Illegal Harmonies by Combo Fiasco, Jan 22, 2004

Illegal Harmonies  by Combo Fiasco   

Chapel Off Chapel  Jan 22  until Feb 1, 2004 

Reviewer: Kate Herbert on Jan 22, 2004

Published in Herald Sun on Jan 26, 2004

Combo Fiasco are splitting up after their upcoming national tour, so you need to see them now.

Sean Murphy, Tony McGill  and Charmaine Clements  have sung their clever harmonies for eleven years since meeting during the music theatre show, The Secret Garden.  

The trio sing tightly harmonised tunes accompanied by McGill on piano. A percussionist and double bass player back them..

Vocal and musical arrangements, by McGill and Murphy, are inventive and often surprising. Their a capella  version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow   has a soaring vocal quality.

Their repertoire comprises old favourites such as Sweet Georgia Brown  as well as less familiar or famous numbers.

This show is tailored to the predominantly gay audience for the Midsumma Festival so the group has re-jigged some lyrics accordingly for comic value.

Clements quips, "Gay men and single women in our thirties have a lot in common. We are both a disappointment to our mothers."

They then sing Mr. Sandman which takes on a new dimension with the lyrics, "Mr. Sandman bring me a man."

The wicked song, If There's God He's a Queen,   is followed by McGill's rewrite of The Wind Beneath My Wings.  Itis a satirical jibe at boring ex-partners. "Did you ever know that you're a zero?"

Murphy makes a feast of the naughty Come Ti Gusta Mi Pinga?  that asks, in Spanish, a question that would be very rude in English.

The show is slick and seamless, shifting from song to song with a little comic patter as cement between.

There are several beautiful ballads, some less familiar than others. Where Do You Go To My Lovely  is sung as a medley with a sad tune about Marilyn Monroe's  last night.

Clements sings the very pretty, Someone is on Your Side  from Sondheim's  musical, Into the Woods.

The comic highlight of the show is still Clements version of the satirical I'm on the Stage.  She plays the musical star who "can't carry a tune in a bucket," but lands the lead role.

It is sad to say farewell to the trio so get a look at them now before it's too late.

By Kate Herbert