CATERPILLAR EYEBROW ARCH – ⭐⭐⭐
The Drama
Kevin is a man struggling with life.
His boyfriend, Jeremy, is ghosting him. The flame appears to be dying out.
He yearns to be a stand-up comedian, but his dreams have stalled.
And – as if losing love and livelihood were not enough – we’re in the middle of the COVID-19 lockdowns and Kevin has been reduced to living in the attic above his childhood home. He has to enter his humiliating abode, through the window, via a ladder. His parents provide food, and other necessities, via a basket attached to a pulley.
Starved of love, purpose and human interaction, there’s only one person who can jolt Kevin from his moribund morbidity and serve him a long overdue cup of ambition…Dolly Parton and her cavalcade of raucous country hits!
A Clever Jukebox Musical
Jukebox musicals are popular because they don’t require the writers to produce new songs and the audience generally knows exactly what they are going to get. Hit song after hit song written or performed by the artist or group featured in the story.
Jersey Boys was probably the first jukebox musical I’ve ever seen. The exquisite Beautiful: The Carole King Musical took the artful to another level. And, more recently, MJ: The Musical had me tapping my toes, mouthing the words and dancing (kind of) in my seat!
But Here You Come Again twisted the formula somewhat.
Typically, the songs in a jukebox musical are used as plot points or emotional pivots to explain the rise (and, sometimes, fall) of the subject artist/s.
The writers of Here You Come Again took a different approach.
Rather than use Dolly’s songs to tell the Dolly Parton story, this jukebox musical focuses on a devoted fan, in Kevin, and tells an endearing story about how his relationship with Dolly, and her music, helps him through a tough period in his life.
The biggest tribute I can pay the writers is to say that you could remove the songs and you’d still have an engaging stage play worth watching.
Having paid that tribute, I should name-check them.
Here You Come Again was co-written by Bruce Vilanch, Gabriel Barre and Tricia Paoluccio (who also plays Dolly). I tip my hat to them and also to Fiona Harris and Mike McLeish who did a splendid job adapting the original script by adding Australian content for the local audience.
Two Terrific Performances
Of course, a two-hander like this one – with these two islands in a lockdown dream – only works if the actors playing the two leading roles deliver.
In this instance, Dash Kruck was magnificent in the role of Kevin. Funny, engaging and full of energy, Kruck held my attention throughout the two-hour run-time, which is no easy feat when you’re playing opposite an actress, in Tricia Paoluccio, who completely embodies Dolly Parton, from her quaint Southern accent to her homely sense of wholesome, boot-scootin’ humour.
What My Eyebrows Told Me
When I arrived at the Theatre Royal, my eyebrows were in a Low Arch. I knew three, maybe four, Dolly Parton songs. I had zero expectations.
By the time I left, this unexpected, heartwarming story, punctuated by Dolly’s greatest hits, had my eyebrows in a Caterpillar Arch and I was more than ready to stumble to the kitchen and poor myself a cup of ambition.
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