Fringe Reviews: 2013
Jenny Wynter’s Wonderland!
Featuring
Betty & The Betties
RIP IT UP
Surprise,
surprise! There is culture from Caboolture and we’re launched into the most
amusing aspects of it in Jenny Wynter’s first number, unpacking a visit to
Centrelink. Throughout the show Betty & The Betties are great
accompaniment, both for harmonies and their stage antics, and the duo/band
really hits the mark.Highlights were many; some great parody songs from the
likes of Billy Joel and, yes, seriously Down Under in German! Taking the cake
is Jenny’s improv skills, getting audience members on stage, finding out some
of their personal details and improvising a song featuring them with some
surprisingly good rhymes and lines; very impressive and highly entertaining.
When a performer takes great enjoyment in delighting their audience, you know
the show is going to be good. Jenny
Wynter’s Wonderland! performs at Holden Street Theatres – The Arch until Sat
Mar 2.
FRINGE BENEFITS
Reviewed by
Chelsey Gardner
"...a
brilliant fusion of musical talent, improvised comedy and storytelling."
"Wynter is
a smart and well-versed performer with a likeability that can’t be
taught."
Returning once more to the Adelaide Fringe,
Queensland-born, Canadian-trained, award-winning Jenny Wynter brings us a show
skewed to her strengths of improvisation, high-energy and interactive comedy.
Through a giant gumball machine, from where she makes
quite the entrance, and backed by a distinctly gameshow-esque staging, Wynter takes
the audience on a magical journey to find, and reclaim, the wonderful things in
life.
With a mix of some heavy duty audience participation
(you’ve been warned), catchy, if quite familiar, songs and bubbles (yes, actually they give you bubbles to blow!)
Jenny Wynter’s Wonderland makes for a
brilliant fusion of musical talent, improvised comedy and storytelling.
Flanked by her delightful acapella house band, Betty
and the Betties, Wynter injects hilarity into her songs about magical places,
like Centrelink, and wonderful things like accents (cue one of best song of the
show!) while granting the audience an insight into her life and the lives of
other audience members with her ’songs by suggestion’.
The marriage of
Wynter’s lyrics with the richness of the Betties’ vocals makes things
entertaining and, well, wonderful. The Betties, who pop their Adelaide Fringe cherry this
year, provide the 1950s glamour, cheek and some awesome covers, including a
certain 2012 number one on Triple J’s Hottest 100 and some killer ballads from
’80s. Those musically-inclined patrons won’t be disappointed with their
dazzling harmonies and sweet style, even when backing up some improvised tunes.
The show does provide an element of cross-promotion,
with Wynter inviting guest performers from the Adelaide Fringe to steal her
audience for a short while. It’s a sweet gesture and one that emphasises the
attitude of artistic solidarity that some other acts lack. Plus you get to
check out another show – what better way to prioritise your must-see list!
The Arch, the
show’s 2013 home, at Adelaide’s time-honoured Holden Street Theatres remains a
favourite venue for thinking Adelaide Fringe supporters. The Arch’s intimate
and elegant theatre setup plays brilliantly into Wynter’s act and forces
audiences to explore beyond Gluttony and the Garden of Unearthly Delights.
Without doubt Wynter’s obvious buoyancy and
genuineness makes the show. As regular patrons of the Adelaide Fringe might
know, there is always a danger looming in improvisation. Punch lines can go
awry, audiences can be difficult or, worse still, silent but Wynter’s lack of pretension
and real warmth seems to be the perfect relaxant and even minor hiccups draw
laughs.
Underneath the
absurdity of her performance, it is apparent that Wynter is a smart and
well-versed performer with a likeability that can’t be taught.
Jenny Wynter’s
Wonderland is refreshing, fun and filled to the brim with witty
lyrics and unashamed silliness.
Jenny Wynter is, quite simply, wonderful.
THE ADVERTISER
FOUR STARS
Jenny Wynter's
Wonderland! Featuring Betty and the Betties
ANYONE who can
get the crowd singing along to a song about Centrelink scant minutes into the
show is off to a good start.
Wynter is a
brash, confident performer with a strong voice backed by the beautiful and
harmonious Betties on vocals and a funky two-piece band.
Despite hailing
from the cultural wasteland that is Caboolture she has a great grasp of popular
culture and knows what will get a crowd involved, and doesn't do a half bad rap
either.
Guest spots
give a bit of variety to what is, after all, a variety show but the main show
is more than enough to keep you laughing and singing along.
Jenny Wynter's
WONDERLAND!
featuring Betty and the Betties
After sellout performances around the country of her award-winning "An Unexpected Variety Show", Queensland’s beloved musical comedienne with a passion for improvisation is back in “my home away from home!” Adelaide with a brand new show…and this time, she's bringing some sassy singing ladies with her! Acapella swing gals Betty and the Betties (featuring Jenny’s sister, Angeline Wynter) are the resident ‘house band’ in this part improvised, part scripted, all wonderlandish celebration of the awesomely ridiculous, and the ridiculously awesome. From pintsized David Bowie costumes, to caloriefree fairy floss, to disciplining children through the power of dance, join Jenny and the Betties as they invite you to forget your worries for an hour and enjoy the wonderland that is: 'being very silly'!
Jenny has trained in and performed improvised comedy with some of the USA and Canada's greatest teachers, including Second City, Loose Moose Theatre and more. Since starting out in comedy in 2005, she has become known for her spontaneous, energetic and interactive style and her trademark improvised songs based on audience suggestion: no two shows are ever the same!
Dates: Feb 15th - March 3rd
Times: 8pm (except 23rd Feb 9.30pm, 6th March 6.30pm)
Venue: Holden Street Theatres, The Arch
Tickets: $5 preview + $23 Full Price
Book: 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au
For
more information contact Carolyn "Flee" Lee
Tel:
0450 167 102 / E: flee3ofakind@gmail.com
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