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Dry wit and the occasional laugh out loud moment aren't enough to save Howard The Musical from being a meandering, mediocre affair. It turns out 'musical' itself is a non-core promise - the show is really presented in sketch comedy form, with video footage between scenes and a few song and dance routines thrown in.

It's not all bad though. The humour is sharp and on target, the puns are deliciously awful and the bare-bones portrayal of the characters is not without its charm. It's the lack of a coherent narrative (even by musical standards) that really jars, and a late start compounded by an uncomfortably high number of technical slip-ups on opening night didn't help.

Howard The Musical is written, choreographed and performed by Best Axe Productions, a group comprised mainly of Adelaide University students whose previous work includes HolySkit! and SkitShared, both well received at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

The production certainly has the feel of a university revue. Chris Maitland carries the show with a deliberately overstated yet infectious impression of John Howard. He mimics Howard's vocal style with ease and even manages to get the shape of his mouth right.

In fact, one gets the impression this is Maitland's show. He does a great turn as former National Party leader Tim Fischer reading some hilarious bush poetry - a highlight of the show for me - and was unshakeably professional even in the face of poorly cued sound effects, lighting problems and the occasional musical slip by the on-stage keyboardist.

There was much to like and the audience wanted to like it, but in the end there were just too many problems to call it a good night.

The show opened by giving the impression that the audience was about to see a re-telling of Howard's life and achievements. "How quickly they forget", muses an old Howard in a wheelchair. Then we see some hammed up old-timey video footage of Howard as a baby as the cast scramble off stage for a costume change.

The archive film footage device is cute but overused, with several awkwardly long gaps between sketches. After a cleverly written scene in which Howard proposes to future wife Jeanette in the style of Parliamentary Question Time, the emerging narrative is effectively abandoned. What follows is a series of seemingly random vignettes based on events and personalities from the Howard era of government.

The scenes themselves are mostly well-executed - the performers seem more at home in the realm of sketch comedy - though the choice of material is puzzling at times. A monologue performed by Nadine Levy playing SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin was funny and went down well with the audience but seemed mostly an excuse to show off an impression and make a lot of bad puns about cheese.

Will Maitland plays most of Howard's associates including Alexander Downer (no mention of fishnets) and Peter Costello, who performs a reworded rendition of I Just Can't Wait To Be King alongside Chris Maitland as Howard.

Other musical numbers include the raunchy 'GSTease', Tony Abbot's abortion-themed 'Hymens are a Girl's Best Friend' and John Howard murdering an Eric Clapton classic with 'Fearing Kevin'. The lyrics are snappy and well observed but the keyboardist manages to suck the life out of the musical numbers with a soulless, plodding performance.

The writing is sharp and the performers are clearly talented, but one is left with the impression that Howard The Musical isn't the right vehicle for the group's abilities. It's tempting to put the pacing and technical issues down to first-night jitters, but the show has already completed a run at the Adelaide Fringe Festival earlier this year, so one would expect such problems to be ironed out by now.

It's probably worth seeing however just to get a taste of Chris Maitland and co, who surely have a bright future ahead in the fine footsteps of Shaun Micallef and The Chaser.


Best Axe Productions
Howard The Musical

Venue: Bluestone Restaurant Bar | 349 Flinders Lane, Melbourne (Licensed venue. Under 18s must be accompanied by a Parent or Legal Guardian)
Dates: 15 - 25 April
Times: Wed-Fri & Wed-Sat | For ticket and meal deal arrive 7.30 | Show starts 8.30pm
Duration: 60 minutes
Prices: Dinner and Show $35 | Show only $15
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 | at the door