There’s a Stranger Things parody musical – and it’s called Stranger Sings

This wrap of shows around Melbourne takes a look at a musical parody of hit TV horror series Stranger Things, the headline acts of Fridayz Live and a thought-provoking musical encounter between the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and American pianist Jonathan Biss.

MUSICALS
Stranger Sings ★★½
Salty Theatre, North Melbourne Meat Market, until November 19

As a kid in the 1980s, I was imaginative enough – not to mention unpopular enough – to be obsessed by Dungeons & Dragons. Mainstream culture at the time largely ignored the emergence of role-playing games, save for dark whispers of participants being lured into a satanic cult. Then, of course, the internet came along and, with the world turned upside down, a cultural revenge of the nerds began.

A scene from Stranger Sings.Credit:Angel Leggas – 3 Fates Media

It’s since become an unstoppable force. The immense popularity of TV series Stranger Things – that luxe and Lovecraftian comedy horror drenched in nostalgia for all things ’80s – took it a giant step closer to world domination.

The show is ubiquitous. You can’t go anywhere without Kate Bush’s Running up that Hill ringing in your ears. On a recent trip to Paris, I passed an official pop-up store with hundreds queuing along the Champs-Elysées to get in. And the size of the throng at the opening night of parody musical Stranger Sings is one of the largest I’ve seen at an indie musical theatre of its kind.

Is the musical any good? Not really. Will that stop superfans from rocking up or having a good time? Probably not.

As parody, this is often lazy and uninspired fare. Much of the comedy is infected by the sort of dire American obviousness – “corny and basic”, as one song describes the characters – that’ll make you want to exist in another dimension.

A scene from Stranger Sings.Credit:Angel Leggas – 3 Fates Media

And Jonathan Hogue’s music rarely rises above a slurry of undifferentiated showtunes. Sonic porridge. Just sit there trying to destroy things with your mind. Worked for me.

Notwithstanding the aesthetic insult, Salty Theatre has staged an exuberant and technically assured production, with sporadic highlights to entertain and amuse Stranger Things tragics. There’s a dancing Demogorgon and a droll ballad from telekinetic heroine Eleven (Jess Ridler), lamenting her childhood. (Ridler also plays Nancy, and she isn’t the only performer onstage with acting and singing talents superior to the material.)

Stacey-Louise Camilleri nails a roof-raising jazz number framed as “revenge for Barb”, the frumpy best-friend killed off early in season one as a plot device, her fate bewailed mightily by legions of online fans.

A scene from Stranger SingsCredit:Angel Leggas – 3 Fates Media

And the rest of the cast have the impersonation skills (and costumes) to effectively caricature the beleaguered residents of Hawkins, Indiana – from Liam J. Kirkpatrick’s lisping Dustin to Stephanie John’s chain-smoking Joyce (who mounts a mad mock-tribute to Winona Ryder featuring Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and the evil queen bee from Heathers as back-up dancers).

Stranger Sings does set itself the insurmountable challenge of attempting to parody something that’s already a parody of itself, but if you can’t get enough of the series, this musical lampoon might just draw you in anyway.
Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead

MUSIC
Macklemore ★★½
TLC ★★
Fridayz Live, Rod Laver Arena, November 4

The travelling, star-studded club show Fridayz Live is this year headlined by Macklemore and TLC. Earlier in the evening, we’ve seen sets from former chart toppers Shaggy, Craig David, Ashanti and Akon.

TLC perform at Fridayz Live in Melbourne.Credit:Rick Clifford

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes – the “L” in TLC – died in 2002. Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas continue to tour, and with a catalogue that includes ’90s pop/R&B staples No Scrubs and Waterfalls, why wouldn’t they? But Left Eye’s absence is conspicuous.

For one thing, her verses are neither omitted nor performed by a stand-in MC. Rather, in songs such as Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg, Left Eye’s original vocal track beams through the PA and everyone else carries on as though it’s just another day at the office.

T-Boz and Chilli play all the hits, but the duo’s lacklustre display of energy feeds the impression that they’re simply going through the motions.

When No Scrubs finally comes – preceded by Chilli’s warning that the men who inspired the song are like cockroaches, “they don’t die, they multiply” – the audience reaction is one of united delight. Waterfalls is next, and while it hits the spot in a way that feels familiar and comforting, it’s hard to shake the perception that T-Boz and Chilli might’ve lost some enthusiasm for the song.

Macklemore performs at Rod Laver Arena for Fridayz Live.Credit:Rick Clifford

Following on from TLC is Macklemore, and there’s nothing odd about seeing the rapper preside over a full-house Rod Laver Arena. Thrift Shop, his 2012 single with former collaborator Ryan Lewis, not only topped the ARIA singles chart but also triple j’s Hottest 100.

Given this ubiquity, it’s curious to see Macklemore topping the bill of an ensemble show rather than headlining his own. And he might’ve missed a trick – the opening bars of Chant get the crowd standing at attention in a manner that makes this feel less like a Friday night at the RSL and more like a genuine spectacle.

Chant, released in July 2022, features chorus vocals from internationally recognised Australian pop star Tones and I, who’s on hand to give it all the skin and bones she can muster. Though, by approximately the 16th utterance of the vocal hook “Are you alive yet?” you begin to pine for some velour jumpsuits and broken keyboards.

Thrift Shop comes second, perhaps a hint that the Seattle rapper has moved on to more artistically satisfying pastures. And with lyrics such as “Walk up to the club like, what up? I got a big cock”, you’d hope so.

The crowd loses none of its zeal for the man of the moment as the show goes on, but the idea that Macklemore has risen above the goofy-come-earnest frat-boy style of his breakout 2012 LP The Heist is quashed by said album’s domination of the set list.

Despite Macklemore’s prevailing success and the crowd’s enthusiasm for his kitbag of decade-old hits, as we move onto songs like Same Love and Downtown, his shtick begins to feel somewhat vapid and tuneless. And perhaps this explains the Fridayz Live tour option – it’s hard to outstay your welcome when you’ve only got 45 minutes to fill.
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

MUSIC
Beethoven Fives ★★★★
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Hamer Hall, November 4

Beethoven’s two famous “fifths” – the “Emperor” Piano Concerto and his Symphony in C minor – made monumental bookends for an Australian premiere in this thought-provoking musical encounter.

Under Jaime Martin, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and American pianist Jonathan Biss crafted a serene account of the “Emperor” where lyrical beauty precluded any suggestion of bombast; soloist and orchestra being evenly musical matched partners. An astutely judged air of nostalgic reverie in the middle movement tugged at the heart strings.

Contrasting with the artful simplicity of the Beethoven came Gneixendorf Music – A Winter’s Journey by Australian composer Brett Dean. An MSO co-commission, this piano concerto was conceived as a companion piece to the “Emperor”.

Referring to the village of Gneixendorf, where Beethoven spent two months towards the end of his life, the work is cast in three sections – Arrival, Departure, Epilogue – and features two pianos: an upright located in the orchestra and the usual central concert grand, between which the soloist races several times.

This complex, often frenetic music refracts snippets of the Beethoven through Dean’s unique compositional lens, attempting to convey something of the turmoil of Beethoven’s final year; the muted upright piano used as a symbol of the master’s deafness. Despite the Epilogue outwearing its welcome and the intended differences between the pianos seeming minimal in performance, the work presents some fascinating soundscapes.

From the famous first four notes onwards, Martin generated palpable excitement in the symphony. Sadly, undergirding rhythmic detail in the opening became a blur; a timely reminder that sweeping bravura and granular detail are not mutually exclusive. Successive movements fared better, with sensitive phrasing and beautifully focused wind playing gracing the second movement and abundant brio propelling the race to the finish.

While these two fives did not make a 10, this program offered plenty of added value.

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