Under the fairy lights and in the open air of Holden Street Theatre’s Barbara Hardy Garden, Olivia Ruggiero steps out onto the paved stage in a blue sequinned gown and a pair of Wizard of Oz-esque ruby slippers.
Her performance adorned by the sounds of birds, she introduces the show as a “journey to the past” through a collection of musical theatre’s “earworms” from classics like Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music to modern Broadway hits like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rap musical In the Heights.
From the first song, Ruggiero’s operatic background is obvious. Hints of the opera-style vibrato can be heard even when she sings classic Broadway songs.
The songs and their stories move seamlessly from one to another. Ruggiero’s love for musical theatre and its songs is clear both in the way she performs the songs and the way she speaks about them and what they mean to her. This best is exemplified with her “musical thank-you note” to her grandmother, a rewrite of In the Heights song “Everything I Know”, as she describes her relationship to the nana who sparked her love for musical theatre.
Ruggiero transitions well between styles throughout the show. She moves with skill from an American Broadway-style of music theatre singing, to a more measured tone, to classical opera. She deftly switches between styles in her performance of Kristin Chenoweth’s “The Girl in 14G”.
Disappointingly, the PA system did not allow the audience to hear the true depth of Ruggiero’s voice, yet we are able to sense the strength of her voice due to the close and intimate setting of the garden. When she puts away the microphone for an acoustic performance of soprano aria “O mio babbino caro”, her operatic prowess soars forth.
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Her Adelaide-based accompanist, Thomas Saunders, provides solid backing to Ruggiero’s performance, although, oddly, the audience is never told his name.
Broadway Diva is a guided tour through some of musical theatre’s best and most beloved songs by an accomplished musical aficionado.
Broadway Diva was presented at Holden Street Theatres. Its Adelaide Fringe season has now ended.
Read more 2023 Adelaide Fringe stories and reviews on InReview here.
Shannon Pearce is the third recipient of the Helpmann Academy InReview Mentorship. She is working with experienced writers Graham Strahle and Samela Harris to write a series of articles for publication in InReview.
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