Top Hat - Review

Festival Theatre, Chichester

****

Music & lyrics by Irving Berlin

Book by Matthew White & Howard Jacques

Directed & choreographed by Kathleen Marshall

Lucy St Louis and Phillip Attmore

Broadway’s gifted director and choregrapher Kathleen Marshall returns to the UK to helm a gorgeous production of Irving Berlin’s Top Hat.

Berlin’s wondrous songs and the original RKO movie may hail from the 1930s, but the stage show is very much a 21st century confection that takes the film’s ridiculous plot, a narrative so corny that it is the very definition of” musical comedy”, using it as a framework on which to showcase nearly 20 of the American Songbook’s most sparkling gems.

The musical’s story sees two young Americans fall hopelessly in love, albeit their path to happiness is blocked by a delightfully entertaining spin around mistaken identities. Phillip Attmore as Jerry Travers and Lucy St Louis as Dale Tremont lead the show  and while both  deliver perfection in their song and dance, it is left to the show’s gifted supporting characters to truly flesh out the evening’s comedy drama. Alex Gibson-Giorgio plays a preening Italian fashion designer with more than an amorous eye for Miss Tremont, while James Clyde turns in a grand performance as Bates, a manservant who pops up throughout the tale in a range of disguises.

Delivering the evening’s most exquisitely defined masterclasses in stagecraft however are the performing legends Sally Ann Triplett and Clive Carter who play Madge and Horace Hardwick respectively. These two actors are just a crowd-whooping delight whose take on Outside Of That I Love You displays their experience and skill in knowing “just how” to deliver that killer lyric or gag punchline to perfection. To be truthful, the show’s jokes are as old as the hills – but in the hands of Triplett and Carter who cares? Their work puts the humour back into humanity and makes the evening soar! Stephen Ridley directs his 12 piece band masterfully, making fine work of the classic and much-loved melodies.

Top Hat does what it says on the tin. An evening of fabulous Broadway fun that will light up the country on its nationwide tour well into 2026.

Runs until 7th September, then touring

Photo credit: Johan Persson

The Addams Family - Review

Curve, Leicester

*****

Music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa

Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice

Based on characters created by Charles Addams

Directed by Matthew White

Ricardo Afonso and Alexandra Burke

The Addams Family hail from back in the day when The New Yorker magazine offered some of the sharpest cynicism in the world and with few contributors sharper than cartoonist Charles Addams, as the gifted artist created a deliciously dysfunctional Gothic clan who resided in a haunted mansion beneath Central Park. The Addams Family’s values were as inverted as they were recognisable and their distinctive Manhattan chic was to spawn television series and a movie and lead to this beloved menagerie of deeply damaged individuals becoming one of 20th century America's cultural icons.

Translating such utterly ghoulish satire into musical comedy requires brilliant writing that demands to be matched by equally outstanding performances. Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice who penned the show’s book have an excellent pedigree behind them. Paired with songsmith Andrew Lippa, the show is based on fabulous foundations and in this iteration of The Addams Family that has just opened at Leicester’s Curve, the cast unite to deliver an evening of arguably the finest musical theatre this year.

The Addams Family musical has been around for a few years now – last reviewed by this site in 2017 -  however this production takes its excellence to the next level. Alexandra Burke and Ricardo Afonso head the family as Morticia and Gomez. Burke bringing the seductive contemptousness that her most fatale of femmes demands, while Afonso adds Latin authenticity to Gomez’s delightful despicability. The couple’s breathtaking flamenco-enhanced Tango De Amor that brings the show towards its conclusion is just joyous and the hallmark of Alistair David’s classy choreography

This production’s strengths however are bolstered not just by such strong leads, but by epic casting throughout. The legendary Clive Rowe plays the genderless Fester, enchantingly in love with the Moon. Rowe is a giant of his generation and his big number, But Love, is as tender as it is hilarious. Lesley Joseph steps up to the plate as the 102yo Grandma of the family. There are few performers who can nail the bittersweet comic delivery required of a wry centenarian, with Joseph delivering in spades. Dickon Gough’s Lurch is a demonstration of understated physical comedy at its finest, while Lauren Jones as Wednesday is all that this infernally rebellious teenager should be.

The musical’s plot revolves around a deliciously improbable romance between Wednesday and Lucas Beineke (Jacob Fowler) but it is the gem of a performance that Kara Lane delivers as Lucas’s mother Alice singing Waiting towards the end of the first half, that almost takes the roof off the Curve. Credit too to Dale Rapley as Alice’s husband Mal – a tough role with few, but nonetheless very dry, sweet spots of humour. Rapley nails them all. And a nod to Nicholas McLean who makes fine work of Wednesday’s younger brother Pugsley.

The Addams Family is more than just musical comedy. It is the finest, most acutely observed satire, that is delivered exquisitely. This tour needs to lead all the way back to the West End. Musicals do not get better than this!

Runs until 10th August, then on tour

Photo credit Pamela Raith

The Addams Family - Review

New Wimbledon Theatre, London


*****

Music & lyrics by Andrew Lippa
Book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice
Characters created by Charles Addams
Directed by Matthew White

Cameron Blakely and Samatha Womack

Having recently started out in Edinburgh, The Addams Family finally makes its London premiere. Starting life on Broadway in 2010 the show failed to make an immediate transfer across the pond, but having toured internationally, this gloriously ghoulish musical has at last been given a British life and judging by the reaction of tonight's audience, its arrival is more than welcome.

From the moment the overture commences with the iconic clicks from the cartoon / TV series the audiences are not only on side, but clicking along. The story, characters and settings are iconic. But with such a cultural resonance of course comes great expectations. Have no fear however, this production doesn’t just meet expectations, it smashes them!

The long road to London has been well worth it for this company, for their comic timing and delivery has been honed to perfection. The evening's run of constant stone cold gags sees each wisecrack delivered with the utmost sincerity. Most importantly, Matthew White’s direction has ensured a strong connection to the famously familiar elements of the TV classic, while still allowing creativity from all of his team to blossom. Complete with a mystery arm frequently making an appearance through the letter box, Diego Pitarch's design in particular sets the classic scene from the offset.

The performances are flawless. Too many to mention them all, but Cameron Blakely's Gomez is sensational. His presence is a force to be reckoned with and in the opening number When You're An Addams, which is the first taste we get of Alistair David's impressive choreography, Blakely not only establishes his character but alongside Samantha Womack’s Morticia, draws the audience into their not so normal family life. Stunt / celebrity casting can often be a critique of many UK Tours but not tonight. Womack’s motherly warmth actually comes across with an icy chill. Not only that, but the comedic chemistry between these two fantastic actors is more than alive and certainly at no point do either of these two need a kiss of life from their opposite. The gags also flow thick and fast from Les Dennis’ fabulously crazed Uncle Fester.

A strong mother deserves an equally strong on stage daughter and Carrie Hope Fletcher’s Wednesday is a blast. As the hot headed, torturing yet adorable Wednesday, Fletcher is quite simply a raring ball of energy on stage as her romance with Oliver Ormson's Lucas Beineke develops. Her rendition of Pulled complete with puppet butterflies was top notch, very few actors can deliver such vocal and comical class through song.

- To be fair, Fletcher has dreamed of playing Wednesday for years. This website saw her sing Pulled nearly four years ago at Andrew Lippa’s gig at the St James Theatre. Read Jonathan's review from then - she “took the roof off”. -

Amongst the cross bows, gory dead rabbits, cackles and cries is a story about the simple day to life of a family in New York. Albeit not your average tribe, but the monstrous leading performances and hauntingly slick ensemble bring this family tale to life. Supported by Andrew Hilton's polished band with Lippa's numbers superbly arranged by Richard Beadle, the show plays at Wimbledon until the end of the week before hitting the road as one of the best productions currently touring the land.

If you know your Addams Family songs – Full Disclosure! To everyone else the show is unmissable.

Playing at the New Wimbledon Theatre until May 20th, then touring. Full schedule here.
Reviewed by Josh Adams
Photo credit: Matt Martin

The Producers - Review

Churchill Theatre, Bromley

****

Music and lyrics by Mel Brooks
Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan

Jason Manford and Cory English

The headline cast of The Producers is almost a who's who of today's popular entertainment scene. Jason Manford, Louie Spence and Phill Jupitus all take principal roles alongside the lesser known (but nonetheless industry greats) Cory English, David Bedella and the stunning Tiffany Graves. They lead a company that delivers flawless performances as they dust off Mel Brooks deliciously dated musical.

The 12 Tony-winning musical wowed Broadway in 2001, but of course the original yarn was spun by Brooks in his 1968 Oscar winning movie - and it is to that film that this touring revival pays homage. The onstage newspaper headlines scream of LBJ and Vietnam as shyster Broadway producer Max Bialystock, so richly defined by Zero Mostel in the 60s, slicked-back hair and red smoking jacket, is neatly caricatured by Cory English. Back in the day Gene Wilder defined the nebbish (google it) that is frustrated accountant Leo Bloom. In 2015 Jason Manford (a surprisingly big fella in the flesh) makes the most of his lumbering features to define Bloom's wondrously hopeless inadequacies. Manford’s anxiety-ridden Bloom seriously exceeds expectations.

The story could be neither more tasteless nor more famous. As humble clerk Bloom realises that were a show to prove a guaranteed flop then amoral producers could sell its rights many times over and embezzle the investors' cash. Bialystock pounces on this stroke of (criminal) genius and takes Bloom into partnership. Sourcing possibly the worst script in town, Springtime For Hitler written by a crazed former Nazi and hiring Roger De Bris, a disastrous director to helm it, failure is a certainty. Until of course De Bris delivers a Fuhrer who's camper than Christmas and the Broadway crowds go wild...

Cory English has previous as Bialystock, having played the producer on Drury Lane and he masters the ways of the wily granny-shagger with aplomb, his 11 o’clock number Betrayed being a particular treat. Mel Brook's Borsht Belt comedy roots (google that too) are manifest in Bialystock’s corny patter, as his unique style merges Sid James’ Carry On smut with a wry sense of self-deprecation that's as New York Jewish as pastrami on rye.

The biggest butt (pun intended) of Brook’s gags is of course Hitler and the Nazis – and what better way to humiliate a truly evil force than to laugh at it (With a momentary pause to sadly wish “if only” that could be the case in today’s troubled world). Along the way however and in alphabetical order, blacks, gays, Irish, Jews and Swedes are all mercilessly mocked in a show that makes for one big guilty pleasure.

David Bedella’s De Bris is a high priest of high camp. Preening and pouting, he is poured into his dress – and gives Hitler just the right touch of manic megalomania too.  Louie Spence as his posturing assistant Carmen Ghia has a modest role but milks it magnificently with a movement that is as technically brilliant as it his hilarious.  And whoever thought of Phill Jupitus to play the Nazi Franz Liebkind deserves the Iron Cross. The comedian’s (rarely seen) fat, pasty, lederhosen-clad legs add visual genius to the deluded German. Be in no doubt, Jupitus cannot sing and his almost solo number, Haben Sie gehört das deutsche Band will stay with me for a long time.

Meanwhile, leading lady Tiffany Graves’ blonde bombshell Ulla simply steals her every scene. Graves' accent is wonderfully caricatured, her singing sensational whilst her dance and cartwheeling/backflipping movement is jaw-dropping. Sporting fabulous tresses (kudos to wig mistress Sally Tynan) Graves is every inch the (not so dumb) Swedish Blonde.

Magnificence elsewhere from Lee Proud’s choreography, with the big numbers of Along Came Bialy (complete with denture wielding tap-dancing geriatrics) and Springtime For Hitler evidencing a company well drilled in dance routines that blend professional precision with immaculate comic timing. And look out for the unexpected nod to the Vulgarian (aka Germanic) Doll On A Music Box routine from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as the Springtime number kicks off. 

Bravo too to Andrew Hilton’s nine-piece band who give Brooks’ compositions the bold and brassy treatment they deserve.

The Producers’ producers have clearly piled their cash (or their investors’ ?) into the cast and it shows as Matthew White directs a magnificent 5* flawless troupe. But the un-inspiring scenery wobbles, the tank-gun helmets of the dancing Nazi showgirls look like they are Blue Peter inspired cardboard creations and unforgivably, Hitler’s moustache fell off in his big number Heil Myself! Bedella to his credit gamely played on – but where were the professional production values? The show's future audiences deserve a little better.

As entertainment, this touring production of The Producers provides a sensational night out at the theatre. Top notch actors, delivering top notch routines. It makes for one of those rare nights when cheeks will ache from grinning. If you love comedy and musicals it’s unmissable. Brilliant, irreverent, hilarious and all performed by one of the best companies on the road today.

Plays until 14th March, then on tour.