In Briefs Musical a Hit in South Africa
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009I got an email from one of the authors of “In Briefs” a musical making the rounds in South Africa. It seems like an interesting story, and I can DEFINITELY get into guys on stage in their underwear… A LOT. Check out the images below, and a review – and keep your fingers crossed the boys can bring this one to the U.S. or wherever it is you are!
CAPE TIMES – Wilhelm Snyman
September 17, 2007
A fun musical full of irony and insight.
In Briefs – A Queer Little Musical by Fred Abrahamse and Marcel Meyer.
Musical direction and arrangements by Charl-John Lingenfelder,
with David Chever, Stephen Jubber, Marcel Meyer, Riaan Norval and Jason Ralph.
At On Broadway.
Whenever Fred Abrahamse and Charl-Johan Lingenfelder team up, one must take note.
Slick, clever and polished shows are what one has come to expect from them, never to be disappointed. In Briefs continues in this tradition.
Reminiscent of a kind of Tales Of The City, but in a Cape Town context, In Briefs takes us through the urban tribulations of a group of gay guys trying to make sense of their world, their passions, disappointments and aspirations.
Marvellously tongue-in-cheek, Matthew (Jason Ralph) leads us on this journey, as the older man among a group of guys in various stages of frivolity, anxiety, self-centredness and self-discovery. Matthew’s boyfriend is Theo (Marcel Meyer), a rather fraught youngster who is finding out that commitment is an acquired skill, a skill hardly encouraged by the would-be “gay lifestyle”.
Matthew and Theo warm to a delectable Dominic (Stephen Jubber). He’s less innocent than his 19 years would suggest and who is not averse to a triangular relationship. Things get more complicated when we meet the hunky schoolteacher, James (Riaan Norval), who bewails his loneliness and longs for a Mr Right. Then we have the clothes designer, Mark (David Chevers), who yearns for the sophistication of all things Japanese. Through this web of attempted deceits and frustrations the lives of our protagonists interconnect, interspersed with some wonderfully saccharine songs and camp asides. Through the steam baths, clubs and telephone sex they try to stave off loneliness and seem to live by the maxim that “what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him”.
But as the musical progresses the characters undergo a transformation of sorts, become more mature and develop.
Conflicts are resolved as the dreams and ideas the characters have of themselves are confronted with a gradual and sobering realisation that they all have their limitations and that “party, party, party” doesn’t bring them any enduring happiness.
But far from being merely a maudlin exposé and a trip down victimhood lane, In Briefs is a fun musical with some depth and oodles of irony and insight. The “eye-candy” element, of course, and the music do a lot to propel the story out of its more prosaic moments.
The musical arrangements are such that none of the voices are strained at any stage and what is more, the cast includes some very gifted singers, especially Norval and Jubber. Jason Ralph’s role is particularly demanding as he has to perform his way through a range of states of mind, from betrayal, to anxiety, horniness to tranquillity, but his role functions as an essential anchor for the other performers and the show itself.
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