Review - "Moonshadow" the Musical

Currently playing at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne
http://www.moonshadowthemusical.com.au/

When I was a teenager I enjoyed the music of Cat Stevens, and was somewhat dismayed when he became Yusuf Islam and left his musical career behind. In recent years he has become just "Yusuf" and resumed his life as a performer in various ways. I was somewhat sceptical when, together with his co-writers he developed the musical "Moonshadow" as a 'feel-good' story showcasing the music of Cat Stevens. I had originally decided not to attend, but was offered a ticket as a birthday present. In the end I felt badly disappointed and wished that I had not accepted this kind offer.

I must preface this review by stating 'up front' that I am not a big fan of musicals, so they have to be truly exceptional for me to enjoy them. As someone who is a choral performer, I generally get a lot more pleasure from performing than sitting still and listening.

"Moonshadow" is decribed as "a life-long dream of its producer, Cat Stevens" which weaves forty of his songs (old and new) in some way into the production. It is a "magical story with themes that are both powerful and universal. It is about hopes and dreams, greed and power, right and wrong, but most importantly Moonshadow is about finding happiness and love".

The young performers playing the key roles of Lisa, Stormy and Patrick did an excellent job. For me Patrick was the stand-out performer, with a great voice and charisma and stand-out moves. He doesn't get the girl in the end but I felt that he deserved to!

The parents of Lisa and Stormy were also sensitively portrayed by older performers and were quite believable.

The sets, costuming and stage management were well done. It is interesting with the costuming that there are women and men with both covered and uncovered heads, and I wonder if this was a cultural tribute. There was a live band in the orchestra pit, but I felt a lot of the time the bass aspect predominated. The whole show started with a very strange synthesiser introduction. One thing that really 'bugs me' is that so many Australian performers insist on singing with an American accent rather than a more neutral accent. It grates, like fingers on a blackboard (a concept which is perhaps unfamiliar to a whole generation!).

Off-stage at various times we see the black and white "good shadows" (one of whom has a long white beard, looking not unlike Yusuf himself), and Moonshadow is sent as their emissary to Stormy, 'the chosen one', to assist him on his journey to rid the world of darkness. Moonshadow was perhaps the greatest disappointment. In short, despite being on stilts and towering over everyone else, he was a 'wimp', with insufficient persuasive powers over Stormy, who for most of the production is a "boy behaving badly".

In terms of the synopsis, parts of which are surely an allegory for Yusuf's own journey through life, we are introduced to a world where darkness is the norm and daylight is just a memory (not unlike the Norse 'Age of Ragnarok' where the wolf has swallowed the sun). Lisa and Stormy (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Julian Assange with a shock of white hair) were childhood sweethearts, and Stormy has a dream of finding the light and bringing it back to the world. He gives a picture of a tree bathed in golden light to Lisa, and she gives him a pendant worn by her late mother. They both promise to stay true to the dream. While Stormy remains in town, Lisa is sent away by her father to live with her aunt. She only returns after her aunt's death, and Stormy is reminded of his feelings for her, but Lisa's father has plans for her to marry Patrick, the son of Mr Matthew ("Matthew and Son").

For some unknown reason, although they live across the street from each other, Lisa's father and Stormy's father have developed a dislike for each other (although the two mothers were secretly friends). Mr Matthew seems to be the only one in town with any money, and Stormy's father derives their living by selling coffee and coffee beans. This is one of the humourous aspects of the production.

After Moonshadow appears to Stormy and informs him of his destiny as 'the chosen one', Stormy decides that "I know I have to go" and sets off on a journey of redemption to try to find the light. We are given the impression that this is a quest with a higher purpose, not unlike the search for the Holy Grail. However, Stormy is no Frodo, and things go downhill from here. The production wanders aimlessly over the next few scenes. Stormy finds a market in the country, ends up playing the guitar to an enthusiastic audience but shortly after Moonshadow essentially says "quit while you are ahead", someone gets robbed, the crowd blames Stormy, he gets beaten up and gets taken to the "House of the Half-Dead". With Moonshadow's help (after a quick prayer, perhaps another personal inclusion for Yusuf) he escapes, and then wanders off into a forest, where he encounters the evil Princess Zeena, who promises him what he has always been dreaming of.

At this point he conveniently forgets about those he has left behind - his parents and the love of his life, Lisa. A troupe of hippies wander along, and they seem to be on a bit of a 'trip', another clever allusion to the "sex, drugs and rock'n'roll" lifestyle of the 1970s. Stormy gets a new cloak, a new electric guitar and a lot of attention from the girls. Princess Zeena takes him to her home in the clouds, laughing all the way (and it is pretty clear that she has some barely-disguised evil intent). Interval arrives, and I am bored. I cannot see the point of the drawn-out previous few scenes, and feel disappointed that Stormy has been so quick to forget his mission and those that he loves.

After interval, the story is wrapped up with breath-taking speed. Moonshadow 'breaks the rules' and touches a mirror to try to help Stormy to "see himself". As a result, he begins to be visible to people other than just Stormy, incuding Zena. Before long, we see Stormy trapped in a cage, Zeena managing a factory that looks a lot like what we would expect Hell to be, and Moonshadow about to be extinguished by Zeena, who laughs maniacally, looking forward to stealing the last bit of light from the world. Mr Matthew also seems to be a collaborator.

Suddenly Stormy is free, running along a bridge with flames on either side. It was pretty unclear how this has happened, along with Moonshadow's reappearance. Stormy sees a vision of his future son, and somehow his reaction to this leads to the light being restored to the world. Then Stormy as 'the prodigal son' rides back into town, just as Lisa is about to be married to Patrick. In Stormy's absence Lisa's father and his father have resolved their differences.

The second-half of the plot seemed quite unsatisfactory, and was concluded with indecent haste. In the all-singing and dancing conclusion, Lisa and Stormy are reunited, light is returned to the world, and it seems that there is hope for the future for everyone. Even the jilted Patrick does not seem too unhappy. There is a touching cameo by the young Lisa and Stormy, singing "Morning has broken".

This is a production that promises so much but delivers so little. Although the music is timeless, the treatment of it was often not ideal and detracted from the enjoyment of familiar tunes. However, the greatest barrier to enjoyment is the gaping holes in the plot and to my mind Stormy did not do enough to redeem himself and at no point asks for forgiveness from those he betrayed. Patrick had worked hard to win Lisa's love, and obviously genuinely cares about her, but is instantly cast aside when Stormy returns. I felt empty at the end. It would have been much more meaningful (and genuine) to see Yusuf himself in concert.

I can't recommend it, but perhaps it would appeal to less-discerning young audiences or family groups. The musical was given its world premiere in Melbourne, so it will be interesting to see where it goes next.

A variety of souvenirs are available and are reasonably priced.