Dusty stage performance a tour de force

Dusty stage performance a tour de force
Directed and choreographed by Ian Harman
Musical Director Andrea Maxwell
Abbey Musical Theatre, Centennial Auditorium
Reviewed by Richard Mays

More than mere nostalgia, Amy Hunt almost gets to carry this biopic production based on the life of singer Dusty Springfield single handedly.

While the bulk of the production rests on the performer’s talented shoulders, Hunt has an excellent team around her to share the singing duties and help uncover the personal traumas behind the singer’s professional triumph. On a starkly unembellished stage, Hunt channels her inner Adele, maintaining a plausible English accent while convincingly delivering the hits from the Springfield song book.

Alleviated by the punchy performances and colourful costuming, DUSTY starts as the story of a schoolgirl misfit, who as Mary O’Brien tries to win the approval of parents who can’t see past the musical talents of her brother Tom. The young Mary, performed by the promising Hannah Sandbrook, is at first the progenitor of Springfield’s showbiz dreams, before returning as the ghost who haunts them when they falter. There are terrific duets between Hunt and Erica Ward, who plays Reno, Springfield’s sassy soul inspired American lover, adding vocal firepower to Springfield hits such as Wishin’ and Hopin’ and I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself.

The most under-utilised vocalist award goes to Read Wheeler as Rodney, Springfield’s hairdresser and confidant, who may not have much to sing, but makes memorable what he has to say. Other memorable moments include the appearance of director Ian Harman in drag as a Dusty Springfield impersonator, Kirsten as the Catholic mum and the affecting re-enactment of Springfield attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

The big bad with this show was the frustratingly muddy sound mix that rendered several of the supporting vocalists semi-intelligible. Hopefully the sound gets sorted for subsequent performances.