You may question Jill's dedication to Sparkle Motion, but never doubt her dedication to the Fringe. With the schedule she's keeping, I don't know how she's still functioning; and I feel quite the Fringe slacker. But sometimes she lets me accompany her to shows anyway. 'Cause she's cool like that.

 

The Sea: The Sea is a "rock opera" about a young man going to sea, and his subsequent life as a sailor. Like the rock operas that have preceeded it (e.g. Tommy & The Wall) The Sea is composed of individual songs telling individual stories, which work together to tell a larger tale, as opposed to the traditional opera form where the narrative is presented through sung dialog. In this case, the songs are presented as chapters to the story, each when named by the description of what is to happen therein.

I don't know vocalist/writer James Sugg's background, but if I had to hazzard a guess, I'd say he's probably more accustomed to singing in theatrical productions than fronting a band. He sang with a great intensitiy, focused sight lines and minimal body movements, all of which suggested a history of vocal projection and choreography rather than spontaneously playing to an involved audience. Which isn't to say his performance wasn't affecting - quite the opposite - it's just that I got the impression he would have been more at home without the mic, mic stand and band to worry about. (And with pipes like that, I think he easily could have done without that mic.)

Speaking of the band - I need to give them their props; even dressed like the Gorton's fisherman, they rocked it out. Most especially "Whalebone," who seemed to emphatically enjoy the music and who, at least once, played both the bass guitar and slide trombone simultaneously.

As for the music - it was good stuff. Sometimes proggy, some times poppy, (sometimes funny) but always rock, which is how I like it. The show was exactly two and one-half songs in when I found myself wishing CDs of the show were available for sale in the lobby. (Alas, they were not.) The one downside is that the story (and so, the show) seemed to reach the ending very abruptly; a particular disappointment as I was having a good time. It seems unfair to suggest that a show that features on man singing for 45 continuous minutes without a break could do with being longer, but I'm saying it anyway.

Although perhaps it's for the best that the show isn't any longer than it is, considering the 10:30 PM start time.

Festival Rating: Good

Image via The Ticket Sign Generator