It was in the 2016 film Hidden Figures that many of us first learnt about the black, female mathematicians that helped America achieve its quest to be the first country to land a man on the moon. Those who are familiar with America’s history will know that before black women were given any respect or rights, they first had to be given to white women (a familiar story across the world, actually). There are countless important stories from throughout history that track the path to the rights that women and minority genders have today, and many of them have gone untold. In The Hello Girls, Cara Reichel and Peter Mills endeavour to tell just one.
Based on the 2017 book The Hello Girls: America’s First Women Soldiers by Elizabeth Cobbs, this new musical (first staged in New York in 2018) ventures for a modern take on the long unacknowledged female switchboard operators in World War I. It follows the first female chief operator, Grace Banker (Rhianna Mccourt) and her team of intelligent and ambitious women. There’s the determined Suzanne Prevot (Kira Leiva), the french savant Louise Lebreton (Kaitlin Nihill), the steadfast Berta Hunt (Kaori Maeda-Judge) and Helen Hill (Nikola Gucciardo) who is a long way from home. The musical follows their entry into service with the army, their fight to be on the frontlines, and their post-war battle for recognition and veteran status.
The songs are soaring, impassioned calls to action...
Along the way they find allies who (with a lot of convincing) either support their journey or teach them tough lessons. Riser (Joel Hutchings), the officer in command General John Pershing (David Hooley), Lieutenant Ernest Wessen (Lincoln Elliot), Private Eugene Matterson (Matthew Hearne) and Beaumont (Zachary Aleksander).
Peter Mills’ music and lyrics are beautifully rendered by musical director Natalya Aynsely in this production by Heart Strings Theatre Co at Sydney’s intimate Hayes Theatre. The songs are soaring, impassioned calls to action that ruminate on universal themes of duty, connection, bravery and fighting for what’s right. These tunes remain within the boundaries of the musical theatre genre – but the melodies are diverse, engaging and well harnessed tools that make this band of characters relatable.
Mills and Reichel’s book gives the emotional notes space to breathe, designing a true ensemble show – a delight that this production meets with zeal. Everyone in this company of ten actors is a star. Vocally astonishing, harmonically in sync and given equal opportunity to demonstrate their technique and aptitude. It’s a wonderful show to listen to.
The pace, whilst charming in the first act, does begin to idle in the second half, before it is quickly grounded by the notice of the ceasefire which ended World War I. With the introduction of the ‘c’ word – which holds heavy currency in todays’ zeitgeist – the audience is throttled into the universal messages of this story, and the lessons we fail to learn from history.
In the program, director Jason Langley speaks of the “anachronistic rather than period specific approach” taken for this production. Whilst noble in principle, this choice is at odds with the nature of the sung-through score, which invites the audience to embed themselves in the early 1900s.
Similarly, the minimalist approach to the set design and the shift from period-specific costumes to contemporary costumes (peppered with hues of purple, green and white – the colours of the suffragette movement of the early 1900s) makes it difficult for the audience to immerse themselves. Meanwhile, the choreography by Amy Orman seems to grasp for a different tone – at times it is mocking or performative, reminding the audience they are watching a highly stylised “Broadway” version of events.
There are unresolved tensions between presenting an authentic and truthful version of events and making the story relevant for modern day audiences – but there doesn’t need to be, it’s already there on the page. Long ago,Peter Mills and Cara Reichel found the universal lessons in this untold history, which hold relevance for the wars (both literal and metaphorical) being fought today. Will you answer the call?
The Hello Girls is playing at Hayes Theatre Co, Potts Point, until February 4. Ticket prices start from $60, say hello at this link here to book yours.
