Not only is this concert an ovation to the four acclaimed musical theatre artists who perform it, it is also an ovation for careers that have spanned decades.
Marina Prior, Michael Cormick, Silvie Paladino and David Hobson have headlined national tours of major musicals both within Australia and internationally for probably more years than they care to be reminded.
This concert not only provides them with the opportunity to revisit their many triumphs, some quite recent, others early in their careers, but also for their admirers, who packed the Canberra Theatre for the inaugural concert of this national tour, the opportunity to relive cherished performances, as well as for the first time for many, experience the interpretations from favourite artists of roles from productions missed.
Marina Prior, for instance, has starred in more than 40 musicals, including the original Australian productions of The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Cats, The Pirates of Penzance, and Mary Poppins. There seems to be no role in musical theatre in which she doesn’t excel.
She originated the role of Mrs Banks in the original 2010 Australian production of Mary Poppins. Only Melbourne got to see her portray the Bird Woman in the 2023 revival of this show. Prior rectifies this, by offering an exquisite rendition of Feed the Birds in this concert.
In the original 1987 Australian production of Les Misérables, Prior originated the role of Cosette in Melbourne. She later played Fantine when the production moved to Sydney. In this concert she sings I Dreamed a Dream from that show.
In 2025, she took on the role Madame Thénardier in the Australia performances of the Arena Spectacular World Tour. She later repeated this role on the West End for the 40th Anniversary performances.
If you can’t imagine Marina Prior as Madame Thénardier, then you shouldn’t miss this concert when it gets to your city, because Prior brings the house down when she performs Master of the House with David Hobson as her Thénardier.
Michael Cormick possesses one of the most beautiful baritone voices in the business, which he demonstrates in a shimmering version of If I Loved You from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical Carousel, and again, duetting with Marina Prior with All I Ask of You, from Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera.
The Phantom of the Opera has also loomed large in Cormick’s career having played Raoul for three years on London’s West End. He’s played The Phantom in Australia, including Free Rain Theatre’s production in the Canberra Theatre, and more recently, the manager, Firmin in the original The Phantom of the Opera on Sydney Harbour for Opera Australia. Therefore, it was no surprise that his powerful rendition of Music of the Night from that show, was one of the highlights of the night.
However, it was his virtuoso combination of Sweet Tranvestite from The Rocky Horror Show and I Am What I Am from La Cage aux Folles that really demonstrated his versatility and had the audience demanding more.
Recently Silvie Paladino played Norma Desmond in Opera Australia’s production of the musical, Sunset Boulevard, alternating the role with Sarah Brightman. For those who didn’t get the opportunity to see her interpretation, she performs With One Look from this show.
She also performs Don’t Cry for Me Argentina from Evita; a thrilling version of Winner Takes it All from Mamma Mia!; and two beautiful duets with Marina Prior, I Know Him So Well from Chess, and a captivating duet arrangement of Memory from Cats.
In fact, the duets scattered through the program provide many of the most memorable moments. In addition to the ones already mentioned; Paladino and Cormick with Beauty and the Beast from the show of the same name; Paladino and David Hobson with a ballad associated with Pavarotti and sang in Italian, Non Ti Scordar Di Me (Don’t Forget About Me), and especially Cormick and Hobson with Lily’s Eyes from The Secret Garden.
Although he has done his fair share of musicals, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Follies and Funny Girl, David Hobson is renowned for his high lyric operatic tenor. He demonstrated this gift with an opera medley early in the show. His musical theatre solos included dynamic renditions of I Am the Pirate King from The Pirates of Penzance, Man of La Mancha from the musical of the same name, and I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face from My Fair Lady.
Ovation began with a medley from West Side Story sung by the full cast. They also joined forces to sing the operatic party song, Libiamo from La Traviata to end the first act. The second half opened with the full cast singing Love Changes Everything from Aspects of Love, and ended with a long medley of songs from Les Misérables.
Throughout, the concert was accompanied by Andrew Ross on piano, conducting an excellent string quartet which somehow managed to sound like a full symphony orchestra when required.
However, despite the ecstatic reception given to the performance by the capacity audience, and the best efforts of the cast, there was no escaping the fact that this first performance appeared under-rehearsed and self-directed. Even artists of this calibre need a director to ensure that that everything around them supports their performance.
Although the lighting design was generally satisfactory, the sound balance was initially harsh, and took time to settle, and the use of hand mikes throughout compromised the efforts of the artists to recreate the magic of which they are capable.
It was a pity Marina Prior, a vision in a spectacular red dress, had to perform Send in the Clowns sitting on a kitchen chair beside the grand piano, rather than a settee, or even a cabaret stool, which would also have been useful for the other soloists.
A prop here and there, and some thoughtful staging, may have prevented the artists from resorting to waltzing together whenever there was a music break in the middle of a duet. And surely there is a better way of staging Libiamo than having the artists standing around the piano waving imaginary champagne glasses.
Hopefully, these blemishes will have been attended to by the time you see this treasury of showtunes, because, as good as it already is, Ovation has the potential to be one of those shows to look back on as a treasured memory.
OVATION
Canberra Theatre – Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square, Canberra
Performance: Saturday 21 February 2026
Following the Canberra performance, OVATION will be presented in an extensive tour across Australia. For more information, including performance dates and venues, visit: www.ovation.net.au for details.
Image: David Hobson, Marina Prior, Silvie Paladino and Michael Cormick – photo by Cameron Grant, Parenthesy
Review: Bill Stephens OAM