Sweet Charity (at Nottingham Playhouse) - Review

Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham



****



Music by Cy Coleman
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Book by Neil Simon
Directed by Bill Buckhurst

Rebecca Trehearn and Ensemble

As Bill Buckhurst’s production of Sweet Charity takes the show squarely back to its 1960s origins with Rebecca Trehearn in the lead, the show delivers an exhilarating if somewhat brutal comment on humanity that proves disarmingly timeless.

Trehearn’s Charity is as kooky as the role demands – and yet driving her character is the same honest energy that Julia Roberts’ Anna showed in the movie Notting Hill. Charity is just a girl asking a boy to love her, and it is a mark of the genius of the recently departed Neil Simon, that his book has us believe in its commonplace heroine’s remarkable journey.

The show revolves around Charity and her fellow taxi-dancers at the Fandango Ballroom, earning a buck as they are paid to dance with sleazy punters. Amidst the Fandango’s glitter, there’s little real sparkle to this life but again, it is Simon’s scalpel-like incisiveness that teases out the pearls of humanity that exist in this New York dive. Buckhurst, with choreographer Alistair David, offers up a scorching interpretation of the old yarn. The show’s most famous number, Big Spender has long been associated with Shirley Bassey’s razzmatazz, a song that is an adulation of a man with power and money (sounds familiar, no?). Here however, the brashness is reduced to subtly jarring cascades of both movement and harmonics, underlining the truth that there really is no glamour whatsoever amidst the men who visit the Fandango Ballroom. Buckhurst’s Big Spender is more chilling than thrilling – an inspired move.

Driving the show is an immensely talented cast and crew. Trehearn brings an exhilarating confidence to Charity, inhibiting the role with song and dance that is perfectly performed. At her finest with the big solos of If My Friends Could See Me Now and, a Dolly Levi-esque I’m A Brass Band, she is a whirl of relentless energy and talent.

Charity's two love interests come from Jeremy Secomb’s wonderfully hammed-up Italian movie star Vittorio Vidal and the far more complex Oscar Lindquist (Marc Elliott). While Vidal is a two dimensional screen idol, it says much for Secomb that he still brings moments of rich empathy to the role along with vocal majesty to his one big number Too Many Tomorrows. Elliott has a much tougher nut to crack with Oscar’s inadequate everyman. If one thinks of The Producers’ Leo Bloom, or (from many years ago) Woody Allen’s countless neuroses-fuelled New Yorkers, Elliott delivers a sharply observed interpretation of a man who is ultimately a hopeless, cowardly failure.

And the supporting roles are a treat too – Amy Ellen Richardson and Carly Mercedes Dyer (taxi-dancers) offer up a gorgeous two-part harmony with Baby, Dream Your Dream, also impressively leading the Fandango girls in Big Spender, as Leah West puts in a neat turn as Vidal's manipulative lover, Ursula.

The show has its brief moments of hilarity. Shaq Taylor kicking off the second half with The Rhythm Of Life is just pure theatrical joy – showcased brilliantly by takis’ arches – while the act closes with brilliant work (again) from Carl Sanderson’s Herman singing I Love To Sing At Weddings. Across the show, Caroline Humphris' deliciously brass-heavy band perched cleverly atop both sides of the stage, are magnificent.

It has been some years since the Nottingham Playhouse staged a full blown Broadway show – Sweet Charity places the venue firmly back on the map of the nation’s musical theatre hotspots.

Runs until 22nd September

Sweet Charity (at The Watermill Theatre, Newbury) - Review

Watermill Theatre, Newbury

****

Music by Cy Coleman

Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

Book by Neil Simon

Directed by Paul Hart

Gemma Sutton

Cy Coleman’s score for Sweet Charity, much like his compositions for The Life, define his ability to create a musical around humanity’s grittier perspectives. Inspired by a Fellini screenplay, Neil Simon’s book carries a timeless ring of abuse.  Charity is a good trusting woman who is ultimately used by both the men we see her become involved with; the humble Oscar and the powerful Vittorio Vidal. The message is clear - irrespective of their place in society, men are manipulative misogynists. And yet although the narrative may be harsh, the genius of the show’s writers lies in having framed their tale within a structure of some of the 1960’s finest musical theatre writing.

The powerhouse driving this production is Gemma Sutton’s Charity. Sutton is a performer who only knows the meaning of excellence in her work, capturing Charity’s kooky complex vulnerability and delivering a performance that by turn breaks our hearts and then makes them soar in the show’s biggest numbers. Her voice and presence are majestic in songs such as If My Friends Could See Me Now and I’m A Brass Band and yet, throughout, she captures Charity’s precious fragility, so painfully recognisable in her exquisite interpretation.

Sutton is well supported by a perfectly cast company. Tomi Ogbaro as Daddy revives and inspires the audience as he leads Rhythm Of Life. Elliot Harper’s Vidal is convincing in his suave arrogance, while the show’s girls (Nicola Bryan, Vivien Carter, Stacey Ghent Emma Jane Morton and Laura Sillett) make magnificent work of Big Spender, returning it to its pre-Bassey beauty.

Perhaps the greatest revelation of the evening is Alex Cardall’s Oscar. Straight out of the Arts Educational School, and yet another NYMT alumnus to make a leading debut this summer, Cardall masters Oscar’s manipulative maturity with a confidence that belies his years. With perfectly weighted nuance and pinpoint delivery on the gags, his is classy work indeed.

Behind the scenes Diego Pitarch’s designs sees two pairs of bi-folding mirrors whirled around the stage ingeniously, while the translations of Coleman’s score to an actor-muso company is, yet again, flawless musical supervision from Sarah Travis. Charlie Ingles has directed Travis’ work with the instrumentalists, but on the night and on stage it is an assured Tom Self that oversees the delivery of these bold, brassy melodies.

Bob Fosse directed the show (originally on Broadway and later, its Hollywood iteration too) and while Tom Jackson Greaves has choreographed with imaginative flair within the Watermill’s cockpit space, Fosse’s fingerprints (footprints?) are everywhere. But for all the talent within this show, it is hampered by the Watermill’s challenging (and sometimes non-existent) sightlines that can render too much of Jackson Greaves’ (no doubt brilliant) dance work, invisible.

Yet again, the people of Newbury find themselves spoiled with this display of some of the finest talent in the land putting on a show that alongside being a rollercoaster of emotions, is a festival of sensational song and dance.

Runs until 15th September

Photo credit: Philip Tull

Promises, Promises - Review

Southwark Playhouse, London


****

Music by Burt Bacharach
Lyrics by Hal David
Book by Neil Simon
Based on the screenplay "The Apartment" by Billy Wilder and I.A.L Diamond
Directed by Bronagh Lagan

Gabriel Vick and Daisy Maywood

Promises, Promises at the Southwark Playhouse is a delightful splash of Burt Bacharach, in a musical set in 1960s New York and which hasn't played in London for nigh on fifty years. The show's pedigree is top notch, based on Billy WIlder's (he of Sunset Boulevard fame) Oscar-winning Best Picture, The Apartment, translated thence into a musical theatre book via the satirical wizardry of Neil Simon.

Chuck Baxter is a humble accounts clerk in a huge Manhattan insurance office, young and single and who lives in a modest apartment in the city. When Baxter's married manager asks if he can borrow the apartment for an extra-marital liaison with his mistress Baxter agrees - word spreads amongst the managers who all then ask for the apartment's use, with the news ultimately reaching Sheldrake, the department head, who too wants to use Baxter's flat. There's a complicated love that develops between Baxter and Fran, a waitress in the company's Executive Dining Room and for risk of spoiling, that's all that can be said about the plot.

The strength of this show however lies not only in Bacharach and David's eternally hummable tunes, but as much in Simon's razor sharp wit. The comedy is a wry New York shtick and Lagan has polished her cast into a subtle, perfectly timed delivery.

Gabriel Vick plays Baxter and he carries the show magnificently. For those that remember the movie, he captures that beautifully bemused essence of Jack Lemmon - finely principled and ultimately nobody's fool. Vick is also wonderfully voiced and when he picks up his guitar to sing I'll Never Fall In Love Again, it's a pleasant reminder that this timelessly classic song, along with the show's other great Bacharach treats, was born out of the production itself, a refreshing contrast to the modern trend of juke-box shows created long after songs have become hits. Indeed, Promises, Promises is a far more entertaining gig than the recent Close To You, a juke box show framed around the Bacharach catalogue

Opposite Vick is Daisy Maywood's Fran. Maywood captures Fran's feisty and sometimes exploited vulnerability perfectly - with more than a hint of the movie's Shirley MacLaine in her stance. Vocally she's wonderful too, making fine work of A House Is Not A Home.

The casting throughout is spot on. Paul Robinson's Sheldrake is as chiselled in his looks as his morals are despicable, the quartet of middle managers are a delight and John Guerrasio's Doctor, who lives in the flat next door, masters Simon's comically caustic New York nuance. Perhaps the most stunning supporting work comes from the ever excellent Alex Young who opens the second half hilariously as the drunken Marge, stumbling and fumbling towards a doomed romantic tumble with Baxter.

Gabriel Vick and Alex Young

The set design is imaginative but flawed (sit on the far left or right and some moments will be invisible) and likewise Joe Louis Robinson's 7 piece band, who put in a fine shift throughout the evening, need to fine tune a couple of early numbers, though note that these are very modest criticisms.

Promises Promises is a warm-hearted delight on a cold winter's night. This bittersweet story performed by a fabulous company, makes for another jewel in London's theatre crown. 

Runs until 18th February

Photo credit: Claire Bilyard

The Goodbye Girl - Review

Gatehouse Theatre, London

**

Book by Neil Simon
Music by Marvin Hamlisch
Lyrics by David Zippel
Directed by Adam Lenson

The Goodbye Girl is a 1993 musical with a story written by Neil Simon based on his award winning 1977 movie. It is a fanciful rom-com telling of the blossoming love between Paula a newly-dumped New York single mum and her lodger/landlord Elliott, a neurotic actor from Chicago who moves into her apartment. This production marks the show’s first London revival for 18 years.

There is a long established principle in musical theatre, that when tackling a show written around a mediocre book, one should display a commitment to outstanding production values (which doesn’t necessarily equate to a huge budget). There is then a chance that one might, just might end up with a hit. Adam Lenson’s programme notes say that The Goodbye Girl has struggled to “find its feet in large scale productions”. Based on this offering, it is still looking for them.

Rebecca Bainbridge and Paul Keating play the star-crossed pair and whilst both actors are competent professionals, neither convinces as the angst-ridden American that each represents. Their singing is passable (though far too often is shamefully inaudible even with mics) and their accents seem cod-USA rather than the passionately brash NY/Chicago tone that their characters demand and which is such a key element to the backdrop of the show’s chemistry.

Claira Vaughan’s choreography offers some interesting ideas for the Gatehouse’s compact space, but her company are woefully under-drilled. The venue has only recently displayed excellence in dance with Singing In The Rain. It's a shame that those standards have not been maintained and the lighting plots are clumsy too. Whilst Hamlisch’s music isn’t easy for sure, MD Richard Bates could do with taking his 5 piece band up a gear or two. There are moments of dischord that need atttention. 

None of the above criticisms are beyond repair and can and should be addressed and to be fair, it’s not all bad. There are some points of classy entertainment on offer with Denise Pitter’s landlady proving a delight, whilst the ensemble’s routine in Too Good To Be Bad is a laugh-out loud treat.

Across town, David Zippel’s far sharper City Of Angels closes this weekend, but a song title from that show could be well applied to The Gatehouse’s Goodbye Girl: It Needs Work.

Runs to 28th February 2015