Thoroughly Modern Millie - Review

Landor Theatre, London


**

Music by Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics by Dick Scanlan
Book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan
Directed by Matthew Iliffe

Sarah-Marie Maxwell and Alex Codd

The twenties don’t so much roar as whimper in SDWC’s new revival of Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Landor. Matthew Iliffe’s production strips back not only the set and cast, but also the life and soul of the show, leaving us with a raw and undercooked slog of questionable casting and dull direction.

For those unfamiliar, Thoroughly Modern Millie transports the audience back to 1922 New York and follows the travails of a new arrival in the big city; Millie Dillmount. She is desperate to find a more metropolitan lifestyle after her Kansas upbringing and reinvent herself as the epitome of Vogue’s ‘modern woman’. Ostensibly the show is an uproarious farce that barrels through prohibition, celebrity parties and solicitous romance with all the subtlety of a travelling fair. It has the potential to be great fun, but Iliffe’s production never seems to capture the garish excess that cements the show. His pared down cast of 12 reduces the enormity of New York life to a small village community and Andrew Riley’s set is bare to the point of feeling naked. For a show like ‘Millie’, New York is as much a character as anybody on stage and her bustling crowds and grand sense of scale just felt lost in the intimate Landor space.

Sam Spencer-Lane does her best to inject the choreography with some Broadway punch, but again the sequences are at odds with their surroundings. Numbers feel hampered by the limited space, looking to explode into life with no room to grow. That a dancer crashed into some lights on the night I watched was no coincidence.

The cast also seemed to struggle with this tonal imbalance, unsure as to whether to play the show as writ, or try and adapt the uproarious dialogue for the chamber space. For most, it left them in an unflattering middle ground, precariously teetering between mugging for laughs and striving for sincerity. There were also some distracting casting decisions, with young graduate actors being unfairly asked to play far older than they are and jokes about characters’ ages therefore falling flat. More disconcerting than this though, was the decision to cast a Caucasian actor, Alex Codd, as Ching Ho, one of the Chinese henchmen. That Mrs Meers’ offensive Asian caricature is only acceptable at all is because we are supposed to laugh at the absurdity of a Caucasian female trying to pass herself off as another race. With Codd in earnest trying desperately to do the thing we are meant to be laughing at, Steph Parry’s performance as Mrs Meers becomes completely undermined. The entire villainous subplot becomes tremendously uncomfortable, laced as it was with an air of racial insensitivity.

On the positive side, Sarah-Marie Maxwell is the undeniable standout, giving a charming and incredibly watchable performance as Miss Dorothy. She is a joy every time she comes on stage and injects her scenes with just the right amount of detail and energy. Her voice is also beautiful, packing real power even without a microphone and giving a lilting edge to the higher parts of the score. The singing in general is of a high quality and Chris Guard’s small band does well to maintain the score’s brassy 20s roots even with only five members.

Thoroughly Modern Millie inherently seems like a bizarre choice for a fringe revival. It just isn’t that kind of show. Iliffe has done his best to downsize the glitz and glamour, but his endeavours lack the creativity to allow the audience to get lost in Millie’s world. Unfortunately, without stellar performances and an exciting design, these flappers are a bit of a flop.

Runs to 13th September

Guest reviewer: Will Clarkson

The Clockmaker's Daughter - Review

Landor Theatre, London

****

Jennifer Harding

Written by Michael Webborn and Daniel Finn

Directed by Robert McWhir

As Carrie The Musical closes in Southwark, so another show about a misunderstood young woman, who's blessed with supernatural powers, opens south of the river. But where Carrie was the re-imagining of a classic modern horror story, The Clockmaker's Daughter in Clapham’s Landor Theatre is a boldly written new fairy tale.

There are hints of Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz and Howard Goodall in the music as we learn how many years ago clockmaker Abraham made himself a clockwork young daughter named Constance (geddit?) to replace his young dead wife. Notwithstanding the potentially "mechanically incestuous" complications that the scenario suggests (and which need to be ironed out in the inevitable future re-writes), the very best of fairy tales, on close examination, are all horror stories and there are distinct nods to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as a starting point for this fable. We see Constance, like Dr Frankenstein's creature before her, learning to reason and to feel emotions and going on ultimately to be shunned by the world around her.

The plot is simple - and as Constance goes around the village performing acts of kindness, she represents a wholesome focus for the story to pivot upon. Her craving a human mortality only adds to the story's poignancy and with the inclusion of an appropriately boo-worthy villain, the show offers some gorgeous potential.

That this story works at all is largely due to the outstanding performance of Jennifer Harding in the title role. Robert McWhir has coaxed from her a subtly portrayed reality that convinces us of her soulless plight. Her robotic movements are just right, not too pronounced and Harding's gold-painted face defines her as being not of this world. Her singing is gorgeous too, making fine work of her big solos A Story Of My Own and the climactic Clockwork.

Jo Wickham hams it up magnificently (though she could shout a bit less) as the wicked Ma' Riley, out for Constance's downfall, Alyssa Martyn convinces as a charming young bride Amelia, whilst elsewhere the large company numbers again demonstrate Robbie O'Reilly's ability to achieve impressive ensemble work in the Landor's compact space, with both Keep It To Yourself and Market Day being cleverly staged numbers that were easy on both eye and ear. 

David Shields' stage design works wonders with a set that's a combination of trucks, projections and ingenious contraptions and credit too to Richard Lambert's lighting work that for the most part enhances both ambience and location.

This ain't the finished product yet, but it's a damn good work in progress. The show needs to lose at least 30 minutes and its script would benefit from some expert treatment too. But make no mistake, The Clockmaker's Daughter is a charming show that celebrates the ingenuity of today's new writing - it's fun to watch and a bit of a tear-jerker too. This wonderful story deserves a future life, possibly as a Xmas show somewhere or who knows, possibly on screen? There's enough potential in the story to hook even the most Disney-fied of today's audiences and I wish it well.

Runs until 4th July 2015

Picture credit: Poppy Carter Portraits at www.poppycarterportraits.com

In The Dead Of Night - Review

Landor Theatre, London

***

Written and directed by Claudio Macor

Judith Paris and Susannah Allman

In The Dead Of Night sets out an ambitious premise. Very much a nod to the film noir of the 1940s, Claudio Macor's play draws upon the classic romantic motifs with a tale set in the fictional South American town of La Roca.  Amidst an intrigue of whores, drug cartels, sleazy dockside rendezvous and ultimately murder, passions run high and hearts are broken.

But back in the day Hollywood was enslaved to the Hays Code – a puritanical ethic that governed all aspects of intimacy and sexuality in the movie industry. Macor has already explored this era with The Tailor Made Man. In The Dead Of Night takes artistic licence one step further, by pitching the plot as though the Hays Code did not exist. Gay love is celebrated rather than hidden, whilst the straight sex simmers too. The noir genre cruelly demands respect and scripting the period can prove to be a notorious challenge if melodrama is to be avoided. Whilst Macor's research into the cocaine-fuelled period is learned and sincere, he overdoses on cliché.

Acclaimed actor Judith Paris leads the company as La Roca's ageing madam, Elvira. Paris is a delight, making a larger than life character accessible, whilst at the same time casting a GILF-like spell over most of the men in town.  Shamelessly exploitative, Macor has chosen his performers with an eye for beauty as much as for talent. Countless ripped young men strut about in vests and butt-slung braces, who if they are not lusting after Elvira, are falling at the feet of Susannah Allman's Rita, or in the story’s strongest love theme, each other. Defying the conventions of the time, the story leads on the doomed love between Leandro and Massimo, respectively Matt Mella and Jordan Alexander, in a courtship that includes some fabulously choreographed man to man tango.

And it's Anthony Whiteman’s choreography that marks this show out. Delivering quite possibly the best off-West End dance work in London today, his sublime tangos and salsas are breath-taking for what they accomplish, especially given the Landor’s modest space. Immaculately drilled, his company oozes passion whilst the perfectly sculpted and scantily clad Allman, gives a performance that is not only a smouldering tribute to Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner, but also a sensational dance accomplishment as she moves around her would be suitors.

Notable too on the night are Ned Wolfgang Kelly’s devious Falchi, whilst Ross Harper Millar’s Martinez is memorably classy as a drink and drugs addled Latin bum.

Overblown hokum for sure, but with Paul Boyd (he of Molly Wobbly fame)  having laid down a keyboard driven backing score that adds to both time and genre and all supporting a deliciously talented troupe, In The Dead Of Night makes for an entertaining night out. Worth catching!

Runs to 16th May 2015  

She Loves Me - Review

Landor Theatre, London

****

Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Book by Joe Masteroff
Directed by Robert McWhir

Emily Lynne (l) and Charlotte Jaconelli

It's been more than twenty years since She Loves Me was last performed in the West End. This charming confection of a tale, penned by Harnick and Bock at the same time as they were writing Fiddler On The Roof, only had a short life on Broadway in 1963 although went on to enjoy award winning revivals on both sides of the pond in the 1990s. Drawn from Hungarian Miklos Laszlo's 1937 play Parfumerie (which in turn was to also inspire the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie You've Got Mail) the plot revolves around an unlikely pair of star-crossed lonely hearts, who fall in love through an exchange of letters, whilst working side by side in the same perfume store and (initially at least) both blissfully unaware of who their paramour truly is. The story is as heart-warming as it is corny and in today's digital era, playing to a modern audience, it is barely more than a frothy fairy tale.

Yet this production of She Loves Me is another example of London's fringe theatre at its very best. Robert McWhir is one of the few directors in town who can strip down a forgotten show from Broadway's golden era and with a talented cast, make it sparkle with sentiment, wit and fabulous melodies.

Charlotte Jaconelli and John Sandberg play Georg and Amalia, the hapless lovers. Jaconelli a finalist on TV's Britain's Got Talent and already an accomplished recording artiste, makes a brave stage debut in a leading role with a performance that occasionally wobbles, but which will surely smooth out as she settles into the run. It is when Jaconelli sings though that this remarkable young woman defines herself as one of the leading voices of her generation. Her voice fills and thrills the compact Landor with amongst many songs, her Will He Like Me? being a particular treat. Sandberg carries the male lead with confidence and gusto. Half way through the second act, his treatment of the show's title song, with a cleared stage to himself, is a glorious demonstration of panache filled showmanship.

Credit to casting director Benjamin Newsome, who has selected a cast of gems for McWhir to work with. In a key supporting role at the parfumerie Emily Lynne’s Ilona Ritter is a combination of flawless voice, movement and comic timing, with her two big numbers, Ilona and A Trip To The Library, both proving perfectly annunciated songs. Matthew Wellman is a definitive moustachioed love-rat Steven Kodaly, whilst Joshua LeClair’s Arpad, the delivery boy desperate for a job in the store itself, sheds the years brilliantly to play the keen teenager.

McWhir also works wonders with the show’s outstanding ensemble. The close harmony work, occasionally sung a-cappella, is sensational with Rosie Ladkin and Annie Horn in particular maintaining a striking presence throughout. The comic highlight of the night however rests with Ian Dring doubling up as both the elderly Mr Maraczek the parfumerie’s owner and as a Waiter in a romantic nightspot of questionable repute, offering a bewigged performance of outrageous camp-ness suggesting Joel Grey crossed with Julian Clary.

As ever, McWhir's creative crew are formidable. There is not too much dance in the show, but nonetheless Robbie O’Reilly’s work again shows how well her ideas partner the directors'. Ian Vince-Catt on keyboards conducts a stringed duet that give a finely reduced interpretation of Bock’s original score as David Shield’s designs seal the Hungarian illusion of the piece. His art nouveau painted backdrop and mini-trucks that whirl around the stage to create the store, a café and an apartment as well as exterior settings are inspired creations.

A period piece for sure, but Harnick and Bock have written some fabulous songs and opportunities to see works this rare, performed this well, don’t come around often. Like a tube of Maraczek’s eponymous beauty cream the production oozes romance and as Valentine’s Day approaches, there are few shows that match the fabulous feel-good factor of She Loves Me.

Runs until 7th March 2015

Read my revealing interview with lyricist Sheldon Harnick here.

Photo credit: Darren Bell