WEST END TO BROADWAY … IN THE RESERVOIR – The Movie Musicals: A great afternoon of entertainment in

What a great musical find located deep in the bowels of a hill in the centre of Brisbane in sub-tropical Australia. Sound intriguing? It is rather and a great venue to host a small concert or musical performance of any genre.

On Sunday 19 February 2017, I had the pleasure of witnessing the Underground Opera Company’s new production West End to Broadway ... in the Reservoir - The Movie Musicals. This fine company is Brisbane-based and has the unusual concept of providing world-class performances in far more intimate and stunning venues than those normally experienced in the usual fare of large theatre houses. Some past locations have included tunnels, aircraft hangers, both the Jenolan and Capricorn Caves, abandoned mines, the Bli Bli Castle, power stations and selected islands off the coastline – and all providing amazing acoustics for an audience’s pleasure.

On this occasion, a small ensemble of talented singers delivered a wonderful array of musical theatre numbers six metres underground in the intriguing and intimate venue of the Spring Hill Reservoir – a 150-year-old former water storage structure built by convicts to meet the needs of the residents of inner city Brisbane. Its cavernous brick archways, towering ceilings and small chambers nestled at the four compass points of the stage area provided an eye-catching backdrop to a delightful few hours of entertainment. The addition of images from each of the musical theatre shows then being projected onto the four back walls during all of the numbers was an insightful accompaniment from this talented creative team. Well positioned lighting added another lovely dimension.

The main performers making up this four-voice ensemble were Dale Pengelly (Hot Shoe Shuffle, West End; Chicago, Asian Tour; Singin’ in the Rain, Hong Kong, Singapore; The Boy From Oz, Australian Tour), Lionel Theunissen (Opera Q; Gateway Theatre Productions’ Jesus Christ Superstar, Sunshine Coast), Louise Dorsman (Opera Q; Victorian Opera) and Pia Frangiosa (Queensland Conservatorium; Wax Lyrical Productions’ Carrie, Brisbane Powerhouse). They were accompanied by Brendan Murtagh, a gifted piano accompanist who often graces QPAC’s Lyric Theatre for their epic musical theatre productions, including Les Miserables, The Sound of Music, Jersey Boys. To the audience’s delight, he often added his own little asides to the camaraderie happening on stage.

Mr Bruce Edwards, the company director, was MC and kept patrons highly entertained by his warm and witty welcome and well-thought-out introductions to each of the numbers on offer. At one stage, he joined Dale and Lionel, along with the aforementioned multi-talented pianist who added singing to his repertoire for this one, and they all brought forth a clever rendition of Nothin’ Like a Dame from the much-loved musical South Pacific.

Louise and Pia each brought a joyous feminine tone to all their renditions and looked most elegant in eye-catching floor length gowns – something most unheard of during all of the yesteryears experienced in this unusual location.

For me, there were several highlights in this medley of twenty-five separate pieces.

For the popular number, Singing in the Rain, from the musical of the same name, Dale added some jaunty choreography moves while lifting his powerful voice for the first part, before being joined by his three cohorts as the piece neared its conclusion.

The effervescent Good Morning, also from Singing in the Rain, certainly had my toes tapping as Dale, Pia and Lionel joined voices and shared smiles.

The two ‘Ls’ – Lionel and Louise – tripped the light fantastic with their ballroom skills for Irving Berlin’s Dancing Cheek to Cheek from Top Hat and their voices blended beautifully together.

Somewhere over the Rainbow was a popular number performed by Pia and her softer tone was laden with sensitivity so necessary for this touching song. Her delivery was perfect and exhibited the innocence of the young Dorothy. For the crescendo notes, a good degree of depth was shown in all the right places.

Lionel gave an excellent rendition of Mr Cellophane from Chicago – a moving item delivered with haunting poignancy and a sorrowful tone.

When You’re Good to Mama, also from Chicago, was belted out to the highest degree by Louise, especially when she interacted with the audience in a playful and highly entertaining manner.

Pia was next with All that Jazz – the third offering from Chicago’s sultry score – and she delivered a shoulder shuffling, toe-tapping, finger-snapping performance, which then turned into a great singalong moment when her cohorts joined in towards the end.

If I Can’t Love Her from Beauty and the Beast brought Lionel back to the stage for this solo piece and his rendition was filled with passion and great depth for a song, I must admit, I hadn’t heard before.

He was followed by Louise and the touching Children Will Listen from Into the Woods and, as Bruce mentioned during the introduction, its lyrics are some of the best you will ever hear. I have to agree and well worth a listen – or at least to read – if you ever get the chance.

For a bit of comedic relief, Spamalot’s, The Song that Goes Like This from the brains of the Monty Python team, had all of us laughing when Lionel came back to join Louise. It was well executed and had excellent timing.

Pia was next onstage for Marilyn Munroe’s famous Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, which was also one of the song’s in Baz Luhrmann’s spectacle Moulin Rouge. She did a fabulous job as the sultry siren helping herself to several jewelry items on offer from Lionel and Dale, who both looked handsome and debonair in black dress suits and very shiny shoes.

Annie was the next musical featured and Dale took on the much-loved song Maybe, giving it a different spin to the normal take performed by the young girl in the title role who usually croons these lyrics, while Tomorrow had all four performers join voices to conclude the formal program numbers. Both were well received, especially for the excellent blended harmonies for this last classic.

Two absolute favourites I have left until last.

My #2 of the entire show was Louise giving a superb performance with Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina from the musical Evita. She brought great depth and sensitivity to this haunting piece.

And the standout for me was the encore number, a moving tribute from all four performers to the great Leonard Cohen with his much-loved Hallelujah. It was the perfect piece to end this fine concert and had several of us on our feet at the end to honour the excellent work and all the hours of practise put in to ensure patrons received their full money’s worth.

The Spring Hill Reservoir is an obscure venue with a non-descript outer shell most people would simply ignore while passing by, however it is certainly a delightful place to experience so much goodness from the pens and minds of some of the finest composers of musical theatre the world has ever seen – and showing off the excellent vocal and piano skills of a few of Australia’s great performers.

The Underground Opera Company puts on several performances in this unique place each year, including Carols in the Reservoir from 2-11 December 2017. Visit their website http://www.undergroundopera.com.au/ for details and to book tickets.

Would I go back again? You betcha!