This production had dual casts in principal roles. In the interest of fairness we reviewed both casts. David Evans reviewed the first performance and Kym Clayton reviewed the second.
David Evans
Cardijn College have managed to get fifty students on stage and present a show that has previously been in various forms of a book a movie and now as a musical live show. The enthusiasm of the cast was catching particularly to the other schools that had been invited to attend. Edwardstown Primary, All Saints and Prescott College were there in force and could relate to the story which is set in a time and place they identified with.
The opening number ‘The Middle of it All’ sung by the entire cast set the scene for all the musical numbers to follow. Ruby McGrath as Greg Heffley had a mountain of work being on stage for ninety percent of the time and did not miss a beat in the eighteen songs she was involved with. Her voice had all the inflection required for each scene. Her acting matched her singing particularly when together with Alyssa Ward as Rowley Jefferson, they bounced off each other when friends or not.
The parents of the Heffley Family were Faith Maniego as Mom and Edward McEwan as Dad their children were Rodrick Heffley played by Ava Walasek who was a scene stealer with ‘Rodrick Rules’ in Act 2 as was Noah Lewis who played the whole play as a three year old on his knees. There were many other players that performed creditably and there was not a weak link in the entire cast. Needless to say it is not practicable to individualise all cast members but they should all be proud of what they have produced on stage.
The director Ruby Pinkerton has managed to bring together a production team that has made the most of the vast stage at the venue. Clever projection on the back of the stage plus simple but effective props added greatly to the overall effect. Added to this was the lighting, choreography and costumes.
The band conducted by Jacob Caudle who also played Keys 1 led the other four members to a faultless performance despite limited rehearsals. The college is fortunate to attract such talented with all the production team.
This is the first production of the college since 2011 and hopefully we can have some more great productions such as this without a fourteen year break.
Kym Clayton
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Musical” is the first musical that Cardijn College have put on since 2011, and with it they have laid a solid foundation upon which to build.
Director Ruby Pinkerton paraphrases an oft-quoted proverb in her Director’s Note when she states, “It takes a village to put on a show”. Of course she is right. Any theatrical presentation, and especially musicals, is a huge undertaking and is a resource and time hungry beast. They relentlessly demand the effort, skills, talent and goodwill of many people to pull them off successfully. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just plain wrong. So, when a school mounts a musical, it’s a big deal and it puts an almost unconscionable load on the shoulders of the staff who take it on as an extra commitment to get their students ‘over the line’. It’s a labour of love and all for the demonstrable benefit of the students who are involved. Pinkerton and her fellow teachers, and all the parents and others who helped, are therefore to be heartily congratulated in breathing life into “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. They didn’t get it entirely right (but no one ever does, really) and as I said in the opening sentence of this review, they now have something to build upon, and it is to be devoutly wished that the school reestablishes the tradition of a yearly musical, and resources it.
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Musical” follows Greg Heffley, a scrawny middle-schooler with big dreams and zero chill, as he navigates the jungle of adolescence armed only with sarcasm and a serious lack of self-awareness. He’s young, and he just wants to be popular. Which kid doesn’t? But life, gym class, and his weird best friend Rowley have other plans. From cringe-worthy school projects to the legendary Cheese Touch (where one is cursed if one touches an age-old mouldy piece of cheese that has been discarded in the playground), chaos follows Greg like a ‘fart in a sleeping bag’. Add in some catchy tunes, awkward dance moves, and a dash of middle school drama, and you’ve got a hilarious musical meltdown of epic, hormonal proportions.
Cardijn’s cast numbers fifty individual students, plus a stage crew of eight, plus a small musical ensemble of five, and a production team of another eighteen or so. As I said, it’s a big deal, and the biggest deal of all, next to the responsibility shouldered by the Production Manager and Director, is the demands placed on the leading character ‘Greg’, who is in every scene, has the lion’s share of the dialogue, and features in all but one of the nineteen separate songs. So, it’s no wonder that the role is shared between two actors who each perform two of the four performances.
I saw Greg played by Elliemay Patterson – yes, a female playing a male role, but it mattered nought! She captured ‘wimpiness’ perfectly! Patterson looked the part dressed in unisex costumes and a conventional if not staid male wig. Patterson’s diction was solid, and everything said and sung was heard clearly. She moved easily around the (overly large) stage and animated her songs to the extent possible within the limitations of the routine choreography she was given. Patterson worked well with Alyssa Ward who played Greg’s best friend ‘Rowley Jefferson’, although I might have expected Patterson to be more pointed in her cavalier disrespect of their friendship. The scene between Patterson and Fregley, played by Helena Sherwood, were delightfully funny, and Sherwood’s physicality and characterisation was a standout.
Congratulations to all involved in bringing this delightfully quirky musical to the stage, and we look forward to Cardijn reestablishing their tradition of presenting musical theatre. The large audience loved it!
