Anything Goes - Review

Barbican Theatre, London

*****

Music and lyrics by Cole Porter

Original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russell Crouse

New book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman

Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall

Kerry Ellis and the cast of Anything Goes

It says much for the quality of writing in the 1930s that nearly some 90 years after it opened on Broadway, Anything Goes can still pack a hilariously powerful punch with its heady cocktail of song and script. This is a show that lampoons (harpoons even) much of both British and American cultures and many of today’s emerging writers (with only a few exceptions) would do well to get themselves to the Barbican to see what good musical theatre – book, lyrics and score - really is.

Meanwhile, having completed its UK tour, the SS America returns to tie up in London, offering the capital another chance to wallow in the unabashed joyous glory of Kathleen Marshall’s Anything Goes. The big four names from last year’s outing of this revival are gone – replaced by Kerry Ellis as Reno Sweeney, Simon Callow as Elisha Whitney, Bonnie Langford as Evangeline Harcourt and Denis Lawson as gangster Moonface Martin and for the most part this quartet are excellent.

What also drives this show immeasurably is the featured artistes who have remained onboard from 2021. Samuel Edwards as Billy Crocker, Nicole-Lily Baisden as Hope Harcourt and the deliciously named Haydn Oakley playing Lord Evelyn Oakleigh are all as magnificent now as they were then – with this whole crazy pot-pourri of a show giving rise to one of the most fantastic evenings of entertainment to be found anywhere in town.

The show’s songs and plot are the stuff of legend – this cast however take them to another level. Ellis captures the insouciant brilliance of Sweeney, not just in her perfectly pitched vocals and footwork, but in her delivery of the rapid-fire gags too. Good comedy requires not only a finely tuned script, but split-second delivery and Ellis (and her troupe) truly are the tops.

Callow was born to play crusty aristocrats, not least this Yale-educated captain of industry and he adds comic heft to an already inspired creation. The writers knew how to mock stereotypes and Callow milks every precious moment that he is granted on stage with sublime precision. Callow's singing nor his footwork may not be the best – but the matured genius of his stage presence more than compensates. Bonnie Langford equally has a role that is paper-thin in its perfectly structured two-dimensionality and yet again, every second of her performance is exquisitely on the money.

Baisden is handed the tough role of being almost completely non-comedic – yet she handles the critically important role of Hope flawlessly. Carly Mercedes Dyer as Erma remains an absolute scream, while Oakley’s Oakleigh is truly one of the most inspired comic turns around. Even if you’ve seen the show countless times before, this iteration will have you moist-eyed with its whip-sharp delivery. And then there’s the dancing - Ellis leads her company through a demanding range of numbers with none surpassing the title number that closes the first act and which seems, breathtakingly, to go on forever.

For a production built for the road the sets are ingeniously lavish as doors and decks slide away, revealing the ship’s cabin interiors. Derek McLane’s designs enhanced by Hugh Vanstone’s lighting plots are simply top-notch. In the pit Mark Aspinall makes de-lovely work of Porter’s score, his 16-piece band delivering a lavish sound.

This production stunned London in 2021 as the city was beginning to emerge from the pandemic and one year on, its return is equally welcomed. In a song and dance show that is drilled to perfection, this is musical theatre at its glorious, frivolous finest.

Runs until 3rd September

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Nine to Five The Musical - Review

Savoy Theatre, London


*****


Music & lyrics by Dolly Parton
Book by Patricia Resnick
Directed by Jeff Calhoun

David Hasselhoff

As David Hasselhoff steps into the role of sexist misogynist boss Franklin Hart Jnr in Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, the show is lifted to an even higher plane of brilliant musical theatre comedy. Hart is a 2-dimensional shallow monster, and with Hasselhoff stepping up (or down) to the role, the self-deprecation that sees a globally recognised TV star being humiliatingly hoisted around the stage clad only in bondage gear, is quite simply a treat. Hasselhoff has a decent voice too - he still retains legendary status in Germany as a singer - which only adds to the show's fun.  

The audience cheer ‘The Hoff’ on his first appearance - he could just as easily be being booed by the crowd for his character’s despicable antics and attitudes come the final bows - and it is this pantomime aspect that makes an already outstanding show, a perfect night out.

Any successful musical can only be as strong as its book and Patricia Resnick’s 1980s fable does a fine job of creating believable, and above all, relatable issues from her 2-D comic book heroines and villains. Coming from way before the #MeToo era, the sexual harassment and exploitation of the storyline may be played for laughs on stage, and the show’s ending maybe as fantastic as a fairytale, but the laughs are all at the expense of the bad guy(s). 

Caroline Sheen as key protagonist Violet Newstead remains flawless in her leading the company. Natalie McQueen’s Doralee Rhodes - the Dolly Parton tribute character - is equally strong, with Chelsea Halfpenny as Judy Bernly completing the talented trio. It is still Bonnie Langford's harridan Roz who stops and steals the show half way through act one. Langford's tango duet with Hasselhoff, Heart To Hart has the audience cheering to the rafters.

The show is a technical gem. Whip smart dancing, Andrew Hilton’s phenomenal band and ingenious lighting and projections all combine to create a world class night at the theatre.

Booking until 23rd May 2020

David Hasselhoff appears until 8th February 2020

Nine to Five The Musical - Review

Savoy Theatre, London


****


Music & lyrics by Dolly Parton
Book by Patricia Resnick
Directed by Jeff Calhoun

Natalie McQueen, Caroline Sheen , Amber Davies

Musical theatre comedy done well is a blissful way to spend an evening. So it is with Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, currently playing to packed houses at the Savoy Theatre.

Set in 1980s corporate America the plot is an unbelievable humbug that sees three focused, driven women kidnap their boorish, mysogninyst boss with everything leading to a deliriously happy ending. But while the story may be a fictional fable, the show’s themes are sadly timeless - and to that end, while Parton my have set Patricia Resnick’s book to music nearly 40 years ago, the show’s themes of workplace inequality and sexual harassment are as true today as they ever were.

So what turns this potentially grim scenario into quite such a banging night at the theatre? Parton’s cracking songs, delivered by a perfect cast. Caroline Sheen leads the line, as Violet, an overlooked female executive. In a tough role that doesn’t offer much comical caricature potential, Sheen is magnificent. Beautifully voiced as ever, she drives the story’s narrative.

Dolly Parton is as famous for her physique as for her country & western singer/songwriter talents - and it falls to Natalie McQueen as Doralee to capture the legendary statuesque Parton persona. McQueen rises to the challenge fabulously, never better than in her poignant solo Backwoods Barbie.

Third in the lineup is Amber Davies’ Judy playing a young dumped bride finding her way in the workplace. Both Davies and McQueen capture the comic essentials of their characters with an impressive avoidance of cliche - top work from all three.

The supporting roles are equally flawless in their delivery of cracking comedy. Brian Conley is the women’s monstrous employer turning in an assured performance as a man with no redeeming features whatsoever other than an awesome stage presence and impeccable comic timing. Opposite Conley, Bonnie Langford plays Roz, his harridan henchperson.  Langford’s talent is breathtaking as she transitions from brusque, bunned busybody to basque-clad temtptress in her sensational solo piece Heart To Hart, with an elegant litheness that has to be seen to be believed.

And all credit to the show’s creatives. Jeff Calhoun and choreographer Lisa Stevens pack the piece with colour and movement, while Howard Hudson’s lighting and Nina Dunn’s video projections make the stage itself as entertaining as the perfomances. Under Andrew Hilton’s baton, the eight piece band are an equal delight.

9 to 5 is perfectly played, unpretentious fun and one of the funniest feel-good shows in town.

Booking until 31st August

Hey Old Friends: An 85th Birthday Tribute to Stephen Sondheim

Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London

****

The Company

A concert of this sort – large numbers of quite well known people along with full backstage back-up giving their services for charity (Esther Rantzen’s Silver Line) on a Sunday evening usually succeeds on adrenaline and goodwill and this one was no exception. With people such as Julia McKenzie, Nicholas Parsons, Sally Ann Triplett and Michael Xavier on stage you can’t really go too far wrong.

High spots included an entertaining and very clever top speed medley number by the astonishingly talented Martin Milnes and Dominic Ferris who say they pack 33 songs into less than five minutes although I didn’t actually count. Then there was the ageless, still elegantly outrageous Millicent Martin with the hilarious and impeccably articulated and timed “I never do anything twice”. Astonishing Bonnie Langford, now 51 – yes, 51 – can still sing perfectly while simultaneously dropping into the splits and later being suspended upside down by Anton Du Beke with whom she flirts outrageously in “Can that boy Foxtrot!” Also good fun is the pretend anti-Sondheim pastiche at the beginning by Kit and McConnel who kept it going as an intermittent running gag throughout the show. Haydn Gwynne did well with “Send in the Clowns” too – a different rendering from the more familiar Judi Dench one but moving with Daniel Evans as the recipient. Evans sings “Pretty Lady” nicely too with Simon Green and Michael Peavoy - how many canons are there in musical theatre? One of the things which stuck me forcibly at this concert is Sondheim’s remarkable range, versatility and ongoing originality. He’s still going strong at 85 and steering clear of all stylistic ruts.

At the centre of all this – and it’s literally centre stage with many exits and entrances taking place from behind and alongside it – is a full and very fine orchestra conducted by MD, Gareth Valentine and that makes a real difference. The show is also enhanced by the fine ensemble backing of students from Arts Educational Schools London who sing magnificently as they gather first class experience on stage with the pros.

Of course a concert of this sort is assembled and rehearsed in a very short time so it is never going to be perfect. There were too many mics around the orchestra so that sometimes the sound balance was wrong and singers were struggling to be heard. And the celebratory excitement of the event notwithstanding, at three full hours the show was too long and would have been better with at least one item cut from each half. We all know how lighting designers love stage smoke because they can beam pretty colours through it and get spectacular effects easily. Here it was overdone to the point of irritation.

Also puzzling, given the number of participants is that there weren’t more Very Big Names in the cast. Maria Friedman, Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball, for example, were conspicuous by their absence.

Guest reviewer: Susan Elkins