Overview
The lyrical genius of annoyingly catchy advertising tunes has finally been realised — and it's in musical theatre form. Jingles, an original musical comedy features some of New Zealand's best loved ad melodies from the '80s and '90s — with all lyrics intact no less.
The familiar narrative of a small-town girl dreaming of fame has been given the obscure Kiwi humour treatment by writer and director Dean Hewison. Wella McDonald leaves Rainbow's End, the farming township of her childhood, to fulfil her television dreams — becoming TV3's next weather presenter. Hewison, How to Meet Girls from a Distance and Judgment Tavern (selected by Lee Tamahori for the NZ's Best category of the 2016 New Zealand International Film Festival), has spun the songs of iconic television commercials into an hour of musical theatre hilarity.
First performed in Wellington two years ago, the show picked up three Fringe Festival awards including Best Musical and Best Comedy. The Auckland rendition features 2017 Billy T Award nominee Paul Williams alongside local actress/songstress Jessie Lawrence and original cast member Carrie Green. Choreographer Brigid Costello ties it all together and uses her previous experience at the RNZ Ballet to ensure the cast's toes are pointed while yours are tapping. You may well leave with the Rainbow's End theme song stuck in your head, but it will be worth it for the nostalgia.