Pipe Dream

Union Theatre, London

****

Music by Richard Rodgers

Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Based on the books Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck

Kieran Brown and Charlotte Scott

In a rare move at her Union Theatre, Sasha Regan steps up from producing to directing Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Pipe Dream and as it turns out, she's actually rather good. It's a quirky show, never before seen on this side of the Atlantic and with the talented writing duo having focused on the USA's eastern seaboard with Carousel and then the Dust Bowl with Oklahoma!, Pipe Dream sees their creative gaze move westward to California's Monterey on the Pacific coast.

The show's story is set amongst a glorious ensemble of bums and whores and it achieves what R&H do best, telling of a slice of American life that celebrates the emergence of an unlikely love between Doc and Suzy. Kieran Brown is Doc, an academic marine biologist whose passion is studying the sea creatures washed up in the city's coastal tide-pools. Charlotte Scott plays Suzy, a girl who arrives in town penniless and homeless but who nonetheless elects to preserve her dignity by dwelling in a drain pipe, rather than accept the offer of a roof over her head in exchange for punters in her bed at the town's brothel. Both Brown and Scott are accomplished West End performers who bring talent and depth to their roles but both of them also need to remember that the Union is unmic'd. They need to give just a little more pizazz to their performances to truly sizzle as the shows leads.

Steaming sultrily as the brothel's Madam, (curiously named Fauna) is Virge Gilchrist. It’s an all too rare appearance from this wonderfully voiced actress who knows just how to spice up her sleazy position without once becoming sordid. Her number accompanied by her girls, The Happiest House On The Block, is as witty and as entertaining as Les Mis' Lovely Ladies but happily without that song's sad conclusion. 

Virge Gilchrist and her girls

David Haydn as the senior bum of the piece, Mac, gives his all in a spicy performance that drips with gusto. When, as a bus-driver, he leads his band of reprobates in The Lopsided Bus, there could almost be a glint of a wild eyed Freddy Kruger in the way he grips his imaginary steering wheel. Lovely work too from Nick Martland as gentle giant Hazel, a guy with learning difficulties who is played with clever and witty sensitivity rather than for cheap laughs and a final nod to Christopher Connor, Rebecca Fennelly and Georgie Burdett whose lovely ballet work and eye-watering splits are a further reminder of just how good the talent is that can be found in London's fringe theatre.

Lizzi Gee's choreography is imaginative and uses the Union space with flair. Her big numbers are incredibly ambitious, though a little more polished drilling of her company would not go amiss. The Party That We're Gonna Have Tomorrow Night in particular has distinct echoes of Oklahoma!'s wonderful Kansas City, pulsing with wit, rhythm and tempo. Credit also to Christopher Peake's band who take these virtually unknown numbers and give them a beautiful musical life.

The simply designed set captures the poverty of Steinbeck's Cannery Row. A lot is left to our imagination, but Elle Rose-Hughes has used light, shadow and slatted timber brilliantly, to create a fabulous effect on a low budget.

This is not one of Broadway's grander shows. No family of seven cute kids to be found on this stage, nor songs that we know inside out. Rather this is a fine and (for London at least) freshly innovative piece of musical theatre. Gimmick free and bursting with talent, it's the most imaginative Rodgers and Hammerstein show in town.

Runs until 31st August

Crazy For You

 Upstairs At The Gatehouse, London

*****

Book by Ken Ludwig

Music & lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin

Directed by John Plews




James Doughty and Jay Rincon

 

The London Fringe premiere of Crazy For You is another stunning example of the excellence that can be discovered in the capital’s Off West End. A cast of 14 sing and spectacularly dance an impressive tribute to some of the Gershwin brothers’ most recognisable numbers. Arguably the first of the juke-box musical genre, Ken Ludwig’s book, penned in the early 1990’s, was created solely as a vehicle to link these timeless songs from the early 20^th century.

The story is of course pure Broadway froth. A young banker whose actual true passion is to sing and dance, is sent to Nevada to foreclose on a remote theatre in a one horse town that has long since seen better days. There he encounters the feisty young girl who runs the theatre (now post office) and a relationship that starts off bristling, inevitably leads to love. Throw in a Broadway director and his dancing girls, the banker’s overbearing mother and domineering New York fiancee together with some singing and dancing cowboys and you start to get the full measure of how outlandish the plot is. With his Lend Me A Tenor, written some years earlier, Ludwig established himself as a talented farceur and this book is as skilfully a crafted comedy.

Jay Rincon leads the cast as Bobby the reluctant banker. His is a tough role, having to depict both comedy and pathos and Rincon rises to the challenge magnificently. His vocal work is pitch perfect, his footwork and tap is breath-taking and if the love aspect may at times be corny, his comedy timing is sublime. What Causes That, a hilarious duet sung by Bobby and Broadway producer Bela Zangler ( a modest role, performed with relish by James Doughty) has echoes of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr, such is the authenticity of this salute to the American Songbook.

Ceili O’Connor plays Polly the Nevada postmistress. Amongst many songs, her character is entrusted with two of the Gershwin brothers’ most poignant numbers, Someone To Watch Over Me and But Not For Me. Perhaps it was the production’s tempo, but these massive songs have a distinct and fragile beauty of their own and a huge degree of expectation surrounds them that in this performance, was not quite reached. Whilst Miss O’Connor is undoubtedly a stunning actress and dancer, these numbers require a level of subtlety and maturity that are amongst the toughest to deliver and the show’s run may well see her growing to take these songs to their full potential.

The locations of New York and Nevada are defined by the two respective ensembles of high-kicking dancing girls and spitting cussing cowboys. Sara Morley, Becky Bassett and Georgie Burdett quite simply ARE New York, with their tottering heels, immaculate coifs and accents as broad as the Hudson River, whilst Ricky Morrell, Simon Ouldred and Tom Pepper perfectly brawl and bluster their way through the desert town and its saloon. The company dance work of these performers is jaw-dropping, their close harmonies divine and under Grant Murphy's precise choreography, what they achieve with dance and acrobatic movement within the confines of the Gatehouse’s compact traverse is exhilarating to watch.

James Wolstenholme entertains as the "almost bad" guy Lank in the desert town, out to woo Polly for himself, whilst as Irene, Bobby’s spurned NY girlfriend, Natalie Lipin is a delight and Tamsin Dowsett as Lottie, the banker’s mother provides another talented comic cameo.

This production reflects the combined skills of a talented creative team. The show’s staging designed by Suzi Lombardelli is economic yet ingenious whilst Oliver-John Ruthven’s six piece band conveys the brassy jazzy sound that was the Gershwins’ Manhattan.

The programme notes that Plews, together with producer wife Katie encountered initial reluctance from the Gershwin Estate to grant a licence for this production. That reluctance is happily proved to be unfounded as the show is an evening of excellence in performance delivered by a talented predominantly young company at the very top of their game. For a ticket price of less than £20, who could ask for anything more?

Runs until 27 January 2013

Photographer - Minyahil Giorgis