Vanities: The Musical - Review

Trafalgar Studios, London


****


Music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum
Book by Jack Heifner
Directed and choreographed by Racky Plews

Lizzy Connolly, Ashleigh Gray and Lauren Samuels

With Racky Plews' production, and some 40 years after Jack Heifner's play premiered in New York, Vanities in its musical iteration finally crosses the Atlantic to make its London debut.

A three-handler, Kathy, Mary and Joanne are Texan women who we meet as teenage high school cheerleaders on the day of what was to be Kennedy's assassination. Over four acts the musical charts the trio through their college years, adulthood and divergent paths.

In part it's an everywoman story – about dreams that are aspired to, many of which remain unfulfilled as lives play out and compromises are made. And while male fallibility proves a consistent theme, David Kirshenbaum's lyrics explore and test the bonds of female friendship to the best that a man’s perspective can probably offer. Entertaining throughout, even if the story is heavy on the cheese it is the outstanding production values of this modestly staged piece that make it fizz. 

Ashleigh Gray, Lauren Samuels and Lizzy Connolly play the friends, each bringing a perfectly nuanced weight to their very different characters. As one might expect from such a talented line up the performances are flawless, with vocals and close harmonies that are delightful.

Some of the lines are caustically clever. As one of the friends remarks in her older years, she may be a woman who "doesn't know the joy of motherhood" but "does know the relief of abortion". Some of the wit is razor sharp, reminding one perhaps of Stephen Schwartz's song Popular, from Wicked, expanded into an entire show.

The design is classy too with Andrew Riley making clever use of the Studio's compact space. Richard Mawbey's wig work is similarly sensational and the footwear is fabulous. Not just killer dialogue, the killer heels are stunning! Hidden away offstage, Tamara Saringer's 5 piece band are equally sassy. 

Notwithstanding that the show was written by men, this production has a fabulously female feel to it throughout. With Plews’ pinpoint direction and choreography proving sensitive and perceptive throughout. Focussing on the detail, it is the minutest facial expressions that she coaxes from her actors that carry as much of the narrative as their enchanting vocals.

Only on for another couple of weeks, the story may be as tight as its slight, but an exquisite cast makes for an evening of rather gorgeous theatre.

Runs until 1st October

Photo credit: Pamela Raith

Thoroughly Modern Millie - Review

Landor Theatre, London


**

Music by Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics by Dick Scanlan
Book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan
Directed by Matthew Iliffe

Sarah-Marie Maxwell and Alex Codd

The twenties don’t so much roar as whimper in SDWC’s new revival of Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Landor. Matthew Iliffe’s production strips back not only the set and cast, but also the life and soul of the show, leaving us with a raw and undercooked slog of questionable casting and dull direction.

For those unfamiliar, Thoroughly Modern Millie transports the audience back to 1922 New York and follows the travails of a new arrival in the big city; Millie Dillmount. She is desperate to find a more metropolitan lifestyle after her Kansas upbringing and reinvent herself as the epitome of Vogue’s ‘modern woman’. Ostensibly the show is an uproarious farce that barrels through prohibition, celebrity parties and solicitous romance with all the subtlety of a travelling fair. It has the potential to be great fun, but Iliffe’s production never seems to capture the garish excess that cements the show. His pared down cast of 12 reduces the enormity of New York life to a small village community and Andrew Riley’s set is bare to the point of feeling naked. For a show like ‘Millie’, New York is as much a character as anybody on stage and her bustling crowds and grand sense of scale just felt lost in the intimate Landor space.

Sam Spencer-Lane does her best to inject the choreography with some Broadway punch, but again the sequences are at odds with their surroundings. Numbers feel hampered by the limited space, looking to explode into life with no room to grow. That a dancer crashed into some lights on the night I watched was no coincidence.

The cast also seemed to struggle with this tonal imbalance, unsure as to whether to play the show as writ, or try and adapt the uproarious dialogue for the chamber space. For most, it left them in an unflattering middle ground, precariously teetering between mugging for laughs and striving for sincerity. There were also some distracting casting decisions, with young graduate actors being unfairly asked to play far older than they are and jokes about characters’ ages therefore falling flat. More disconcerting than this though, was the decision to cast a Caucasian actor, Alex Codd, as Ching Ho, one of the Chinese henchmen. That Mrs Meers’ offensive Asian caricature is only acceptable at all is because we are supposed to laugh at the absurdity of a Caucasian female trying to pass herself off as another race. With Codd in earnest trying desperately to do the thing we are meant to be laughing at, Steph Parry’s performance as Mrs Meers becomes completely undermined. The entire villainous subplot becomes tremendously uncomfortable, laced as it was with an air of racial insensitivity.

On the positive side, Sarah-Marie Maxwell is the undeniable standout, giving a charming and incredibly watchable performance as Miss Dorothy. She is a joy every time she comes on stage and injects her scenes with just the right amount of detail and energy. Her voice is also beautiful, packing real power even without a microphone and giving a lilting edge to the higher parts of the score. The singing in general is of a high quality and Chris Guard’s small band does well to maintain the score’s brassy 20s roots even with only five members.

Thoroughly Modern Millie inherently seems like a bizarre choice for a fringe revival. It just isn’t that kind of show. Iliffe has done his best to downsize the glitz and glamour, but his endeavours lack the creativity to allow the audience to get lost in Millie’s world. Unfortunately, without stellar performances and an exciting design, these flappers are a bit of a flop.

Runs to 13th September

Guest reviewer: Will Clarkson