Pasek and Paul - Live at the London Hippodrome

Hippodrome, London

****

Justin Paul and Benj Pasek

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, a wunderkind brace who are the current creative young darlings of Broadway were in London for just one night. Unknown on this side of the pond outside of the musical theatre bubble, they nonetheless packed out the Hippodrome’s Matcham Room and attracted some of London’s top talent to join them in a late-evening showcase presented by Nathan Amzi.

An uber-talented pair, Pasek’s keyboard skills are exquisite and in performance the two dovetail together in perfectly synchronised harmony. They recently enjoyed Tony nominated Broadway success with their seasonal offering A Christmas Story, preceding that with the off-Broadway musical Dogfight helmed by Wicked director Joe Mantello. The cast recording of Dogfight has already been reviewed here and its fair to say that it reflects a carefully crafted tale, including action, tragedy and passion in equal measure. Based upon an unlikely and complicated love that emerges from a cruel prank played by a troop of US Marines before they ship out to war, the show’s lyrics demonstrate a perception and wisdom that belies Pasek and Paul’s youth. On stage in London, the Dogfight selection included the impressive First Date / Last Night along with the painfully poignant Pretty Funny, the latter sung by London’s Elphaba in waiting, Willemijn Verkaik. Amongst their achievements, as television songwriters the two men contributed Caught In A Storm to the TV series Smash. This song, also performed by Verkaik was a disappointment, sung by a voice that was too old and too polished for the number’s underlying mediocrity and not helped by Verkaik’s casual and untidy appearance that was at odds with the venue's glamour.

And thereby hangs the paradox of Pasek and Paul. Some of what they write is inspired and even if their patter went on too long, their refreshingly self-deprecating style along with a handful of numbers that Tom Lehrer would be proud of, served to remind us quite how razor-sharp their perceptive wits are. Yet the ballad With You Everywhere That You Are whilst having noble intentions and written as a memory of loved ones lost, came across as soppy and shallow, lacking the honesty of emotion with which Scott Alan easily seems to infuse his songs. Performing live, this pair who have been hailed as the next Rogers and Hammerstein bear a scary resemblance to Ant and Dec The Musical.

Yet their strengths undoubtedly outweigh their weaknesses and by some measure. Oliver Tompsett gave a beautiful version of Do You Remember, reminding us all why he is such an acclaimed performer, though perhaps the star turn of the night was Lauren Varnham whose take on the Pasek and Paul’s Perfect from their Edges song cycle, was a spine tingling moment. Clad in a simply elegant black dress, Varnham who had impressively dashed from performing From Here To Eternity looked as good as she sounded. The night closed on a standing ovation. Pasek and Paul may be inconsistent, but when they’re on their game they’re genius. 

25 Year Songbook - Review

The Pheasantry, Londom

***

Music by Matthew Strachan

Lyrics by Matthew Strachan and Bernie Gaughan

The Pheasantry on Chelsea’s Kings Road was a sell-out for this lookback by Matthew Strachan on a selection of his compositions from the last quarter century.

The evening’s 25 song set set drew not only from the Strachan’s stage musicals, but also bore heavy reference to his early composing years, some of which had been spent in Nashville. The USA has clearly providing a significant influence on much of his creativity. His opening two numbers were Tennessee inspired , The Valley, followed by Better Than Him, both painting perceptive pictures of characters from contemporary America, whilst the truly modern song, Hands Up Who’s Looking At Me provided a clever comment on the ubiquitous presence of social networking media. The one performance of the night that jarred was Smells Like Teenage Suicide, a song inspired by aspects of the media response to the Columbine massacre. However noble Strachan’s intentions may have been in writing this song, the irony of his lyrics was stretched too thin, leaving his composition with the potential to deeply upset and offend.

As a writer of witty words, as well as a pianist, Strachan’s talents are immense. At times his performance bore more than a nod to Billy Joel with a liberal twist of Tom Lehrer thrown in, mixing humour and wry political comment, with outstanding keyboard skills. His fingers coaxed the Pheasantry’s grand piano across a range of genres and styles, from blues to ballad to honky-tonk in seamless segues.

Accompanying the man on the night were four accomplished stars of musical theatre, Kim Ismay, Steven Carlile, Riona O Connor and Louise Gold, all of whom were outstanding. With neither props nor costumes, each singer offered a master-class in musical theatre story telling simply through use of voice, face and stage presence. Their vibrancy and talent however offered stark contrast to the fact that Strachan’s vocal strength did not match theirs. If he had given more of the show to the actors, rather than the miserly allocation of one song apiece, the evening would have been considerably closer to a 5 star event.

Strachan is clearly an accomplished musician. As well as his songwriting perhaps his most lucrative creative work to date has been that of writing the music for the TV gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Those catchy TV tunelets clearly demonstrate that Strachan has an ability to recognize what the public wants to hear. Outside the world of theatre and the music business however, his is a comparatively low profile. It will be interesting to see his work developed to be able to sustain larger mainstream audiences with shows that demand financial success. The quality of his writing suggests he truly has the potential to fill a West End venue.



@jaybeegee63


This review was first published in The Public Reviews