• theatre
  • features
  • faqs
  • contact
  • theatre
  • features
  • faqs
  • contact
  Art Murmurs - Wellington Reviews

Reviews

Album Party

29/11/2016

Comments

 

Dusty May Taylor

I sat down with Kate McGill and Frith Horan to discuss their tongue-in-cheek, pop-inspired brainchild Album Party, aka The Better Best Possible Album Party That Anybody Has Ever Been Two. Coming to Wellington’s BATS Theatre from 13-17 December, Album Party is launching The Besties Tour, a brand new collaborative venture between BATS Theatre in Welly and The Basement Theatre in Auckland. Winners of the 2015 Auckland Theatre Award for Best Entrance, Wellington natives Kate and Frith (with the help of their lovably demented characters TYLA and DENI$) are more than up to the challenge of spearheading a new initiative.  
What’s it like?

When asked what audiences can expect from Album Party, Kate and Frith were a rapid-fire tumult of enthusiasm.

Kate: It's the biggest, most extravagant over-the-top pop concert by two quite shitty pop stars that you will ever see. It’s The Topp Twins meets Britney Spears meets Flight of the Conchords in a big mashup of ridiculousness.

In the spirit of popdom, I picked up the names they dropped, and asked if they could tell me a bit more about Album Party’s premise.

Kate: Two failed popstars, TYLA and DENI$ had a big meltdown nine years ago, and haven't been seen or heard from since. Their friendship used to be rock strong, but has been diminished to nothing. This one-off concert is the first time they get to connect with an audience and connect with each other again. The show features twelve original songs, which are all pretty ridiculous and fun and great.

Frith: The style is very much a tribute to Nicki Minaj, Britney, Iggy Azalea, and 90s girls groups.

Kate: We have the most amazing musicians. The songs are so sick. They're so good.

McGill and Horan turned to each other and gesticulated madly in mutual frustration of lacking words to communicate the awesomeness of Album Party’s beats, delivered to audiences through TYLA and DENI$’s ReDempShun tour.

Frith: Any child of the 90s will really appreciate our music.

Kate: There are all these little tips of the hat to Brandy and TLC.

Any meaning in this party?

Kate: The aim for the show is pure entertainment and joy. Hopefully by the end of the show you're dancing with us. In these times there's so much going on in the world, you need a break.

I wondered, with such powerhouse characters, is there a feminist theme at play? The girls shrugged in response.

Kate: The fact that we are two female theatre creators who have written these strong female characters for ourselves to play, that's the part of it that sends a message.

Having seen the unbearably catchy music video for “Gas-in-my Ass-o-line,” I remarked that it could be either freeing or awkward to play the characters of TYLA and DENI$. As actors, how did they feel about it?

Frith: I love it. They are essentially clowns, these characters. When you have a clown, all the rules go out the window, which for an actor is the greatest and scariest thing ever. We know these women so well. We know the games they play with the audience and with each other.

Kate: Pop stars aren't successful unless they have a certain level of confidence. One theme we explore is what being a pop star does to us as performers. I can get up and rap in front you guys and not give two shits.

Pop stars as modern day clowns is a loaded concept. Based on what I was hearing, there would be little difference between a pop star portraying a clown for stardom and an actor portraying a clown for a role. Is this harmful, beneficial, somewhere in between? Curious, I asked about their commentary on the pop industry.

Kate: Something we really focus on is the giving up of who you are. These human beings are turned into a brand, and that's who they become. Their humanity kind of goes out the window. We explore that in a way that's not heavy. We all buy into it, and we want to laugh at how ridiculous it is. When TYLA and DENI$ engage with the audience, a lot of the games centre around when they're being truthful and when they are lying.

Frith: Comedy always has to stem from truth.

Kate: The goal is to get people to laugh at their own culture, and just shake it all out.

Album Party’s youth engagement?

When asked what else they wanted to share about Album Party, Kate McGill and Frith Horan erupted.

Frith: The kids! We're very excited about the kids. We've got ten Wellington dancers who have come from local schools and acting workshops. We're so excited. We've had five backup dancers in Auckland but we're going to 13.

Kate: Getting young people involved has been one of the most rewarding parts for us. We’re seeing them grow in influence and have more of a part in creating the show and the characters, hopefully giving them a key to creating their own work, and possibly creating their own shows.

Frith: Introduction to the theatre is the main thing. And they're cool.

Kate: They're so cool. It's stressing me out, the stuff they come up with. They're a lot more sophisticated than I was at that age.

Frith: They bring a whole other level to the show that takes it from sixty to a billion.

What is The Besties Tour?

Kate: The Besties Tour is about bridging the divide from a practitioner to practitioner point of view. The Auckland-Wellington relationship can be interesting, but we're all just people doing our own thing. BATS and The Basement are both really great stomping grounds for any demographic, particularly new practitioners, and they have a lower price point than other theatres. So they decided to do a collaboration where they share work, and call it The Besties Tour. They take shows from Auckland and bring them to Wellington and vice versa, and provide a support system for emerging artists.

What are the advantages of this?

Kate: Conversation can be had. They can test whether audiences engage in the same way or differently. Also, there's a lot of administration in these theatres. It means people like us get additional marketing support through groups like Elephant Publicity, which is worth its weight in gold. It's really hard to get a new show off the ground without that support.

Will this partnership create fresh momentum for emerging theatre practitioners in Wellington and Auckland?

Frith: There are so many shows at BATS and The Basement that go nowhere because there's no support. Now artists have the chance to do multiple seasons, and continue to grow the work. Hopefully we’ll see these works progress to other theatres, or national tours and festivals. It gives people a launch pad to take their work to the world. We'd love to take Album Party to the Edinburgh Fringe, the Melbourne Fringe. Each time we do a show we're making it stronger and tighter and better.

Their final thoughts?

Frith: Come to the party of the century! You will not be disappointed!

Kate: We'll have you dancing in the aisles by the end of it.

With help from directors Holly Chappell and Tom Eason, Musical Director Adrian Hooke and musician Oswell Didsbury, TYLA and DENI$ are confident and ready to hit the Wellington stage. Support Album Party and The Besties Tour by checking them out 13-17 December at BATS Theatre.

​
Picture
Comments

    Local Honest Reviews

    At Art Murmurs, our aim is to provide honest and constructive art reviews to the Wellington community.

    Archives

    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    September 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

    Categories

    All
    All Age Appropriate
    Art
    BATS
    Beauty Standards
    Black Comedy
    Body Positive
    Circa
    Circus
    Comedy
    Comedy Festival 2018
    Comedy Festival 2019
    Comedy Festival 2023
    Comedy Gala 2022
    Community Theatre
    Dance
    Devised
    Documentary
    Drag
    Drama
    Emerging Artist
    Exhibition
    Experimental
    Female Artists
    Feminism
    Feminist
    Festival
    For Kids
    Fringe
    Fun
    Gallery
    Gryphon Theatre
    Hannah Playhouse
    Heart + Music
    History
    Improv
    Interactive
    International
    Interview
    Ivy
    Lighting
    Local
    Mental Health
    Monologue
    Music
    Musical
    Neurodiverse
    New Writing
    New Zealand
    NZ Comedy
    NZ Fringe
    NZIF
    On Tour
    Performance Poetry
    Photography
    Photospace Gallery
    Physical Theatre
    Political
    Politics
    Premiere
    Pyramid Club
    Queer
    Race
    Roxy LIVE
    Science
    Scruffy Bunny Improv Theatre
    Sexual Violence
    Shakespeare
    Site Specific
    Site-specific
    Sketch
    Solo Show
    Song
    Spoken Word
    Stagecraft
    Stand Up
    Storytelling
    Tahi Festival
    Te Auaha
    Theatre
    Thought Provoking
    Thought-provoking
    Thriller
    Toi Poneke Gallery
    Verbatim
    Victoria University
    Violence
    Virtual Theatre
    Weekly
    Wellington
    Wellington Footlights
    Wellington Repertory