Adelaide Cabaret Festival<\/p>\n
Hopelessly Devoted- A Celebration of Olivia Newton John<\/p>\n
With Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n
With four outstanding singers and the ASO at its expansive best, this celebration of an Australian music legend is a Cabaret Festival highlight.<\/p>\n
Written by Murray Bramwell<\/p>\n
The more time passes, the more extraordinary are the accomplishments of Olivia Newton John. Forty six years ago, Grease<\/em> became the highest grossing movie musical ever, and the soundtrack still breaks all records. In 1981 \u201cPhysical\u201d topped the Billboard charts for ten weeks straight. Helen Reddy encouraged the ambitious and talented Olivia to try her luck in the US – and crikey, did they hear her roar.<\/p>\n Not only did she sell more than 100 million albums (something infinitely more tangible than the mayfly life of Spotify clicks) this quintessentially Australian artist has created a music legacy that defined the 1980s in all its careless energy and pop pleasure. Her string of singles hits (many of them composed by Australian production wizard John Farrar) have become instantly evocative classics.<\/p>\n \u201cHopelessly Devoted\u201d the brainchild of Mark Sutcliffe (also responsible for stage tributes to Streisand, George Michael and David Bowie) has matched gifted vocalists with State orchestras in Melbourne, Brisbane, and now Adelaide with great success. Ably abetted by arranger and film composer, Nicholas Buc, Sutcliffe has created classy, crisply managed productions that are very suitable centrepieces for events such as the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.<\/p>\n Under the capable baton of the stylish Jessica Gethin, the ASO opens with the \u201cOliviature\u201d a brief but impressive orchestral mashup of ONJ faves reminding us of the enticing hooks and melodies of her songbook, but also how key the orchestra (and the four piece band) is to the success of the production.<\/p>\n \u201cDare to Dream\u201d follows, introducing the four vocalists of the evening \u2013 Jess Hitchcock, Georgina Hopson, Christie Whelan Browne and David Campbell. They mix and match, as they do for the entire show, with an ease and good-natured camaraderie that is not only appealing but mirrors the down to earth lack of egotism for which Newton-John was renowned.<\/p>\n Tottie Goldsmith, Olivia\u2019s niece and also a singer in her own right (she featured in 80s girl band, The Chantoozies ) provides irregular MC duties, in part to share her memories and affection for her famous aunt but also as goodwill ambassador for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre which opened in Melbourne in 2012. Its mission being to incorporate procedures and alternative therapies which Olivia found invaluable in her own, often arduous, treatment.<\/p>\n Goldsmith introduces Jess Hitchcock to sing the murder ballad \u201cBanks of the Ohio\u201d which, like the later quartet version of \u201cTake Me Home Country Roads\u201d, harks from Olivia\u2019s early highly successful country pop phase. Hitchcock, who has splendid range and timbre, is a standout singer. Her performance of Xanadu<\/em>\u2019s \u201cSuspended in Time\u201d was a spellbinding moment in the Variety Gala and again, here in its context, it is a showstopper.<\/p>\n But each of the singers have their moments of excellence. Music theatre specialist, Georgina Hopson delivers a plaintive \u201cPlease Mr Please\u201d, and a wryly forthright reading of \u201cMake a Move on Me \u201c. Christie Whelan Browne\u2019s powerfully conjured \u201cMagic\u201d, with the orchestra in full surge and a spicy guitar solo from Sam Leske, also takes us straight back to exotic Xanadu,<\/em> as does \u201cSuddenly\u201d.<\/p>\n And, to close Act One, in pink lycra, headband and matching wrist accessories, Whelan Browne mordantly wiggles and star jumps through the pop masterpiece, \u201cPhysical\u201d. She sings it brilliantly and totally looks the part, but at the same time, it is in ironic quotation marks. Whelan Brown and her fellow singers, decked out in Adidas trackies, gently allow us a smile back at 1981.<\/p>\n The full orchestral arrangement is interesting also, replacing the heavy Eighties metallic synths, splash drumming and squealing guitars with a different but equally appealing vibrancy.<\/p>\n Fourth vocalist, David Campbell is the perfect complement to the trio of women. He shares a a fine duet of \u201cI Will be Right Here\u201d with Jess Hitchcock and his understated reading of Peter Allen\u2019s \u201cI Honestly Love You\u201d is a highlight. As is his Act Two opener – Eric Carmen\u2019s \u201cBoats Against the Current\u201d, introduced by Nicholas Buc\u2019s extended orchestral intro and haunting coda. It is a delight to have Campbell, one of the Festival\u2019s finest former Artistic Directors, and clearly a generous and collegial performer, back in town.<\/p>\n The program is nicely sequenced, never losing fluency and showcasing Newton-John songs at their best. Hitchcock is terrific with both \u201cSoul Kiss\u201d and the slow ballad, \u201cSam\u201d (another Farrar composition, with Don Black and Shadows gun guitarist, Hank Marvin). Christie Whelan Browne strikes more gold with \u2018A Little More Love\u2019 and the palpitating \u201cHeart Attack\u201d.<\/p>\n Georgina Hopson\u2019s final solo, the titular \u201cHopelessly Devoted\u201d is pitch perfect and Jessica Gethin\u2019s orchestra splendidly envelops the vocal.<\/p>\n For encores it has to be the greasy masterpiece duet \u201cYou\u2019re the One That I Love\u201d \u2013 Campbell in Danny leather jacket and Christie Whelan Brown, Olivia to the life, in black tights and rhinestone belt.<\/p>\n And to close, \u201cXanadu\u201d sung by the whole cast. \u201cA million lights are dancing and there you are, a shooting star\u201d That was Olivia Newton-John, and this production honours her memory. Not hopelessly, but triumphantly, devoted.<\/p>\n Hopelessly Devoted<\/em> was performed once only on June 15 at the Adelaide Festival Theatre.<\/p>\n Cabaret Festival review: Hopelessly Devoted<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n