FINDING MEMO, presented by Class Act Productions, directed by Michelle Brandenburger (fringe, musical theatre, Gymnasium, tonight at 7.30pm):
Reviewed by Leon Muston, Arts Editor
ALTHOUGH this musical comedy-drama was scripted by Australian Ken Walsh, it comes across almost as an act of self-parody by star Paul Leonard.
Leonard plays a guy called John, who at the start of the production is a young carefree guy, who spends his days fishing.
But soon he starts to dream of having a career and a family, so with the help of his dictaphone on which he keeps making “memos to self”, he sets about making those dreams a reality.
Success comes surprisingly quickly, but so do demands on his time, and John becomes faced with a juggling act – both figuratively and literally on stage.
His career takes off and his financial knowhow leads him to present a financial advice programme on radio (a parody of Leonard’s own Moneytalk segments on Algoa FM).
Soon John’s memos change from what he wants to achieve to what’s really important in his life – get home before dark, spend more time with the kids etc.
But these goals seem much harder to achieve than success in his job, and John sees his life and marriage starting to fall apart.
The show is predominantly musical, using well known songs ranging from Don’t Worry Be Happy to Money Money Money, Love and Marriage, Get me to the Church on Time and Ain’t That a Kick in the Head.
He also reworks the lyrics of other songs to fit the storyline. Ag Please Daddy won’t You Take Us to the Drive-in is updated with modern films and snacks, while the Candy Man is altered to the Money Man.
Leonard handles the one-man show quite well, although is undoubtedly better on the soul-searching ballads than the up-tempo numbers on which he seems to be a bit over-the-top with his facial expressions and dance movements.
The biggest disappointment the day I saw the show was the sound and lighting, with one mistake after another in these areas, but hopefully these aspects have been dealt with since the weekend.
Tags: dictaphone, don't worry be happy, moneytalk, musical theatre review, paul leonard
