Call it “One Flew Over the Old Bird’s Nest”, if you like. Following its hugely successful debut with Melbourne Theatre Company in 2023, veteran comedian and Working Dog mainstay Tom Gleisner’s (The Castle, ABC television's Utopia) catchy new musical comedy set in a nursing home (and seasoned with a dash of tears, as expected) is now Sydney Theatre Company’s latest and very welcome offering. Directed by Dean Bryant (Dear Evan Hansen) with music by Katie Weston, Bloom is an across-the-board crowd-pleaser, the kind of popular four-quadrant gem that’s almost impossible to dislike. It even has a few pointed comments to make about the fraught state of aged care in Australia, but these never overwhelm the palpable sense of fun. What more could you want?
We get two fish out of water (or Randle McMurphys, if you will) for the price of one here, both arriving at the understaffed, underfunded (and, as it eventuates, underestimated) Pine Grove Aged Care facility on the same day. One is new resident (or possibly inmate?) Rose (played by Evelyn Krape, reprising her role from the Melbourne run) – a feisty-to-the-point-of-prickly old dame, age has not wearied Rose, but it did lead to an accidental fire that made her an unwilling candidate for permanent care. The other is stoner/slacker/music student Finn (Sloan Sudiro), who was drawn here by the promise of a free room and board in exchange for some light duties.
The duties turn out to be anything but light, as the frazzled staff – including head nurse Gloria (Christina O’Neill) and heavily telegraphed love interest Ruby (Hamilton star Vidya Makan) – sharply bring to his attention. Pine Grove is running on the smell of an oily rag that’s getting less oily by the day, thanks to the cutthroat ministrations of manager Mrs MacIntyre (Christie Whelan Browne demonstrating a gift for fearless physical comedy). MacIntyre is our Nurse Ratched, if we’re going to follow the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest comparison, which also makes Eddie Muliaumaseali’I’s silent, sorrowful Sal our Chief Bromden.
Bloom is a meat ‘n’ potatoes feel-good musical
With therapy and enrichment budgets continually winnowed away, the food getting more and more unpalatable, and Finn proving to be almost wholly unreliable, breaking point comes when the home’s bus is in dire need of repairs. Can the residents, marshalled by Finn, put on a musical show and raise enough money to save the day? Will Finn learn some responsibility and earn the affection of Ruby? Will the home ever be out from under Mrs McIntyre’s thumb? Will there be a tragic late-in-the-game death to add poignancy to all the above? Well, what do you reckon?
Make no mistake, Bloom is a meat ‘n’ potatoes feel-good musical, with its roots not so much in Broadway and the West End as vaudeville and music hall. At times, it almost plays like an exceptionally well-mounted Christmas panto. That’s no bad thing – not every production needs to push the envelope of the theatrical form or wrestle with heavy themes (although the straitened state of aged care is an ever-present issue). What we have here is a solid, fun, somewhat-predictable romp, with fun (if only fleetingly memorable) songs and a game cast of characters, including John Waters’ stolid everyman, Doug; Jackie Rees as the artistic Lesley; John O’May as self-absorbed former thespian, Roland; and Maria Mercedes as the mobility-scooter-riding kleptomaniac, Betty.
Bryant keeps things in a light key, even when the story takes a turn for the dramatic, and it all plays out on a realistic but versatile set by Dann Barber, under nigh-invisible lighting by Amelia Lever Davidson. Charlotte Lane’s costumes are similarly quotidian – the aim here is to provide a somewhat drab backdrop for the action and music to play against.
There’s little more to be said – Bloom ticks all the right boxes, and any dissatisfaction is minor and extends from the fact that this is resolutely solid theatre that takes pride in colouring inside the lines. It plays to the cheap seats, sure, but the cheap seats deserve to have their fun, too. It’s sprightly, funny, and heartwarming – adjust your expectations appropriately, and a good time is guaranteed.
Bloom is playing at Roslyn Packer Theatre, Walsh Bay, until May 11, 2025. Tickets start at $85 and you can find them over here.
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