Napier Operatic Society production, directed by Wendy Revell, Tabard Theatre, Napier
Until September 10. Reviewed by Tania McCauley.
The transformation of plain Mary O'Brien who was "born to sing" into Dusty Springfield the star is a revelation.
Dusty is a worthy tribute to an amazingsinger, made more so by the stunning vocals of Janeene Toner in the lead role, backed up by Pip Jones as the girl she once was, still hovering in the background.
For someone new to musicals, Toner does a great job of portraying the talented, yet insecure star striving for perfection, and later on when she pushes away her long suffering friends and finds solace at the bottom of a bottle.
It's a busy show, and for those who don't know the full story of Dusty, it may be easy to get lost in the music - and there is a lot of it - but the vocal moments are great, as is the crisp musicianship, led by Anton Wuts.
There are the big numbers which are only to be expected, such as I Only Want To Be With You, Dancing In The Street, and Son of a Preacher Man, but also touching moments and duets with on-again, off-again girlfriend Reno (Nicole Taylor). Also the moment when her parents (David Glenday and Eleanore McLean) try to tell Mary they still love her and take notice of her work which comes years too late, features McLean's rendition of My Colouring Book - a bit of a tearjerker.
Hairdresser Rodney (Simon Crook) does a great job of lightening the mood, as does the drag queen (Peter Austin).
It's topped off by a great encore giving some of the supporting cast a chance to let loose - and which on opening night had some of the crowd on their feet to dance.
