Carousel - Review

Birmingham City Academy, Birmingham

*****

Music by Richard Rodgers 
Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Based on Ferenc Molnar's play Liliom as adapted by Benjamin F Glazer
Directed by Alexandra Spencer-Jones

NYMT's Carousel

In the most inspired and gorgeous of site-specific settings, the National Youth Music Theatre’s (NYMT) production of Carousel is presented on, and around, an actual fairground carousel! With the audience seated in three tented enclosures around a thrust stage, this traditional, historic, steam-powered fairground attraction creates a stunning backdrop to the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic musical.

For all sorts of reasons Carousel is a mountain of a musical to be scaled, with its dark and complex themes presenting a challenge to any theatrical company, let alone a cast where the performers’ ages range from 10 through to their early 20s . Along with a handful of some of the most exquisite songs in the canon and some gorgeous love stories, the show also offers troubling takes on suicide, loss and, when presented to a 21st century audience, an uncomfortable perspective on domestic violence.

Josephine Shaw and Amie Shipley get the vocal work off to a fine start as Julie Jordan and Carrie Pipperidge respectively. Shipley is gifted most of the show’s (rare) comedic moments that she masters with assured timing and a delightful delivery. Shaw’s delivery of Julie Jordan however is heartbreaking in its excellence. Her soprano voice is as strong as it is fine, and as the narrative evolves she brings an astounding maturity and heartbreaking pathos to her performance that belies her age. Shaw's delivery of What’s The Use of Wond’rin? was a tear-filled joy to listen to. Billy Bigelow is played by Maximus Mawle who alongside his strong baritone voice, also captures his ultimately honest love for Julie. As Mawle’s Bigelow looks down from heaven on the pain of his daughter Louise’s life, his acting is top-notch. Daniel Langford completes the quartet of leading lovers with an assured performance of herring tycoon, Enoch Snow.

There are other notables in this fine young company. Sean Cosgrove’s Jigger Craigin is an absolute delight, with Cosgrove nailing his character’s despicableness with wit, confidence, braggadocio and a superb singing voice. Athena Florence Mensah as Nettie Fowler gets her vocal chops around You’ll Never Walk Alone with equal splendour. 

The Ballet sequence is always a focal point of Carousel and in this iteration Marianna Micallef as Louis smashes the role sensationally. Her dance routine that lasts a jaw-dropping 15 minutes is stunning as, with minimal dialogue, she tells of Louise’s troubled life through exquisitely choreographed movement. And on the subject of dance, a massive nod to choreographer Adam Haigh. Not just in Ballet, but his company routine in Blow High, Blow Low was bold, ambitious and breathtakingly successful.

Alexandra Spencer-Jones has directed the show with perception throughout, a particularly neat touch being the deployment of a cohort of the company’s younger members as the show’s heavenly troupe.

NYMT’s orchestras always impress, but under Flynn Sturgeon’s baton, Carousel’s 30-strong ensemble make marvellous work of the score. With a heavy strings presence, the music is a lush delight and from the opening bars of the Carousel Waltz there is not a note out of place. It is a rare treat these days to enjoy such a lavishly orchestrated musical.

And finally, a mention to the carousel itself, a gloriously integral component of Libby Todd’s design work for the show. The carousel’s revolve is used sparingly throughout the piece, such that when it does start to turn, the impact is phenomenal. As a gentle revolve is started half way through Micallef’s Ballet, the effect is stunning, and when it slowly turns in the show’s finale to transport the celestial characters back to heaven, just wow!

Only on until tonight, Carousel maintains NYMT’s long established standard of first-class musical theatre!

Runs until 30th August 

Anything Goes - Review

The Other Palace, London


****


Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by Guy Bolton, PG Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse
Directed by Alex Sutton

Olivia Hallett and the company of Anything Goes

Continuing the National Youth Music Theatre’s summer residence at The Other Palace sees this formidable company stage Cole Porter’s satirical musical Anything Goes. Comedy is a tough gig for even the most experienced of performers and it is a credit to NYMT that they deliver a show that, for the most part, hits the mark and captures Porter’s piercing wit.

Packed with songbook classics, any production of Anything Goes will always stir great expectations from its audience that are more than exceeded here, the enormous cast proving spectacular in their ensemble numbers.

Throughout, the song and dance work is performed to such a high standard that it is almost invidious to single out specific performers. However Olivia Hallett as Reno Sweeney leads the line with some sensational solo numbers and she is equally supported by Lulu-Mae Pears, Milo Hallett, Daniel Gray, Spike Maxwell, Toby Turpin, Miguel Rivilla and Sarah Dare in the show’s other key and featured roles. Vocal work is spot on throughout with Porter’s moments of comedy and irony - that are at times ridiculously silly - all being delivered with aplomb, confidence and above all, perfect timing.

The young company are supported by an outstanding creative team drawn from industry professionals. Jordan Li-Smith is, as ever, a masterful musical director. Lee Proud and Adam Haigh’s choreography, drawn from the 1987 Broadway revival is breathtaking - the full company tap numbers are a particular delight - while Diego Pitarch’s designs neatly suggest the SS American and all cleverly helmed by Alex Sutton.

Anything Goes doesn’t come around that often and this one’s a treat. Only on for three more dates, it makes for a great evening in the theatre.

Runs until 24th August

Photo credit: Konrad Bartelski

Carmen 1808 - Review

Union Theatre, London


**


Music by Georges Bizet
Arranged by Teddy Clements
Book and lyrics by Phil Willmott
Adapted from the libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
Based on a novella by Prosper Mérimée

The Company

There’s a noble intent behind Phil Willmott’s Carmen 1808 that seeks to meld Bizet’s opera into a narrative inspired by Goya’s painting of Napoleon’s troops brutally firing on defenceless Spanish civilians during the Peninsular War of the early 19th century. 

Tinkering with greatness does, however, demand greatness from the tinkerer - and there is little that is great about this show. Bizet wrote his tunes for classical operatic voices and, aside from the sonorous charms of Alexander Barria (whose Royal Academy of Music training stands out a mile) as Goya sketching out the unfolding narrative, most of the other voices are lost in the Union’s un-mic’d melee. Rachel Lea-Gray in the title role puts in a fine shift but she’s found wanting in the Habanera.

In the right hands (and voices) opera’s classics can work spectacularly on the fringe but all too often in this show one is left with the distinct feeling that Willmott has done to Bizet’s melodies what Napoleon’s riflemen did to the helpless Spanish. There are occasional moments of redemption though as alongside Lea-Gray, Ellie Ann Lowe and Charlotte Haines put in solo turns that evidence their vocal skills.

Elsewhere there’s acting that at times is clichéd beyond belief - and quite why the French soldiers speak with stereotyped accents that are straight out of ‘Allo ‘Allo defies comprehension. Just be grateful that Willmott didn't have his Spaniards speak like Manuel, the Fawlty Towers waiter. 

This all plays out on an imaginative set from Justin Williams and Jonny Rust, while Teddy Clements puts in sterling work on the keyboard to accompany the cast. And for those folk seeking a snatch of Bizet’s “hit tunes” (Willmott’s words) there’s a pre-recorded backing track (that’s disgracefully un-credited in the programme) to support the cast in choreographer Adam Haigh's toe-tapping flamenco-esque finale . Now That’s What I Call Carmen.

Runs until 10th March

Photo credit: Scott Rylander