With a set of perfectly cast actors, all of whom have strong singing voices, a great original songtrack, talented musicians, a witty script and a hefty dose of self-deprecating humour, Porn the Musical has finally given Maltese audiences what they have long been waiting for. This is comedy set in the local context but which does not need to resort to broad farce or double entendres for its laughs. The one liners come quick and fast, and the scriptwriters have taken it for granted that the audience is intelligent enough to “get” them. What often irritates me about Maltese comedies is that you can see the joke coming from five miles away, and then it is pedantically “explained” as if we are too dim to understand it.
In Porn, there is none of this, and this is one of the reasons it has been such a hit with theatre goers and especially the younger crowd. Of course, the musical has also been successful because of the subject matter, indicating that while a lot has changed in Malta, a Maltese cast talking about sex still seems very daring and deliciously wicked to us. There were the inevitable (rather too loud) guffaws on hearing the explicit language (the same thing happened during performances of Trevor Zahra’s Minn Wara z-Zipp), and even though the “sex scenes” were all simulated behind a giant black screen marked “censored” nervous giggles could still be heard. I sneaked a glance at a few of the older people in the audience and they looked rather shell-shocked. (As we walked out I overheard the occasional “it was really good ey?” with everyone nodding their head in unison. You could tell some people were agreeing because they were anxious not to appear prudish.)
I loved Max Dingli’s geeky Stefan Bugeja who becomes Steve Bulge when he enters the porn industry. He not only has a great voice (as anyone who has ever come to Voices knows) but he has shown a remarkable knack for comedy. Toni Attard was endearing as the ‘Miscellaneous man’ who gets all the insignificant roles (the waiter, the accountant, the movie executive) and needs to keep changing from one costume to the other until in exasperation and frustration he belts out a song, demanding that he is given recognition. I never knew Toni had such a voice, and by the end of the show, he was being cheered with gusto by the audience. His look of pure disgust when he finally changes into his waiter costume only to find that the “dinner scene” is over, was priceless…
On the night I went it was clear that there were people who had seen the show before and all of them had their favourites. A clear winner with the audience was Maltese-Canadian David Ellul in the role of porn star Dr Johnny Long, famous for his Ph.D, which no, is not an academic qualification. You have to have a great deal of confidence to pull off such a role and David was the perfect choice, as he swaggered and strutted looking like Bruce Willis with his shaved head and shades.
The female characters were gorgeous and perfect. Eliza Borg, whom I last saw in the Panto, owned the stage as she tormented poor Stefan Bugeja as she told him about her slutty exploits. Then there was Sanddy (“with a double D”) – where did they find this beautiful young woman who can sing, act and do impressive gymnastics as she wiggles sexily in a slinky red dress? I later learned that, despite her very good American accent, Sarah Naudi is half-French.
Incidentally another plus point for this production were the accents. No one tried to “put on” an accent (which always makes me cringe) so it all sounded very natural.
Louis Cassar was suitably sleazy as the porn director – one of the funniest gags was when Stefan keeps shouting “Constantino Bugeja” during a sex scene, only for the director to patiently explain that the phrase “who’s your Daddy?” was not to be taken literally.
Malcolm Galea kept things flowing smoothly in the straight role of narrator who often berated the characters for not getting on or off the stage quickly enough.
Except for a few minor mishaps when a few mikes were not working, the production was slick and fast-paced – this is the 75 minute version with no intermission which will be presented at the Edinburgh festival. I must not forget the brilliant band which interacted with the actors throughout, including the time when they showed the narrator exactly what they thought of him by giving him “the finger”.
Last chance before Porn goes Scottish
This weekend is the last chance to watch the Malta performances of Porn, the Musical, the outrageous, unique musical developed by Malcolm Galea, Boris Cezek, and Kris Spiteri, collectively known as Indiskarf, just days before the Porn team take the musical up to the biggest theatre festival in the world – the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – for a month-long run at the George 4 Theatre.
Tickets in Edinburgh are selling fast. The hype is good and the musical has already got a mention on BBS Scotland, while popular website whatsonstage.com has chosen Maltese play Porn, The Musical as one of their five top picks in the Musical Theatre category.
Featuring a list of catchy songs such as Sanddy, with a Double D and PhD, the cast is made up of Max Dingli, Sarah Naudi, Louis Cassar, David Ellul, Toni Attard, Eliza Borg and Malcolm Galea. Choreography is by Emma Loftus. The show is produced by Winston Azzopardi. The musical features a live band made up of Kris Spiteri, Boris Cezek, Eric Wadge and Alex Debono.
Porn the Musical will take place at Argotti Gardens in Floriana this weekend at 9 pm. Tickets may be purchased from www.maltaticket.com, all Exotique, Agenda Bookshop, Bookends, Newskiosk and Vodafone outlets, as well as from the door half an hour before performances.
