Picture Perfect

St James Studio, London

***

Music & lyrics by Scott Evan Davis

Conceived & directed by Simon Greiff

Jerome Pradon

In another display of fine production values, the fledgling United Theatrical team of Stuart Matthew Price and James Yeoburn have assembled a classy quartet to premiere Scott Evan Davis' new show.

Empty picture frames adorn the St James' basement stage, signalling that whilst appearances (frames) may be gilded, what lies beneath often isn't. Early on we find fourty-something Elizabeth discovering hubby Harry's infidelity. As son Josh agonises over the fear of mom leaving home, the mistress-young-enough-to-be-Harry's-daughter Ellie, swoons over her lover's apparent perfections. Throughout, Simon Greiff directs his company with a precise clarity.

Helen Hobson gives a beautifully weighted Elisabeth. Singing from the book, the script she held was barely noticeable. It is a mark of the woman that her delivery was exquisitely nuanced, either as caring mother or betrayed wife. She gives fabulous vocals and a faultless presence.

Jerome Pradon is her greying deceitful spouse. Again, a flawless performance, though it is in his role that the cracks in Davis' writing start to emerge with his guilty husband/dad character barely given an opportunity to crawl out of cliched predictability.

Josh is played by a mellifluous Joel Harper-Jackson. The young man's voice has a divine range and a fabulous belt and it is a mark of his talent that he can convince in songs that pitch him from aged 7 through to a much older young man struggling with his sexuality. He too however is bogged down by lyrics that are sometimes eye-rollingly awful. "Knowing who I was, Has taught me who I am" is a line that should never have made it past an early workshop.

As coquettish Ellie, the outstanding Charlotte Wakefield again shows why she was up for an Olivier earlier this year (coincidentally nominated for a Maria that played against Helen Hobson's Mother Abbess in the Open Air's Sound of Music). Amongst the best of her generation Wakefield dances her way through the show, each number a distinct and polished example of acting through song. A youthful audience filled the theatre (an impressive achievement on a sunny Sunday afternoon) and today's musical theatre students would do well to note the professionalism and excellence that Wakefield brings to all her roles.

Colin Billing's piano work with Sarah Bowler on cello bring a passion to the afternoon's accompaniment, though whilst all the tunes are superbly played, few are memorable.

In a curious irony, the show lives up to the pretext it purports to argue. The cast and creatives are glitteringly top-notch but scratch this show's surface and there is very little to stir the soul. Picture Perfect is a middling book about mediocre folk. Davis needs to inject more sparkling satire that lifts his lyrics above a paltry attempt at humour referencing human vices. Where Sondheim and Schwartz possess a brilliance that either tickles ribs or bites at one’s psyche, too much “new writing” (with Dougal Irvine and Scott Alan being notable exceptions) lacks the wit of these wordsmiths. On this showing, Picture Perfect remains a work in progress. Remove the cliche and there may yet be a deeply moving show waiting to emerge.

Andrew Lippa In Concert

St James Theatre, London

****

Carrie Hope Fletcher raises the roof as Andrew Lippa accompanies

A packed house at the St James Theatre saw Andrew Lippa's London debut. For two hours and accompanied by a stellar cast of the capital's musical theatre talent, the New York composer (actually a Yorkshireman by birth) presented a collection of his showtunes.

Lippa was quickly into a selection of songs from Big Fish that recently opened on Broadway. One of the show's finer compositions, I Don't Need A Roof, sung by a wife reflecting upon her near unconditional love for her dying husband, was given the most moving of interpretations by Jenna Russell. I reviewed Big Fish last month (link here) and commented then that it seemed unlikely to transfer to London and indeed it closes on Broadway in a few weeks. Up close however, the show's songs took on a beautiful resonance and seen in this more intimate setting, were a producer to consider a modestly sized off-West End or chamber production, it may well prove a hit.

Willemijn Verkaik was masterfully elegant throughout with Big Fish’s Time Stops, a duet with Lippa, proving to be another of the evening's tender highlights. Earlier, when Verkaik had sung the line "it's my turn to fly" from The Wild Party's number The Life Of The Party, there was the sweetest of ironic presciences, as she was performing with Lippa only 24 hours before making her debut as Wicked-London's Elphaba. 

The stunning turn of the night was Carrie Hope Fletcher and her take on Pulled from The Addams Family. Injecting humour, presence and a vocal impact even bigger than her amazing hair, the young performer very nearly took the St James’ roof off. Other highlights included Ashleigh Gray's Live Out Loud, whilst a duet of Lippa and Tam Mutu in This River Between Us proved to be a masterclass in calm professionalism in retrieving a song when both performers dry.

Lippa's patter throughout was witty and refreshingly self-deprecating as he referenced the number of his shows that have closed early over the years. His newly written You Are Here however, from I Am Harvey Milk, penned for a large male chorus and offered here as his solo, showed glimpses of what must be a truly inspiring number when sung by an ensemble.

Simon Beck stepping in on piano as needed, with Hannah Ashenden's subtly elegant cello work gave a neat finish to an event that again demonstrated classy management from producers Stuart Matthew Price and James Yeoburn.

Daisy Pulls It Off

Upstairs At The Gatehouse, London

***

Written by Denise Deegan

Directed by Thom Southerland

Daisy ( Holly Dale Spencer) is made Head Girl

Denise Deegan’s Daisy Pulls It Off, revived by Ovation at Highgate’s Upstairs At The Gatehouse is an excellently performed piece of theatre, that stylistically has nonetheless been left bobbing in the wake of more recent dramatic creations. First presented in the West End in 1983, where it ran for three years, it portrays a (literally) jolly hockey sticks world of an upper-crust English girls' school in the 1920s. But where Daisy Pulls It Off, some thirty years ago, lovingly overtook the St Trinians’ genre, so in these times and to varying degrees have Harry Potter and Matilda Wormwood sharpened our expectations of the role of the English public school as a source of entertainment, whilst Maria Aitken's The 39 Steps has set the bar in defining pastiche of England between the wars.  Where those productions brimmed with both humour and social comment, this show is little more than a quaint collection of plummy caricatures, likely to be of entertainment value only to stereotype-seeking American tourists or  softly natured locals. Director Southerland has a recent track record that glitters with stimulating stunning productions, but whilst this cast most definitely sparkles, the underlying show lacks fizz.

The actors do however make a fantastic job of the material. Holly Dale Spencer, fresh out of The Old Vic’s Kiss Me Kate, leads the line as Daisy Meredith. Her role is enormous, onstage almost throughout, maintaining her persevering character and flapping voice convincingly including a particularly demanding clifftop rescue (think Enid Blyton’s Famous Five) towards the play’s end. Notwithstanding that the story is tosh, Spencer remains sufficient of a trouper to still command our sympathy with her plight, as like Potter and Wormwood she tries against insurmountable odds to fit in and make friends with her schoolchums. With a nod to the St Trinians’ style of comedy, Southerland has chosen to mix in veteran actresses as the senior schoolgirls alongside the more recent drama school graduates. This idea certainly has a novelty appeal but the concept would have worked better if the elder ladies had been more well-known or household names, to enhance the ridiculous pantomime nature of their gym-slipped schoolgirl roles. Whilst their performances to a woman, are all outstanding, Paddy Glynn and Norma Atallah in particular, outside the bubble of theatre-land these esteemed actresses lack a widespread recognition and the joke factor of their age quickly wears thin.

In what is a classy acknowledgement of Alastair Sim's acting genius, Adam Venus is the show’s comic star, creating the few genuine laughs of the night with each of his scenes that he also cannot help but steal.  James Yeoburn puts in more of a turn as a scene shifter than as the school's Russian music teacher, moving a wheeled staircase around the stage that bears more than a nod to Southerland’s Mack & Mabel where such steps and platform were used wonderfully. Here they seem cumbersome.

Joanna Cichonska is simply a delight on piano. Providing background music ranging from classic school day hymns to some enchanting Dvorak interpretations, she also adds to the moments of faux-suspense brilliantly and this young Polish woman (who surely soon should have her own night at Lauderdale House or similar) continues to prove herself as a ridiculously talented musician.

When early in the second act of Daisy, Gillian Mcafferty’s character Trixie comments that its “beastly boring being stuck in here” her words have a resonance with the audience that the writer could not possibly have intended. The show is an odd choice for Ovation, who like Southerland, have wowed in recent years and months. It’s a throwback to a different era of writing, and is probably best enjoyed by those seeking little more than a mild evening’s entertainment. For this production, set your expectations of wisdom and mirth to low but then sit back to nonetheless enjoy the performances of a superb cast.

Runs to 14th April 2013

Dress Circle Benefit - One Year On - A Review

Her Majesty's Theatre, London

*****

Today, sadly, Dress Circle, a wonderful store dedicated to all things Musical Theatre, closes its doors.

Many months ago, when closure was first signalled, two dedicated young actors James Yeoburn and Stuart Matthew Price, almost Blues Brothers like, put together a show that culminated in a glorious August 2011 evening at Her Majestys Theatre that was a stunning line up of the West End's finest.

I reviewed the show then, but it has not been until now that my review , which had been lost, has now re-surfaced. Its a pleasure and an honour to re-post it. The store was amazing, and the evening was stellar.

JG

Remember The Blues Brothers, on a mission from God, to save the orphanage they grew up in?

Fast forward 30 ( ok, almost 33...) odd years,  swap the orphanage for Dress Circle, and replace Jake and Elwood Blues  with Stuart Matthew Price and James Yeoburn, and you start to get close to the magic of the Gala concert that graced the stage at Her Majestys

The one thing that both that movie and the Gala had in common was the most outstanding line up of artistes, wishing to be associated with the project.

Simon Lee had rehearsed his 30 piece orchestra to perfection – listening to them, it was hard to believe that this was the first public performance of that ensemble, and that they were not in fact performing that set together 8 times a week.

Without exception ALL the performers on stage were outstanding.

For this writer, though the "ultra-stellar" moments of such an evening, came from those rare moments when the persona of the actor got so wrapt within the performance, that they were truly giving of their soul.

Rebecca Caine sang Think of Me 25 years after her on-stage Christine.  An operatic  performance of crystal delivery, that as she herself tweeted  "I was so overwhelmed by the emotion and ovation I nearly cried. It was like a wall of sound hitting me". With Frances Ruffelle too, spines tingled as A Heart Full of Love was recreated with Jon Robyns.

Then there was the Ellen Greene moment. Ellen was listed in the programme as singing Between, from Betwixt, in the first half. She was great. What the audience did not realise was that she had actually been expecting ( and rehearsing ) to sing Somewhere That’s Green, from Little Shop of Horrors having gone to the effort of having her Audrey wig flown over to London specially for the song.  So when Aled Jones, the evening’s host, interrupted the second half, to introduce this unlisted addition to the evening, the audience went wild .

When that song was first recorded Greene's voice had a wonderful almost hallmark fragility to it. Now, some 25 years later ( and perhaps following the tragic death of Howard Ashman?) singing the song was hard. As Ellen sang, she struggled in what what was clearly a difficult moment. But in a defining expression of excellence, she pulled the performance back, and as the bars rolled by she didn’t just sing the song, she positively nailed it.  On the final notes, as the audience almost to a man rose to salute her,  she wept.  To witness such a performance was more than a joy, it was a privilege.

Dougal Irvine and Laurence Mark Wythe delivered their specially composed number for the night, The World of The Show, that not only evoked the wit of Noel Coward, but also left one confident that the future of British musical theatre composition is in safe hands.

The penultimate number , Bui Doi from Miss Saigon had the inimitable Peter Polycarpou reprising the role of John that he created, backed by a youthful chorus of current West End professionals , again raising the hairs on the back of my neck.

To quote Oliver, could I have possibly asked for more from an evening of such riches? Well to my mind, a nod to Rogers & Hammerstein and Kander & Ebb would not have been out of place, nor would the acknowledgment perhaps of the current contribution of Juke Box Musicals to the strength of current West End / Broadway box office takings. Whilst the trend for JBMs is arguably blocking the path for new writing, those shows do nonetheless, and on a weekly basis, provide musical theatre entertainment for thousands and further, employment for hundreds more. But these greedy comments of mine are mere bagatelles when set against the wonder that was presented on stage last Sunday.

As Sardines Magazine commented " … make no mistake, there was not one person on that stage that did not shine " and as a foundation for an annual ( or  biennial at least ? ) event, Messrs Price and Yeoburn have created a precedent that will be nigh on impossible to live up to.