Ride The Cyclone – REVIEW

True to its name, this odd little musical makes you feel like you are being pulled up a very steep incline, pausing precariously at the top before you begin free-falling through a winding, spiralling, rickety, bumpy ride. Ride The Cyclone is a novelty, a unique concept with some interesting ideas, but like the ill-fated car in the story, it can’t quite stay on the rails. 

Written by Canadians, Jacob Richmond & Brooke Maxwell, and set in Uranium City,  Saskatchewan (an actual place), Ride The Cyclone tells the story of five teenagers from St Cassian High who sing in the chamber choir.

During a visit to an amusement park, they all ride the Cyclone roller coaster and are all killed when faulty equipment causes the car to stall at the top of a loop before plummeting to the ground. 

This has already taken place when the musical begins and is explained through song and back references. We meet the teens while they are in limbo, still in uniform. A carnival fortune-telling machine at the side of the stage then addresses the teens, telling them she has the power to restore one person only to their former life on Earth. 

The teens will determine who is going to continue living; they will choose, through unanimous vote, based on presentations given by each. 

Meanwhile, a sixth teen in St Cassian uniform who has been hovering around since the beginning, joins the group. She was also killed on the roller coaster, but she was decapitated and no one came to claim her body. As a result, she was labelled Jane Doe. She has no memory of her life or who she really is.  

The teens are all very different personalities with diverse back stories, however they all tend to adhere to a trope. Ocean O’Connell (Karis Oka) Rosenberg is privileged, competitive, over-achieving, vain, and has a high instinct for self-preservation. 

Noel Gruber (Bailey Dunnage) is the very camp, gender-fluid gay boy with a glamorous alter ego. Ukrainian-born, Mischa Bachinski (Lincoln Elliott) was adopted as a near-adult by unsuspecting American parents and channels his issues through surliness and gangsta rap. 

Ricky Potts (Justin Gray) was rendered mute after a traumatic incident, but finds his voice again in death and transforms into rock star. Constance Blackwood (Mel O’Brien, alternating with Natalie Abbott) is sweet, acquiescent, everybody’s friend; the big girl with self-esteem issues. 

Creepiest of all, Jane Doe (Ava Madon) wanders around with a doll’s head to replace her decapitated one. She is sullen, mysterious, very much on the outer. 

The last character, as it were, is the mechanical fortune teller in a booth, voiced with velvety eloquence by Pamela Rabe. 

Despite astute direction by Richard Carroll, and musical direction by Victoria Falconer, Ride The Cyclone remains uneven due to the writing. It’s a difficult premise to get your head around, especially when it’s established from the get go. Though each character has their exposition moment, we never really get a chance to build rapport or even truly understand any of them. 

Those individual moments however, are impressive and each performer gets to show their chops and shine. 

Musically, it has a campy, glam-rock feel, reminiscent, in parts, of the Rocky Horror Show soundtrack. Each character’s song, though, is modelled on their personality and they cover a range of genres. 

The set design by Benjamin Brockman is clever, with rollercoaster rails forming a kind of cyclonic vortex. The rear of the stage features a circular screen onto which various videos are projected. Lighting by Ryan McDonald helps effect variation in the scenery. 

The choreography by Shannon Burns is fun and contributes to making the staging feel bigger than it is. 

Overall, this is a curious piece, quirky but also quite dark at times. It’s worth seeing for its uniqueness and especially for the quality of the performances. 

Until June 22

Hayes Theatre, 19 Greenknowe Ave, Elizabeth Bay

hayestheatre.com.au