What they said.......
Billy Elliot, the Musical
The Hornsby Advocate
AFTER all the hype preceeding the arrival of Billy Elliot the Musical, what's the verdict?
Well, the stage production lives up to the glowing prose that preceeded it and is better than the movie by Universal Pictures/Studio Canal Film.
In the film, the two story threads - a boy who aspires to join the Royal Ballet School and coalminers striking in Northern England in Thatcher's time - seem to run parallel.
But here, in this wonderfully entertaining theatrical production directed by Stephen Daldry, the plights of these contrasting characters are very much physically intertwined.
Choreographer Peter Darling has taken opportunities to juxtapose and use the hard-nosed miners and the police in scenes with the ballet girls and Billy, and as they move together their journeys converge and are enhanced.
Pink tutus collide with riot gear and the background to Billy's struggle comes to the fore as he throws himself against the line-up of men weiling shields and truncheons.
Sir Elton John's music is all encompassing, on a scale as grand as Les Miserables.
The first half of the musical brims with comedy. Grandma, played by Lola Nixon, is an absolute treat, a character who hides pasties in drawers.
The ineptitude of the ballet students has also been heightened to generate laughs.
Billy's dad, played by Leeds born Richard Piper, seems a softer, more engaging man, with a colourful tongue.
Genevieve Lemon simply lights up the stage in the central role of the chainsmoking ballet teacher and her array of mismatching outfits is a delight.
Justin Smith as Tony, and Lionel Haft as George, deserve applause, while 12-year-old Scott Eveleigh is outstanding in his professional debut as the singing, dancing, cross-dressing Micheal.
There were four boys chosen to play Billy in the Australian production: Melbourne based Lochlan Denholm and Rarmian Newton, Newcastle's Rhys Kosakowski and Sydney's Nick Twiney.
Last week Rarmian Newton had a chance to shine, bringing the house down with a standing ovation in the presence of Elton John.
The fresh faced 14-year-old student of the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School flew across the stage capturing Billy's youthful vigor and wild abandon.
He sang beautifully, tapped his heart out and channelled a range of emotions.
Rhys Kosakowski was due to perform the role at Thursday's premiere performance.
THE CANBERRA REVIEW
by Bill Stephens
SYDNEY is the first city outside London to see “Billy Elliott
– The Musical”, a superb musical adaptation of the popular film of the same
name.
With its inspirational story of a young boy who discovers a new world of
creativity outside the harsh realities of the turmoil on the British coalfields
during the bitter strikes of the ‘80s, this musical provides a surprisingly
satisfying evening of theatre that is grittier, funnier and even more inspiring
than its source material, and a compelling example of the power of the live
musical to move and excite when presented at this standard.
Stephen Daldry’s tight direction keeps the storytelling concise, and an
imaginative, fluid set design by Ian McNeil insures that the energy of the show
never flags. Elton John’s music resonates strongly with the atmosphere of
working-class culture, perfectly complemented by Lee Hall’s lyrics, whether
harsh or unashamedly sentimental, striking just the right chords with which to
move the audience.
Peter Darling’s inventive choreography, especially in the “Solidarity” number
where he weaves the angry miners in an out of the little girls’ dancing class,
and in the soaring pas de deux “Electricity”, in which Billy Elliot dances with
his imaginary older self, ex-Australian Ballet principal Joshua Horner, is
particularly memorable.
As the tough-but-tender dance teacher Mrs. Wilkinson, Genevieve Lemon is
magnificent, creating a character that is immediately believable and
interesting. There are also fine performances from Richard Piper as Dad, Lola
Nixon as Grandma and Lionel Haft as George.
But it is the children who, quite rightly, steal the show. At the performance I
saw, Lochlan Denholm played Billy Elliot in a remarkable performance in which he
not only sang and acted confidently, but also tossed off several incredibly
demanding dance numbers with all the aplomb of a seasoned professional.
As his cross-dressing friend Michael, Thomas Doherty was a real little charmer,
as was Shannon Jolliff, who, as the precocious Debbie Wilkinson, managed to draw
an audible gasp from the audience with one of her more memorable lines.
Be warned though, some may find the language, particularly from some of the
younger performers, rather more fruity than usually encountered in a musical,
but given the setting, this comes over as appropriate rather than gratuitous,
and remember to pack plenty of tissues, because despite its tough exterior
“Billy Elliot – The Musical” doesn’t hesitate to play unashamedly on the
heartstrings.
By Diana Simmonds - December 16th, 2007
Hey yiz! Dee ut noo: gan along ta Billy. It's a nee brainer
The children in the cast are rotated through sets of four (Billy and his key mates are almost constantly on stage throughout.) On the gala opening night in Sydney, Rhys Kosakowski was the boy whose turn had come to play Billy and he was sheer magic: an intelligent performer who already knows about nuance and the journey a character undertakes. The role calls for a boy who can sing, act and be a more than creditable ballet dancer - a huge ask and Kosakowski answered all questions and then some. According to reports, the other three Billys are all delightful in their different ways and each brings something unique to the show. It's an interesting challenge for the adults - and one which should keep them fresh and on their toes through 2008.
The adults, it must be said, more than hold their own under the onslaught of talented youth. In particular, the heartbreaker of the evening is Genevieve Lemon as Billy's hard-bitten dance teacher, Mrs Wilkinson. Lemon is one of Australia's best-known musical theatre performers as well as a high calibre actor and she brings everything she's ever known or done to the central role of the heart-of-gold and arse-of-brass principal of the no-hope village dance school. (Fifty pee for a Saturday morning session.) It's a dodgy call to suggest this is the finest performance she's ever given but it's possible: it's one of those rare conjunctions of character, script and performer where the collision makes something memorable.
Richard Piper (Dad), Lola Nixon (Grandma), Justin Smith (Tony) and George (Linal Haft) form the nucleus of Billy's family and the wider community of the village. All are tremendously solid and each grabs his or her showstopping moments with panache and sure ability. There's not a weak link to be seen in the company.
THE DAILY MAIL - UK
by Baz Bamigboye
Brilliant Billy's a dance of delight down under
Billy elliot is pure electricity in Sydney.
That the musical works outside the UK is a measure of the mastery behind the piece, created by Elton John and Lee Hall and sculpted in the highest traditions of musical theatre by director Stephen Daldry and choreographer Peter Darling.
But the real triumph is that the all-Australian cast of Billy Elliot at the Capital Theatre have made it their own.
The performances are not copycats of what was originated at the Victoria Palace. I can't deny that I had deep concerns about Sydney, having seen major musicals in the past reduced over here to exercises in hysterical over-acting.
Not this time. This Billy Elliot, and I'm Brilliant Billy's a dance of delight Down Under hesitating as I write this, is possibly even better than the London production.
That's not a slur. To be fair, the Capital Theatre is massive and this has allowed Billy Elliot room to breathe, with space for the company to electrify Darling's stupendous choreography.
What Daldry and Darling have done is build on what they created in London and cleverly shape it for the Sydney audience.
Plus, they are blessed with a tremendous Billy, played on opening night and at a preview I caught by a dynamo called Rhys Kosakowski, and an earthy Mrs Wilkinson, the dance teacher, played with gusto and heart by Genevieve Lemon. (Film buffs will know Ms Lemon from her work with director Jane Campion, especially Sweetie.)
The production achieved a moment of sheer ecstasy when Rhys danced the second act number Electricity.
The other show-stopping moment was Solidarity, where miners, police and little ballet girl dancers combine in one of the best staged numbers in current theatre.
Elton and Lee were delighted and needed no persuasion to don tutus and take a bow.
It was worth travelling to the other side of the world to see. Billy Elliot is still the best musical in London, but its Australian cousin is the best in the southern hemisphere. No worries about that.
VARIETY
For its international debut in Sydney ahead of a Broadway bow in fall 2008, London hit "Billy Elliot the Musical" has undergone a slight but significant makeover, with softer Thatcher themes, lighter Geordie accents and cranked-up joie de vivre. For Aussie auds this tuner will recall local Tap Dog Dein Perry's semi-biopic "Bootmen" in its portrayal of an artistic tyke struggling for acceptance in a grim working class town. That said, Stephen Daldry's "Billy" is an infinitely more affecting package, wrapped up with an extended, all-singing, all-dancing showcase finale.
Judging by the opening-night enthusiasm, "Billy Elliot" will enjoy a strong following in Oz, despite a national market awash with big musicals right now. "Monty Python's Spamalot" has just opened in Melbourne, where "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" is also playing. "Miss Saigon," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Rocky Horror Show" are touring nationally, and "Wicked" opens next year.
Despite the competition it makes sense that this West End hit should arrive in Oz in advance of Broadway given the political parallels between the U.K. and former colonial outpost Australia.
Among changes made since London are the inclusion of a striking shadow-dancing scene, occasionally glitzier staging, a softening of the political diatribes, a cranked-up angry dance and dismissal of the onstage judging panel at Billy's Royal Ballet School audition.
However, these tweaks are hardly noticeable as the tuner manages to maintain its anti-Tory heat while being thoroughly comprehensible to Aussie auds.
The tale is now familiar: Miner's son Billy swaps boxing for ballet in a Durham county village fraught with tension over the 1984 miners' strike that split the country between the working class and Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party revolutionaries.
This narrative template of an artist breaking through convention is hardly new to either film or musical theater, yet "Billy Elliot" connects with audiences through its empathetic portrayal of very nonshowbiz working class types, and by showcasing some very talented juniors. There's something quite magical about following the journey of a young teen through this kind of uplifting show.
Beyond Daldry's very theatrical staging, Lee Hall's expressive book and Elton John's erratic yet ultimately endearing music, the show will always stand -- or pirouette -- on the competency of its young leads, who supply much of the vitality.
One of five current Sydney alternates in the title role, Rhys Kosakowski is a knockout -- a particularly joyful and technically proficient dancer. The troupe of ballerinas are an exuberant bunch, and, like Kosakowski, they blossom in form and enthusiasm through the show.
As Billy's mischievous, occasionally cross-dressing pal, Michael, Landen Hale-Brown milks his role for all it's worth, much to the audience's delight. And the impact of the profanities spouting from the mouths of these babes was never likely to offend Oz sensibilities.
The older cast members are likeable but never likely to steal the show from the kids. Genevieve Lemon's Mrs. Wilkinson is a comic delight, although her moves are less than might be expected of a dance teacher. Richard Piper is underused as Billy's Dad. Ultimately, however, the ensemble is strong, with no weak links.
John's music is not as catchy as his score for "The Lion King," but he manages to make far more out of the normally dour protest-song genre and his big number, "Electricity," is, well, electric.
AUSTRALIAN STAGE
by James Waites - 14/12/07
Anyway
which way you look at it,
Billy Elliot the
Musical
is as timely as it is well made. Based on his own screenplay from the film of
the same name,
Lee Halls
has created a compelling book and lyrics which come alive at the keyboard of
Elton John’s
genuinely heartfelt composition. All that, in turn, is brought to life - a
dazzling combo of coals dust and glitter - in a staging by
Stephen Daldry
that is as richly imagined as it is, for the most part, understated. Meanwhile,
it is difficult to imagine this Australian production, which opened last night
at the Capitol in Sydney, being better realised.
As a contemporary musical,
Billy Elliot
kicks aside the narcissistic over-produced slop which has dominated Broadway and
the West End since composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber and producer Cameron Macintosh
joined forces a couple of decades back: emotionally manipulative formularism at
its most commercially relentless.
lnstead, this musical combines grunt realism with an inspiring fairytale
mythicism in a manner that shouts ‘artistic truth’, while
Daldry’s
succinct staging produces waves of ever-building emotional richness. I find this
production as honest and inspiring as I found Miss Saigon and Les Miserables
banal and flakey. (For more on this, see
my Blog
on this website next Monday).
For those who never saw director
Stephen
Daldry’s
superb film of the same name,
Billy Elliot
tells the story of a young boy from a northern English coal-mining town who
illicitly trades in his boxing gloves for ballet slippers. As close to a modern
fairy-tale as we can get, the story is so beautifully realised on screen it
takes on a timeless significance.
The action is set in a northern mining town near Durham during the infamous
coalminers’ strike of 1984/85. In this stage version, political depth is added
to the back story. And for good reason: the miners and police thus serve as a
chorus.
I happened to be in the Durham region around that time of strife and the
experience was unforgettably bleak: tense defiance on the part of the striking
miners (backed by decades of working-class tradition) against the ferocious will
of Margaret Thatcher’s Rightist government. Stage entertainment it might be, but
this production captures the feel of that gut-wrenching time.
We open with film footage of the actual strike and, in the end, the curtain goes
down on defeated miners descending back into their choking netherworld. While
avoiding dour naturalism, there is nothing coy about
Billy Elliot’s
portrayal of the community out of which the young boy himself emerges. The
language is sometimes as blue as it would have been on the streets and in homes
of the miners at the time. No holding back there.
This tough stuff serves as a lingering bass-note to the story of
Billy’s
triumph against such odds. Teary emotion and roller-coaster laughs, in turn, we
ride a theme that touches us all: whatever our origins, we have a right to
realise our dreams.
It’s not surprising
Elton John
responded so strongly to the film’s premiere screening in Cannes. As he has said
in interviews, the
Billy Elliot
narrative mirrors the struggles of his own early years.
Elton John
thus brings to the music a marvelous authenticity of impulse, which grows in
authority as the drama evolves. The film’s original screenwriter,
Lee Hall,
not only creates an excellent book but was encouraged by
Elton John
to write the lyrics. It’s lovely work and very well put together. There is fun
in it too. They even indulge in a few harmless in-jokes. Some may miss the
‘Wayne Sleep’ digs, but to those in the know they are good fun.
Peter Darling’s
evocative choreography weaves several stylistic strands including jazz,
vaudeville and classical ballet. Each represents a singular force in the story -
the cops, the workers, the older folk, the ‘bally girls’, fully evolved world of
the Royal Ballet. In itself, the dancing perhaps best vivifies the extent to
which complex themes in this musical are deftly realized.
We Aussies are good at musicals given half a chance. In this instance particular
acclaim must go to
Genevieve Lemon’s
indefatigable fag-puffing Geordie dance teacher.
Lemon
has always been an actress with a unique comic veneer, often under-pinned by a
chin-tossing sadness that suits this role to perfection. Good work from all the
main players. But best of all is the spirit of shared goodwill among the
ensemble, thus offering
Billy
a springboard from which to soar.
Being a musical, much of this version of the
Billy Elliot
legend is enacted in song as well as dance. So, in the lead role, we need more
than a talented dancer.
Rhys Kosakowski
certainly did not shy from the challenge of playing
Billy
on opening night. Enthralling to watch, his dancing was more than technically
adept. From grief and frustration to outright joy, the emotions underpinning his
movement also ran deep. And what an all-rounder! Just as his dancing is sleek
and potent,
Kosakowski’s
singing is tender and his acting true. It is astounding to think we have three
more
Billys,
possibly just as good, waiting in the wings to go on.
There is at least one ungainly point in the work. I share the view of at least
one London reviewer who baulked at a scene where
Billy
and his mate
Michael
dress up in women’s clothes - despite
Michael’s
hilarious claim that his father does it all the time. Even Aiden, an
eight-year-old nephew who attended opening night with me, baulked at this: in
his own instinctual way he found it unconvincing.
The scene is probably there to counter-pose the prevailing idea that just
because you’re a ‘balley dancer’ doesn’t mean you’re gay. The fact is often you
are gay - and so that’s okay too! But the scene is so overloaded with message
the result is oddly ambiguous. That said,
Landen Hale-Brown
(who played
Michael
on opening night) turned in one of the most exuberant performances of the
evening.
Others have not been convinced by the ‘vaudeville-style’ opening of the second
act. But this is small beer.
If you have an interest in stage-craft observe the closing scenes. Unfortunately
the Capitol does not enjoy a centre aisle, so our
Billy
must exit less dramatically
along a side wall of the auditorium. Nothing much can be done about this, though
one can imagine the effect of
Billy’s
central-aisle exit on the hushed first-night audience in London. All is not
lost. It’s meant it be a quiet moment anyhow, before the production turns itself
on a pin to deliver one of the most high-spirited high-kicking, all-fun finales
ever concocted. You exit this one singing the applause!
In the way all great musicals capture the spirit of the times, this one comes
along in the wake of Margaret Thatcher and John Howard to remind us that we do
not have to succumb to their versions of numbing class-slavery. With a bit o'
chutzpah and a little help from friends we can all be whoever we want to be and,
in our own way, achieve great things. Maxine McKew noted this week: there’s much
to be said for timing. The premiere of Australia’s own
Billy Elliot the
Musical
helps herald in a new ‘can-do’ zeitgeist. Well,
thank whomever you wish, at least it’s no longer pointless wanting to try.
ANGELS IN THE CITY - The Genevieve Lemon Band
A review by Ron Colone. (Columnist Santa Ynez Valley News, producer of the acclaimed US concert series "Tales From The Tavern")
I have sort of an unusual filing system for my CDs. Most of the rock and pop records, including the blues and reggae CDs, are filed alphabetically, except for Dylan and the Beatles, who each get their own section; same thing with my jazz and classical music records. And then there's a whole separate shelf for the CDs I listen to most often. After the third time of listening through Genevieve Lemon's Angels in the City CD, it was clear to me that I'd be keeping it on the shelf with the CDs I listen to the most.
I love everything about this record - from the song selections, to the arrangements, to the performances, to the production. All of it, together, makes Angels in the City an extremely listenable CD.
Lemon and her band take songs we're intimately familiar with, from popular hits like "Downtown," "Walk on the Wild Side" and "In the Arms of the Angels" to gems like "Blue Sky Mine" and "Tom Traubert's Blues," and they turn them into something new and exhilarating. The approach is fresh and wonderfully musical, and the result is a purely delightful record.
Recorded live at the Sydney Opera House in 1999, Angels showcases Lemon's vocals, which go from sweet one moment to sassy the next, from powerful to playful, and it features a band of brilliant musicians performing together for the first time as a group. Together, these Angels weave an aural tapestry that leaves the listener to marvel at its richness. Angels in the City was produced by Colin Wilson, mixed by Wilson and Tony King in Bondi Beach, Australia, and mastered by Lazerus in Burbank, Calif.
While Genevieve Lemon may be best known as an actress who has appeared in many roles in film and television, Angels in the City bolsters her standing as an outstanding musical performer and exceptional interpreter of songs.
Grade: A
(on a scale of A through E, with A being the highest)
Jane Campion.
.......these songs make you feel human......Genevieve is one the great interpreters........
Her voice is a dream.
Kerrie Biddell - Australian Jazz Legend
Genevieve Lemon is an utterly instinctive singer - her
musicality almost unerringly leads her from one good idea to another.
On this live outing she shows us her sincerity, vulnerability, strength, humour
and creativity. She has chosen her fellow travellers on this project with great
intelligence.
OK, I admit it - I'm a huge fan of this tremendously musical artist.
PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT - Lyric Theatre, Star City, Sydney
The Bulletin
By Leo Schofield
.......the show moves along at a cracking pace, sustained by two glorious performances, from Tony Sheldon as Bernadette and Genevieve Lemon who ( from the unpromising material of a single song and a few words) carves a glorious cameo of a daggy country pub proprietor........
Manly Dailey
by Lisa Muxworthy
....it was Genevieve Lemon who almost stole the showwith her version of a Broken Hill pub owner named Shirley...
Daily Telegraph
by Simon Ferguson
....Genevieve Lemon is brilliant as the pub owner and a big song and dance version of "I love the Nightlife" goes down a treat....
Urban Cinefile: 12/10/06
Trevor Ashley (as Miss Understanding) and Genevieve Lemon (as Shirley) are both outstanding .......
Pinkboard.com
.......other highlights being Genevieve Lemon's tits......
TORCHERED - Woodfire Cabaret, Sydney
Cabaret Hotline
by David Schwartz
....Miss Lemon makes the torch song an art form....
LEMON TART - Statement Cabaret Lounge, Sydney
Cabaret News
Lemon Tart showed how eclectic cabaret can be with a high energy show bursting with great songs and the wonderful voices of Genevieve Lemon and brothers Josh Quong Tart and Byron Tart! Not to mention Colin Wilson on guitars and Brendan St Ledger on piano and keys..... a great show...... look out for them...
Jenny Morris
Out of control....pushes the boundaries of good taste and bad....Altogether - unmissable.
Michael Idato - Sydney Morning Herald
Delightfully impertinent and acoustically delightful. Lemon tart is better than almost anything on TV.
SUBURBAN MAYHEM -Paul Goldman film
Nine MSN Movies. 15/11/06
......though all attention goes to Barclay, Genevieve Lemon is a scene-stealer as Auntie Dianne........
M/C Reviews: 25/10/06
By Michael Dalton
......if there’s a supporting role here that shines like a beacon it's Lemon (also nominated) as Aunty Dianne. When we first meet her she’s wandering her suburban haven as a title card introduces her. Effortlessly she takes us inside her perceptions of the events past and future and brings strength to the piece; it’s a great comfort as Suburban Mayhem unfolds that Aunty Dianne has us by the hand.
Adalita Srsen from Magic Dirt being interviewed in Time
Off .
......Genevieve Lemon is fantastic.....
ABC Movietime Review
26/10/06
......there is some very fine acting in this film. Michael Dorman as Katrina's exasperated, devoted boyfriend Rusty injects a note of surprising sweetness into the drama. Anthony Hayes as the intellectually challenged Kenny, Steve Bastoni as detective sergeant Andretti, Robert Morgan as Katrina's father John and Genevieve Lemon as Dianne, the neighbour who is John's long-suffering friend, are all exemplary. It is a cast totally in tune with the story the film has to tell, and with each other. Each character is deftly painted. Each has their reasons.......
SOFT FRUIT - Christina Andreef Film
NEW YORK TIMES
March 17, 2000
By A. O. SCOTT
''Soft Fruit'' is, in some ways, a fairly conventional story of family dysfunction, comical at some moments, poignant at others, full of perplexity at how people who love one another so much can treat one another so badly, and vice versa. Its phylum includes movies as diverse in quality and mood as ''Parenthood,'' ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' and ''Once Around,'' and its closest Hollywood cousin is probably Jodie Foster's ''Home for the Holidays.''
But ''Soft Fruit'' comes from Australia, where water runs clockwise down the drain and where, in recent years, a distinctive style of filmmaking, marked at once by uncompromising realism and by breathtaking imaginative wildness, has taken hold. The godmother of this style is probably the New Zealander Jane Campion, who is credited as the executive producer of ''Soft Fruit'' and is something of a tutelary spirit as well.
''Soft Fruit'' shares with ''Sweetie,'' Ms. Campion's 1989 study of domestic monstrosity, as well as with such provincial antipodal slice-of-life comic melodramas as ''Muriel's Wedding,'' a commitment to showing human beings as they are, which is often highly unpleasant. Christina Andreef, directing her first feature from her own script, has assembled a heroically ordinary-looking cast. Her patient camera observes them as they snore, bicker, clean their fingernails, fold the laundry and dream.
Genevieve Lemon, whose portrayal of the title character in ''Sweetie'' was an act of terrifying cinematic bravery, appears here as Josie, the eldest of three sisters who have returned home to attend to their dying mother, Patsy (Jeanie Drynan, who played the melancholy mom in ''Muriel's Wedding''). Josie, who blows in from San Diego, children in tow, like the head of a United States Marine invasion force, is bossy and repressed. Her youngest sister, Vera (Alicia Talbot), is insecure and depressive.
In the middle is Nadia (Sacha Horler), a wild, impetuous vulnerable spirit. Recently divorced, she still meets her ex-husband for motel sex and sneaks away from her family to masturbate in the front seat of her car, where Josie inevitably catches her.
Sharing what remains of the screen with these four impressively large women -- at least three of whom are also clearly actresses of formidable range and power -- are the men of the family: Vic (Linal Haft), the irascible Slavic patriarch, and Bo (Russell Dykstra), his troubled ex-convict son. Father, son and sisters, none of whom can tolerate much of one another's company, do their best to minister to Patsy's whims and caprices as she slowly loses vigor and lucidity. In spare moments they bicker, fold laundry and seethe with regret.
The general talent and dedication of the ensemble mitigate the script's occasional lapses into sentimentality and noisy confrontation. Some of the characters, Vic and Josie in particular, are too solidly grounded on a fixed set of overemphasized attributes. But Mr. Haft and Ms. Lemon are performers who can draw nuances from the air around them, and they manage to hint at undertones of tenderness and regret beneath the dominant tones of anger and repression.
Mr. Dykstra and Ms. Horler, as Vic and Patsy's angry, reckless children, give the film a needed infusion of humor and spite. ''Soft Fruit'' belongs, however, to the divine Ms. Drynan, who plays a dying, unfulfilled, ordinary woman without embellishment or overstatement but with mischievous reserve and surprising sensuality. Patsy is simultaneously dying and coming alive for the first time. Ms. Drynan's radiance illuminates the other characters and allows us to see them as they are: cruel, repellent, damaged, stupid and beautiful.
SWEETIE - Jane Campion Film
DVD Verdict
By Bill Gibron
The cast here is truly amazing, doing something that few films
and actors even attempt. Campion has purposefully created individuals that walk
the fine line between empathy and ennui, likeability and loathing, and
constantly causes them to cross back and forth between the two extremes.
.........
........... Geneviève Lemon, required to do most of her acting with her eyes ........ finds the sad soul inside this spoiled sow, and manages to make us care even as Sweetie continually makes us cringe.............
DVD Savant
DVDtalk.com
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Geneviève Lemon's Sweetie is a simply terrific character, an
unmanageable disaster that anchors the film in the real world of tangled
relationships and responsibilities.
DVDTOWN
By Christopher Long
Genevieve Lemon´s performance is also an essential ingredient in the film´s
success. She could simply indulge herself, and create an unfettered wild-child,
but Sweetie is something more complex. She is innocent yet cunning as hell, and
Lemon plays both sides of this conflicted personality quite plausibly. For all
of Sweetie´s quirks and temper tantrums, she never becomes either a freak show
or a helpless victim. Sweetie may be a free spirit, but that same freedom
shackles the very people that love her because, well, they love her, and have to
indulge her endless whims. She´s a far cry from Giulietta Masina´s wide-eyed,
whimpering puppy dog in "La Strada."
Amazon.com
Editorial reviews
By
Trinie Dalton
......Campions best film......
Spotlight reviews
Genevieve Lemon as Sweetie really steals the film with an incredible
performance....
Pheonix Cinema
By K.Harris.
....Part of the joy of seeing "Sweetie"
for the first time was having no expectations. The film surprised me in every
regard--it's wickedly funny, yet horrifying and moving at the same time. A few
years ago, I found it again and I made my friends watch it, too. I was concerned
it might not hold up to memory, but that feeling was short-lived as soon as the
wondrous Genevieve Lemon came onscreen as Sweetie......
Sweetie -the Criterion edition
Reel.com
DVD review By
Ken Dubois
.......The two leads in Sweetie, Genevieve Lemon and Karen Colston, appear in
the DVD feature "Making Sweetie," and it's great to hear their perspectives and
see the similarities they share with their characters. Lemon, while not as
bizarre as Sweetie, does seem to be a bit nutty, and she dominated the Sweetie
set with her outrageous personality. And Colston objected, as the character of
Kay might, when Lemon called out, during shooting, "Show of hands: Who likes
ME?" At one point, Lemon's five-year-old costar asked her sincerely, "Are you an
adult?".........
Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
“......Lemon's performance is something to behold.......”
Writer/director Jane Campion garnered worldwide attention at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival with her first full-length feature, the alternately whimsical and disturbing Sweetie. This color-saturated tale of two sisters -- the reserved, deliberate Kay (Karen Colston) and the uninhibited, childlike Sweetie (Genevieve Lemon) -- divided critics on its release, as it established many of the motifs that Campion would explore in her subsequent successes, An Angel at My Table and The Piano. When the film begins, Kay's sad-sack demeanor and passive behavior appear to be dissolving as she starts to take control of her life -- that is, until the younger Sweetie turns up on her doorstep. Lemon's performance is something to behold: She's a pale, fleshy Freudian nightmare in heavy eye makeup, prone to histrionics and sly turns of seduction. Without resorting to textbook feminist indictments of male culture, the film charts the havoc a husband's indifference and a father's misguided attention can play on the emotional development of two very different women. Campion would later use Lemon in The Piano and Holy Smoke.
New York Times
By Vincent Canby
Ms. Campion has played the Cannes game before. She appreciates the difference between a festival and real life, gossip and fact. "The Peek," her first short film, won the top prize at the 1986 festival; and "Sweetie," her first feature, was the anti-establishment favorite at the 1989 festival, which completely ignored the film when the prizes were given out.
"I still don't understand why 'Sweetie' got up so many peoples' noses," she said the other day. She wasn't angry, only puzzled in the way of someone who wonders why a cabdriver has been rude. "Sweetie," a loser at Cannes, went on to win the prestigious Georges Sadoul Prize as the best foreign film of the year in France and to become a box-office success both here and in the United States. Yet those who didn't like "Sweetie" tended to loathe it. One possible reason: the seemingly chilly distance the film maker keeps between herself and her tale, an alternately hilarious and melancholy examination of the relationship between two middle-class Australian sisters.
Audiences that want to be led by the hand through conventional movies didn't know how to deal with "Sweetie." They resented the freedom of having to find their way in a world that looks familiar but is just a little too brightly lighted to be entirely sane, a world where love exists but is often expressed with a ferocity that alienates.
The Chicago Reader
By Jonathan Rosenbaum
........... Campion did her own casting for Sweetie, and none of the actors she picked had ever acted in a feature film before. If we’re lucky, we may see some of them again, but in many cases–particularly those of Genevieve Lemon as Sweetie, Tom Lycos as Louis, and Jon Darling as Gordon–their achievement is so remarkable that it’s nearly impossible to imagine them in other parts. The depth of characterization is partially present in the script, but what these actors add to their roles, in small gestures and broad strokes alike, brings them alive with a vibrancy possessed by few contemporary screen characters; their lives seem to extend beyond the borders of both the story and the screen........
MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE -
Australian Tour
AMR Mail , Margaret River WA
.....irresistibly funny......
.....exceptionally talented and versatile.....
.....achingly funny......
The West Australian
By Pier Leach
On a bare stage with a backdrop so simple it could be a primary school production, Lemon occupies the space with a grounded and genial authority, alone, yet filling it with the people who populate her story...
The Courier Mail, Brisbane Qld
by Sandra McLean
...the laughs come easily for Lemon who is an accomplished comedian, accustomed to sharp cabaret and witty stand-up......
...so effective as Englishwoman, Angela.......
SUMMER RAIN - Sydney Theatre Company
The Sun-Herald
by Colin Rose
....my favourite (song) is the blues- tinged "Abracadabra Man", beautifully sung by Genevieve Lemon..
Sunday Telegraph
21/08/05
....stellar cast led by a brilliant Genevieve Lemon....
Sydney Morning Herald
by Bryce Hallet
....Genevieve Lemon is at her sassy, exuberant best as Ruby Slocum.....
....memorably dry witted and zestful......
The Programme: Reviews
By Sally salmond
...Genevieve Lemon and Jodie Gillies steal the show with their sassy duet ....
PIAF - Melbourne Theatre Company
The Australian
by Pam Gems
....Genevieve Lemon is a riot......
The Wharf Revue -Sydney Theatre Company
The Programme: Reviews
By Antoinette Collins
Good Australian political satire is most definitely an endangered species. It may even become extinct if the Federal Government has its way and sedition laws make their appearance felt - aiming to protect us from the evil terror of laughing at our elected representatives, of course. So it’s under this terrifying spectre of gravity that we see some of the best and cleverest satire in the latest outing of the Sydney Theatre Company Wharf Revue called Stuff All Happens....
......the team of Drew Forsythe, Jonathan Biggins, Genevieve Lemon and Phillip Scott are impeccable in their portrayals of our most beloved pollies
....It’s a simple
format done well and in these increasingly crazy and disturbing times, it’s nice
to see that satire can still manage to appear with such biting humour. Let’s
hope that this isn’t the last of an already dying species.