Moana Jr

This show was initially intended to be performed in 2019 but due to COVID restrictions it was postponed then and has been tried to be shown since on two separate occasions. Third Time Lucky !!. I have never seen the Disney Film this is based on nor did I know much about it, so I looked it up in advance and was looking forward to seeing the show which is only available to junior casts.

It depicted the history of the Beginning when Moana’s grandmother tells her the story of the shape-shifting demigod Maui, master of the winds and sea, who stole the Goddess Tefitis heart. Maui’s magical fishhook and Tefiti’s heart are lost in the ocean but the sea choses Moana to return the heart to Tefiti. Moana sets out to find the heart, after a blight strikes her island, caused by Teka, who is not a nice God, but the sea won’t let her go. She discovers a sea going vessel in a cave and sets out to find Maui and have him return the heart. After some adventures she finds him but discovers he is a boaster about how good he is and refuses to help her and traps her in a cave. She escapes and persuades Maui to help her. In their travels they are attacked by Pirates and have to recover his lost magical Fish hook from Tamatoa, a Giant Crab, They manage to do this and during their travels Maui and Moana become friends. They eventually return to her Island and confront Teka who is in fact Tefiti who has turned bad without her heart and who has caused the blight on the island. Maui fights Teka letting Moana replace the heart and Teka becomes Tefiti once again and restores the oceans and islands of blight.

Firstly I was impressed by the setting and scenery. Simple yet very effective and with its own challenges as the production is set in the South Seas mainly on islands and water. How do you depict that and yet Debbie organised it and the children executed the effect excellently. The opening to the show was well done with backcloths for the scene changes, and throughout the production scene changes were slick and timely, depicting the various parts of the story.

The cast, what can I say about the cast, other than they were brilliant. Everyone from the smallest part to the main principals were obviously enjoying themselves and the choreography and musicality of the show was superb. On the night I was at the show the main parts were played by Eila Tait as Moana and what a trouper she is. Her singing was tuneful with a good strong voice and her stage presence was excellent. Granny Tala (Louise Goldie) was great and when she appeared she commanded the stage. Maui was played by Faris Alkhoury and he had some superb comic timing and a good blend of business! His voice was very good and he owned the stage when on. Beau Walker played the two roles of Teka (Bad Spirit) and Tefiti (Good Spirit) and the contrast between the two was well played out. I liked Tamatoa (Jenny Alkhoury)  the Giant crab along with her Right and Left Claws played by Hana Renwick and Madison Loftus. The remainder of the cast were all very good and I thought the chorus numbers were sung well with good diction and dance moves. I thoroughly enjoyed my evening sailing the South Seas, Well Done Act 1 Youth and I hope to see you again sometime soon.

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