A steady flow of students has been delighting the Wellington public over the last eight prolific years in theatre; this reviewer, for many of those. Now that all changes. Into what, I know not. All this highly respectable performing and presenting talent can’t just disappear into nothingness. Stick around and hope.

Into two one hour Acts, this non-stop ‘final’ show, Colour and Light, shoehorns no less than 29 items from 21 shows. It’s almost too much to take in. Here is an ensemble that has been given the most appalling prognosis for futures. All it can do is play, sing and dance its collective heart out. This it does and with honours.

The theatre seems to be in constant motion (you actually feel it move in the bigger production numbers) with a stage that is all snappy entrances and exits. As always, the action spills over into the auditorium. I had singers sitting next to me quite a few times.

The first Act is dedicated to colour. It abounds with non-stop action, volume and power. Several of the numbers are absolutely top drawer. Specifically, ‘When You’re an Adams’ from The Adams Family Musical is executed with scalpel precision enabling the er… er, unusual personalities to emerge first in tight focus then suddenly explode into a mass piece of hot hoofing that could have graced any of the off Broadway theatres in the Big Apple. It needed the low key ‘Grow for Me’ from Little Shop of Horrors to restore normal blood pressure in the audience.

The piece de resistance of the Act is, however, the ‘Cop Song’ form Urinetown. Monet Faifai-Collins lights the fuse but the whole company of cops is simply breathtaking in their use of the stage and their brazen but stylish pointing of over active night sticks.

And the energy is never allowed to flag. Once the cops have left the building up comes a fine rendition of ‘Yakety Yak’ and ‘Charlie Brown’ complete with in-house nerd. Easing down finally through ‘Does your Mother Know?’ and ‘Almost Paradise’ gradually takes us down to earth. ‘Nothing Bad’s Ever Going to Happen Again’ gives out a peppy finish to an exhausting first half that is all beautifully plotted and seamlessly executed.

The second Act is typified by Light and reflectivity. Whiter colours predominate. It celebrates, I feel, the healing power of music, and its ability to communicate complex and universal emotions. It strike me as a sober but loving letter from all of the cast to each other and the audience; both in the theatre and more widely.

None more so than ‘What I Did For Love’ from the estimable A Chorus Line. It sends a reminder to an increasingly ugly world; one that measures precious cultures by KPIs rather than their ability to change hearts. Performing is not a chosen career path. Rather, it chooses you. It is a way of preserving the sanity and respect of all of us. “We did what we had to do”. And surely will keep on doing so, no matter what smaller minds might wish to order up for us all.

Top marks too for ‘(I won’t be ) Invisible’. A bouncily joyous assertion of the power of humans to triumph over adversity: from the appropriately titled Jason Robert Brown – How we react and how we recover. So very appropriate for theatre in these present challenging days.         

The theatre is, as always, packed out and a glance around the audience tells a worthy tale. Everyone is well dressed and neatly coiffed but the range of styles is impressive. It is young, it is middle and it is old. It is also kindly and thoroughly engrossed in a company it has come to admire. Everybody is pleasantly family – the theatrical family of Wellington that just stepped off from the Hutt train or walked down from Courtenay Place. The elephant in the room is that someone is trying to break us up but we won’t be easily broken.

Whitireia Musical Theatre possesses a mighty creative production team of seven, some of whom have very Kiwi double-up roles. Kate Marshall-Crowe envisaged this final show and directs the music. Leigh Evans directs and choreographs it all. This is a supremely ambitious effort of compressing two shows in one. The set and lighting by Michael Trigg complements that ambition without ever cramping the space. Freedom reigns.

Gina Heidekruger (Coordinator), Ace Dalziel (Stage Manager), Chris Hayward (Sound) and Ben Tucker-Emerson (Graphics) fill out the picture. We will most surely be seeing more of them.   

The following is a roll of honour of the shows presented in this special one. I’m quite sure that over the last eight years several others have been involved.

Roll of honour

Smokey Joes Café
The Adams Family Musical
Little Shop Of Horrors
Jesus Christ Superstar
Footloose the Musical
Urinetown
Cry Baby the Musical
Mamma Mia
Sunday in the Park with George
The Outsiders
Cabaret
Hadestown
Songs for a New World
Pippin
Little Women the Musical
Jason Robert Brown – how we react and how we recover
Shucked
Merrily We Roll Along
Waitress
The Notebook the Musical
A Chorus Line

Cast:
Ashton Church
Bethany Graf
Bryce Blackmore
Charley Milner
Charlie Cave-Smith
Christopher Horne
Danny Dominy
Ellie Swayn
Emily Holden
Isobella Comber
Jack Taylor
Jayden Pere
Jenna Otway
Jess Curry
Jiseop Shin
Kali Park
Keira Hikuroa
Kellyann McDonald
Kieren May
Lily McDonald
Lily Moore
Logan Tahiwi
Maia Commerford
Marija Stanisic
Molly Morris
Monet Faifai-Collins
Olivia Turner
Sadie McLoughlin
Sarah Powell

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