Reviewed by Janice Bailey
May 2014
“Tell your life like a story. It will be a real adventure, “says the adult Peter Allen to the young boy, Peter Woolnough. And it is! The Met’s current production of The Boy from Oz really delivers. It must be said that this reviewer went to see the show with some trepidation.
I am a long-time faithful fan of Peter Allen and his music and having seen him perform live a couple of times I was afraid I could be disappointed. ‘Impress me,’ I thought hopefully. I was! The show itself is so well-crafted and is carried along by the wonderful repertoire of music that was Peter Allen. In this production the music was respectfully and competently performed by the orchestra under the very capable leadership of Jillian Gulliver.
Sets and costumes worked well and there were some very noteworthy performances – the young Peter, Ned Baulderstone, Bronwen James as Judy Garland and Selene Britz as Liza Minelli give superbly convincing performances as did Jenny Bowen as Peter’s mother. Angus Smith delivered a range of characters with finesse. I particularly enjoyed the vocal talents of Daniel Fleming who played Greg.
I have been convinced by Todd McKenney’s portrayal of Peter Allen a couple of times but didn’t ‘buy’ Hugh Jackman as Peter Allen, so I was very keen to see what David Salter could bring to the role. I wasn’t disappointed by his respectful portrayal. David managed to capture the ‘essence’ of Peter Allen, both vocally and in his character portrayal. An inspiring performance. Well done! The opening night audience loved the show. I loved it. Do yourselves a favour and don’t miss it!
