Here we have a new Australian musical that I wanted to embrace, but I struggled with.
Most of it is set in a traditional Irish/American bar, called Flannigan’s, in Fresno, California.
It is operated by Sam (Douglas Rintoul), who took it over from his dad.
His only employee appears to be his best mate, JJ (Jackson Cross), who is drinking far too much after a shattering break up with his girlfriend less than a month ago.
Photos by Shane Palmer
The pub regulars encourage JJ to “get back on the horse”.
That ends up happening by accident when a patron who left her purse at the bar comes to collect it.
Her name is Amy (Naomi Leigh). She is a budding singer/songwriter who has lost all confidence after a scathing newspaper review, which questioned her talent.
Amy works in a café, where she is perpetually late, but her friend Skye (Cassidy Capraro) implores her to ignore the journalist’s opinion and follow her passion.
When JJ and Amy get together, everything is looking up for both.
But then a new, ruthless player moves into the same neighbourhood as Flannigan’s and eats heavily into the Irish/American bar’s clientele.
That is when relationships are put to the test and the result is far from pretty.
First up, I thought that Fresno’s plot line lacked enough substance. In short, it was wafer thin, simplistic and obvious.
As a result, the production – two hours, including interval – felt stretched.
Mind you, I did enjoy several of the more melodious songs.
While generally the 11-strong cast displayed a great deal of enthusiasm, the musical and acting talent on display was patchy.
(Plaudits though for both musicality and acting to Douglas Rintoul and for her singing to Naomi Leigh.)
There were a number of performers who pushed far too hard and that quickly became difficult to watch.
Then there were others that took it too easily. I felt they were subjugated.
There is also one offensive line in the script that needs to be removed.
It may have been planted as a joke by writers Josh Connell*, Jeremy Harland* and James Greaves (I presume it was), but it goes down like a lead balloon.
It is delivered by a character painted as loud and inappropriate among the bar patrons and directed at JJ before he latches onto Amy.
The comment is in relation to JJ’s next choice of girlfriend.
The line reads: “Make sure she is not a vegan or a Jew.”
Put simply, you can’t and shouldn’t reference any religion that way.
And it is followed up by another line from the same character who tries to justify the remark by saying that his aunt is Jewish.
I am afraid that doesn’t make the initial barb any more acceptable, now or ever.
And that is not even taking into consideration the fact that antisemitism is running rife at present.
Onto other matters:
Not all the transitions between scenes worked as seamlessly as would have been desirable.
Further, in the scene following the opening – which sets out the rules of Flannigan’s – there were too many pregnant pauses in the interaction between Sam and JJ.
A couple of highlights included a quick tap-dancing routine and an unexpected and very clever puppetry piece.
The choreography by Sophie Graham-Jones around the few dance numbers was sound enough, as was the endeavour of the three-piece band.
To summarise then, Fresno has potential to improve once it beds in, but it still needs much more work to be considered more than lightweight, throwaway fare.
It is playing at Chapel Off Chapel until 2nd March, 2025.
*Josh Connell is also co-director and musical director, while Jeremy Harland is also co-director.
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