Just For One Day - Review

Shaftesbury Theatre, London

****

Book by John O'Farrell

Directed by Luke Sheppard

The cast of Just For One Day

Forty years on, Just For One Day is more than a musical — it’s a time machine, a call to action, and an electrifying reminder of what’s possible when people come together for something bigger than themselves. 

The cast of Just For One Day are nothing short of exceptional. Their talent radiates from the stage, bringing both laughter and emotion in perfect balance. One moment you’re laughing out loud, and the next, a single tear slips down your cheek — such is the emotional range of this production. Every performer brings depth and nuance, but a special mention must go to Julie Atherton whose portrayal of Margaret Thatcher manages to be the most endearing version of Thatcher one could imagine. It’s a testament to the show’s clever writing and bold direction that even such polarizing figures are given surprising humanity.

From the very first note, the musical direction is nothing short of phenomenal. The band delivers a sound so rich and immersive, it feels like Live Aid has been reborn on stage. The energy, the urgency, the sheer volume — it’s not just heard, it’s felt. 

Just For One Day doesn’t shy away from the complexities of its own history. Modern issues — such as the common misconception of Africa as a single country, the predominance of white acts on the Live Aid stage, and the now-controversial lyric “Thank God it’s them instead of you” — are all addressed with both sensitivity and humour. The show skilfully acknowledges that while the messaging and representation reflected a very different era, the heart behind it was genuine. It honours the intention to help the people of Ethiopia, while also exploring how the event was shaped to resonate with the British public of the time. This balance of self-awareness and compassion gives the show a powerful layer of depth, reminding audiences that doing good is often messy — but always worth striving for.

One of the most striking moments in the show is when Craige Els's Bob Geldof asks: Where’s God? And in that question lies the heart of Just For One Day. The answer, subtle but powerful, echoes through the music and the movement: when people work together, when they believe in something greater, they become the miracle themselves.

“Who’s going to pay attention to your dreams?” the song asks of us. In 1985, the world did. And watching this today, it feels like it still can.

Reviewed by Suzie Kennedy

Booking until 10th January 2025

Photo credit: Evan Zimmerman

Pure Imagination - Review

St James Theatre


****


Devised by Leslie Bricusse, Chrisopher Renshaw and Danielle Tarento
Directed by Christopher Renshaw

Giles Terera

Who can take a set list? Sprinkle it with class……

… as through two hours a delicious cast of 5 chart a course through nigh on 60 of the songs of lyricist Leslie Bricusse. Unashamedly a ‘juke-box musical’, the show marks producer Danielle Tarento’s first foray into that genre, with a combination of both song snatches and entire numbers as Bricusse’s remarkable body of work is referenced and respected.

There is however something distinctive to Pure Imagination that sets it apart from most of the other shows that have been fashioned out of back catalogue cash-cows and which currently clog London’s theatres. First and foremost, Bricusse is a wordsmith whose career has seen him partner a diverse range of composing collaborators.

Sure the man has penned a few melodies himself, but that the show includes tunes from those Atlantic-straddling greats including John Barry, John Williams, Henry Mancini and of course Anthony Newley, leads to a collection that is close to a chocolate box of surprises. Who knew that (under a pseudonym) Bricusse had lobbed in the lyrics to Lonnie Donegan’s skiffle delight, My Old Man’s A Dustman, which with honky tonk piano brought on centre-stage, gives rise to a rather wonderful almost knees-up in the first half!

True to form, Tarento draws a talented company to stage the show. Veteran Dave Willis is The Man, oozing panache and flair with every number and in an exciting Who Can I Turn To? proving that he still is, very much, the man. Opposite Willetts, Siobhan McCarthy is The Woman, bringing a measured maturity to her share of the numbers, her act two opener a sizzling, Fosse-infused, Le Jazz Hot a delight.

Other special moments include Willett’s laconic Bond-fuelled take on Goldfinger (even if he channels more Moore than Connery) with perhaps the cheesiest/wittiest segue ever as The Man smoothly segues into Talk To The Animals from Giles Terera’s feline Pink Panther (yes, there were lyrics to that iconic signature tune)

Terera’s Joker offers talent elsewhere too, making spines almost tingle in his What Kind Of Fool Am I and giving a stylishly sassy take to If I Ruled The World.

As The Boy, Niall Sheehy brings a younger perspective to some numbers, with Jekyll & Hyde’s This Is The Moment proving particularly special. Completing the cast, Julie Atherton brings her hallmark polished poise to the production

That the band’s sextet outnumber the actors speaks volumes for the creatives’ vision and much of the evening’s credit is due to Michael England’s immaculate arrangements and pinpoint musical direction. Mention too for Richard Coughlan, whose finely fingered bass work enhances the production’s jazz.

Chris Renshawe directs with a wise touch. Old enough to understand Bricusse’s legacy, Renshawe keeps his finger firmly on a contemporary pulse, ensuring a style that works for today (even if the numerous selfie gags are a touch laboured)

The pure imagination of Bricusse, Tarento and Renshawe has created a confection of a show that blends nostalgia and wit with a generous splash of excellence. It all makes for a charming night out.


Runs until 17th October 2015

Thérèse Racquin - Review

Park Theatre, London

****

By Émile Zola
Adaptation, book and lyrics by Nona Shepphard
Music by Craig Adams
Directed by Nona Shepphard

Greg Barnett and Julie Atherton

Thérèse Racquin, the new musical that wowed the Finborough earlier this year, makes a short journey across West London to be staged at the larger, though still intimate, Park 200 auditorium. French classics clearly prove a rich seam for composers. Where 30 years ago Boublil and Schönberg tackled Hugo's Les Miserables, so now do composer Craig Adams and writer Nona Shepphard take on Émile Zola's classic study on desire, guilt and most importantly the corrosive effect of these two emotions upon the human condition.

The story may be more than a hundred years old but it's a strong morality fable that responds well to Shepphard's "radical" adaptation and Adam's jarring melodies. This is no easy show to watch. The themes of lust, betrayal and hauntings, as well as some distinct nods to Zola's theatrical naturalism and all strung around a murderously macabre ménage á trois, demand an adult audience.

The performers are a treat. Who better than Jeremy Legat to play the cuckolded Camille, Therese's husband, with such sensitivity and marked understatement? Usurping his place in the marital bed, Greg Barnett plays the louche Laurent, Camille's childhood friend. Of swarthy peasant stock, muscular and vital, he is the alpha-male that Thérèse burns and yearns for. Proving a decaying and ultimately suspicious force within the home, Camille's mother Mme. Racquin is a cracking performance from the ever accomplished and occasionally menacing Tara Hugo.

The success of this show however, ultimately rests upon the slender and adulterous (though only in character, of course) shoulders of Julie Atherton as Thérèse. On stage for virtually the entire show, Atherton is silent for the first fourty-five minutes, before releasing her pent up desire for Laurent in the passionate I Breathe You In, sung as the two lovers consummate their lust. It is not so long since Atherton played Emily Tallentire in Leicester Curve's The Hired Man - she evidently plays the cheating wife well. In the final act, her contribution to the duet If I Had Known are spine tingling.

Some of the songs are inspirational. Thursday Night, sung by the company as they enjoy the weekly game of dominoes that old Mme Raquin hosts, suggested just a twinkle of Guys and Dolls' The Oldest Established, whilst Sweet Perfume Of Violets is possibly one of the most beautifully horrific songs in the canon, with Adams penning a truly haunting melody.

One criticism: Sat stage right of the Park's shallow thrust one can miss occasional visual moments. The Park is a very different space to the Finborough and it's not too late for Shepphard to tweak her blocking.

An imaginative use of a female trio as chorus adds to the harmonic delight of the production, whilst James Simpson directs a fine sound from the (mainly) string quintet. With Thérèse Raquin Shepphard and Adams have created invigorating and exciting new musical theatre. The show represents a cutting edge of the genre at its very best and brilliantly performed.

Runs until August 24th 2014

Scott Alan - A profile of a talented guy

Scott Alan at the piano

When Scott Alan flew over a few weeks ago to host his O2 gig, I was lucky enough to grab an hour of the man’s time later that week at the bar of London’s Hippodrome. It’s a measure of his recognition and acclaim that our conversation was frequently interrupted by fans keen to grab a photo or an autograph. A charmingly polite celebrity, Alan obliged all requests and yet the conversation between us flowed effortlessly around these moments, as we talked about his life, his forthcoming musical Home and his love for London.

I had previously encountered Alan’s work performed in various cabaret routines and was aware of his talent, but the O2 evening had been my first occasion of getting a broader understanding of his writing. My understanding of his broader catalogue could not have been more informative. I was sat next to his mother Marcia, just flown in from New York and who as a typical Jewish mother could not have been bursting with more pride at her son’s work commanding such a prestigious London venue. In the absence of a printed programme for the night, it was my delight and privilege to explain to her who was who amongst a cast that included the likes of Cynthia Erivo, Nathan James and even John Owen-Jones. Marcia in return shared some of her recollections of the (very) young Scott. Apparently his musical inclinations were manifest even in the toddler years wheeling a melodious Fisher-Price pushalong from the age of 2, whilst various elementary-school teachers were to confidently predict a career on stage.

In between a delightful infancy and a successful adulthood, Alan is on record as having deeply suffered during his childhood and adolescence, trying to cope with a world that would not accept his sexuality and the sense of profound loneliness that engendered. As a gay teenager, he tells of having found high school hellish, feeling isolated and suicidal. Outside of school and aware that his sexuality was unconventional and as a consequence, knowing from a very early age that he would not be fulfilling the “traditional Jewish” routine of career, marriage and kids, he found the expectations of his family in those years almost unbearable, making his inner torment even harder to endure.

Alan (2nd r) with some of the performers at the O2

Those difficult times are now, most emphatically, consigned to history. It is clear that Alan and his family have all worked hard to forge fresh and powerful ties of warmth and his relationship with his mother and sister is evidently loving. Indeed at the gig, the bond that stretched from the composer on stage to his mom and sis in the stalls, was almost palpable. Alan is nothing if not open about his journey and acknowledges that the challenge to keep on top of depression can be ongoing. But the gloriously rude strength of his mental health is actually to be celebrated. He exemplifies a human victory over depression that is inspirational and in a world of transient and often flawed celebrities who battle and sometimes fall victim to, their demons, there can be few finer role models that evidence, so wholesomely, that depression can be controlled and mastered.

Alan talks of having written a lot about loneliness and in some depth refers to his favourite composition, Anything Worth Holding Onto, a song that speaks from the depths of depression. On the night at the O2, singer Cynthia Erivo gave herself, her soul and her tears totally to the number, yet whilst rehearsing, Erivo complained that she “just wasn’t getting it”, that there was an absence of connection with the lyrics and that she was struggling to perform the number. It is a credit to both writer and singer that Alan patiently worked with her to guide her towards the evening’s performance where, that even though all rehearsals of the song had proved a challenge, on the night itself and sat like a vulnerable teenager on the edge of the Indigo’s dwarfing stage, Erivo found it within her to bring words, music and above all her sublime interpretation, into an alignment of almost planetary perfection. The ovation that the song received was proof enough.

Cynthia Erivo in rehearsal for the O2 concert

Erivo was to sing again for Alan later that night, in a number that could not have been further removed from depression, as she portrayed a gloriously rebellious and cooky teenager, stoned out of her brains on dope. The song was from Home, a musical for four women, that Alan has been writing words and music for over the best part of 13 years with Christy Hall writing the show’s book. Home explores the relationship between a mother and her daughter Katherine, with three of the cast required to play Katherine from teenager through to mature adult, in a tale that will inspire and amuse its audience, as well as take them on an emotional rollercoaster.

Whilst some of Home’s songs have been released and performed (only recently, I was stunned by Kerry Ellis’ performance of Never Neverland at her Pheasantry concert), the O2 gig was the first occasion that the entire collection of songs had been recited in their entirety. With some of Broadway’s and the West End’s finest women on stage for the performance, Alan was understandably overwhelmed at both the outstanding performance values that all the artistes had put into his songs, as well as the reception the collection received. He says that whilst Home had enjoyed readings in the States, he had never seen a crowd respond to the material so perfectly, getting every joke and responding to each song’s emotional punch. Alan is at pains to emphasise that this had just been a sing through of songs, with none of the show’s dialogue included at all. Modestly and charmingly he rates Hall’s book even higher than his compositions, adding that his heart is in the show and that pending its premiere, he is simply not fulfilled.

Home is clearly a project that he and Hall have immersed themselves in. Before I met with Alan, I had spoken with his talented and perceptive bookwriter, where she described the show as “not only the kind of story people need to hear, but also a story that Scott and I were clearly meant to tell.” Alan resoundingly echoes her words and Hall’s description of their writing process is grinningly endorsed by the composer. I share with Alan the observation that Hall made, that when “we get in our work mode, neither of us sleep. We will quite literally give until we drop. It is just the stuff we are made of” and all he can do is nod in agreement. Hall had been delightfully free and candid in how she describes the writing process. “It's not all work and no play. Scott and I can be very silly and playful together… we always hit a wall when working and that usually leads to us sharing a bottle of wine and making fun of ourselves or talking to his sweet dog, Billy, in ridiculous voices... He's just a big dork when it really comes right down to it and to be honest? I adore him for it.”

The writing of a musical is, to those of us mere mortals looking in, a sorcerer’s combination of talent, wit and wisdom. The extent to which Hall so openly describes that creative and profoundly private professional intimacy, with words that Alan wholeheartedly agrees with, is a rare glimpse into the magicians’ workshop that they have built. Theirs is clearly a blessed creative collaboration and one can only hope that their professional union continues to yield future fruit.

Notwithstanding the Manhattan base of Hall and Alan, it seems likely that London may prove the launch pad for Home’s fully fledged emergence. Aside from the warmth of the reception to the songs at the O2, Alan is struck by the unpretentious nature of some of the UK’s leading musical theatre performers who have expressed their desire to work with him. Born and bred in New York, he describes it as a relative rarity for an established Broadway performer to reach out to a composer and say “ I want to work with you”, but in London he feels such pretensions are almost non-existent and he speaks of being bowled over by the requests he has received from leading West End names to perform his material.

It is of course also quite possible that one of the reasons Alan was so exhausted late that evening at the Hippodrome, was that he had just Eurostar’d to Paris and back with Eponine’s creator and latter day Edith Piaf, Frances Ruffelle (there had been much Parisian banter tweeted by Alan, suggesting that he planned to get Ruffelle to sing On My Own, on a rainy street corner in the city…) That Alan’s list of O2 performers went on to include Willemijn Verkaik, Richard Fleeshman, Siobhan Dillon and Julie Atherton speaks volumes for the immensity of respect that he has earned over here and when we met he had in fact spent a long session, post-Paris, in meetings discussing Home’s possible London launch. He was of course appropriately professionally coy revealing no details at all of the talks, but his excitement at the possibility of a London premiere is a delight to see as he repeatedly comments how much he looks on London as a second home.

The reason for our meeting at the Hippodrome was that Shoshana Bean (accompanied by many of Alan’s singers from the O2 guesting) was performing there in a hastily arranged event thrown together in the flurry of excitement that the Alan gig had generated. Bean’s act was shortly to commence and with all appropriate courtesies, Alan headed off through the crowds to hear his friend perform. As he walked off, pausing to sign autographs on request, he struck me as a perfect combination of charm, modesty and great talent. To quote John Dempsey’s lyric from The Witches of Eastwick he truly is “all manner of man in one man”. Whilst New York is unquestionably his home, I suspect that London will be enjoying the privilege of offering this man the Home he truly longs to see.

Pictures by Darren Bell

Scott Alan

O2 Indigo, London

*****

Scott Alan

If you are to "judge a man by the company he keeps", then based upon last night's performance on the O2's Indigo stage, New York wunderkind Scott Alan is of the very best indeed. With a supporting cast of musical theatre (virtual) royalty, Alan took a modestly low profile through the night watching from the wings as giants of the transatlantic stage breathed life into his stunning compositions.

Early on in the set Cynthia Erivo, surely musical theatre royalty-in-waiting having sped down the Thames to the O2 direct from a matinee performance of her astonishing role in The Colour Purple, sung Anything Worth Holding Onto. Her song gave a frank and honest comment on depression and as Alan was to explain later, his own life story explains his ability to write with such a scorching insight into the illness. Erivo’s performance, her tear-stained cheeks glinting in the spotlights by the end, was one of the most moving performances to be found in London (though Annalene Beechey was to give her a run for her money after the interval). If at times the first half resembled just a tad too much of a ballad-fest, it nonethless yielded some wonderfully contrasting moments. John Owen-Jones, ever the consummate king of performance, gave a wonderful Kiss The Air, all the more remarkable for him only having had 5 days to work on the song from scratch. Owen-Jones had been at the main O2 arena the day before to see his beloved Iron Maiden perform. That gig had obviously stayed with him as there was a gloriously full on, almost metallic feel to the way he virtually (though at all times, of course, melodically) screamed his way through the song’s middle eight!

John Owen-Jones gives it his all

The second half proved a veritable treat with the first ever assembled cast performance of Alan’s musical Home, a tale of Katherine a woman returning to her Texan home to confront her own relationship with her past and with her elderly mother. Cleverly put together, the evening's ensemble of O2 women had each prepared one song from the show and with first class support from Simon Beck’s immaculately rehearsed 15 piece orchestra and Barney Ashworth on piano, witnessing Home's premiere was a privilege. Highlights included a beautiful Never Neverland, Julie Atherton’s wittily filthy His Name and another sublime show-stopper from Cynthia Erivo, the singer giving a hilarious (and disarmingly accurate) portrayal of a rebellious teenager, off her face from smoking weed. Excellence abounded, particularly in work from Siobhan Dillon and then from Shoshana Bean in her delivery of the show’s title number, but it was with Annalene Beechey’s Goodnight, a song again of profound perception and free of all mawkish sentiment, as Katherine addresses her mother's fast approaching demise, that hearts were broken across the venue. Now a young mother herself, Beechey skilfully and passionately told of an oh-so familiar scenario.

Annalene Beechey wistfully breaks hearts

Alan took to the piano to close the show. He spoke of his personal demons that had almost led to suicide at 16 and how from that point on he had vowed to celebrate and to achieve in life. Now some 20 years later, Scott Alan is an inspiring proof that life is for living. As he closed the show alone on piano with an intimate solo encore of Look (A Rainbow), tears and smiles were gloriously intermingled. A truly special night.

The Hired Man

Curve Studio, Leicester

****

Book and lyrics by Melvyn Bragg

Music by Howard Goodall

Directed by Daniel Buckroyd



Julie Atherton and Kit Orton

The Hired Man is quite possibly the greatest ever English musical. In a story that avoids sentiment and cliché, Bragg and Goodall open a window into a tightly knit Cumbrian community, via a tale that spans the reigns of Queen Victoria through to King George V and addresses the growth of industry, the challenge it presented to those who worked the land, the rise of the trade union movement, the devastation of the First World War and the emerging trend towards women’s emancipation. And all this through perceptive verse and the most stirring of scores.

David Hunter, an ITV Superstar semi-finalist is John Tallentire, the hired man of the title who is introduced at a hiring fair, in the Song Of The Hired Men, a striking melody reprised throughout the show. Newly arrived in Crossbridge village, together with pregnant wife Emily,  John is an honest hard working man, blind to the subtleties of life and oblivious to his beautiful wife’s needs for more than just the “same blessed rain on washing day”. When Emily first spies local landowner’s son and cad Jackson Pennington wrestling in a local tavern, she cannot help but immediately flirt with him. Inevitably trysting follows and act one culminates with the blindly-trusting John excruciatingly learning of his having been cuckolded.

Act two condenses a vast span of years and plot into a credible hour of performance. The exploitation of the coal miners and the emergence of a union in response to their hellish working conditions together with the slaughter and devastated aftermath of war are tackled confidently by the writers.

Daniel Buckroyd, Artistic Director of Colchester’s co-producer Mercury Theatre is no stranger to the work and on Juliet Shillingford's cleverly designed sloping slabs of land, that depict Cumbrian fells as vividly as the Somme, he extracts clever concepts, particularly with the boisterous tavern scenes and a gripping penultimate moment, set at a Whitehaven coal face that has been terrifyingly extended far out under the sea. Yet Buckroyd also makes some disappointing short cuts. Blackrock, a phenomenally stirring song of the dangers of mining is an opportunity wasted, with minimal acting action being added to its powerful lyrics.  Farewell Song, sung as the local men leave for war and which could arguably be included in the liturgy of any Remembrance Service such is its power, has some of the most beautifully engineered key changes ever composed and should, in the right hands,  be able to effortlessly prise open the tear ducts. In this production, sadly, it fails to hit that spot.

John's is a very tough role to portray.  A solid traditional man of the land, black and white in opinion and seeking only to work hard to provide for his family, his naivete lends a profound complexity to his make up. Whilst unquestionably beautifully voiced, Hunter doesn’t quite reach the depths of credibility that could make this character truly believable.

Julie Atherton however is a definitive Emily.  Her pitch and tone are perfection and her acting is simply flawless. A woman, fiercely loving and protective as a mother, yet with a burning desire to broaden her world through both a passionate love affair and later in going out to work. (In an era still brimming with chauvinism,  it was rare for married women to earn a wage.) The frustrated passion that Atherton injects into her character’s supressed desire for Jackson is almost red-hot with stifled sexual yearning and when Bragg’s story draws Emily into experiencing tragedy, her response and sobs of grief are perfectly delivered to claw at our heart strings without once becoming mawkish.  Kit Orton’s Jackson (also a dab hand on the violin)  together with Jenni Bowden’s singing and trumpet-playing performances are noteworthy cast members amongst a talented company who all perform with wit and clarity throughout.

Under pianist / MD Richard Reeday the show’s music is simply yet subtly arranged. A modestly sized band, drawn mainly from the cast who pick up their instruments as and when required and with an inspired inclusion of harp and trumpet. Never has Goodall’s music sounded so perfect, with just enough mournful trumpet melodies lines to depict the North poignantly and passionately.

Albeit possibly deserving of an alternative title: “The Hired Man’s Wife”, this production nonetheless remains what its writers always intended. A living history lesson, beautifully told, of England’s transition into the 20th century.

Runs until April 27th

 

The In Between - CD Review

*****

Music, Lyrics and Book by Laura Tisdall

The In Between is a new musical by accomplished young musician Laura Tisdall, and it is quite simply an extraordinary composition. Writing music, lyrics and book, Tisdall has released a concept album of 7 songs from her show, extracts of which were recently performed at London’s West End Live 2012.

Venturing into Philip Pullman territory , Tisdall’s In Between of the title,  is the space between two parallel worlds, into which her protagonist Flick Wimple steps. Orphaned at 8, and guided to early adulthood by her well meaning sister Alice who is 11 years her  senior, the story finds Flick at 19. The album opens with the song She’s My Sister, in which Flick as a young woman on the verge of adulthood, describes the typical frustrations that adolescents feel towards the parent/guardian figure in their life. The song echoes aspects of Miracle from Tim Minchin’s Matilda, not just because both shows inhabit fictitious worlds that spin on slightly different axes , but rather because both songs brilliantly define their story’s key character. Through a range of tempos and styles, Ms Tisdall’s lyrics are witty, and her musical composition is both clever and refreshing on the ear. For this song , the sisters’ roles are sung by Dianne Pilkington and Cassandra Compton, and these two talented vocalists set the excellent standard that is upheld throughout the album.

In Never Expect, Sabrina Aloueche sings of Flick’s being an outsider, not a part of the cliques of life and when she sings the line “I’m not a golden girl” one is reminded of Elphaba’s inability to fit in, in Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked. Tisdall’s song is more upbeat than say, I’m Not That Girl, from Schwartz’s composition, and within that context serves to define Flick’s character in a positive, rather than introspective manner, with no hint of self-pity.

Most musicals feature the human conditions of love and desire, often against challenging odds. The In Between introduces Flick to Guide Calicus, a young man who is a part of that space between the worlds, and with whom it is suggested, Flick establishes a relationship. On the concept CD, two of Calicus’ solo numbers are included, Out Of Your World, performed by Daniel Boys and Beyond the Door, sung by Hadley Fraser. Both of these songs have a resonance that could truly fill a large stage. Boys encourages the cautious Flick to consider venturing from her world whilst Fraser decribes in a soaring performance, the world that he wants Flick to make her own.

Alice’s character is given a further song on the CD, and Julie Atherton’s version of When I Was 19, is a poignant look back from an elder sibling, at the challenges her sister has faced. It is pleasing to hear Atherton away from a comic performance, and to be reminded just how versatile, perceptive and above all, moving her delivery can be.

 Flick’s biggest number on the concept recording is Someone You’ll Be Proud Of . A song that opens peacefully, addressed to her dead parents and then evolves into a wave of voice and music as Flick celebrates her growth into maturity. Lauren Samuels has been tasked with performing this number and she does not disappoint. Past the middle-eight, her singing is positively spine-tingling.

Alexia Khadime and Liam Tamne perform Not Alone, and they deliver what is the CD’s only duet of Flick and Calicus, with impressive strength and harmony.

This concept release is virtually faultless. Tisdall has crafted a modern musical that echoes contemporary themes of story telling yet weaves traditional journeys of love and self discovery, into 25 minutes of sheer listening pleasure. Based upon these 7 songs alone, the entire show should be outstanding. Buy this recording and support the work. The In Between deserves a staging soon and has the potential to become a major West End hit.

@jaybeegee63

Songs - Richard Beadle - CD Review

****

Richard Beadle is a very accomplished young musical presence in contemporary musical theatre. His album, Songs, is an anthology comprising some works that will form part of Today Is My Day, a full length show that he is writing, whilst others are simply penned without a connecting thread.

It is a mark of the respect that Beadle commands within the “Business”, that he has been able to enlist the vocal skills of so many talented artistes to perform his works. Rachael Wooding sings most frequently as Emily, the bride to be in Today Is My Day, whilst  Ross Hunter plays Daniel, her fiancé. In an ingenious performance, the talented Hannah Waddingham sings as Katherine, Daniel’s mother and in a bold move for the musical theatre genre, Beadle has written the song  1967 for her character, addressing a sexual assault endured as a young girl. A disquieting theme, but the writer has approached both lyric and tune sensitively, and Waddingham’s delivery is haunting, hinting at the terror that she experienced, and the damage she subsequently suffered.

Julie Atherton features on two songs, both of which bring comedic interludes to the album. In The Wedding Song, she tries her hand as Emily,  frantically preparing herself as all brides must, for the detailed planning of her wedding day. Where the other songs from Today Is My Day are predominantly reflective and introspective, Atherton injects that tone of paranoia that is sufficient to raise a smile in any person who has planned a big event. With I Want A Footballer, Atherton reprises her celebrity-seeking “wannabe” character, heard last year on Dougal Irvine’s song Do You Want A Baby Baby? The lyrics are clever, and the reference to footballers wives and girlfriends being the power-wielders within relationships, suggesting that they are “ the tail that wags the dog” is sublime. If it wasn’t for the “Blue Is The Colour” motif scored into the last few bars, this song would be perfect!

Also performing two songs on the CD is Stuart Matthew Price, for whom Beadle has previously written for the singer’s own album. Colorado Plates sees Price in his fresh and honest style, searching for a probably lost love, with a performance that echoed his previously recorded Run Away With Me.

Lyrically, Beadle does need to sharpen his pencil as regards wit and rhyme if he is to emulate the piercing perception say of Jason Robert Brown, whose music certainly seems to have influenced his work. It must be said however that Richard Beadle’s musical composition is simply outstanding. His range of style and use of orchestra is both exciting and gratifying to listen to, and it is clear why he is a musical director in much demand in today’s competitive West End. The album is both a taste of the future and a celebration of the talents of today. If you enjoy musical theatre, you will relish it.

@jaybeegee63

This review was first published on The Public Reviews