Melissa Langton is a dynamo on the Melbourne cabaret scene and something of a force of nature when you consider her productivity. As part of a partnership group called Big Hair Productions, she supervised a mini-season of three different shows at Chapel Off Chapel, Melbourne’s unique community arts center located in the inner city suburb of Prahran. This was no small feat, considering that she had just flown back to Australia following her successful appearances in this year’s Mabel Mercer Foundation New York Cabaret Convention and two shows at DON’T TELL MAMA in her show What Do You Think Of Me So Far?

Never one to rest on her laurels, Melissa Langton decided to present an entirely new act entitled Me And Mr Jones as part of this Melbourne cabaret season. As has been the case with her past appearances in Melbourne, Sydney and New York City, she was partnered by Mark Jones, her long-time musical director, life partner and, not surprisingly, the "Mr Jones" of the show’s title. Before reviewing this show, let me tell you something about the careers of these two remarkable performers.

Melissa Langton is a multi-threat entertainer pursuing a number of parallel performance careers: she regularly works in theater, a succession of personally devised cabaret shows and as a concert performer with the vocal/comedy girl group The Fabulous Singlettes. Her performance career began in 1992, when she appeared in Australian tours of Jesus Christ Superstar - The Concert and Les Miserables, as well as small theater pieces such as the Australian premiere of Sondheim’s Marry Me A Little at Chapel Off Chapel here in Melbourne.
In 1994, Ms Langton joined the vocal/comedy girl group The Fabulous Singlettes and appeared with them in Australian productions of The Pirates of Penzance (for which the Singlettes were nominated for a Victorian Green Room Award), as well as The Mikado, and HMS Pinafore. Melissa has continued working with the Singlettes in a number of European engagements from 1998 to the present, appearing in cabaret in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Vienna and Verona. In Australia, The Fabulous Singlettes strutted their stuff for the 1998 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the 1998 Melbourne Grand Prix Ball and as part of the performance program for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Here in Melbourne, Melissa Langton has become something of a legend as the result of a series of shows she has devised and performed, including I Got The Music in Me, Four Bitchin’ Babes, What's New Pussycat? and, most recently, What Do You Think Of Me So Far? It was Melissa Langton’s cabaret work that first attracted my attention in June of 2001 when I was involved in judging The Sydney Cabaret Convention, along with Margi de Ferranti. We were totally bowled over by this woman’s work and awarded her the City of Sydney Award, providing her with a trip to New York to appear in the New York Cabaret Convention. However, illness prevented her from performing during that trip. Happily, Donald Smith invited her back to make up for that missed opportunity, asking Melissa to appear on the Gala Opening Night of the 2002 New York Cabaret Convention. In addition she was able to make her postponed New York cabaret debut at DON’T TELL MAMA with two performances of her show What Do You Think Of Me So Far?

Mark Jones, the other member of this unique performing partnership, has long been one of the treasures of the Melbourne musical theater scene, working as arranger, musical director and performer. His credits include Three Weill Men (Chapel Off Chapel) and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Chapel Off Chapel), for which Jones received a Green Room Award (Best Cabaret 2000). These two shows have been recorded and are available on the internet from MIDDLE EIGHT MUSIC at www.middle8.com). Additional theater credits include What's New Pussycat? (Capers), The Magic Faraway Tree (The Playhouse), Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (The Athenaeum Theatre), and he also spent two years with the popular vocal/comedy group "The Phones."

Mark Jones has worked regularly as a musical director and accompanist for many of Australia's most popular cabaret performers including Toni Lamond, Rod McClennan, Jackie Rees, Marina Prior, Donald Cant, Bernadette Robinson, Silvie Paladino, Susan-ann Walker and Tony Barber. His musical theater production credits include acting as Musical Director for I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change! (The Athenaeum Theatre), Possum Magic (National Tour), Patsy Cline (The Universal Theatre), Confidentially Yours (Playbox) and The Fabulous Singlettes (Melbourne Comedy Festival). In addition to all of these performing credits, Mark Jones has spent a great deal of time working with students in the Music Theatre Course at Melbourne's National Theatre School of Drama, a program for which he was previously in charge.

Melissa Langton’s publicity for Me And Mr Jones stated that "This show is guaranteed to have even more laughs, more vocal fireworks and more tacky classics from the 60’s and 70’s than her recent sellout – What Do You Think Of Me So Far?" Was this another case of media hype or one of those rare instances of truth in advertising? The short answer is an emphatic NO!
Me And Mr Jones is a show about relationships. However, Langton and Jones are much too clever and skilled to put together an act that is simply a series of songs strung together with a narrative about the ups and downs of coupling. Instead, they and their director Shaun Murphy (of Combo Fiasco fame) have opted for a song-driven format that appears to be free-form and un-scripted. Only performers with very solid stage and musical technique can take their audience through a variety of moods and genres using an apparently extemporaneous presentation and can get away with it. As with all fine art, appearances can be deceiving: Langton and Jones succeed structuring a two-act show that manages to examine this oft-discussed subject matter and still making it seem fresh.

One of the big reasons for the success of Me And Mr Jones is the music chose by Melissa Langton and Mark Jones. The very eclectic song list of 17 numbers ranged from Billy Goldenberg to Tom Waits, with room in between for Tony Hatch, Dillie Keane, Jeanine Tesori and Jerry Lieber/Mike Stoller. The genius of this act lay in Langton and Jones’ ability to embrace and meld the diversity of styles in the music chosen to arrive at a coherent totality. How did they do it?

What unified all of this highly eclectic material was the fact that each song was carefully placed and performed to underline the subtext of this performance piece about relationships. Let me mention a few of the highlights of a show that seemed to be a succession of peaks: "The Girl in 14G" (Tesori/Scanlan) was a showcase for virtuoso vocalism and high comedy; "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis" (Waits) became a poignant drama; "My Average Morning (Keane) & Inner Bitch (Lavin) both provided Langton with the opportunity to show off her comic ability; "Love Potion No. 9" (Lieber/Stoller) gave her the chance to rock with abandon; and "Steamroller" (Taylor) allowed Langton to give us an object lesson in how to sing a raunchy blues that instantly turned up the heat in the room. However, the finest part of the act in an evening of excellence was the bracket of "Good Times/Who Gave You Permission" (Goldenberg/Bergman & Bergman); this was theater of the best sort, a miniature drama full of muted pain. What was remarkable was Melissa Langton’s skill in moving us through this wide range of material without ever appearing to "work" or resort to silly patter to set up a song.
As a performer Melissa Langton seems to defy categorization; she can range over the entire spectrum of musical genres, be it blues, pop, rock and roll, torchy ballads, show tunes or comedy special material, always bringing total conviction and verve to her performance. What is amazing is her ability to capture the style of each number with truth, never cheating or condescending.

In addition to Melissa Langton’s superb mastery of style, this artist has a voice and technique that would be the envy of any performer. Let me quote from the notes I made mid-way in this show: Langton is able to go from a contralto growl in blues to the stratospheric heights of gospel, moving seamlessly from murmuring pianissimo to roof-raising fortissimo in a matter of moments, followed by a rapid return to whispering near-silence. The marvel is that she accomplishes this feat at near whiplash speed with never an obvious change of gears. I have never heard such vocal dexterity and technical prowess carried off with such natural aplomb in popular music. In other words, Melissa Langton has "chops"!!

So far, I seem to have raved about Me And Mr Jones without taking into account Mark Jones’ superb contribution. After all, he represents the other half of this partnership. Aside from providing a constant succession of knock-out arrangements for Melissa Langton, he also provides the playful verbal counterpoint, both spoken and sung, that is a foil for her comedy. What is remarkable in Jones’ contribution is the elegant way in which he holds this elegantly structured act together without seeming to intrude. Like every great partner, Mark Jones succeeded most when he seemed least apparent. The final impression I had was that the partnering of Jones with Langton totally supported the theme of the show itself; their playful exploration of the many facets of relationships was beautifully mirrored in the shared responsibilities of performance.

Me And Mr Jones is a tribute to the solid professionalism and skill of Melissa Langton and Mark Jones, but I am certain that both of these seasoned troopers benefited from the high quality of the direction provided by Shaun Murphy. In addition Murphy contributed dramatic material for various parts of the show, most notably the "Good Time/Who Gave You Permission" bracket.

Seeing Melissa Langton and Mark Jones in Me And Mr Jones leaves me once again wishing that Australia would actively promote local talent overseas. Until their next trip overseas, the only way you can have the chance to hear this rare partnership is to purchase Langton and Jones’ first disc "Melissa Langton: When the rain falls up" which can be ordered directly from MIDDLE EIGHT MUSIC (www.middle8.com). An added attraction is the fact that a number of the tracks were included in this show. If you want to find out more information about Melissa Langton, check out her website at www.melissalangton.com.
David M Schwartz