Opening Night - Review

Gielgud Theatre, London

****

Music, lyrics & orchestrations by Rufus Wainwright

Original film by John Cassavetes

Directed by & book written by Ivo Van Hove

Sheridan Smith

Every show has an opening night. In Mel Brooks’ musical The Producers he even included a song entitled Opening Night, so it was surely only a matter of time until a creative (step forward Ivo Van Hove) grabbed hold of John Cassavetes’ 1977 movie to fashion a two-act show around one of theatre’s most consistently nerve-wracking challenges.

In one of the boldest upendings of the genre, Van Hove’s multimedia, mind-meddling, meta-musical presents us with the decline of the fragile Myrtle (Sheridan Smith). A leading lady in The Second Woman, a Broadway play that’s four days from opening, Myrtle is already battling profound insecurities about her age and career. Early on in the narrative she witnesses the brutal death of Nancy, a fan killed in a road traffic accident immediately after having very nervously obtained the actress’s autograph. Following Nancy's death, the musical then tracks the ticking time-bomb of the impact of that trauma upon Myrtle’s mental well-being.

Smith is outstanding in a performance that mixes gravitas with fragility. The linchpin of both The Second Woman and Van Hove’s musical, it is her energy that drives the show. There are fine supporting performances too. Hadley Fraser is Manny, the demanding Broadway director who is all too happy to blur professional boundaries if it will reassure his leading lady. Nicola Hughes has the complex role of NY playwright Sarah, who is required to handle Myrtle’s mangling of her script as the actress’s mind unravels. The duet between Myrtle and Sarah, Makes One Wonder, is spine-tingling in its exploration of the pair’s respective vulnerabilities. Amy Lennox as Manny’s wife Dorothee has a modest but useful role in the narrative, providing a robust and challenging foil to her husband’s inappropriate conduct. 

The most impressive work amongst the supporting roles comes from West End debutante Shira Haas as Nancy. Haas takes this unfortunate young woman, transitioning her from a star-struck fan with issues to a ghost-like apparition that plagues Myrtle’s troubled mind. This is a bold conceit addressed brilliantly by Van Hove and lending an almost horrific edge to the second act. 

The use of video and live-action multi-camera projections (designed by Jan Versweyveld) deploys a massive upstage screen that not only plays around with cleverly storyboarded close-ups, but goes further with the merging of camera shots. In a remarkable coup-de-theatre, as Myrtle reaches her mental nadir, Versweyveld and Van Hove use time-lapse to add another visible dimension to the actress’s distress.

Rufus Wainwright’s music is, for the most part, a joy to experience taking in a range of American styles. Nigel Lilley’s 9-piece onstage band are terrific with standout work from Huw Davies on guitar. Wainwright’s lyrics occasionally drift into repetitive triteness, a feature perhaps of his rock and pop background rather than the more rigid disciplines of musical theatre.

Opening Night makes for a challenging night of unconventional theatre that is at times deeply upsetting. Sheridan Smith’s performance is one of the finest to be found on a London stage.

Booking until 27th July

Photo credit: Jan Versweyveld

Rock Follies - Review

Minerva Theatre, Chichester

****

Songs by Howard Schuman and Andy Mackay

Based on the television series written by Howard Schuman

Book by Chloë Moss

Zizi Strallen, Angela Marie Hurst and Carly Bawden

Chichester is fast becoming the rock capital of West Sussex, First with Assassins and now with Rock Follies, yet another show is getting its audience into the vibe with a mise-en-scene backing track of pre-show rock classics. 

Howard Schuman and Andy Mackay’s Rock Follies is drawn from Schuman’s 1976 TV series of the same name. In its day the Thames TV production was groundbreaking following an all-girl band, the Little Ladies, from its creation through to the intoxicating highs and the devastating lows of the music business. The stories pulled no punches in displaying the sexist misogyny of the era alongside the sheer ruthless commercialism of pop and rock. The drama was compelling and today, framed around Chloë Moss’ book, Rock Follies makes for a night of theatre containing some blistering performances.

Zizi Strallen, Carly Bawden and Angela Marie Hurst are Q, Anna and Dee the three performers flung together by fate and whose fictional fusion created a band that was ahead of its time, predating and by some years the real life Bananarama and the Spice Girls. All three women are sensational in their roles – and while some of Schuman and Mackay’s lyrics may stray into banality, their melodies are stunning. And when delivered by these three leading ladies, lead to performances that take the roof of the Minerva.

It is re-assuring to see Dominic Cooke’s perceptive flair, recently missed, return to his directing. Carrie-Anne Ingrouille’s choreography, honed on Six's female cast, is found to be just as exciting with half the number of leads!

Rock Follies was brilliant in its time, delivering punchy hour-long stories that in those heady pre-streaming days, created narratives that were the UK's water-cooler conversations. Running for 12 episodes, Schuman's incisive teleplays allowed enough time to fully define the characters and their interactions. Here, that 12 hours of telly is condensed into nigh-on three hours of musical, a compression that is far from flawless. The show’s unwieldy second act grapples with an untidy narrative and needs a trim, while elsewhere and far too often the supporting characters are portrayed as little more than 2-dimensional caricatures.

The wonder of this show however lies in Strallen Hurst and Bawden. As an ensemble their harmonies are delicious and in solo work, each woman sings with a unique clarity and timbre that is spine-tingling in its beauty. Indeed, with The Sound Of Music playing just across the driveway in the Festival Theatre it is likely that right now Chichester is staging some of the finest performances in the country. 

Credit too to Nigel Lilley and Toby Higgins whose musical arrangements of the score that, as well as including mostly new material, also offers up a couple of juke-box gems along the way, is inspired and their 5-piece band is sensational. Equal credit to Ian Dickinson’s sound design that not only captures the sounds of the 70s – that noise of a 10p piece being pushed into a payphone’s coinbox will go straight over the heads of anyone under 50 - but also brilliantly captures the acoustics of the three singers' public performances, whether the venue being portrayed on stage is a dingy London pub or New York’s Madison Square Gardens.

The script may creak, but the production values are gorgeous and the performances sensational. A well curated tribute to the 1970s, 

Runs until 26th August

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Newsies - Review

Troubadour Theatre, Wembley

***

Music by Alan Menken

Lyrics by Jack Feldman

Book by Harvey Fierstein

The cast of Newsies

On its first transatlantic crossing, Disney’s Newsies rocks up in Wembley’s cavernous Troubadour Theatre.

It’s a solid socialist yarn, founded upon history and telling of how at the turn of the 20th century New York’s newspaper vending kids ( the “Newsies”) challenged the capitalist owners and publishers for fairer trading terms upon which the papers were to be sold. It’s a fine premise, but the yarn doesn’t easily stretch to fill a two-act musical, with Menken, Feldman and Fierstein lathering on layers of schmaltz in their tunes, lyrics and book respectively, to give the audience their money’s worth.

To further paper over the cracks, Menken’s score is used as the groundwork for breathtakingly balletic dance work, where director/choreographer Matt Cole deserves plaudits for the imaginative deployment of his company’s bodies. However this is Cole's first time in the director's chair and it shows. There is a shallow, cheesiness to the show’s dialog from the get-go, with Cole lacking the heft to raise the words to a higher plane.

The actors are all terrific with Michael Ahomka-Lindsay and Bronté Barbé leading in their corny and improbable love story. Above the stage Nigel Lilley makes fine work delivering Menken's essentially forgettable tunes.

If you want to be stunned by lithe young performers performing breathtaking routines, then the show is unlikely to disappoint.

Runs until 16th April 2023

Photo credit: Johan Persson 

Follies - Review

National Theatre, London

*****

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by James Goldman

Directed by Dominic Cooke

It’s been a while since the National Theatre last revived a great song and dance extravaganza and a Sondheim one at that. But with Dominic Cooke’s production of Follies the NT’s reputation as one of the nation’s finest creators of musical theatre is restored.

Goldman’s book and Sondheims’s songs build a boulevard of broken dreams and flawed humanity that is as harrowing as it is magnificent. The show’s premise is simple: amidst the rubble of Dimitri Weismann’s once grand Broadway stage, the ageing impresario has invited back the stars of his Follies show from some 30 years ago, for one last hurrah before the building is demolished. As the evening unwinds and the champagne flows old loves, desires and the most excruciating of betrayals are re-kindled and confronted.

The show is first and foremost an ensemble piece - there are at least four stories being told here - but it’s the galaxy of stars that Cooke has assembled, that make this Follies such finely crafted theatre. Sally and husband Buddy (Imelda Staunton and Peter Forbes) re-connect with Phyllis and Ben (Janie Dee and Philip Quast) re-igniting friendships and rivalries that have lain dormant for decades. Storytellers however don’t come any finer than Sondheim and Goldman, with the narrative playing out through an exquisitely mirrored time bend that sees the young, pre-married quartet of lovers simultaneously portrayed by a younger foursome of actors. The National have not only skimmed the cream of British musical theatre in casting the 4 senior roles, their ghostly younger personae are also drawn from the nation’s finest, with Alex Young, Zizi Strallen, Fred Haig and Adam Rhys-Charles weaving the story in and out of the years.

Life has dealt both Sally and Phyllis more misery than they may have deserved, but it is the two women’s responses to their empty marriages and duplicitous husbands that drives the bittersweet essence of this show. Staunton’s Sally is literally crumpled as Buddy’s work flies him around the country in perpetual infidelity. Dee’s Phyllis however is a far more sassy character who’s grown an emotional carapace over the years, enabling her to tolerate Ben’s eminent statesman, yet continually philandering, lifestyle - a man who craves money and recognition above all else and with a vacuum for a soul.

Both marriages seethe with frustration and resentment and yet the show’s dissection of the most complex of loves reveals, in its finale, the couples’ ultimate co-dependency. Rarely is a musical so brutally perceptive and so beautifully performed.

The production’s songs are famous and in this outing, flawlessly sung. Tracie Bennett’s Carlotta delivers an I’m Still Here that comes close to stopping the show. Likewise Di Botcher’s Broadway Baby brilliantly captures a song that defines showbusiness. Stunning too is the soprano duet of One More Kiss, hauntingly handled by Dame Josephine Barstow and Alison Langer.

The four leads have the lion’s share of the numbers. Quast is immaculate throughout, singing a powerful take on The Road You Didn't Take. Could I Leave You from Dee defines her mastery of Sondheim’s inflicted irony, while Forbes’ Buddy’s Blues is a jazz-hands analysis of a man in a tailspin. Staunton is tasked with arguably the show’s biggest challenge and one of the finest 11 o’clock numbers ever in Losing My Mind. Rising to the challenge, she makes the song soar in a tragically understated display of pitch perfect poignancy.

Staunton, Dee and Quast have all amassed a fine pedigree of musical theatre work at the National - and for some of us in the audience, there is an added piquancy of seeing Staunton’s magnificent Sally today, yet also recalling her on the same stage as a Hot Box Girl in Richard Eyre’s 1982 production of Guys and Dolls, a show that boldly launched the National as a musical production house of the finest calibre.

That calibre permeates the show. Bill Deamer’s choreography delivers fabulous footwork from across the wide range of ages (and disciplines) of his gifted company. Upstage, Nigel Lilley deftly directs his 21 piece orchestra to deliciously deliver Sondheim’s classic melodies.

Vicki Mortimer’s designs effectively create the crumbling Weismann theatre, making ample use (overuse?) use of the Olivier’s massive revolve. The show's costumes are a similar treat, well cut to the eras in question and enhanced with some outstanding millinery from Sean Barrett.

Like Weismann’s eponymous show, it’s taken 30 years for London to witness the return of a full scale Follies. The National have a fine history of releasing cast recordings of their major musical productions - let's hope that this show too is recorded for posterity. Follies is as beautiful as it is eviscerating - a masterclass in musical theatre.

Booking until 3rd January 2018. Follies will also screen via NT Live at cinemas nationwide on 16th November 2017

Photo credit: Johan Persson

The Go Between - Review

Apollo Theatre, London


***

Music & lyrics by  Richard Taylor
Book & lyrics David Wood 
Based on the novel by L.P. Hartley 
Directed by Roger Haines

Michael Crawford, Gemma Sutton and William Thompson

One can wait for ages for new musical theatre writing to get a commercial outing and then, much like buses,  two come at once. So it is for composer Richard Taylor who is enjoying a remarkable spring with The Go Between, a collaboration with David Woods, opening at the Apollo as his other new show Flowers For Mrs Harris ends its short run in Sheffield. 

L P Hartley’s novel, first published in 1953, became a modern English classic. Leo Colston, now in his twilight years looks back on a summer at the turn of the century when he found himself the young messenger boy between Marian and Ted, two young adult lovers whose illicit and ultimately doomed relationship straddled England’s ruthlessly upheld class divide. While Joseph Losey’s 1971 film of the story achieved recognition at both the Oscars and Cannes, this marks the first time that the tale has been worked into a musical – and a nod to the innovative Perfect Pitch production house for having seen the show through its development. 

Where Taylor’s recent Sheffield outing flooded the stage with talent, albeit with no big star on board, the casting feature of The Go Between is of course England’s grand-daddy of musical theatre and the creator of Lloyd-Webber's Phantom Of The Opera, Michael Crawford. No celebrity “stunt casting” here, the quality of Crawford's performance brings real smiles. One would be pushed to find a better man for a role that requires not only emotional but vocal versatility and while this national treasure may not be hitting Phantom-like notes, his performance is still certainly on the money.

The piece excels musically but the plot is slow. One can't help but feel that Act One takes a huge amount of time simply setting up their events that follow in the second half. And while the nostalgia is endearing and played beautifully between Crawford and his younger Leo played by William Thompson, the narrative can drag. 

Gemma Sutton and Stuart Wards are the tragically destined lovers. Sutton remains one of the finest performers of her generation, bringing a deviously contagious charm to Marian. Likewise, Ward’s Ted is an equally strong, passionate performance. Both Thompson and the other young lad on the night Archie Stevens are extremely talented, the latter’s comic timing and cheeky smile bringing a grin to every audience member. 

The brave decision to have the onstage band consisting of nothing more than a sole grand piano works well, complementing the era with fine work from musical director Nigel Lilley. A neat design touch is an attic like storage box from which both Leos change costume throughout, giving the clothes changes a similar feel to a child's dressing up box. 

If The Go Between lacks punch, it's undoubtedly sound stylistically and offers the chance to see an incredibly strong cast deliver innovative new writing.

Runs until 15th October

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Anything Goes - Review

New Wimbledon Theatre, London

*****

Music and lyrics by Cole Porter

Original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russell Crouse

New book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman

Directed by Daniel Evans

The company of Anything Goes

The Sheffield Crucible production of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, set aboard the transatlantic liner SS American, slipped its moorings last month to start a country-wide journey. Tying up at the New Wimbledon Theatre for one week only, Daniel Evan's de-lightful show is giving south west Londoners the chance to catch what must surely be one of the finest touring productions in recent years.

Richard Kent’s stage design sets the production amidst lifevests, railings and scrubbed ship’s decks that ingeniously play havoc with our perspective whilst Evans' company, dripping in experience, bring seriously crafted excellence to a show that demands not to be taken too seriously.

Debbie Kurup leads as sultry singer Reno Sweeney. Kurup opens the show with I Get A Kick Out Of You, as her blends strength with smoothness, a deftness that defines this show's unique 1930’s appeal. Responsible for five of the show's biggest numbers, Kurup's dance is sublime throughout, with stunning footwork in the title song, whilst her Blow, Gabriel Blow sizzles with presence and passion.

Billy Crocker is played by the ever talented Matt Rawle. Combining moments of comedy whilst being a focal point to the story's fairy-tale romantic strands, Rawle's performance in voice and timing is impeccable. His emergence into white tie and tails for It's De-Lovely, duetting with Zoe Rainey's Hope Harcourt, brought just a hint of New York's Great White Way to Wimbledon's very own Broadway. Rainey too is perfectly cast, the elegant Irish actress giving a measured poise to one of the story's (rare) straight roles. Her take on Goodbye, Little Dream Goodbye offers an oasis of exquisite calm amidst Anything Goes' madcap mayhem.

The second half of the show, as it descends into silliness, is notable for its sequence of comic cameo solos, with a seam of humour that suggests more than a hint of a rivalry with Noel Coward in Porter's writing. Hugh Sach's portly Moonface Martin, every inch the wannabe Public Enemy Number One delights with his Be Like The Bluebird as Alex Young's promiscuous Erma offers another gem with Buddy, Beware. As is so often the case with Anything Goes however, the biggest laugh of the night is generated by Stephen Matthews' sublimely suspendered British buffoon Lord Oakleigh. Watching Matthews' take on his madcap solo number The Gypsy In Me is to note that musical theatre is rarely so funny whilst remaining so stylish. Simon Rouse and Jane Wymark bring spice to the musical’s septuagenarian love story with comic finesse.

The Crucible have a commitment to fine production values, demonstrated here by Alistair David’s imaginative choreography that has been meticulously drilled, with Nigel Lilley’s dance arrangements that only enhance Porter’s original score. 

Evans has coaxed brilliance from his entire team of company and creatives. With a gloriously Art Deco style and a list of musical numbers that virtually defines the American Songbook, musical theatre does not come better than this.

Runs until 7th February 2015, then continues to tour