Audra McDonald In Concert - Review

Leicester Square Theatre, London


*****

There are occasions as a reviewer when it is simply a privilege to attend a performance. Sunday at the Leicester Square Theatre and in a one-night only visit, Audra McDonald ending her 63 city tour was one such occasion.

Much has been made of McDonald's 6 Tony wins and she is typically spoken of with reverence. But with it having been nigh on 15 years since she last performed in London, it has only been those lucky enough to have seen her perform on the other side of assorted oceans that have been able to testify to her on-stage reputation. 

A 90 minute set, accompanied throughout by Andy Einhorn on piano, saw the diva take us on a tour of the American Musical Theatre Songbook stretching back almost a century. Opening with the gorgeous but little known When Did I Fall In Love? from Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's Fiorello, the audience experienced for the first time the vocal magnificence that underline's McDonald's performances - and with that one opening number McDonald confirmed just how deserved her reputation is.

Her voice is akin to the 7 litre V12 engine found in a Rolls Royce Phantom. Smooth, immaculately tuned and able to purr perfectly. Yet also, effortlessly and in a blink, able to glide to a display of breathtaking power. That is Audra McDonald.

Her selection ranged from Gershwin to Jason Robert Brown, giving Brown's Stars and the Moon from Songs For A New World a gorgeously assured delivery. McDonald's interpretation of Sondheim's The Glamorous Life (a part confessional, sung from the perspective of her loving teenage daughter who has had to grow up with a mom on tour) displayed the most remarkable arrangement, condensing a number designed for three voices (at least) into a sensational solo.

But it was in tackling Broadway's biggest songs that McDonald re-defined unsurpassable. From Porgy and Bess her Summertime was sublime, before she eased into one of the greatest 11 o'clock numbers ever, Maybe This Time from Kander & Ebb's Cabaret. The song has the most delicious of slow builds and the audience listened in a rapturous anticipatory awe as McDonald effortlessly scaled the number's delicious key changes, leading to a final reprise that tingled every spine in the room. 

Cunningly - and whilst not a classic, still a Kander & Ebb gem - McDonald broke our hearts with a delicately plaintive Go Back Home from The Scottsboro Boys. Hop a freight? McDonald had me riding a boxcar, sobbing.

The evening closed with McDonald treating us to her Mother Abbess, as broadcast live in the USA's Sound Of Music a few years ago. Again, she didn't just Climb Ev'ry Mountain, she scaled its lofty crags, perching on vocal footholds that lifted her to heights not often seen on the London cabaret circuit. We rose as one to salute her.

Muted

Ashleigh Gray

Muted, being staged in a concert performance in early February, looks like an interesting and exciting venture, with the gig being timed to mark its album’s launch.  

Penned by the double-hyphened partnership of Tim Prottey-Jones and Tori Allen-Martin from Sarah Henley’s book, Muted re-works the original musical After The Turn, a 2012 production that itself received much acclaim with Mark Shenton dubbing it “the British Rent”. 

Ashleigh Gray and Steven Webb will head the cast for the gig on 4th February and whilst the concert will be directed by up and coming Jamie Jackson, there is an eager anticipation for a fully staged production that is likely to include the creative input of Gary Lloyd. 

The pedigree of both cast and creatives is impressive. Lloyd is the vision behind the 5* transatlantic success Thriller Live, the Michael Jackson tribute show, whilst Gray is an established Elphaba in Wicked and Prottey-Jones was a finalist in ITV’s Superstar and is currently appearing in Kinky Boots. 

There is a Kickstarter appeal in place to help the project along – Head along to the Actors Church in Bedford Street, Thursday Feb 4th,  to hear how Muted has evolved.

Kickstarter details here

Big Brother Blitzkrieg - Review

King's Head Theatre, London

****

Written and directed by Hew Rous Eyre & Max Elton

Stephen Chance

The Big Brother House is no stranger to fevered egos, control freaks and folk in pursuit of fame. But right now at the King’s Head Theatre it is being graced with the presence of one particularly charismatic house mate, the Fuhrer himself.

Hew Rouse Eyre & Max Elton’s “Big Brother Blitzkrieg” is an Alice In Wonderland kind of tale: after a botched suicide attempt Adolph finds himself fallen down the rabbit hole into the peculiar world of reality TV. Or put simply, our world.

Using the Big Brother House is an ingenious device, allowing the writers to tell a story, reflecting the effect of Hitler’s character upon this bizarre microcosm of society.

Hitler’s housemates are an odd bunch, but it soon becomes apparent that they are there to reflect “us”. Adolph quickly assimilates into life in the Big Brother House, which sees the plot quickly darkening towards a powerful conclusion that leaves the audience with goosebumps.

Every single member of the small cast was superb with no exceptions, with Stephen Chance’s Adolph proving particularly memorable with an uncanny charisma and a pinpoint comedy style that drives the show.

Tracey Ann Wood plays Rachel,  a housemate whom it doesn’t take long for Hitler to deduce, is a Jew. Wood’s performance, especially towards the end is jarring and worthy of particular praise. Hers is the only character who doesn’t take to Adolph’s charisma, remaining constant as others change.

And it is these changes in those around Hitler that make this play special. This play is not so much about Adolph Hitler in the world of reality TV, as it is about us. Every exchange and dialogue that the housemates have with Hitler is meaningful as he manipulates them like a master puppeteer. They are all affected by his presence and at just over an hour in length no moment of dialogue is wasted and the tale never drags.

Big Brother Blitzkrieg proves to be the the darkest of satire and notwithstanding that the world was rid of Hitler over 70 years ago, the play chimes with an unnerving relevance today. If you want something provocative and which will leave you feeling slightly discouraged and pessimistic about the human condition today, then go see it whilst you can.

Runs until 30th January

Guest reviewer: Josh Kemp

Legally Blonde - Review

Upstairs At The Gatehouse, London


****


Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin
Book by Heather Hach
Directed by John Plews

Abbie Chambers

There's an irrepressible sugary charm that surrounds Legally Blonde. Late into the show's run and on a cold January night too, the Gatehouse Theatre was packed with a grinning audience picking up on the cast's infectious enthusiasm.

Legally Blonde's sexual politics are intriguing. With the exception of Emmett (and possibly Kyle) its underlying premise is that men are duplicitous bums. And whilst (look away - spoiler alert) Elle Woods does of course go on to achieve legal success, she doesn't achieve this recognition through a knowledge of law - but rather by applying her initiative to what are actually stereotypical female reference points: a sensitive "gaydar" and a knowledge of perms. So, does Legally Blonde actually champion female empowerment, or simply reinforce age-old tropes? Discuss.

Either way, Abbie Chambers who makes her professional debut as Elle does a fabulous job in the role. It's a massive part - on stage almost throughout, Chambers never fails to convince as she journeys through heartbreak and endeavour to her ultimate happy ending.

The most sympathetic character on stage is Jodie Jacobs’ hairdresser Paulette, who in a world away from Elle’s pink infused (and albeit superficial) vacuity, is actually grounded in her disappointment. Jacobs keeps Paulette adorably optimistic and able to offer the wisdom of a woman who's seen life for what it really is, in a reprise of the part that she delivered so fabulously at Kilworth House last summer. Jacobs is in a league of her own here, her voice is gorgeously powered, whilst her experience sees her to master Paulette’s wry comedy, perfectly.

Robert Colvin offers a polished and three dimensional take on Warner - who really is a 2-D creation. There is an interesting and timely parallel between the fictional Warner and Grey Gardens' real-life Joseph Kennedy - both characters out to use love to further their own personal career ambitions - discarding relationships as it suits.

Stepping into the role of Brooke Wyndham, Katie Bradley does a fabulous job as the energetic and entertaining fitness guru. And a nod here to Anthony Whiteman's remarkable choreography. Brooke's second half opener Whipped Into Shape is but a blur of skipping rope as her ensemble achieve a wow of a routine in the narrow confines of the Gatehouse's traverse.

John Plews triumphs again. The director is at his best compacting big shows into his beloved venue, assisted here by Matt Abrams and his band who deliver an assured take on the upbeat score, whilst Isobel Power Smith's set also impresses.

The show is only on for another two weeks and this ensemble make it a lovely night out.

Runs until 31st January

Photo credit: Darren Bell

Guys and Dolls - Review

Savoy Theatre, London

****

Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser

Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows

Directed by Gordon Greenberg

Jamie Parker

It is a sound idea that has seen Chichester Festival Theatre send their acclaimed 2014 production of Guys and Dolls on the road. The UK tour that commenced in Manchester in November last year is now making a 3 month stop at London's Savoy and it proves fun to re-visit some of this productions more inspired moments.

Guys and Dolls is long acknowledged as one of the Broadway greats (Kenneth Tynan famously commented that along with Death Of A Salesman, the musical was the finest example of American literature) the Savoy show throws into relief how well the show works as a study of love and the human condition. But a cautionary tale. Its cute 1940's New York patter can easily become dated and too many of the show's gags need a punchy comic delivery that not all of this company are up to.

Staying with the production from Chichester's original cast, Jamie Parker's Sky Masterson is up there with the best. His Sky has the gorgeous insouciance that the gambler demands, yet as he realises that he's never been in love before meeting Sarah, Parker reveals the cutest vulnerability too. And boy can he sing. Parker must surely rank amongst the best of his generation in acting through song.

The other gem amongst the show's four leading roles is Sophie Thompson's Miss Adelaide. Barely clad in more mink than a mink, Thompson milks Loesser's wry Manhattan wit with spot-on timing, earning our chuckling sympathy for this most long-term of fiancées.

David Haig plays Nathan Detroit. Whilst Haig may well be a national treasure in waiting, a good Detroit is a tough call and it could be suggested that Haig is also, possibly, a tad too old for the part. Aside from Sue Me he doesn't have too many singing responsibilities (probably a good thing In Haig's case). Above all Haig lacks the ridiculously implausible New York chutzpah that Bob Hoskins defined in 1982 and which, frankly, we ain't seen since. To be fair, Peter Polycarpou who triumphed in the role at Chichester, came close and he is sorely missed from this touring cast. (see note)

This reviewer is missing Clare Foster too – Siubhan Harrison makes a decent stab at Sarah Brown, but doesn't quite rise to the role's tough challenge.

The dance work however is spectacular. Andrew Wright with Carlos Acosta has created some gorgeous routines - and with imaginative Runyonland and Cuba numbers, along with some sensational sewer-dance in the Crapshooters' Ballet the show's choreography is surely amongst the best musical theatre footwork in town right now. And the Hot Box Girls are gorgeously wonderful!

The scenery (marquee lights and advertising hoardings that again suggest a nod to the National's 1982 ground-breaker) is more lightweight than lavish - though remember that this show is on tour so portable sets rather than a full blown West End set of trucks is to be expected.

If you love the show, or just simply adore imaginative dance work then it's well worth a trip to the Savoy.

NOTE:

If Sonia Friedman is reading this review here's my suggestion for a Guys and Dolls dream cast that is probably best staged within the next five years.

Jamie Parker needs to stay as Sky - he won't be bettered. But Parker, a former History Boy, needs to be re-united with his classmate James Corden as Nathan Detroit. Lob in Sheridan Smith as Miss Adelaide and with either Clare Foster or Laura Pitt-Pulford as Sarah Brown and I believe there'd be platinum fol-de-rol for Friedman.

Runs until 12th March, then tours

Oliver! - Review

Curve Theatre, Leicester


****


Music, lyrics and book by Lionel Bart

Directed by Paul Kerryson

The Company

The Christmas decorations may be taken down - but at Leicester's Curve the seasonal family show has another two weeks to run and judging by Friday’s packed, cheering audience it is continuing to bring much festive joy to the city.

Oliver! has always been best suited to a large stage and the Curve's main house proves ideal. Matt Kinley's impressive designs: grim ironmongery for the workhouse; beaten up timbers for Fagin's kitchen including a brilliantly silhouetted St Pauls Cathedral; and chocolate box Georgian for Brownlow's Bloomsbury are ingenious and expansive - though a minor niggle, the portrait of Brownlow’s beloved Agnes isn’t visible to those seated stage left.

Paul Kerryson places this glimpse of Victoriana in a warts and all context, pulling no punches with the tale's underlying sex and violence. It has been a while since the genius of Bart's craft in both lyric and score has been so carefully exposed.

In the title role Albert Hart capture's Oliver's wise naïveté. His presence commands the audience (he is almost angelic in Who Will Buy) and if he wisely avoids singing some of the role's highest notes, it's no big deal. Hart rises above the audience's "aahs" and alongside Joel Fossard-Jones' Artful Dodger, the pair achieve a delightfully cheese-less cheekiness.

Aside from the leading parts, it's the detail of the minor characters that work so well in this take on one of the most English musicals in the canon. We get an early glimpse of the show’s passionate darkness with Jenna Boyd and James Gant (Widow Corney and Beadle Bumble respectively) bringing a neatly worked hint of Carry On humour (another most English genre in itself) to their capers.

Likewise Jez Unwin's ghoulish Sowerberry and Natalie Moore-Williams as his ghastly wife. Inspired direction sees a macabre It's Your Funeral partly played out with the two borne aloft, corpse-like as they sing.

The show's splendour opens up in London of course, where Peter Polycarpou's Fagin (clad in an inspired takis-designed robe) is another musical theatre treat. If his semitic caricature was perhaps a tad too stereotypical, in all other respects the actor’s portrayal of this most complex of villains is as beautifully performed as it is cleverly layered. Reviewing The Situation proving Polycarpou as one of the masters of his craft.

There's more delicious detail in Lucy Thomas' Bet - Nancy's friend - who again brings a shading to this modest role that's rarely seen. Likewise John Griffiths as the principled and patrician Brownlow works well.

Bill Sikes is a cracking turn from Oliver Boot. There's all the traditional scary menace associated with this misogynist thug, yet Boot also cleverly works in a vulnerability. His Sikes struggles with both his love for Nancy and his uncontrollable and ultimately murderous abuse of her.

And then there's Nancy…

Bravely stepping in to the role for the run's final three weeks, Laura Pitt-Pulford again shows her professional devotion to director Kerryson, as long has he needs her. Earning a UK Theatre Awards nomination this time last year for her marvellous Maria (and who knows, if she hadn't have been up against Imelda Staunton's unstoppable Rose, she might well have scooped the gong) one can only hope that the award's assessors are calling in at the Curve to catch Pitt-Pulford’s takeover. I'd go anywhere to see this actress and with good reason. Her powerful As Long As He Needs Me is magnificent, reducing many in the house to tears, whilst the loving sensitivity showed towards Oliver (and which Pitt-Pulford portrayed so well towards the Von-Trapp brats a year ago) displays the skill of a performer who not only exudes excellence, but inspires a respect and affection from her fellow company members that is rarely seen in such sincerity.

It is only on re-listening to Bart's score that his melodic genius truly filters through - and under Jo Cichonska's baton the 11 piece orchestra offer an excellent interpretation. A mention to Guy Button, Steve Cooper and Sophie Gledhill whose strings work skilfully brings out the haunting klezmer riffs that underlie Fagin's performance. Choreographer Andrew Wright goes to town with the show's big numbers. We first see Wright's grand visions kick-off in Consider Yourself and he goes on to bring moments of ingenious wit to I'd Do Anything and of course the carnival of street-vendor splendour that is Who Will Buy.

Paul Kerryson gives a classy treatment to a classic show. With only two more weeks left, you should buy these wonderful tickets!

Runs until 23rd January

Photo credit: Pamela Raith

Grey Gardens - Review

Southwark Playhouse, London


*****


Book by Doug Wright
Music by Scott Frankel
Lyrics by Michael Korie
Directed by Thom Southerland

Jenna Russell and Sheila Hancock

Making its European premiere, Grey Gardens is a blend of fact and fiction that tells of Edith Bouvier Beale, aunt to and her daughter Edie. What sets this family apart is that the two women were respectively aunt and first cousin to the woman who was to become the world’s First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Based upon an acclaimed documentary, the show is a cultural fusion that blends Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard with Galton and Simpson's Steptoe and Son (with just a hint of The Great Gatsby). The first half, set in 1941, describes the patrician ascendancy of the Bouvier Beale family whilst act two pitches forward thirty years, depicting almost unbelievably, the flea-infested squalor to which mother and daughter had descended. Grey Gardens their mansion, now overrun with cats. 

The drama of this show is as magnificent as its music, with an ingenious casting conceit. We meet Sheila Hancock, the elderly Edith as the curtain rises, though she is quickly transformed into Jenna Russell who plays (the younger) Edith in act one and (an elder) Edie after the break. Hancock, amongst the finest of her generation, is witheringly contemptuous towards her daughter and yet desperately dependent upon her. She can also sing with remarkable presence - her take on The Cake I Had, a treat.

Russell as Hancock's younger self, captures the manipulative dominance that was to stifle her daughter's attempts at love, whilst in playing the 56 yo Edie (brilliantly costumed in an array of scarves suggesting variously cat-woman crossed with a jihadi bride) she also captures the profound love that her character feels for her mother. If the whole thing wasn't so damnably credible as a dysfunctional family, it would be ridiculous.

And then there's Jenna Russell's voice. Virtually peerless in musical theatre and picking on just two of her stunning moments, Russell’s act two opener The Revolutionary Costume For Today raises the roof, whilst her 11 o clock number Another Winter In A Summer Town touches hearts with its perfectly weighted pathos.

It's not just Russell and Hancock though. Edie in the 1940's is given a captivating performance by Rachel Ann Rayham, whose Daddy's Girl, sung with her hopefully intended Joseph P Kennedy is a glorious fusion of music and movement. (Great choreography Lee Proud). Credit too to the remarkable Aaron Sidwell as the young Kennedy. From Loserville, through American Idiot, to now playing JFK's older brother, Sidwell masters the dynasty's manicured scion. 

Jeremy Legat as Edith's preppy consort musician George Strong offers another perfect cameo, whilst Ako Mitchell and Billy Boyle in a number of roles complete the adult company. As is her custom, Danielle Tarento has cast as well as produced the show and her work here is flawless.

To be fair though, all the creative team have been surpassed themselves. Tom Roger's multi layered set is magnificent, Howard Hudson's lighting again highlighting the subtleties of time and location, Andrew Johnson's sound design ensures neither note nor word are lost, whilst Michael Bradley's 10 piece band make Frankel's complex score a delight.

Tarento and Southerland have never been better and in all honesty there's not much on offer anywhere in London right now that could top this production. Southwark Playhouse should be rightly proud of Grey Gardens. It is unmissable theatre that demands a transfer.

Runs until 6th February

Photo credit: Scott Rylander