By Nick Pilgrim
If the name Donald O’Connor doesn’t immediately appear on your radar, fear not. It is that very premise which kick starts this delightful tribute into action now showing at the 2024 Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland before him, O’Connor began his career as a child performer in the heady days of vaudeville.
His boyish ability to charm audiences combined with single-minded ambition, helped the young performer leap from the stage to the silver screen. Hollywood quickly beckoned, and before long, he was churning out a constant stream of pictures including Sing You Sinners (with Bing Crosby and Fred MacMurray), Beau Geste (with Gary Cooper) and Million Dollar Legs (with Betty Grable). Beyond playing these supporting roles, O’Connor soon became known for a series of six cheaply made yet highly successful films with an unlikely equine partner called Francis the Talking Mule.
What made O’Connor stand out from other stars of the time were his rubber-faced antics and frenetic acrobatic prowess. Which comes as no surprise when MGM wanted him to feature with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds in what is now considered one of top rating motion pictures of all time.
Using O’Connor’s signature piece from Singing In The Rain for the show’s title, Make ‘Em Laugh is an effervescent two-hander which details the man’s rise to fame and his unwavering determination to stay there.
Both slick and subtle in its construction, the show tells the performer’s life story in conversational fast facts between O’Connor (played by Mikey Halcrow) and his dedicated pianist Mo (Jens Radda). At key points in the narrative, the pair break into songs by the likes of George Gershwin or Irving Berlin.
The solid handful of tunes they cover include:
- Moses Supposes,
- Sing You Sinners,
- It’s A Lovely Day,
- Look, Ma, I’m Dancin!,
- Good Morning, and,
- You’re Just In Love.
For sixty toe-tapping minutes, the pair banter, dance and sing up a storm with the same carefree frivolity and loveable ease of luminaries’ past.
Make ‘Em Laugh is written by Halcrow and directed with flair and panache by Olivia Charalambous. Not only does the experience highlight O’Connor’s considerable gifts as an entertainer, but it is a wonderful showcase for Halcrow, Radda and Charalambous as well.
Just as Marcel Cole demonstrated last week with his outstanding tribute to George Formby in The Ukulele Man, it is quite something to see young people pay it forward by resurrecting past artists for the next generation to discover, enjoy and appreciate.
If you’re in the mood for a jovial afternoon of light entertainment, Make ‘Em Laugh runs for one more session Upstairs at Floridia in Flemington on Sunday October 20.
Don’t miss it!
