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Since 2011, I have been pulling together a list of the best movies of the year according to the Brisbane-based critics who I run into regularly at preview screenings.  Films to have topped prior year lists have been Drive in 2011, Argo in 2012, Gravity in 2013, Boyhood in 2014, Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015La La Land in 2016, Get Out in 2017, The Favourite in 2018, Parasite in 2019 and Nomadland in 2020

To come up with an overall top 10, I’ve used a simple points system and applied it to the list of each critic. It is as follows:
 - 3 points for the top film on each list.
 - 2 points for the films ranked between 2nd and 5th on each list.
 - 1 point for the films ranked between 6th and 10th on each list.

If two films finished on the same score, the film that appeared on the greater number of top 10 lists is ranked higher (as an indication of wider approval). If that's the same, it goes to an average of the individual rankings of each film.

The 10 list includes movies released in Australian cinemas and also those made available on streaming platforms.

We often see a clear stand out but that wasn't the case this year.  Votes were spread evenly around.  Edging out the competiton to claim the top spot was Edson Oda's drama Nine Days, It's nominated for best first feature at the upcoming Independent Spirit Awards.

Three films, covering a mix of genres, finished just two votes behind and featured on at least 50% of the lists - Jane Campion's moving drama The Power of the Dog, Paul Thomas Anderson's coming-of-age romantic comedy Licorice Pizza, and Denis Villeneuve's blockbuster sci-fi epic Dune.  The highest ranked non-English language film, The Worst Person in the World, was just one vote further behind.

Australia was represented on the list with the AACTA Award winning Nitram.  It's been a big year for documentaries with The Sparks Brothers proving popular.  Other films to round out the list this year were The Father, The French Dispatch, The Green Knight and French Exit.

It’s another terrific list of films and all are worth hunting down on streaming services if you missed them in cinemas.

 

On that note, here are the top 10 movies of 2021 according to Brisbane critics…

Brisbane Film Critics - Top 10 of 2021
1.  Nine Days
2.  The Power of the Dog
3.  Dune
4.  Licorice Pizza
5.  The Worst Person in the World
6.  Nitram
7.  The Father
8  The French Dispatch
9.  The Sparks Brothers
10 (tie).  The Green Knight
10 (tie).  French Exit

You can view a table of all the votes and final scores by clicking here.

A big thanks to all who submitted their lists. If you're a Brisbane critic would like to contribute in future years, please reach out to me on social media.

You can check out information on all the Brisbane critics (along with their choices for the best and worst of 2021) below.
 


 

Matthew ToomeyMatthew Toomey

Born in Brisbane, Matt Toomey was introduced to the world of cinema when he landed a job at a video store fresh out of high school in 1995. A few years later, he started his own website and reviewed movies regularly on a community radio station. In 2005, he joined the team at 612ABC and can be heard reviewing the latest releases every Tuesday morning. He can also be heard weekly on regional ABC throughout Queensland.

Website: thefilmpie.com
Twitter: @ToomeyMatt

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Riders of Justice
2. West Side Story
3. The Father
4. The Sparks Brothers
5. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
6. Collective
7. The Truffle Hunters
8. The Dry
9. The Worst Person in the World
10. The Power of the Dog
 
Best Australian Film:
The Dry
Best Animated Film:
Dreambuilders
Best Documentary:
The Sparks Brothers
Best Performance:
Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World)
Worst Film:
Music
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Mortal Kombat
Riders of Justice

 

Sarah WardSarah Ward

Sarah Ward is a film critic, arts and culture writer, and film festival organiser. She is Concrete Playground’s chief film and TV editor, Screen International’s Australia-based critic, a writer for the Goethe-Institut Australien’s Kino in Oz, and a contributor to Flicks Australia, SBS, SBS Movies, ScreenHub and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Her work has been published by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, AACTA, Birth.Movies.Death, Junkee, FilmInk, Lumina, Senses of Cinema, Broadsheet, Televised Revolution, ArtsHub, Metro Magazine, Screen Education and the World Film Locations book series. She is also the editor of Trespass Magazine and a film critic for ABC radio, and has worked with the Brisbane International Film Festival, Queensland Film Festival, Sydney Underground Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival..

Websites: concreteplayground.com
screendaily.com/sarah-ward/1100859.contributor
goethe.de/ins/au/en/kul/sup/kio.html
flicks.com.au/author/sarah-ward/
sbs.com.au/guide/person/sarah-ward
sbs.com.au/movies/person/sarah-ward
awfj.org/blog/author/wardsarah/
trespassmag.com
Twitter: @swardplay

 
Top 10 Films:
1. The Power of the Dog
2. First Cow
3. Licorice Pizza
4. Promising Young Woman
5. The Green Knight
6. Annette
7. Nitram
8. The Worst Person in the World
9. Titane
10. The Sparks Brothers
 
Best Australian Film:
Nitram
Best Animated Film:
Raya and the Last Dragon
Best Documentary:
The Sparks Brothers
Best Performance:
Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza)
Worst Film:
Music
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Wrath of Man
The Power of the Dog

 

Garry WilliamsGarry Williams

Garry Williams is a reviewer for Film Club, a radio program broadcast on 4ZZZ-FM each Thursday from 7-8pm.

Website: 4zzz.org.au/program/film-club
Twitter: @thegeegenie

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Don't Look Up
2. A Hero
3. Judas and the Black Messiah
4. Promising Young Woman
5. The Sparks Brothers
6. The French Dispatch
7. The Power of the Dog
8. No Time to Die
9. Dune
10. Collective
 
Best Australian Film:
High Ground
Best Animated Film:
Sing 2
Best Documentary:
The Sparks Brothers
Best Performance:
Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)
Worst Film:
Love You Like That
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Fast and Furious 9
Don't Look Up

 

Peter GrayPeter Gray

Peter Gray is a Brisbane based, Rotten Tomatoes certified freelance entertainment writer specialising in film. Currently the entertainment reporter/film reviewer for QNews, Queensland’s largest LGBT publication, head film critic for The AU Review, and regular contributor to Brisbanista, CRPWrites and This Is Film.

Website: rottentomatoes.com/critic/peter-gray/movies
Twitter: @ratedPDG

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Nine Days
2. The Worst Person in the World
3. Titane
4. French Exit
5. Summer of Soul
6. Licorice Pizza
7. The Power of the Dog
8. The Father
9. Nitram
10. Shiva Baby
 
Best Australian Film:
Nitram
Best Animated Film:
Luca
Best Documentary:
Summer of Soul
Best Performance:
Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit)
Worst Film:
Home Sweet Home Alone
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
Nine Days

 

Ella DonaldElla Donald

Ella Donald is a freelance journalist, communications professional, and PhD candidate. She has written for publications like GQ magazine (Australia, Middle East), CNN, The Guardian, and ABC.

Website: elladonaldwriter.wordpress.com
Twitter: @ellafdonald

 
Top 10 Films:
1. The World to Come
2. Shiva Baby
3. Passing
4. The Worst Person in the World
5. West Side Story
6. Beanpole
7. Dune
8. The Matrix Resurrections
9. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
10. Another Round
 
Best Australian Film:
Tall Poppy: A Skater's Story
Best Animated Film:
The Mitchells vs the Machines
Best Documentary:
The Witches of the Orient
Best Performance:
Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)
Worst Film:
Don't Look Up
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Tick.... Tick... Boom!
The World to Come

 

David EdwardsDavid Edwards

David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb Magazine and writes about film and television.

Website: www.theblurb.com.au
Twitter: @TheBlurbMag

 
Top 10 Films:
1. The French Dispatch
2. Licorice Pizza
3. Dune
4. First Cow
5. High Ground
6. Ammonite
7. French Exit
8. Lapsis
9. Black Widow
10. The Truffle Hunters
 
Best Australian Film:
High Ground
Best Animated Film:
Encanto
Best Documentary:
The Truffle Hunters
Best Performance:
Rebecca Ferguson (Dune)
Worst Film:
Cranston Academy: Monster Zone
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
News of the World
The French Dispatch

 

Rob HudsonRob Hudson

Rob Hudson is the editor of popular culture website modmove.com and reviews film, theatre and music.

Website: modmove.com
Twitter: @modmove

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Nine Days
2. Riders of Justice
3. Coda
4. Nitram
5. Summer of Soul
6. The Mitchells vs the Machines
7. The Dry
8. The Power of the Dog
9. The French Dispatch
10. Judas and the Black Messiah
 
Best Australian Film:
The Dry
Best Animated Film:
Mitchells vs the Machines
Best Documentary:
Summer of Soul
Best Performance:
Caleb Landry Jones (Nitram)
Worst Film:
Tom and Jerry
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Cruella
Nine Days

 

Baz McAlisterBaz McAlister

Walkley Award winning journalist Baz McAlister is a writer and deputy night editor at The Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail, and co-hosts 'Force Material', a podcast about the secrets, history and influences of Star Wars.

Website: bazmcalister.wordpress.com
www.forcematerial.com
Twitter: @bazmcalister

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Pig
2. The Suicide Squad
3. Last Night in Soho
4. In the Heights
5. The Green Knight
6. Malignant
7. Werewolves Within
8. The Dig
9. No Time to Die
10. Riders of Justice
 
Best Australian Film:
Nitram
Best Animated Film:
Luca
Best Documentary:
The Sparks Brothers
Best Performance:
Nicolas Cage (Pig)
Worst Film:
Old
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Gunpowder Milkshake
Pig

 

Nick L'BarrowNick L'Barrow

Nick specialises in 60 second movie reviews on his Instagram profile - covering all the major releases and indie films that hit Australia. Nick is also a featured reviewer for Novastream Network and Film Notions.

Website: instagram.com/nicksflicksfix
Twitter: @NicksFlicksFix

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Nine Days
2. A Quiet Place: Part II
3. Titane
4. Nitram
5. The Worst Person in the World
6. CODA
7. Last Night in Soho
8. The Power of the Dog
9. The Sparks Brothers
10. The Mitchells vs the Machines
 
Best Australian Film:
Nitram
Best Animated Film:
The Mitchells vs the Machines
Best Documentary:
The Sparks Brothers
Best Performance:
Caleb Landry Jones (Nitram)
Worst Film:
Cosmic Sin
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Jungle Cruise
Nine Days

 

Shayne GrieveShayne Grieve

Shayne runs the Film and Television department at Grace Lutheran College, teaching (well indoctrinating mostly) his Media Arts and Film students and sharing his passion for cinema . He launched This Is Film in 2013, and attempts to squeeze in the rare film viewing/screening when he’s not looking after his three rugrats (3 under 5 years!).

Website: thisisfilm.com
Twitter: @ShayneTIF

 
Top 10 Films:
1. Dune
2. The Green Knight
3. Minari
4. Licorice Pizza
5. Inside
6. Spider-Man: No Way Home
7. The Father
8. The French Dispatch
9. Nitram
10. The Power of the Dog
 
Best Australian Film:
Nitram
Best Animated Film:
Raya and the Last Dragon
Best Documentary:
n/a
Best Performance:
Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) and Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)
Worst Film:
Space Jam 2: A New Legacy
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Zach Snyder's Justice League
Dune

 

Jacob RichardsonJacob Richardson

Jacob Richardson is a Brisbane-based film reviewer and filmmaker, whose reviews can be found in the online publication Film Focus Magazine, as well as in a range of newspapers in NSW.

Website: filmfocusmagazine.com
instagram.com/filmfocusau
Twitter: n/a

 
Top 10 Films:
1. French Exit
2. Licorice Pizza
3. Dune
4. Nine Days
5. The Father
6. Judas and the Black Messiah
7. In the Heights
8. Ron's Gone Wrong
9. Zola
10. Pig
 
Best Australian Film:
The Dry
Best Animated Film:
Ron's Gone Wrong
Best Documentary:
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
Best Performance:
Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
Worst Film:
My Salinger Year
Most Surprised To Enjoy:
Free Guy and The Dig
French Exit

I’ve put together a top 10 movies list for every year since 1996 and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.  I had the chance to see 222 cinema releases over the past 12 months – the most since 2009.  This is largely due to the unusually high number of new releases.  With blockbusters absent for the most part due to COVID-19, it allowed a lot of smaller films (with an emphasis on documentaries and foreign-language films) to get a run.

It’s always tough narrowing the list down and so here’s a list of the movies which get honourable mentions (gradings of A-) which I couldn’t quite squeeze into my top 10 – The Dig, Dune, Titane, First Cow, A Quiet Place: Part II, News of the World, Girls Can’t Surf, A Family, Two of Us, The Tragedy of Macbeth, The Suicide Squad, The Killing of Two Lovers, Supernova, The Lost Leonardo, Mortal Kombat, Lapsis, Summer of Soul, The Dissident, Assassins, The Lost Daughter and The Scary of Sixty-First.

On that note, here are my top 10 movies of 2021…

10. The Power of the Dog (out Nov 11) is a Western set in Montana, 1925 and revolves around two brothers - one is softly-spoken and recently married, the other is a domineering figure with a chip on his shoulder. It needed a touch more tempo but it's still an interesting, performance-driven character study from director Jane Campion. The more I reflect on it, the more I like it.

9. The Worst Person in the World (out Dec 26) offers an interesting, insightful look into the world of a 30-year-old Norwegian woman who is still unsure about what she wants in terms of career and love. Great conversations are shared by all the characters.

8. The Dry (out Jan 1) is a wonderful addition to Australian cinema. It's the story of an AFP officer returning to a small country town to look into a murder-suicide perpetrated by a close childhood friend. Eric Bana is terrific in the lead role (love his placid demeanour) and the film is loaded with memorable, distinctive supporting performances. Writer-director Robert Connolly, drawing from Jane Harper's award-winning book, deserves praise for creating a credible whodunit.

7. The Truffle Hunters (out Feb 18) is a riveting documentary that fills your brain and lifts your spirits. It's about the elderly Italian men who search for one of the rarest foods in the world - the white Alba truffle (often selling for more than $10,000 AUD per kg). There’s no unnecessary narration and no talking heads. It's a simple, beautiful film that takes us deep inside this fascinating world and its curious characters.

6. Collective (out Apr 8) is a Romanian documentary that's riveting from start to finish. It reminds us of the importance of quality investigative journalism. It demonstrates how tainted one can become when driven by money above all else. It shows how difficult it can be to change “the system” when so many have a vested interest in quietly maintaining the status quo. No surprise to see this nominated for two Academy Awards.

5. Back Luck Banging or Loony Porn (out Nov 25) is probably the most bizarre film I’ve seen this year. Parents at a Romanian school try to have a teacher removed when a sex tape involving her appears online. Split into three very different chapters and framed as a dark comedy, it’s a wild, memorable ride.

4. The Sparks Brothers (out Jul 8) is terrific. While most music documentaries tend to focus on artists with massive highs and massive lows, this one looks at a gifted duo who have spent over 50 years in the business with middling success. Director Edgar Wright extracts oodles of humour from the many interviewees.

3. The Father (out Apr 1) has been nominated at the Oscars for best picture and it tackles the subject of dementia through the eyes of the sufferer. You're never quite sure what's real and what's not. Actors change. Storylines change. Small details within the apartment change. With the wrong actors, this could have come across as a gimmicky exercise but the two leads, Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, are extraordinary.

2. West Side Story (out Dec 26) is an invigorating remake, with a few small changes, of the successful stage musical (and 1961 film) from director Stephen Spielberg. The amazing cast, the quality production values, and the iconic music make this a film to celebrate and remember.

1. Riders of Justice (out Sep 30) is a Danish dark comedy about an army man, a computer hacker, and two mathematicians who take on a powerful gang after a suspicious train crash. This is a brilliant, original, funny, surprising movie that flips the action hero genre on its head. The year’s best.

Dear Evan Hansen is one of two big musicals to be released in Australia in December 2021 (the other being West Side Story). I recently spoke with director Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) about his new film…

Matt: I was fortunate enough to see the Broadway musical back in 2017 and there was such energy and emotion sitting there in the Music Box Theatre. What was your mindset in trying to recreate that for the 2D format of cinema?

Stephen: Like you, I was a fan of the show. I saw it at the Music Box and loved it. As a lover of theatre, and I have been for decades, I’ve always been fascinated by capturing that tone. How do you turn a 1,000-seat theatre into a dining room with 4 people in it?

Between the live singing and, in some cases, the extended takes, we used the power of cinema. When he’s signing “For Forever” on stage, Cynthia Murphy is 50-feet away and you can’t really see her up close. Man, when you have Ben Platt singing “For Forever” and you can cut to a close-up of Amy Adams or Danny Pino or Kaitlyn Dever, it’s a completely different animal and becomes more intimate in a way.

Whatever we lost in terms of the live performance and communal aspect of it, we gained in the intimacy.

Matt: Hollywood musicals are often elaborate in terms of big, colourful, loud, well-choreographed musical numbers with huge ensembles. Dear Evan Hansen is kind of the opposite.  How did you approach that as a director in shooting the music scenes?

Stephen: Mark Platt was very helpful with this and he’s great at musicals. We were talking about each song and the aesthetic and grammar of each one. Basically, we looked at the songs as an extension of the scenes. To us, it was a drama with songs or a musical with a little “m”. We weren’t trying to be flashy. We were trying to be authentic and true.

Let’s say a character is talking and suddenly they break into song, it’s not like we switch microphones between the talking and the singing. It was all the same thing. It was an extension of the dialogue and that’s how we looked at every single piece. The exception was where it was an internal song like “The Anonymous Ones” or “Waving Through a Window” – that was slightly different.

The only time we did a “number” was “Sincerely, Me” which, by the way, was the most fun I had. Doing that number was a genuine blast. We got to be big and loud and funny and I loved doing it. But otherwise, like you said, it was a very intimate show and that’s how we designed it from the beginning.

Matt: It’s a great cast but I want to focus specifically on Kaitlyn Dever because I saw and appreciated her character a lot clearer than what I did in the original stage musical. What made her stand out for you?

Stephen: She’s a great, one-in-a-generation talent. I’m glad that you said that because I love Zoe. She might be my favourite character in the whole piece. I relate to her very much because my wife had some struggles similar to her growing up.  When there’s a child in the family who requires extra attention, sometimes the person who’s handling it gets overlooked. I really relate to that and I know Kaitlyn did as well with the way she approached the performance.

You’ve seen in the stage play… there’s a lot more kissing and a lot more other things. For me, we strengthened Zoe, and make her tougher, and more difficult to win over, and stronger, and not suffer fools, and be that amazing person that Evan sees. We get to see her at the dance and see her doing these amazing things. We had more room to do it.

On stage, you can’t flash back to her going to a homecoming dance with Evan looking at her and going “my God, look at her, she’s just so free.” We had every trick at our disposal and what was most fun for me was turning the beginning part of “Only Us” into a statement. It becomes a love song in the end but at first, it’s a statement of strength and purpose from Zoe. I love that song and I love what she brought to it.

Jon M. Chu Interview

In the Heights, a film based on the successful stage musical, is about to land in Australian cinemas.  I recently had the chance to speak to director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) about the fun film…

Matt:  Big studio musicals are few and far between these days.  What made you want to take on this project?

Jon:  I remember seeing the show over a decade back and remarking on the genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda.  Even though I’m not from Washington Heights and I’m not Latino, it spoke to my own upbringing in an immigrant community in California.  I knew what it felt like to be raised by aunties and uncles and have their hopes and dreams on your shoulders and to not know what to do with it.  It felt like the right time to tell that story now.

Matt:  As we know, a filmed musical throws up many more possibilities than a staged musical and we can see that here by making the neighbourhood such a big part of the movie.  What was your vision in making that transition?

Jon:  It was about taking the audience to Washington Heights and not the other way around.  It’s about embedding them on those streets.  Lin, who still lives in the neighbourhood, had written this amazing music but it had never been performed on the streets that it was about.  For me, it was about connecting the two.

There’s a language of music and movement that comes from this area and I wanted to capture the truth of these songs.  It’s not about us watching them perform the songs but rather, to experience their feelings and to yearn, to dream, to have hope, to feel down, to feel alone, and then to feel together.

Matt:  What sort of challenges does a musical bring that weren’t there on other films you’ve directed to date?

Jon:  There was a lot of pressure because it’s the first adaptation of a Lin-Manuel Miranda musical (laughs).  There are also logistical things.  For the pool in the 96,000 sequence, we had 600 extras and lifeguards to keep everyone safe.  We had people aged between 5 and 81.  We had fire marshals there because there were BBQs with fire.  We had the whole cast there are dance numbers that everyone had to do.  It was a lot!  But, ultimately, my job is to focus on the story and making sure that beyond the spectacle, we’re showing these people have dreams and it’s a “I want” song for the whole community. 

Matt:  Was there much that needed to be modernised?  For example, characters are carrying around iPhone and I think I heard a reference to John Wick at one point.

Jon:  Yeah.  The original Broadway show was set in the 1990s and was more of a period piece.  Times have changed really quickly and we made a conscious choice to make this post-gentrification.  There’s no fight against it and we’re not fighting the mayor who wants to buy all the buildings.  It’s happening and so what is our next move forward?  That was the spot we felt the whole world is in right now.  It’s changing and so what can we do to see our neighbours again and see them as human beings.   

Matt:  In The Heights has been with Lin-Manuel Miranda for a long time having written a first draft over 20 years ago in college.  We see appear in the film every so briefly but how involved was he in this film version behind the camera?

Jon:  We were shooting in his backyard because he still lives there.  Quiara Alegría Hudes, the writer, still lives there too.  When Lin gave me the tour, it was the best.  He was like “this is where I used to shoot my home videos” and I was like “yep, we’re shooting a scene there”.  He had other work on at the time but since he lives there, he would come after work and hang on the set.  He got a lot involved with the casting, the music and the editing and he was the perfect creative leader to look up to.

Matt:  A huge cast is required for the film but I’m particularly interested in Olga Merediz who I believe is the only main cast member reprising their role from when the show won the Tony Award on Broadway.  How did that come about?

Jon:  I was trying not have any Broadway cast members given how much time has passed since then but you can’t find anyone better than Olga.  She was obviously way younger than Claudia back then but now she’d grown into the role and she has more gravitas.  Honestly, I wanted to get it on tape forever.  I knew how special her performance was on Broadway and I knew she could add a lot to this movie.  We convinced her to come on in and she made everybody cry in the table reads and the rehearsals.  She embodied Abuela Claudia.

Matt:  Anthony Ramos has such a great screen presence.  He really do want to root for his character.  How did you settle on him for the lead role?

Jon:  Lin knew him from Hamilton and he did a stint of Usnavi in a smaller theatre version of the musical.  Again, I was trying to avoid going back to people who had played the role before and I auditioned a tonne of people, but when I sat down with Anthony at a coffee shop and he told me about his struggle growing up in New York and not knowing if he was worthy or not of becoming an actor, we cried.

I knew it wasn’t about putting him in a movie, it was about putting a movie through his lens.  It changed everything including the tone.  When other actors saw what he was doing, they were like “oh, we’re doing that.”  That set the course.

Matt:  As for the rest of the cast, how easy was it to find the right actors for each role?

Jon:  It was very difficult.  There are not a lot of roles for Latinx actors in the world and so you might not find them in the normal systems.  We had to search high and low.  We wanted people with high confidence because we think that’s contagious on the big screen and further, they had to be able to sing and dance as fluidly and as naturally as another language they spoke.  It takes a high-level craftsman to do that and we had to look deep to find those people.

Matt:  The film was shot in mid-2019 and now here it is being released two years later.  How much of an impact did COVID-19 have on the post-production and the film’s eventual release?

Jon:  It was hard emotionally to hang onto it for so long.  We were just about to finish it when COVID-19 struck but it gave us time to do some extra refinements with the sound mix.  In a musical, the mix is so important like what level do you hear the lyrics versus a door slamming behind the lyrics? In making it as real and visceral as possible, we had to find our balance and so we had extra time to make it right.

Matt:  What are you working on at the moment?

Jon:  We’re working on Wicked at the moment with Universal and I’m working with lyricist Stephen Schwartz and writer Winnie Holzman.  We’re finding out way into that one and hopefully it’ll be huge.