Review: Keating! The Musical (2008)
By Luke Buckmaster on Dec 30, 2008 in Reviews
“Yes I am. I am da ruler of da land! They tell me I’m da man!”
“Who da man? Who da man?”
“You da man!”
“Yes I am!”
No doubt this exchange - taken from one of many show-stopping tunes in writer Casey Bennetto’s Keating! The Musical - pretty much encapsulates the tone of cabinet meetings in the era of Paul Keating, Labor’s inimitable Prime Minister-extraordinaire who ruled da land from 1991 to 1996.
Very few Australian PM’s are charismatic enough to justify such spectacular song-and-dance treatment, but Keating, that acid tongued charmer chocked to the gills with ambition, hubris and acerbic, ice cool cynicism, is most definitely one of them. Can you imagine Howard! The Musical or Rudd! The Musical? That’d make Dork! The Musical, which, we can safely assume, wouldn’t gel so well with audiences. Belinda Neal! The Musical would fare a lot better; sure, her career isn’t conventional material for happy-go-lucky entertainment, but then again neither is the Holocaust, and that provided an interesting context for The Producers.
Directed by Neil Armfield, Bennetto’s show chronicles Keating’s rise and downfall, beginning with his tenure as Bob Hawke’s right hand man and ending just prior to his defeat at the hands of Johnny “no GST!” Howard. Along the way familiar foes pop in to kick their legs and belt out some history-inspired numbers including John Hewson, Gareth Evans, Cheryl Kernot and Alexander Downer, all impassionedly played by the show’s ostentatious male cast.
In the all-important role as Ke-Ke-Ke-Keating himself, Mike McLeish is everything Armfield and Bennetto could have wished for: a ballsy, cranked to 11 performer who delivers the part with sweaty showmanship and garrulous gusto, flitting like a demon from verse to verse and scene to scene. Tapping into deep reserves of adrenaline - the kind of acting-induced natural amphetamine that comes from performing as the Numero Uno in a rambunctious crowd pleasing musical – McLeish’s energy is infectious. By the third or fourth song he’s sweating out of every orifice - the temporary, slippery battle scars of a whopping good performance. Kudos to you McLeish, you lovable scamp.
This DVD, it’s worth noting, is a live recording of the show and not a film adaptation, and therefore it can’t be gauged with the same yardstick as a feature film. The visual makeup, for example, is stark and low-key, comprising a black stage, curtains, the band, the performers and the audience. There are no backdrops and no scene changes. However, if you dig the show – and it has quite a broad appeal – this won’t matter one iota. The lyrics, performances, jokes and jingles form the heart of the production and carry it with spectacular vigour - legs swinging, arms akimbo and throats a-blazin’ - across the finishing line.
For those tormented by catchy songs that bounce around uncontrollably in their minds for days at a time, be wary, very wary, of Keating! The Musical. There’s a good chance the man himself, who was in the audience when this DVD was recorded in August ‘08, was occupied in the shower for some time after, belting out, in between soap and shampoo, “they tell me I’m da man. Who da man? Who da man? You da man! Yes I am!”
Review by Luke Buckmaster
Director: Neil Armfield
Writer: Casey Bennetto
Cast: Mike McLeish, Terry Serio, Brendan Coustley, Robert Bertram, Alan Ilsar, Eden Ottington, Enio Pozzeban, Matthew Stuart, Mick Stuart
DVD release date: November 3, 2008
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I have Quickflix sending this to me atm so I’m looking forward to it. I do wonder though why they didn’t try and adapt it to a movie. It has been seen by a lot of people and musicals are a genre that Australia obviously loves and it’d be a hoot to see some of the songs given the chance to be broadened out into the real world (a musical dance sequence through the corridors of Parliament House etc).
Seems like a lost opportunity.
Glenn | Jan 4, 2009 | Reply
The stage musical was one of the best theatre experiences I have had in years - I will definitely be buying this. Or conning Madman into sending me a disc.
syms covington | Jan 5, 2009 | Reply
Hey Luke, I loved the original show (saw it twice) so was glad to see this covered. One thing - how is the sound quality on the DVD? I saw the ABC broadcast of this and it was pretty poor - I wondered if they’d done any remixing for the DVD.
As for a movie - I can never see a stage production without thinking of how it would film; personally I don’t see how Keating would adapt, given it features so many scenes that would take place in the Parliament, and also the lack of any bridging exposition between numbers. Shane Warne The Musical, on the other hand, isn’t as good but would film quite well.
Stephen Rowley | Jan 5, 2009 | Reply
Sound quality was fine, no probs at all. Kind of important considering the sort of film it is.
If you’ve seen the stage play this DVD won’t provide anything new, but it’s still very nice to have on the shelf.
Luke Buckmaster | Jan 5, 2009 | Reply
Hi, just a follow-up - I just got this myself and the packaging makes it clear they have fixed up the audio between the broadcast I saw and the DVD version, which is great news.
Stephen Rowley | Jan 11, 2009 | Reply
While I’m sure the live show kicked this dvd’s ass, it certainly was an enjoyable watch. I particularly loved the crafty costume changes in Howard’s big number. This is the sort of thing they should be showing kids in high school for political history education. They’ll be singing ‘Keating! Keating! Keating! Keating!’ all the way home!
RR | Jan 12, 2009 | Reply