Doctor Zhivago - Full cast list, Understudies and Opening Night Review

Full cast list:

Yurii Zhivago: Anthony Warlow
Lara: Lucy Maunder
Tonia: Taneel Van Zyl
Alex: Peter Carroll
Anna: Trisha Noble
Komarovsky: Bartholomew John
Pasha/Strelnikov: Martin Crewes

Ensemble: Johanna Allen, Anton Berezin, Caitlin Berry, Tony Cogin, Mischana Delorra Cornish, Tony Farrell, Natalie Gamsu, Todd Goddard, Frank Hansen, Glenn Hill, Luke Joslin, Todd Keys, Kathleen Moore, Shaun Murphy, Stephanie Silcock, Annie Standford, Jamie Ward, Jamie Way, Belinda Wollaston
Swings: Gavin D. Andrew, Emma Hawthorne, Elisa McCann, Chris Scalzo

Understudies:
Zhivago: Anton Berezin, Tony Farrell
Lara: Belinda Wollaston, Kathleen Moore
Tonia: Johanna Allen, Caitlin Berry
Alex: Todd Goddard, Tony Cogin
Anna: Annie Stanford, Natalie Gamsu
Komarovsky: Tony Cogin, Todd Keys
Pasha/Strelnikov: Frank Hansen, Anton Berezin

Doctor Zhivago Review: Thursday April 14 at Her Majesty's Theatre

Doctor Zhivago shows a lot of promise. It is the biggest musical to come out of Australia since Priscilla and has a bright future ahead of itself.
Musically, the show is breathtaking. A very polished score really is the star of the show, expertly handled by Musical Director Kellie Dickerson. Songs like Now and One Love are dangerously infectious. The show's costuming is perfect and sets add a whole new dimension to the stage of Her Majesty's. The only exception to this is the clunky metal apparatus that is used as varying elements of the set, including the train. A raked stage is also somewhat of a novelty nowadays.
Another highlight is the performances of the ensemble. Engaged and fully dedicated to their performances, the ensemble are a treat. Particular standouts include Johanna Allen, Anton Berezin and Jamie Ward.


Yet it is not without it's faults.

While the music is breathtaking, the book is clunky at best. Beautiful musical moments are ruined with the introduction of forced and messy dialogue. An awkward silence contributes to this feeling, as there is hardly ever music underscoring the dialogue.

There was also the occasional doubling up of information and messy scenery. For example [and the following may need a spoiler alert]
Zhivago and Lara are set up in a desolate house. They fade into blackout as in the background of the house, a significant member of the Red Army is sentenced to death, with no reaction or interaction from him. We then cut back to Lara and Zhivago, where another character enters to reveal the same information that we have just seen. Instead of the messy staging, the 'trial' section could just be cut. This could also help to cut down the very long running time - 3 hours including interval on Opening Night.

Another problem with the show is the character of Lara. What should be a highly complex and passionate character, full with emotional turmoil and energy, falls flat. A character like Lara needs a very strong actress in order to do her justice. Unfortunately in this production, a combination of a standard voice tone and delivery and one attitude give the character a very one-dimensional and not very likeable characterisation.

The show also struggles from inconsistency with accents. Performers have apparently been told to use neutral accents, so as a result we have a combination of English, American and Australian accents the performers use intermittently.

A final problem with the show is it does set itself up for a Producers or Adams Family-like curse. The producers make it no secret that this show is a star vehicle for Warlow, who is in turn the star attraction. On stage for basically the entire 2.75 hour running time, it will take a very special performer to fill Warlow's shoes, should he not be able or willing to play the role in the future. Considering how much of a struggle Australian producers had finding a Mary Poppins, the task of finding say 2 Zhivagos for West End and Broadway would be a near impossible task.
should an new international production occur

Overall, a 3/5 rating.

Doctor Zhivago, now playing at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne for another 11 weeks, before transferring to Brisbane, then to Korea and possibly The West End.