 12, 2006. Reviewed Feb 3. Running Time: 2 HOURS, 25 MIN.
 

Musical numbers: "I Only Want to Be With You," "Goin' Back," "My Old Man's a Dustman," "Dusty Springfield," "Mama's Little Girl," "Little by Little," "Sugartime," "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat," "Silver Threads and Golden Needles," "In the Middle of Nowhere," "Io Che Non Vivo (Senza Te)," "Nothing Has Been Proved," "Dancing in the Street," "Wishin' and Hopin,' " "My Generation," "The Look of Love," "Stay Awhile," "Who Can I Turn To?" "On the Good Ship Lollipop," "You've Gotta S-M-I-L-E to be H-A-P-P-Y," "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself," "The Windmills of Your Mind," "Son of a Preacher Man," "My Coloring Book," "I Think It's Going to Rain Today," "What Have I Done to Deserve This?," "Goldfinger," "Puppet on a String," "Never, Never, Never," "Downtown," "Anyone Who Had a Heart," "Whatever Lola Wants," "All I See Is You," "Goodbye," "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me."