Presented by Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed 14 June 2014
Phil Scott and Blake Bowden’s production, Mario, tells the story of the meteoric rise to fame and premature demise of the world famous 1950s tenor Mario Lanza.
Lanza was an American-born Italian movie star and singer who was known to be rebellious tough and ambitious. This ambition took him from his start in the early 1940s as a little known opera singer to being a leading movie actor for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a position he was eventually fired from in 1952 after making just four movies.
Lanza died at just 38 and an autopsy was never conducted. Like many legends who die before their time, Lanza’s death is still plagued by conspiracy theories, even 60 years on. This production chooses not to draw any conclusions about Lanza’s death but cleverly presents both possible scenarios for the audience to decide.
Mario is part opera and part music theatre and thus encompasses a broad range of musical styles. The highlights include Your Tiny Hand is Frozen, Nessun Dorma, Caro Mio Ben and The Loveliest Night of the Year.
Lanza’s life is presented as brief snapshots of moments in time with some minimal costume changes. Blake Bowden is handsome and charming as Mario Lanza while Phil Scott deftly plays many characters in Lanza’s life, regularly injecting some delightful humour along the way. Scott manages some very quick character and costume changes with an apparent ease, matched only by the smooth finesse of the technical crew.
There are ten years of storyline to fit into just 70 minutes however, and as a consequence the show jumps rapidly and occasionally jarringly from one quick glimpse into Lanza’s life to the next. Still, this cabaret is about the legend and his music and, with Phil Scott’s skilful piano playing and the beautifully crooning voice of Blake Bowden, Mario is an enjoyable and educational journey through the life of one of the greatest tenors of all time.
Reviewed by Ceri Horner
Venue: Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide
Season: 14 – 15 June 2014
Duration: 70 minutes
Tickets: $39.90 – $54.90
Bookings: Book online through the Adelaide Cabaret Festival website or phone BASS on 131 246
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