Emerging Artists - April 2014

Crazy Coqs, London

Produced by Simon Greiff

The series of Emerging Artist gigs that are taking place at London’s Crazy Coqs is a potentially exciting showcase for new talent in the arenas of both performance and also creativity. The guru behind the events is Simon Greiff, long recognised as a champion of the talent that is to be found breaking through in musical theatre.

Three writer/composers were showcased in the April session, Jonathan Eio, Ella Grace and Dan Looney. All talented musicians for sure, far more talented than this critic and all able to structure a song with a respectable number of verses, a key change and a middle eight that works too. But it was a disappointment that too many of the evening’s numbers bore the hallmarks of bland ballads. The human condition has long been the driving force of strong musical theatre and songs about relationships are all very well and good. But, there’s a difference between just writing a song and writing a good striking song that hooks the audience. All too often there wasn’t enough imaginative bait on offer to make me want to bite, either in terms of an exciting melody or truly witty lyrics.

That being said, whilst Eio’s When You Were Mine may have been lyrically trite, Adele Pope’s delivery of the song was rather gorgeous. Elsewhere in the programme Grace’s Promise Me tackled the challenge of violent abuse. A dark subject for any song (Suzanne Vega nailed it years ago with Luka) and whilst Kay Hindmarsh sung it beautifully, the lyrics veered from being painfully percepetive to at times being shallow and occasionally patronising. These are criticisms that I suspect could not have been further from Grace’s mind when she penned the number, her song simply needs more work.

Dan Looney’s work was generally excellent. His Swear Our Love, about a young man with Tourettes, was a brave song that trod very thin ice. To write a witty song about a disability requires profound sensitivity and tact and Looney got the balance just right, showing judgement and maturity in his lyrics. Looney was also blessed with two of the evening’s stellar performers. Seasoned young star Matthew Rowland served his Excalibur 93 number very well, whilst Mollie Melia-Redgrave was a stunning Ditsy Blonde.

Not really an emerging talent, more a leading-lady in waiting, Laura Pitt-Pulford graced the stage with Eio’s Sandbox. Pitt-Pulford only really knows to do “fabulous” when she sings and this song proved no exception. A cracking performance as ever, which also seemed to truly tickle the hen party that staggered in to the Crazy Coqs half way through her number!

Talent showcases will always present a variety of abilities and whilst it is proving hard to discern an emerging wit to match the the likes of a young Rice Sondheim or Schwartz there is definite potential amongst today’s young composers. The venue was packed, the show only lasted an hour and it costs a tenner. And all this all takes place in one of London’s most elegant art deco cabaret venues. Greiff’s next gig in the series is on Saturday June 7 and if you care about the future of the genre, it’s well worth attending.

The next concert in the series is at Crazy Coqs on 7th June

Darling Of The Day

Union Theatre, London

****

Music by Jule Styne

Lyrics by E. Y. "Yip" Harburg

Book by Nunnally Johnson

Directed by Paul Foster

Katy Secombe and company

An Edwardian Englishman returns to London after many years on the other side of the world and assumes a new identity. A baddy seeks to expose him and a feisty widow desires his hand in marriage. Sounds like Sweeney Todd? Well in key plotlines maybe, but as a story, this is far more lighthearted than that of the dark and vengeful barber. Darling Of The Day is a whimsical musical based upon an enchantingly frivolous tale that notwithstanding a disappointing opening history on Broadway, eventually arrives at London’s compact Union Theatre for its European premiere.

The Darling of the title is celebrated artist Priam Farll, recently returned home, accompanied only by his loyal valet Henry Leek. No sooner back in Blighty, than Leek drops dead and a bumbling doctor mistakenly certifies his body as that of Farll. The real Farll, keen to escape the rat race of mercenary art dealers and fawning fans, siezes upon the opportunity to assume his butler's identity. Unbeknownst to Farll though, his manservant had established a romance via correspondence with perhaps one of the most assonantly named characters ever created, a Mrs Alice Challis. Love of course blossoms between Farll and Challis and the premise of the show follows the farcical course that Farll's adopted identity causes amongst the affairs both of the heart and of London's art scene.

Elegantly patrician with an almost Wildean affected air of disdain, James Dinsmore plays Farll as an eminently believable bohemian, keen to duck out of life's commitments. Beautifully voiced, amongst other numbers Dinsmore has the final solo of the show, Butler In The Abbey, which is a as funny as it is cleverly melodious. Michael Hobbs is Clive Oxford an art dealer whose ethics are non-existent. Oxford is another gentleman of apparent breeding and the interaction between these two wise and wily men is banter at its most elegant.

Katy Secombe plays Challis. She fits the bill of an ever so ‘umble but nonetheless feisty Putney woman superbly and her character’s arc from being a predatory widow in search of husband no. 2, to lovingly besotted wife is cleverly drawn. Buxom, grinning and cuddly, Secombe's Challis is a carefully concocted hybrid that bares more than a passing resemblance to Sondheim's Mrs Lovett and Lionel Bart's Nancy. She is a delight to observe throughout, even if occasionally she is caught out, singing beyond the limits of her most comfortable range.

As wealthy patron Lady Vale, Rebecca Caine’s performance is a treat. Much like a (significantly younger) Maggie Smith, Caine's pouting poise and presence, with a delightful mastery of the raised eyebrow where necessary, ensure that every barbed nuance of her character's ignorant and impressionable landed lady is to be savoured . Suffering from laryngitis on press night her songs were ably sung by Olivia Maffett.

Mention too for Matthew Rowland, who this reviewer saw not long back as Boy George in Taboo. The lad only has a modest supporting role, but his talent and presence are outstanding. Recently graduated, this remarkable young man is one to watch and he adds another dimension of quality to the show. Also in the company, Secombe's older brother Andy mops up a handful of minor characters, including a delightfully dotty judge. His face, voice and movement are a comic joy and both siblings are a credit to their legendary father Harry.

Ultimately the show is (yet another) quaint American view of England in the early 20^th century, albeit written with a touch more panache than some and one that will keep you smiling throughout and guffawing occasionally. Matt Flint choreographs imaginatively around the Union’s iron girders whilst Inga Davis-Rutter leads her 4 piece band with flair. Like a long lost painting found in the attic, Darling Of The Day is a newly discovered treasure that will be enjoyed by all who savour imaginative musical theatre.

Runs to 20th April 2013

Taboo - Review

Brixton Club House, London

This review was first published in The Public Reviews

*****

Book: Mark Davies Markham

Music & lyrics : Boy George

Director: Christopher Renshaw



Matthew Rowland as Boy George
Picture by Roy Tan

Taboo is an updated and re-imaged take on a show that first arrived in London a decade ago.  Staged upon an intriguing catwalk that seductively threads its way through the audience exploiting every facet of this unusual venue’s intimacy, one senses that director Renshaw, who created the original concept of the show with Boy George in the last millennium, is delivering authentic excellence. 

Paul Baker reprises the role of Phillip Sallon that he created in 2002. Act one opens with his Ode to Attention Seekers and his command of the audience is startling. His make up is vivid with his perfect poise and movement setting the tone for the production’s descent into the sexually ambivalent world of London’s club scene.

The show’s story follows rookie photographer Billy who we meet living with his parents. As the programme notes comment, it’s Billy’s lens that captures the world of the 1980s that surrounds him. One of the BBC’s Josephs, Alistair Brammer plays Billy with just the right combination of strength, naivete and curiosity. His mum and dad are the West End stalwarts Sarah Ingram and Michael Matus. Ingram’s performance as a mother who initially struggles to accept her son’s sexuality is touchingly crafted, whilst Matus portrays the misogynist and intolerant father with a chilling degree of slobbish ordinariness. Matus plays two other small but critical roles in the show with breathtakingly slick costume and make-up changes.

Sallon introduces Billy to the hedonistic world of Boy George and his assistant Kim where love soon blossoms between the photographer and the girl. Whilst Kim is attracted to Billy, so too is Boy George. Billy becomes an emotional pinball ricocheting between his desire for Kim and finding the sexual attentions of the singer irresistible. As he deflowers Kim, so in turn is he deflowered by Boy George. Playing Kim, Niamh Perry a BBC Nancy and now a young and accomplished West End star, is a convincingly vulnerable young adult. She sings Pretty Lies, in which she confronts Billy’s betrayal of her, with a vocal performance that is as powerful as it is pained.

Matthew Rowland quite simply IS Boy George. Making his professional debut, Rowland evokes the singer’s immediately recognisable look, style and affectation. He charts George’s rise to fame and drug fuelled collapse in a tour de force performance. For those old enough to remember the 80s, to look at Rowland is to step back in time. Leigh Bowery is a slightly lesser known character from that era who ran the Taboo Club. Obese, flamboyant and literally larger than life, Sam Buttery ( a finalist on BBC’s The Voice ) is yet another professional debutante who dominates his scenes with confidence and clarity. His remarkable make up changes, designed by Christine Bateman, expertly applied by backstage assistants from Greasepaint school.  Owain Williams as Steve Strange and Adam Bailey as Marilyn complete the set of instantly recognisable faces of the age, each captured in performances that combine both character and caricature. Anne Vosser’s casting has been exceptional. 

Together with Bronia Buchanan, Danielle Tarento has again produced a theatrical masterpiece, supported by talented creatives. Mike Nicholls’ costumes evoke both Punk and New Romanticism.  Howard Hudson lights the confined spaces of the club ingeniously and Graham Simpson’s sound design ensures that the cast are clearly heard against the sound of Matt Smith’s three piece band, whilst choreographer Frank Thompson’s dance exploits every aspect of the performance space.

Blending fable with fact and new talent with established troupers, this flawless production is quite possibly one of the best shows to open in London this year.

Runs until December 23