It’s 1975 in Paris, and we meet the whimsical wee girl, Amélie, whose neurotic parents shelter her from the outside world. Her best friend is a goldfish, but when she becomes too attached, her parents decide to bid au revoir to the fish and into the River Seine it goes.

“Slung between a neurotic and an iceberg, the world Amélie creates is her only shelter,’’ Hipolito, an unpublished novelist, played by the exceptional baritone Monet Faifai-Collins, tells The Hannah audience.

There’s a lovely balance of humour and tragedy, and themes about the importance of kindness and community in Witch Music Theatre’s latest production, Amélie the Musical. [More]

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Coming away from this Australasian premiere production of Amélie the Musical produced by WITCH Music Theatre, I am reminded yet again of the huge importance of live theatre.

A chance for escapism through storytelling, reflection and identifying with the storylines and emotions journeyed by the characters, and also the connection of community in the theatre as we come together to celebrate the fabulous LOCAL talent pouring their hearts out on the Hannah stage on this opening night.  We are fortunate to have so many wonderful creatives in our city and producers who will take risks on the less known/niche musicals. (I am especially excited about this one, as saw the new UK version of the show in January 2020)

Amélie the Musical is based on the 2001 motion picture, Amélie, written by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant which is still considered to be a huge favourite by many, myself included.

The musical, by Craig Lucas, Daniel Messe, and Nathan Tysen, brings the same whimsical charm of the movie, but also allows the viewer to take their own journey through the story, rather than following the frame-by-frame directed specificity of a movie. There are so many moments in this ensemble-driven stage musical directed by Nick Lerew and Maya Handa Naff, to notice the bystander and not only the spotlit lead.

The story is focused around the titular character of Amélie Poulain. Rachel McSweeney delightfully embodies Amélie’s curiosity and mischief, and also her touching journey to unravel her own story.

As a child, due to a misdiagnosed heart defect, she is shrouded from the world by her neurotic parents (Craig Beardsworth, Gemma Hoskins), so she learns to fill her isolated world, observing others and creating abstract connections using her extraordinary imagination. Notable examples of this are William Duignan’s portrayals of Fluffy the Goldfish in ‘World’s Best Friend’, and Elton John in ‘Goodbye, Amélie’.

On leaving home at seventeen, Amélie works as a waitress at Two Windmills Cafe, where she impacts those around her with secret missions of goodwill.

In another part of Paris, equally introverted Nino Quincampoix collects discarded photo booth photos and places them in an album trying to piece together their stories. This role, sensitively played by Henry Ashby, shows his beautiful vocal control (very different to his role in The Great Comet of 1812!) – especially in ‘Thin Air’.

Thus begins an amusingly eccentric dance towards each-other.

Our two ‘reluctant’ leads are supported by an exceptional ensemble of characters: Hipolito (Monēt Faifai-Collins) an unpublished novelist; hypochondriac Georgette  (Bethany Graff); Gina (Adriana Calabrese) a jilted lover; Joseph (Medhi Angot) a jealous plumber; and Suzanne (Jody McCartney) the ex circus performer proprietor of the cafe. The contrasting characters of Lucien and Collingnon, the grocers, are played by Jared Palleson and Glenn Horsfall. The backing vocalists/cameo roles/swings are Kevin Orlando, Rachel Te Tau and Alistair Davis – while behind his door, painter Julien Dufayel, nicknamed the glass man (played by Frankie Leota) watches, guides and also learns to step beyond his comfort zone.

The main set with its Arc de Triomphe shaped structure becomes the café, a shop front, Amelie’s family home, her upstairs apartment and the photo booth (Production Designer, Ben Tucker-Emerson). The ensemble choreography woven through by Leigh Evans captures the vibrancy of Paris and the quintessential French aesthetic and seamlessness in transitions.

The attention to the detail in the lighting (Alex ‘Fish’ Fisher) and costuming (Polly Crone & Dorothe Olsen) is a firm nod to the cinematic magic of the original colour scheme – Red, Green, Yellow and Blue.

The musical score is an ‘absolute beast’ (quote from Nino Raphael) with not only the vocal numbers, but the enormous amount of movie-esque underscoring. Musical Director/ pianist Hayden Taylor leads the exceptional players – Madelaine Telford, Kaia Holborow, Sarah Dillon, Elliot Lee, Esther Lee, Steve ‘Shack’ Morrison, Rachael Hinds, Bec Watson and Sarah Lawrence – with precision as they free the spirit of the story. The signature sounds of rippling piano, violin and accordion are perfectly captured.

On opening night, the sound overall is great but, even knowing the story, I find it especially hard to pick up the lyrics of the opening number while I get used to the accent/style and the lower instrumental sounds particularly needing some more sensitive mixing at times.

There are so many highlights: every time the full ensemble sing in heartlifting, arm-tingling harmony; the raunchy trio ‘A Better Haricut’, led by Jody McCartney as Suzanne with Georgette and Gina (Bethany and Adriana) is so different from the rest of the musical styles, but they ‘sang it!’; ‘There’s no place like Gnome’ is hilariously characterised by dancer Medhi Angot; and the moments of stunning stillness in duets, ‘Stay’, between Amélie and Nino, and ‘Halfway’ sung by Amélie and her mother Amandine (Gemma Hoskins).

The whole team embrace the quaint and quirky aspects of the movie – the way French film digs into the unique vision rather than that which will appeal to the masses. The story uses an expressive style that mimics the natural flow of life instead of relying on intricate plot twists to interpret and reflect on the narrative.

While there are many different characters threading their way through this story, they are all intrinsically connected to Amélie and ultimately we, the audience, are invited by the players into the unique inner world of Amélie, into a world of connections and hope and of taking risks in life and love. It feels ever more needed and is still as relevant now as it ever was.

“….. And everyone’s connected
Though they may not know it’s true
They form a trail of breadcrumbs
But what are they leading to?

Everyone is falling as their lives play out unplanned
And everyone’s connected though they may not understand
That falling feels like flying

Till the moment that you land.”  (from ‘The Flight of the Blue Fly’) 

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