REVIEW BY CHARLOTTE FRASER
EDITED BY EMMA PARFITT
Content warning: this review mentions death, sexual assault and dead bodies.
It’s week 12 and most of us, me included, are trying to find any way to avoid the thought of SWOTVAC and exams looming ahead. Four Letter Word Theatre’s Last Impressions seems like the perfect way to take my mind off assignment pressure for a few hours.
So I go, sitting among friends with little to no idea of what to expect from the show. The lights go down and what occurs is a vibrantly maximalist musical with everything you could ask for: comedic deaths, tap numbers, a gay enemies-to-lovers relationship and Broadway drama that would make Patti LuPone blush.
The show follows the tumultuous journey of twin show writers, Astrid and Felix (Nikita Mohar-Williams and Gus Higgins), as they try to put on a production of Last Impressions with the Fitzroy Follies. After ending up trapped in a contract that strips them of rights to the show, Astrid’s husband, Theo (Kailen Missen), hatches a plan. Theo uses his connection to retired golden-age star Camille Rivers (Stella Byrne) and persuades her to join the show, creating a loophole to retain the show’s rights. But when tragedy strikes and Camille suffers a heart attack, the trio quickly come up with a plan to replace Camille with Lillian Sterling (Claire Steel) and continue putting on their production.
However, the plan goes awry when the power gets to Lillian’s head; Felix’s nemesis, Jason (Harry Vreugdenburg), turns out to be Camille’s estranged nephew; Lillian and the formidable Board make drastic changes to the show; and more people keep finding out the truth about Camille. The show ends with an absurd sequence of events, a dead body falling from the roof, a comically large teddy bear and Lillian going crazy to seize her star moment.
The suspension of disbelief Last Impressions asks of audiences is perhaps a little more than it should, and I wonder if the show could have benefited from a little more focus. This is potentially due to a slight over-saturation of subplots and characters, and more attention to a clear emotional throughline – like Theo and Astrid’s relationship, Jason’s estrangement and grief, Lillian’s identity crisis, the nostalgia of the golden age performers, or the consequences of a cult-like corporation – may have made the show easier to connect to emotionally, as well as being funny. Additionally, I was surprised that a show with what appears to be a comprehensive list of content warnings – including ‘comedic … depictions of dead bodies’ – that there was no content note about a sexual assault scene. Especially considering there was a male victim, this felt like a serious oversight. In the future I would urge towards needing a separate acknowledgement for it. I also don’t think the scene itself was a necessary inclusion at all. For a show already rich with emotional subplots and themes, this moment between Theo and Lillian seemed to be used more for shock value than anything, and the show moves on very quickly afterwards, with little time to process or any meaningful consideration of what has just happened. However, between comedic coincidences like Felix’s enemy also happening to work at the Fitzroy Follies and also happening to be Camille Rivers’ nephew and also happening to be gay; the absurd fact that everyone genuinely believed that Lillian (featuring some fake grey hair) passed as a 72-year-old A-list actress; and the increasingly outrageous gifts Theo and Astrid exchange made for an entertaining show. Last Impressions was certainly a good night out.
Co-writers Madeleine Cheale, Madeline Saxton and Ethan Francis-D’amour should all be proud of this slightly unhinged but brilliant musical. It’s funny, it’s extravagant and it’s jam-packed with original songs that had the audience bopping along in their seats. Francis-D’amour, alongside assistant director, Anna Ryley, realised the world of the Fitzroy Follies, the Valentines (and Day) and kept audiences engaged from start to finish.
Choreographers Hayley Francis-D’amour and James Pringle left nothing out. This show went full Broadway. Rockette style kick lines, full company tap numbers and moments of slower more involved numbers that utilised the set to create stunning visuals. The set itself, designed by Tim Augier, was complex, with a full grand piano, multiple walls, a show-within-a-show rostra upstage, doors, tables, chairs and mirrors constantly moving on and off stage. While visually striking and suitably maximalist for a production of this calibre, I wonder if the show could have benefitted from having fewer moving parts. The scene transitions often dragged due to the amount of set having to be moved on and off, fracturing the connection between the audience and the world of the play. Nevertheless, with the light bouncing off the mirrors, a body in a fridge and a full boardroom appearing and disappearing before our eyes, who can really complain?
The lighting by Zani Micallef effortlessly set the tone for each scene. The green lights consuming the stage during HR Rep Paige Parkville’s (Bronte Lemire) song, for example, were certainly suitable for the level of corporate greed this board is guilty of (thank God it’s fiction!). The rainbow lights at the back of the stage during ‘Can’t Say Gay’, well, do I have to say more?
The costumes, too, were spectacular. Designed by Isabella Troise, every single one of the (very) many actors were dressed to the nines. The many beautiful gowns worn by Lillian throughout the show were certainly a highlight for me. The Fitzroy Follies’ costumes were reminiscent of a fosse-esque Broadway troupe, making the ensemble cohesive and just the right amount of sparkly.
The sound design by Oliver Sexton, music direction by Enje Hazia and the writers’ original music all worked together to deliver song after song of Broadway-worthy performances. While there was a slight lack of cohesion within the live band, most apparent to me at the beginning of the show, once we got into it, things ran like a well-oiled machine. This show had it all, musically speaking. The numbers I found to be the strongest were duets or numbers largely featuring the Fitzroy Follies ensemble. Having 26 original songs balance comedy and emotion as well as Last Impressions did is no easy feat.
I could write potentially for hours about each performer. The lead Valentine-Day trio Kailen Missen, Nikita Mohar-Williams and Gus Higgins drove the emotional core of the show. Whether it was a tender moment between Theo and Astrid or an argument between all three, the audience was hooked on their chemistry. Similarly, the other half of Higgins’ enemies-to-lovers duo, Harry Vreugdenburg, gave a skilfully balanced performance, handling his character’s grief, defeat and desire with ease.
The Camille Rivers, Stella Byrne, and the not-quite Camille Rivers, Claire Steel, both delivered on high-drama performances worthy of Ms Rivers’ stardom. The ‘golden age’ ensemble, including Camille’s best friend Marion (Susan D’Souza), were all incredibly convincing in their roles and gave performances that inspired a soft nostalgia. They delivered each quip and murder-joke like they’d thought of it that moment and the comedic ‘Improv Song’ truly did feel like an older man trying to tell us all a story of the one who got away. Speaking of ensembles, I have to mention the stars of the show: the Fitzroy Follies themselves. Lead by Jewels St. Clair (Jacinta Klassen), this ensemble was near flawless. They moved together cohesively and you could see their personalities – with their Spice Girl-esque names, ‘sassy’, ‘perky’, ‘sad’ – coming through in everything they did.
The formidable Board – where to begin. Each actor embodied a farcical parody of their position. Amelia Lau’s Conrad, the chair, was superbly cunning. Bronte Lemaire’s HR Rep was an expert in the customer-service-Barbie voice, always smiling and ready with a ‘solution’ to each problem. Paige Thompson’s creative director was always deep in thought, the faux-French accent adding to her sophistication and a constant reminder that she is better than us. The intern, Declan (Phillip Lee), was constantly trod on and mistreated by the others until he fought back in a spectacular musical number. Leah Wang and Hugo Douglas, too, embodied their character’s position within their musical numbers. ‘Whistleblower’ and ‘Victim’ were villain songs for the ages.
Last Impressions sure left a lasting one. Amid all the chaos was a story about the value of art, love, passion, the dangers of idols and, of course, the capitalistic corruption in corporations. Four Letter Word put on a fabulous show, one that had everyone laughing and engaged in this tumultuous metadrama.
And in case you were wondering, if someone hires you to impersonate a famous celebrity that may or may not have secretly passed away – say no.
Four Letter Word’s Last Impressions played October 23rd – 25th at the Union Theatre.
CHARLOTTE FRASER (she/her) is a writer, performer and student editor based in Melbourne. She holds a BA in English and Theatre Studies and is currently completing her Masters degree at the University of Melbourne.
EMMA PARFITT (she/her) is the Dialog’s head editor and has written Dialog reviews alongside studying towards her science degree for the past two years. She is a production manager, stage manager and producer on the Melbourne indie theatre scene and a veteran of student theatre at Union House Theatre.
The Dialog is supported by Union House Theatre.
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