[title of show]  [title of show] is “a musi­cal about two guys writ­ing a musi­cal about two guys writ­ing a musi­cal”. First per­formed in 2004 it was nom­i­nat­ed for a Tony Award for Best Book of a Show in 2008. Ener­gy The­atre have giv­en it a live­ly NZ pre­miere.

There’s a table to one side of the stage which is lit dur­ing the scene changes as an answer phone mes­sage plays. Lar­ry the pianist (Hay­den Tay­lor, also musi­cal direc­tor) is on the oppo­site side of the stage. There are four chairs for the singers.   Oth­er­wise the large space is bare.  Direc­tor Tabitha Arthur and dance coach Sam McLeod make great use of the space. They send the singers to oppo­site sides of the stage, right down to the front and up to the back. Light­ing (by John Mahan) accen­tu­ates the nar­ra­tive. The singers wear sim­ple cos­tumes with great lit­tle details — badges and bracelets. (Cos­tumes by Louisa Pater­son.)

William Duig­nan and Way­lon Edwards play the two men (Hunter and Jeff) writ­ing a musi­cal. Duig­nan has a light voice which can be too qui­et at some points. His phys­i­cal­i­ty is good — when he slumps in frus­tra­tion I know exact­ly what he means.  Edwards has a stronger voice and is nice­ly under­stat­ed.  (Although, I’m afraid I had a gig­gle fit dur­ing one of his pos­es in Die Vam­pire Die.)  Sarah Andrews Reynolds and Mary­Louise Thomas play the two friends (Susan and Hei­di) roped in to help cre­ate the show. Andrews Reynolds has a real belt­ing voice which she com­bines with fan­tas­tic phys­i­cal com­e­dy. Thomas’s voice is sweet­er and she’s par­tic­u­lar­ly love­ly dur­ing her solo. Tay­lor is almost hid­den in the dark but he pro­vides some great com­ic moments. They work well as an ensem­ble.

Hilar­i­ous musi­cal fun.