FRINGE REVIEW: SIMPLY BRILL: THE TEENS WHO STOLE 60’s ROCK N ROLL

The joy of Simply Brill is derived from its structure being in service of telling a tightly paced and engaging story.

Words by Jack Paech

About halfway through Simply Brill, during a performance of ‘Uptown’ by Cynthia Weil, I found myself tapping my foot to the rhythm. In fact, looking around Gluttony’s Octagon as vocalists Amelia Ryan and Michaela Burger dipped in and out of character in the midst of a flawless medley, it was easy to believe that making the audience dance in their chairs was the primary reason the show was conceived. The joy of Simply Brill – and “joy” seems the most natural descriptor of the energy in the room – is derived from its structure being in service of telling a tightly paced and engaging story.

The show is one-third contemporary music history lesson, one-third a raucous patchwork of impeccably performed classics, and one-third spotlit soliloquy, in which the cast played some of the biggest names who once ambled about the windowless rooms of the Brill Building. Indeed, the interplay of forms had the audience feeling like so many flies on the wall of a recording studio’s control room. Whether it was the squeal of the clarinet acting as the punchline of a joke, or Ryan-as-Greenwich pausing a performance of ‘The Leader of the Pack’ to flirt with an obviously put-upon audience member, the show’s knack for switching modes at the turn of a heel held the audience in the eye of the storm for the full hour, immersing them in the cultural and emotional turbulence of the era.

Beyond the impeccable three-part harmonies, the colourful solos, and the affected Bostonian accents, the team behind Simply Brill have proven in every conceivable way that they’re more than just a well-oiled machine designed to deliver a meticulously practiced cover set to the nostalgic and the curious alike. Instead, their shared passion for the cotton-candied rebellion of sixties rock ‘n’ roll has been developed into a faithful chronology, which touches on themes that all the best stories tend to be built on: love, money, passion, hardship, social change, and – above all else – the indomitable human spirit. By the end of the hour it became obvious that the irresistible urge to dance is only the byproduct of a more ambitious and enduring goal: illustrate how music reveals us in all our complicated glory, whether your name is Carole King or Darryl, the man who probably had an awkward drive home with his wife after Amelia Ryan sat on his lap during the show. 

Simply Brill: The Teens Who Stole 60's Rock n Roll runs until March 17. Tickets are available on the Adelaide Fringe website.