'The Art of the Spin' at it's finest!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
On November 15 I posted this fascinating article about how magicians can write themselves a glowing press release.
On November 17 another blogger seems to have taken this advice literally HERE.
Now before anyone accuses me of bagging a fellow Aussie's attempt at putting on a big show let me make it clear - I did not see'Las Vegas Confidential' and I don't know whether it was good or bad but I give James Karp the greatest respect for putting his money where his mouth is and putting on a big show.
The whole point of this post is this blogger's superb example of taking less than stellar reviews and making them shine.
Here's how he quoted the press reviews:
John Shand, 13 Nov, The Sydney Morning Herald
THE new century is still young, but here is its funniest show so far. Nothing else has doubled me up like this, a mirth vociferously shared by those around me.
…a couple of cute magic tricks, and sparsely clad females cavorted leggily in all scenes...
Jason Blake. 16 Nov, Sun Herald
when it comes to describing Las Vegas (Confidential)… fascinating or educational …
James Taylor's choreography is… showgirl shape-throwing, Eurovision twizz and… bump 'n' grind…
Angela Saurine, 13 Nov, Daily Telegraph
The show boasts… impressive moments, such as a fun scene where Alex breaks into an energetic performance of The Gambler with other male cast members. It's a very different slant on the Kenny Rogers classic, complete with bare-chested cowboys.
As Katrina Retallick was ill with laryngitis, understudy Diana Holt stepped in as Francesca, the lead female role. Her strong voice was a highlight. Underbelly's Tony Nikolakopoulos is a standout as mobster Tony ``The Tool''.
And here are the full reviews with the quotes (in red) and in context:
THE new century is still young, but here is its funniest show so far. Nothing else has doubled me up like this, a mirth vociferously shared by those around me.
The problem, confidentially, is that Las Vegas - The Musical is not intended as a comedy.
We all have ideas that, on sober reflection, we promptly dismiss. This show was such an idea, minus the dismissal. It was dreamed up by James Karp, who wrote the script - if that's the word for dialogue devoid of wit, plot or characterisation. Mr Karp is usually a magician, and this may be his ultimate trick.
Caught in the illusion is Alexander "The Great" Dean (Tamlyn Henderson), a gambling-addicted magician employed by a mobster (Tony Nikolakopoulos) in a Las Vegas casino. He's advised to clear out by Tyche, the Goddess of Fortune (Simone Karp) - no, seriously - and by the Latino barman (a rollicking Garry Scale). Meanwhile an FBI man (Alistair Toogood), hot on the scent of the Mob, is more or less raped by the predatory Tiffani (Tiffani Wood). Performance quality is an irrelevance.
Alexander falls for chanteuse Francesca, which brings us to the night's only winner. That role was to have been played by Katrina Retallick, but Lady Luck stole her voice, so Diana Holt bravely faced the music.
Ah, yes, the music. This was a jukebox mishmash, containing some of the worst songs ever penned - Las Vegas and, for variety, Dov'e L'Amore - and some others that had no business being so abused.
To distract us from the dialogue and music there were a couple of cute magic tricks, and sparsely clad females cavorted leggily in all scenes, whether they had reason to be there or not. Christopher Hurrell had the job of directing, James Taylor of choreographing and Peter Casey and Michael Bartolomei of looking after the music. Mark Thompson and James Karp designed the set - basically a digital projection screen - which Nigel Levings lit, while James Ionnides and Karp came up with the flocks of feathers, other skimpy costume bits and more feathers.
If you need a laugh . . . no, on second thoughts, read Hunter S. Thompson's Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. The Vegas he saw with a head full of LSD was, confidentially, infinitely less frightful.
2 out of 10
THE expression "train wreck" is barely adequate when it comes to describing Las Vegas (Confidential). After all, there's always something grimly fascinating or educational to see in a train wreck. No, this is a fiasco, an embarrassment to all involved in its making and an insult to its audience.
Based on "previously untold true events", the plot revolves around Alexander "The Great" Dean (Tamlyn Henderson), a stage illusionist and headline act at a Vegas casino managed by Mob figure Tony "The Tool" Spitori (Tony Nikolakopoulos), to whom Dean owes a million bucks or more.
With encouragement from his personal Goddess of Fortune (a ludicrous role written for producer-writer James Karp's wife, Simone), a love affair blossoms between the feckless Dean and the understandably wary Francesca, a singer. In order for it to survive, however, Dean must work out an exit strategy from the dangerous situation he finds himself in.
Responsibility for this mind-bendingly inept jukebox musical lies with Karp - a stage illusionist himself - and it bears all the hallmarks of a vanity project gone mad.
Without exception, the scenes are sketchy, the dialogue dull-witted and the characters hopelessly cliched. Humour only arises because Karp is unable to distinguish the funny from the laughable. Some episodes exist only as framing devices for magic tricks, all of which look silly in this context.
Design-wise, there's nothing to arrest the eye other than the migraine-inducing glare of the stadium-style jumbotron screen dominating the stage. Karp's choice of songs - ranging from Que Sera, Sera to an excruciating version of Robbie Williams's Me And My Monkey - is as strange as it is unappetising.
Director Christopher Hurrell struggles to make the basics - entrances, exits, scene changes - work and James Taylor's choreography is a mess of showgirl shape-throwing, Eurovision twizz and tawdry bump 'n' grind, much of it inexpertly realised.
Rhythm and sass are what's needed and both are utterly absent. Henderson shows some determination in the lead role yet not for an instant do we care about Dean or anything he does. Leading lady Katrina Retallick was indisposed on opening night and would do well to stay that way.
Our sympathies go to understudy Diana Holt, who gamely played the thankless role of Francesca. Tiffani Wood, of the late and unlamented pop act Bardot, is rather too obviously there as an audience drawcard but her role - a hooker-singer named Tiffany - is restricted to a couple of Shania Twain-style workouts in the second act. Garry Scale certainly earns his fee playing an elderly Mexican barman in what appears to be a tribute to Tattoo from Fantasy Island.
Tosh from top to tail, Las Vegas (Confidential) is rubbish and a rip-off.
YOU'D expect a show about Las Vegas to be kitsch and offbeat but this musical borders on the bizarre. Written and created by illusionist James Karp, it is a tale of showgirls, gamblers and henchmen in the 1960s and '70s.
With a flimsy narrative, the love story between the main characters, illusionist Alexander ``The Great'' Dean (Tamlyn Henderson) and beautiful chanteuse Francesca, develops too quickly to be believable.
Former Bardot member Tiffani Wood's role as burlesque starlet Tiffany Hills is much-hyped, but her character doesn't appear until the second half. Some people in the first-night crowd had already left by that time.
The show boasts a few impressive moments, such as a fun scene where Alex breaks into an energetic performance of The Gambler with other male cast members. It's a very different slant on the Kenny Rogers classic, complete with bare-chested cowboys.
As Katrina Retallick was ill with laryngitis, understudy Diana Holt stepped in as Francesca, the lead female role. Her strong voice was a highlight. Underbelly's Tony Nikolakopoulos is a standout as mobster Tony ``The Tool''.
But overall, many in the audience were left wishing what happened in Vegas had stayed there.