Guys & Dolls - Review

Bridge Theatre, London

****

Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser

Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Celinde Schoenmaker and Marisha Wallace

There comes a time in the life-cycle of a new build modern theatre on London’s South Bank, usually around six years after opening, that they put on their first musical, invariably settling on Guys and Dolls.

So it is right now at the Bridge Theatre with Nicholas Hytner’s production and so it was a couple of miles upstream at the National Theatre in 1982, when Richard Eyre put on the show that turned into the National’s first blockbuster hit. Six years is a theme here, for six years after Eyre’s moneyspinner opened he went on to become the venue’s artistic director and six years after he stood down from that role, Hytner took over. So clearly, Guys and Dolls is a great musical, much favoured by the nation’s great directors.

But do great musicals and great directors lead to great productions? 

Played immersively in the round and with New York-style neons rising and falling from the flies, Hytner’s Guys and Dolls sets out to be a distinctive interpretation of this classic show.  What is delivered however is a combination of the sensational but also the decidedly average that Hytner could have avoided. 

The female leads are both outstanding with Marisha Wallace as Miss Adelaide nailing the perpetual fiancée. In both spoken word and song, Wallace captures the frustrating, bittersweet predicament of Adelaide’s 14-year engagement. At her best in solo and duetted numbers Wallace is, as always, a joy to watch. Equally, Celinde Schoenmaker as Sarah Brown is another delight. Hers is a challenging character to pull off, the strait-laced Sergeant at the Save A Soul Mission falling for the roguish Sky Masterson. Schoenmaker however confidently captures Sarah’s complexities, and the vocal beauty of these two women singing together in Marry The Man Today proves to be the evening’s unexpected musical highlight.

The male leads are all competent but not memorable. Daniel Mays doesn’t quite get the New York shtick of Nathan Detroit and while Andrew Richardson smoulders as a very cool Sky Masterson, he fails to make the dramatic highs that his big number Luck Be A Lady requires. The programme notes suggest that neither Mays nor Richardson have significant experience in musical theatre and it shows.

Cedric Neal plays Nathan Detroit’s buddy Nicely-Nicely Johnson. Typically Guys and Dolls demands that the role is played as a groceries-gobbling, absent-minded slob albeit with a heart of gold, who in the prayer meeting at the show’s endgame metamorphoses into a show-stopping hero. Neal is a gifted performer, but struggles to convince as a slob. Big Jule (Cameron Johnson) calls him a “fat water buffalo” at the prayer meeting but in this production that description just does not ring true. If Hytner had thought to have had Nicely-Nicely Johnson’s brother Boris step up to the role, it may have proved a far more satisfying casting choice. 

And there are tiny gems in Loesser’s Runyon-esque dialogue that Hytner has steamrollered. Sky Masterson’s exclamation of “Cider!” after Nathan suckers him into taking Sarah to dinner, together with Lt Brannigan’s (Cornelius Clarke) wry wish that “I hope there’s nothing in heredity” are both tossed away with no attention paid to the lines’ comic potential. Loesser was a genius, with every word both of his lyrics and of Abe Burrows' libretto painstakingly crafted. Hytner and his cast need to pay more attention to the detail.

This may not be one of the great Guys and Dolls, but with Tom Brady’s 14-piece orchestra up in the circle, it does make for a night of fun theatre. Go and see it, for it’s a probable 12 to 7 that you’ll come out grinning.

Runs until 2nd September

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Oklahoma! - Review

Wyndhams Theatre, London

***

Music by Richard Rodgers

Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs

Directed by Daniel Fish

Patrick Vaill

"You’re doing fine Oklahoma!” goes the title song but truth be told, the transfer across the Thames from the Young Vic to the Wyndhams has not proved an easy passage.

Daniel Fish’s production (originally reviewed to acclaim last year) was a groundbreaking interpretation which when set in the Young Vic’s versatile space, stunned with its bold and innovative take on the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic. Moved to the Wyndham’s proscenium confines however and Fish’s wizardry evaporates into mist, much like the billowing cloud of haze that fills the West End auditorium for the Dream Ballet that opens Act Two.

The cast is almost the same troupe as played at The Cut last year. The notable absentee is Marisha Wallace whose Ado Annie was accurately tipped for Olivier recognition - she is missed.

Huw Evans’ band remains magnificent - a nine piece strings, accordion and percussion combo that give the memorable melodies a vigorous interpretation - equally, the singing is perfect across the cast. But it remains Patrick Vaill as the complex loner Jud Fry who steals the show. His Lonely Room is the evening’s vocal highlight and only Vaill truly manages to stamp a distinctive artistic impression on this West End transfer.

The ending of this show is gruesome - with a special effect that worked in Waterloo but is clumsy here. Stage management need to address the hole located centre stage, that’s clearly bloodstained from previous performances and which fires the gore into the cast.

Marie-Astrid Mence energetically dances the Dream Ballet. Again, this was enchanting at the Young Vic but on the Wyndhams’ stage, the cascade of cowboy boots that fall upon her from the rafters seems little more than the work of pretentious cobblers.

Booking until 2nd September

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Oklahoma! - Review

Young Vic, London

*****

Music by Richard Rodgers

Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs

Directed by Daniel Fish and Jordan Fein

Patrick Vaill

In one of the most stunning interpretations of a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical to hit London in recent years, Daniel Fish’s interpretation of Oklahoma! crosses the Atlantic to open at the Young Vic. Fish developed his take on the show as a student production for Bard College in 2015. Three years later the show was to play Off-Broadway at New York’s St Ann’s Warehouse, before reaching Broadway in 2019 where it picked up eight Tony nominations with two wins including Best Musical Revival. Fish is accompanied at the helm by fellow director Jordan Fein.

Oklahoma! may hail from the Golden Age of Broadway but Fish’s vision is lean, simplistic and stripped back. Played almost in the round on a stage of bare timber, plywood and trestle tables, the only scenic enhancements are a sketched out backdrop of prairie farmland, with racks of rifles mounted high around the remaining the remaining three sides of the thrust performance space. Terese Wadden’s costumes are simple cowboy-chic with Levis de-rigeur for most, ranch chaps prevalent for the men and an array of purty frocks for the women as the scenes demand.

Amidst this simplicity of staging, the production has to stand solely on the strengths of its actors – and the troupe assembled here are amongst the finest musical theatre companies in town. Arthur Darvill and Anoushka Lucas lead as the hesitant lovers Curly and Laurey. Both are immaculate in their roles, with many of Curly’s numbers down sized to Darvill singing accompanied only by his own solo guitar playing. Powerful lighting plots wash some of the verses in The Surrey With The Fringe On Top and People Will Say We’re In Love into impassioned love scenes, never previously contemplated mid-number. It’s a bold move by the directors and lighting designer Scott Zielinski that is strikingly effective. There is boldness too in Daniel Kluger’s orchestrations of Richard Rodgers’ score that the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organisation have shrewdly seen fit to approve and which allows Musical Director Tom Brady to see his 9-piece band having more guitars than violins. With the musicians on stage, the new orchestrations give a powerfully Western twang added to the original, that only enhances the evening.

Arthur Darvill and Anoushka Lucas

The musical magic of this production however lies not just in its leads, nor in its creative enhancements, but in the extraordinary talent assembled around them in the featured roles and here follows a roll-call of excellence.

Lisa Sadovy as Aunt Eller is everything her character should be – and then some more. Fish and Fein play fast and loose with the show’s structure and where we may have expected the first act to conclude with Laurey’s Dream Ballet, itself preceded by a soprano chorus singing Out Of My Dreams, it is Aunt Eller who here kicks off the second act of the show with that number, before the ballet gets underway. It’s an innovative shake-up of the show that works. And in mentioning the ballet, a note of massive praise to Marie-Astrid Mence who mesmerizingly dances the solo work.

Next up on this roll-call is Marisha Wallace as Ado Annie Carnes. Wallace is simply sensational. For sure, Ado Annie provides welcome moments of comic relief in the narrative but Wallace immerses herself in the woman to provide a portrayal of her character that is more fleshed out than the typical two-dimensional comic-book portrayals of Ado Annie, so often seen in the past. Not only is Wallace’s acting out of this world, her vocals take the Young Vic’s roof off too. One to watch for next year’s Olivier nominations.

Ranking alongside Wallace in talent and impact are two actors who have travelled with the show from Broadway. James Davis’ Will Parker is again a thoughtfully presented delivery of a comedy classic. Davis’ hapless bungling, matched only by his character's  blinkered love for Ado Annie is simply a delight to watch.

Patrick Vaill has also crossed the pond with the show, with an even more intriguing pedigree connecting him to the production. His involvement incredibly dates back to 2015 when he was a student at Bard, creating this iteration of Jud Fry for Fish. Vaill’s Jud is extraordinary, taking this most complex of the canon’s villains and imbuing him with an unexpected tender sympathy. We find Jud to be “othered” by the community around him, culminating in his shocking death and while Jud clearly has a monstrous past, Vaill creates an intriguing, credible, complexity to the man, that has to be seen to be believed. Vocally magnificent too, Vaill’s turn leaves a deep and troubling imprint on the audience. A combination of contrasting light, blackout and video projections add an equally ingenious twist to the interaction between Curly and Jud.

Stavros Demetraki is a delight as pedlar Ali Hakim. His is a simple role to play in the narrative, oiling the story’s comedic wheels. Like all good comedy however, the role demands perfection in its timing and delivery and Demetraki hits his marks with pinpoint accuracy.

Another casting gem sees a grizzled Greg Hicks playing gnarled farmer Andrew Carnes, administering what Quentin Tarantino might have called 'frontier justice' in the show’s finale. It’s a troubling moment for the audience to reflect on, but Hicks delivers it with his hallmark first-class standards.

Producers Sonia Friedman and Michael Harrison have shrewdly backed this production, so one can only hope for its deserved West End transfer. Until then, at the Young Vic, Oklahoma! remains unmissable.

Runs until 25th June 2022

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Hairspray - Review

London Coliseum, London

*****

Music by Marc Shaiman

Lyrics by Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman

Book by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan

Directed by Jack O'Brien

Lizzie Bea, Michael Ball and Les Dennis

A cast comprising both stalwarts and debutantes of the West End make Jack O’Brien’s revival of his original take on Hairspray a must-see for anyone who has craved musical theatre during lockdown’s cultural drought.

Hairspray is of course all about the power of well-integrated diversity, where life’s typical outsiders become the heroes and the bigots are the baddies. In a socially distanced London Coliseum, where the covid-compliant capacity has been shrunk from 3,000 to 1,000 it was Michael Ball who summed up the audience’s roars of rapture, by saying at the curtain-call that they had cheered like 10,000, such was the throng’s pent-up passion.

Making her West End debut – albeit with a string of regional work to her credit – Lizzie Bea  leads with a stunning Tracy Turnblad. From the moment she bursts from her vertically transposed bed, straight into Good Morning Baltimore, Bea sets the evening’s pulsating tone. Confident and charismatic, Bea wins her audience and without ever resorting to kitsch or mawkishness, she masterfully enacts Tracy’s story, winning love and empathy as she hurtles towards the show’s sublimely happy ending.

Opposite Tracy is of course her domineering mother Edna and yet again for a London Hairspray, it is Michael Ball who returns to the padded suit to reprise what must surely (after Les Miserables’ Marius) be his second signature role. The years have seen Ball age disgracefully into his Edna with him proving all the more delectably monstrous for it too. The show’s eye-wateringly brilliant comedy highlight remains Ball and Les Dennis (as hapless hubby Wilbur) duetting (You’re) Timeless To Me. The song demands perfection in its timing and nuance for its shtick to work – with the seasoned professionalism of Ball and Dennis providing a masterclass in hilarity.

The always excellent Marisha Wallace delivers a magnificent Motormouth, with a performance that both rouses and enraptures the Coliseum’s crowd. Her take on the show’s eleven o’clock number I Know Where I’ve Been sending the audience into a spontaneous standing ovation, such was her power of performance and emotion.

Rita Simons brings her 2-dimensisional character of arch-baddie Velma Von Tussle into wonderfully comic relief, while squaring the circle of the show’s key love arc, Jonny Amies (another West End newbie) offers an assuredly chiselled performance as TV show host Link Larkin.

O’Brien and his choreographer Jerry Mitchell, know Hairspray intimately and yet they still infuse a freshness and vitality into the production that makes it as relevant a comment for today as for its original target of 1960s civil rights torn Baltimore.

Outstanding musical theatre!

Runs until 29th September

Photo credit: Tristan Kenton

Lucie Jones Live at The Adelphi - Review

Adelphi Theatre, London

****

Lucie Jones

Having captured the public’s attention back in 2009’s X Factor series, Lucie Jones this week played her first solo gig (with guests), impressively packing out London’s Adelphi Theatre.

That same stage has seen Jones play the title role in Waitress for the past 7 months and in a sassy touch the singer opened her set with that show’s well-known "sugar, butter, flour" motif from What’s Inside, segueing into a powerful performance of Funny Girl’s Don’t Rain on My Parade’. A bold choice of an opening number with an even bolder lyric tinkering to “Hey The Adelphi, here I am” receiving a rousing cheer from the adoring crowd. 

Throughout the evening the audience were treated to various anecdotal moments from Jones’ early life and career, highlighting her down to earth nature. Her natural charisma and warmth giving an almost cabaret-style intimacy to the vast venue. 

Providing the musical accompaniment was Freddie Tapner’s 22 piece London Musical Theatre Orchestra. Jones and Tapner have worked together on numerous occasions, their synergy and tightness evident from start to finish. 

In occasional support were John Owen-Jones and Marisha Wallace, the latter having played Waitress’ supporting role of Becky alongside Jones’ Jenna. Rent’s female duet Take Me Or Leave Me was performed with all the tricks, flicks and flair that you would expect from these two West End leading ladies. Equally impressive was a beautiful rendition of ‘The Prayer’ sung alongside Owen-Jones, with these two Welsh singers demonstrating a beautiful handling of the Italian lyrics with soaring melodies and pitch-perfect harmonies sung so tenderly one could have heard a pin drop.

Other stand-out songs were Gimme Gimme from Thoroughly Modern Millie, Lucie’s original song from her 2017 Eurovision entry I Will Never Give Up On You and Into The Unknown from Frozen 2. It is just a shame that the gig was for one-night only as Jones will have no trouble filling out the Adelphi again!

Reviewed by Sophie Kale

Waitress - Review

Adelphi Theatre




*****


Music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles
Book by Jessie Nelson
Based upon the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly
Directed by Diane Paulus

Katharine McPhee

Of all the new musicals that Broadway has shipped to London in recent years, Waitress is quite possibly the greatest as Sara Bareillles takes an unflinching look at 21st century America through the eyes of waitress Jenna and her two best friends and workmates, Becky and Dawn. But what makes this transatlantic transfer quite such a success, is that while the musical is set in a nameless small-town, somewhere, anywhere, in the States – and Scott Pask’s set design is terrific, all disappearing telegraph lines and ingeniously sliding interior locations – Bareilles’ tale drawn from Adrienne Shelly’s movie, is a celebration of modern womanhood that transcends all borders.

Katharine McPhee crosses the pond from the Broadway production to open the Adelphi run and she is wonderful. Unhappily married to the abusive - albeit not without his own complex history - Earl, she is a hard working woman with a gift for making inventive pies who finds herself early in the show with an unplanned pregnancy. One of the show’s gritty strengths is its ability to upend traditional trends. Devastated at her pregnancy, Jenna nonetheless vows to remain strong, making the most of hers and her baby's future, and it is this grasp of verité that places Waitress firmly within the sphere of most of its audiences. That of course, and its songs. Bareilles acute eye for life and rhythm serves up a collection of glorious numbers that range from country, to rock, to Jenna’s scorchingly tender solo ballad She Used To Be Mine.

Bareilles and Jessie Nelson sweeten their tale with liberal amounts of comedy. Marisha Wallace’s Becky is recognisably wonderful as the much put upon spouse of a disabled husband, who while she loves him deeply, seeks her sexual satisfaction elsewhere. And Laura Baldwin is the wonderfully gauche and cooky Dawn, who discovers an unlikely online soulmate in Ogie, and who steals the show in her first half big number When He Sees Me.

Waitress’ men are no more than supporting roles in this celebration of womanhood – but they are neatly fleshed out turns. Peter Hannah is a convincingly unpleasant Earl as Jack McBrayer joins McPhee as a well placed American import. McBrayer’s physical presence and comic timing as Ogie is a work of genius. In the most complex of male supports, David Hunter plays Dr Pomatter, Jenner’s (married) gynaecologist, with whom she strikes up a brief but passionate affair . Hunter captures the awkward fusion of an unethical love (complete with in-flagrante comedy) together with a sincerely credible pathos.

The modest supporting roles are all perfectly delivered. Shaun Prendergast as the wise and saintly diner owner Joe is an occasional charming diversion, while Stephen Leask’s diner chef Cal and Kelly Agbowu’s Nurse Norma are both brilliantly observed characters.

Katharine Woolley’s 6 piece on stage band make fine work of Bareilles’ score and credit to director Diane Paulus, who must truly be one of the most visionary helmswomen on Broadway today. Credit too to producers Barry and Fran Weissler who, on seeing the movie some years back, had the vision to assemble Bareilles, Paulus and Nelson and create the finest deep-dish screen to stage transition in decades.

Booking until 19th October

Photo credit: Johan Persson

The Color Purple - Review

Cadogan Hall, London

****

Book by Marsha Norman

Music & lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray

The Company

The Color Purple’s book, movie and musical have all told the extraordinary story of a Celie, a brutally oppressed woman who against all odds, overcomes racism, abuse and misogyny to find her unique place in 20th century America. Not seen in London since the Menier’s sensational production in 2013, the musical returned to the capital this week for a one night only concert-staged fundraiser.

Taking time out from her West End debut as Dreamgirls’ alternate Effie White, Marisha Wallace shone as Celie. This site has already  raved about Wallace’s current work at the Savoy and yet again, her phenomenal voice and emotional, heart wrenching performance proved that she had been perfectly cast. Back at the Menier, Cynthia Erivo’s Celie (a role that was to win her Broadway's Tony 3 years later) had stopped the show nightly with I’m Here. This time around Wallace matched that moment, bringing the packed Cadogan Hall to a mid-act standing ovation as she gave her own interpretation to this most defining of the show’s numbers.

Two other power house women were Wendy Mae Brown as Sofia and Rachel John’s Shug, Celie’s closest friends. Rarely can there have been two more spirited or sassy woman on stage together at one time. John was a phenomenally assertive and sexually confidant presence on stage, embodying her flirtatious character with ease and outstanding vocals. To describe her take on Push The Button as vocal gymnastics would be an understatement.

Likewise, the audience’s instant support and love for Sofia was tangible. Brown’s guttural and soulful voice was delicious. It proved impossible however not to scream with laughter at her perfectly weighted, sarcasm-filled pauses that she used to judge the patriarchal and cluelessly domineering men surrounding her. 

Clueless in character maybe – but the guys on stage were amongst London’s finest. Cavin Cornwall’s malevolent, misogynist Mister proved classily contemptible, whilst Tyrone Huntley delivered ingenious ineptitude with his emotionally bungling Harpo.

Alongside the British Theatre Academy, producer Danielle Tarento had assembled an outstanding cast to deliver a truly powerful production, with James Taylor conducting (unbelievably, only) an 8 piece band and making the score soar too. Bravo to Tarento and her stellar company, The Color Purple was magnificent!

Reviewed  by Charlotte Darcy

Photo credit: Scott Rylander

Dreamgirls - Review

Savoy Theatre, London


****

Music by Henry Krieger
Lyrics and book by Tom Eyen
Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw

Marisha Wallace

Dreamgirls is now well settled into the Savoy Theatre and comfortably booking up until the autumn. So for a reviewer with no real interest whatsoever in the TV series Glee or its much lauded star Amber Riley, what better way to assess the show than on the one night in the week when Ms Riley rests her remarkable larynx, with her Effie White played (as advertised) by Broadway diva Marisha Wallace.

The story of Dreamgirls should be well known by now. A fictitious yarn whose roots stretch back to the days of American segregation when soul and rhythm and blues, essentially “black music” (a description taken from the show’s programme notes) were striving to break into the pop charts. A Michigan trio The Dreamettes are backing vocals to R&B star Jimmy Early. Curtis Taylor Jr, an opportunistic manager recognises their potential and lures them away from Early to headline their own act billed as The Dreams. Along the way there’s love, rivalries and jealousies that play out to a backdrop of a ruthlessly cutthroat music business and some sensationally sung songs.

Strip away the music and Tom Eyen’s book is paper thin – it’s Henry Kreiger’s melodies that make the show. Wallace’s closing of the first half with a jaw dropping take on And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going proves a stunner of a powerhouse, that sends the (predominantly female) audience reeling as they totter to the bar for their half time Proseccos.

The show’s other big number is One Night Only - a song that many of today’s kids will have come to know through its X-Factor regularity, even though its chart history dates back to the 1980s – and the three Dreamgirls, along with the ensemble, give it a powerfully polished outing.

Credit where it’s due – Liisi LaFontaine and Ibinabo Jack are superb as Deena and Lorrell, Effie’s partners, Joe Aaron Reid’s Curtis is a pantomime baddy but he holds the stage magnificently. Adam J. Bernard’s Jimmy Early is a groin thrusting lithe limbed delight, while Tyrone Huntley as songwriter C.C. White is, yet again, simply magnificent in his West End presence. Huntley is already riding high in the nation's musical theatre pantheon – he can only soar further still.

Casey Nicholaw’s direction and choreography oozes imagination, Gregg Barnes costumes are as sexy as they are period-perfect, while in the pit Nick Finlow’s orchestra serve up Kreiger’s score with panache.

Bravo to Sonia Friedman and her co-producers for bringing this Broadway bonanza to London. It’s a great night out!

Booking to 21st October