Death Takes A Holiday - Review

Charing Cross Theatre


*****


Music & lyrics by Maury Yeston
Book by Thomas Meehan and Peter Stone
Based on the play La Morte in Vacanza (Death Takes A Holiday) by Alberto Casella

Chris Peluso and Zoe Doano

It is rare that a musical is presented with such exquisite elegance as Thom Southerland delivers with Death Takes A Holiday, making its European premier at the Charing Cross Theatre. The essence of Maury Yeston's musical, itself drawn from Alberto Casella's 1920s Italian play, is that of a love story spun from the finest filigree, yet, like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, played out against a hauntingly gothic backdrop. 

The prologue sees the beautiful Grazia thrown from a speeding car in a horrific crash. Her death must surely be unavoidable but Death himself, so captivated by her beauty, spares her. Intrigued by the mysteries of humanity, whose lives he has claimed and stalked over the centuries, for one weekend only Death grants himself two days of mortality. Assuming the identity of a Russian Prince, he visits Grazia's home as an unexpected house guest and what follows is quite literally a fairy tale of enchanted love and ultimate tragedy. Throughout Death's weekend vacation no-one (anywhere) dies, Grazia's family discover new depths of relationships, while Grazia herself falls in love with Death, in a passion that is as deeply doomed as it is reciprocated. 

It's a brave story to stage - for to suspend the audience's disbelief and convincingly create a world that is potentially of the darkest horror, requires nothing less than precision stagecraft. Leading the show are Zoe Doano and Chris Peluso as Grazia and Death. The two are magnificent and with both having only recently led in major West End roles, their pedigree is breathtaking. Zoano's soprano voice combines power with fragility. Her four solos are compelling and commanding, while her duet with Peluso, More And More, is a heartbreaker. Likewise Peluso, whose striking performance captures the inscrutable paradox of his weekend of humanity. We believe he is a man with the ultimate of powers and yet at the same time reduced to a childlike curiosity when confronted with that most profound and rawest aspect of humanity, the power of love.

It’s impossible not to care for nearly all of the supporting characters too. Mark Inscoe is the Duke Lamberti, Grazia's father, already mourning the recent death of his son and as the host, charged by Death not to reveal his house guest’s true identity. As he watches his daughter fall for Death's charms and knowing what could potentially await her, Inscoe's delivery of this most complex of emotional struggles adds yet another layer of tragic beauty to the plot. In a modest role Kathryn Akin's Stephanie, Grazia's mother delivers the most poignant of numbers that mourns her son with Losing Roberto, Yeston’s composition truly touching the heart.

Samuel Thomas offers another ingenious cameo as the battle-hardened fighter pilot who recognises the Russian Prince for who he really is, while James Gant's butler Fidele, offers occasional moments of well nuanced comedy that are beacons of relief along the story's bittersweet arc. There are equally weighted moments of brilliance from Anthony Cable and Gay Soper as a veteran star-crossed couple finding love, their ageing temporarily paused during the weekend's magic and from Scarlett Courtney and Helen Turner as Grazia’s contemporaries. 

The creative talent behind the show is as topnotch as the cast with Morgan Large's set proving as simple as it is wondrous. A rotating set of palazzo walls and doorways, graced by rococo chairs, ingeniously create the Lamberti home, complemented by Jonathan Lipman's period-perfect costuming, with Matt Daw's lighting proving both sinister and spectacular in equal measure. Hidden away offstage, Dean Austin's 10 piece band could easily pass for a far larger West End orchestra, such is their treatment of Yeston's soaring score.

The show deserves to be snapped up for a longer run or transfer - it really is that good, but until then rush to the Charing Cross Theatre. Death Takes A Holiday is the darkest of fairytales in a work of musical theatre that is at the very top of its game.

Runs until 4th March
Photo credit: ScottRylander

Sides - Review

****

Sides is Nadim Naaman's second album and it is a pleasure to catch up with this talented young man's vocal interpretations of some of Disney's and the West End's greats along with a selection of his own compositions. Naaman has also invited a number of musical theatre's contemporary leading lights to accompany him, making the album a refreshing selection of voices.

The songs are split half and half between Naaman's own writing and his covers. His own works are easy on the ear and beautifully sung even if I'd have much rather heard Jeremy Secomb duet with Naaman in a song from their pop-up pie shop Sweeney Todd that I missed in the West End. But, with a couple of exceptions, the original stuff is a bit too much of an introspective ballad-fest to truly inspire. There is however some fabulous acoustic guitar work throughout the album (of which more below) and Naaman's This'll Be The Year, has a rhythm that almost suggests a hint of Dire Straits. The song-writing is at its best in Marry Me, which seems to bear an unbridled autobiographical energy bursting from the stanzas. It is a real pleasure to listen to this uninhibited celebration of love.

Naaman is at his finest however in covering the songs written by the industry’s greats. Having played in the Southerland/Tarento production of Maury Yeston’s Titanic on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s a nice touch that sees him share the singing honours of the show’s The Proposal/The Night Was Alive with Rob Houchen who has replaced him in this summer’s Titanic revival of the show. 

A great modern creative collaboration has been that of Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken. Naaman’s take on their Out There from their The Hunchback Of Notre Dame is terrific. If this recording is Naaman laying down a marker to be considered for a West End run of the show, it’s a classy calling card. He swoops and soars through the song’s beautifully descriptive narrative, giving every suggestion that he’d make a top-notch Quasimodo.

The biggest treat however lies in Naaman’s beautiful arrangement of the title song from The Phantom Of The Opera, the show in which he currently plays Raoul. Accompanied by Celinde Schoenmaker (his current Christine) Naaman gives the number a flamenco interpretation – replacing Lloyd Webber's gothic organ riffs with guitar and, sensationally, trumpet. Of course this version can never be for the punters at Her Majesty’s Theatre – however as a re-worked interpretation of an iconic song, I’d venture to suggest it is unsurpassed. More of this please.

Sides shows a very different side to this most gifted of Gooners and is well worth the download!

Titanic - Review

Charing Cross Theatre, London


****

Music and lyrics by Maury Yeston
Book by Peter Stone
Directed by Thom Southerland

The company of Titanic

Unlike its ill-fated namesake, Thom Southerland’s Titanic has now made a triumphant trans-Atlantic return crossing, tying up at London’s Charing Cross Theatre for a 10 week season. Acclaimed at the Southwark Playhouse three years ago and later in Toronto, this riverside reprise marks Southerland’s debut as Artistic Director at Charing Cross, with his long time muse Danielle Tarento also on board as co-producer.

Adapted for the stage by Peter Stone and Maury Yeston, the musical tells of the 1912 tragedy when the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage, sinking mid-Atlantic with the loss of more than 2,000 lives. Yeston was drawn to the project by the positive aspects of what the ship represented: Humankind’s striving after great artistic works – with his show following the very different arcs of the ship’s owners, builders, passengers and crew.

The casting for this production is, for the most part, magnificent. A fair few members of the original production have returned to reprise their roles and with Yeston’s score so beautifully conducted by Jo Cichonska, it’s not surprising. The strength of the onstage pairings such as Dudley Rogers and Judith Street as the wealthy Strauss couple or Victoria Serra and Shane McDaid’s loveable Irish runaways, Kate McGowan and Jim Farrell, make a couple of tiny casting flaws elsewhere very easy to overlook.

Serra (magnificent in the original Titanic as well as last year in Southerland’s Grand Hotel) shines as McGowan. Energetic and youthful, her larger than life personality makes her character unforgettable. Even amidst the ensemble where she plays a modest role as one of the first class passengers, Serra stands out.

There is marvellous work too from James Gant as Etches, a steward in first class. Gant plays his character with warmth, a fatherly figure to the ship’s younger crew members. Making strong choices in his acting, there isn’t a point where the audience doubts him. As the ship is sinking he attempts to gather passengers calmly, although with a fear that is physically visible, not only in his face but in his whole body. One can see that behind his calm and cool demeanour the man is truly terrified. It is a performance that is almost troubling to watch.

The accomplished Claire Machin is unsurprisingly hilarious in her role of socialite “wannabe” Alice Bean. Her timing and characterful wit on stage provides moments of light relief in the otherwise harrowing tale, partnered with Peter Prentice, who plays her husband Edgar Bean, the two have a wonderful back and forth yet amidst the bickering, their moments of tender romance are joyously believable. 

And one to watch is Luke George playing a fresh-faced and innocent 14 year old bellboy. Beautiful acting, with every choice he makes looking like that of a young child and with a vulnerability in his performance that makes you believe his age.

David Woodhead’s design is minimalistic but effective, using the basic framing of bars to create the appearance of the ocean liner's deck, with the theatre itself repainted to match the colour of the set. Looking up from the stalls, the circle resembles the Titanic’s upper deck. Throughout, Howard Hudson’s wonderful lighting only seals the nautical illusion, as Cressida Carre's choreography remains as sensitively powerful as it was three years ago.

What has been produced at Charing Cross is a gripping and beautiful production that makes for a deeply moving night at the theatre. Bravo to Tarento and Southerland for sailing Titanic back to London.

Runs until 6th August

Reviewed by Charlotte Darcy

Photo credit: Scott Rylander

Grand Hotel - Review

Southwark Playhouse, London

****

Book by Luther Davis

Music and lyrics by George Forrest and Robert Wright

Additional music and lyrics by Maury Yeston

Directed by Thom Southerland

Victoria Serra and company

There is a gorgeous trinity almost akin to a planetary alignment, when producer Danielle Tarento, Thom Southerland and choreographer Lee Proud work together, and in tackling Grand Hotel’s dark and desperate depths they again achieve artistic success.

The dramatic potential of a hotel – and of the lives inside it, has famously proved fertile ground for writers. Stephen King’s Overlook Hotel, in The Shining told of the grand era of the 1920s and whilst 30 years and 5,000 miles may separate Southerland's Grand Hotel from Hitchcock's Bates Motel, both are hostelries to which people fled with dark secrets to hide and inevitable tragedy to confront.

Set in 1928 Berlin, Weimar Germany was a flawed nation and Southerland's production hints at the ugly rise of National Socialism's menacing tide. Checking in at the city's Grand Hotel are a collection of doomed or burdened folk. There is the ageing prima ballerina whose star has fallen, a bankrupt Baron pursued by villainous creditors. Other hotel guests include an impoverished young secretary devastated by an unwanted pregnancy, a failed corporate chief exec and a Jewish bookkeeper riddled with consumption. That’s an awful lot of plot to weave in to a single act show of around 100 minutes – and to be fair whilst much of what Southerland and Proud achieve is downright brilliant, the odd performance falls short of the mark.  

There is flawless excellence on display, at both ends of an age spectrum, from Victoria Serra as Flaemmchen the unfortunate secretary and Christine Grimandi as Grushinskaya the dancer. Serra enchants us with a painful desperation to escape her miserable lot, never finer than during The Girl In The Mirror. And when she’s not breaking our hearts she’s stunning the audience with her sensational dance, memorably in a sensational trio routine, Maybe My Baby partnered by Jammy Kasongo and Durone Stokes.

Grimandi devastates with a sensitive and perfectly weighted portrayal. Almost Norma Desmond like, such is the skill with which her complex fragilities play out, she craves the long-gone adulation of Europe's opera house audiences, yet she is wise enough to know the frailties of her age. There isn’t a more finely crafted female performance in town than that of Grimandi, a star of Italian theatre, offers at Southwark. Also outstanding in a performance of the most subtly crafted devoted depair is Valerie Cutko’s Raffaella – maid to Grushinskaya, who nurses a secret, passionate love for her mistress. 

Stepping in with barely a week or so to rehearse, David Delve’s Colonel-Doctor is another masterclass in understated brilliance. His morphine-addicted war veteran gives us a wry narrative, Chorus like, that strips away the facades of the wealthy and privileged guests and delivered with a presence that consistently commands our attention. Likewise, Jacob Chapman’s Preysing – an apparently happily married businessman who before our eyes descends into a misogynist monster as his business crumbles, is another well fashioned turn.

Lee Proud’s movement is, as always, ingenious. From ensemble representing the hotel’s revolving doors, through to glorious Charleston pastiches and immaculately created routines, Proud makes effective use of the tight traverse space.

And as for Michael Bradley’s 8-piece band, wow! With a sound that at times could suggest a full sized-orchestra, it is a rare treat to hear an ensemble so heavy on strings. There is more than a hint of a Palm Court ambience in Simon Lee's orchestrations and Bradley's immaculate execution.

It remains a continuing credit to Southerland and Tarento that together they have achieved a body of work so impressive that they can acquire the closely-guarded rights to such rarely seen shows. Grand Hotel may be dark and thematic, but presented in the Southwark Playhouse’s intimacy, its cast and creatives offer yet another display of London’s musical theatre genius.

Runs until 5th September

Photo credit: Tristram Kenton

John Owen-Jones - In Cabaret At The Hippodrome, London

Hippodrome, London

****

John Owen-Jones giving it everything at the Hippodrome

For over 15 years John Owen-Jones name has been inextricably linked with those two Cameron Mackintosh behemoths, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. Very few can match the combined performance count of the youngest ever Jean Valjean and the longest running West End Phantom.

So it is perhaps unsurprising that his cabaret evening at the Hippodrome centred around his Mackintosh years, both in terms of song choices and in repartee with the audience, in which he revealed his (feigned) animosity for the ‘younger, better looking’ Ramin Karimloo. Backed by an excellent seven piece band under musical director John Quirk, we were treated to ‘Music of the Night’, ‘Bring Him Home’, a fine rendition of ‘Til I Hear You Sing’ - Love Never Dies’ stand out song – and the recent addition to the Les Mis songlist, ‘Suddenly’. And the epic musical theatre anthems didn’t end there, with ‘This is the Moment’ and ‘Anthem’ also getting outings. It is easy, I suppose, to be sniffy at such a list of over-performed classics, but it was clear that this was what the audience had come to hear, and very few people can sing them better than Owen-Jones. 

It did mean, however, that there was a slightly relentless quality to much of the evening which wasn’t helped by how loudly both singer and band were miked for the relatively small room. Owen-Jones has a wonderful, powerful voice, and he could have been miked a quarter less loud and still easily have carried above the band. It may have been giving the audience what they wanted, but at times one was left wishing for an introspective moment, if only to give the ear drums a rest!

And in fact, what introspective moments there were, were very lovely. Queen’s ‘Love of My Life’ (accompanied only by a solo guitar), the Bacharach-esque ‘Dangling’ by Maury Yeston, and Joe Cocker’s ‘You Are So Beautiful’ were all beautifully sung highlights. 

Aside from his years on the West End, the one other key influence on the night was made clear the moment he opened his mouth to speak: ‘In case you don’t know…I’m Welsh!’ he cheerfully announced. And easily the best moments of the night were the two songs from the back catalogue of his great hero, Tom Jones. Both ‘Thunderball’ and ‘Delilah’ were delivered with such a joyous relish and vocal power that suddenly the sound levels felt exactly right. Relentless it may have been at times, but when the singing is that good, who’s complaining?

Titanic

Southwark Playhouse, London

****

Music and lyrics by Maury Yeston

Book by Peter Stone

Directed by Thom Southerland

Philip Rham

Earlier this year, the Southwark Playhouse slipped its moorings at London Bridge and headed south to Elephant and Castle. Now, in her first London production of 2013, Danielle Tarento cracks a bottle of champagne across the theatre’s bows with her production of Maury Yeston’s Tony winning show Titanic taking up an August residency at the venue.

This producer's form remains impeccable. Selecting trusted talent Thom Southerland to envision the work and with Cressida Carre’s choreography, David Woodhead’s inspired design all railings, upper decks and rope and the lighting wizardry of Howard Hudson, the essence of The White Star Line’s doomed flagship is beautifully evoked.

Yeston premiered his work on Broadway in 1997, just a few months before James Cameron’s movie was to ensure that the whole world knew what happened on that fateful night in April 1912. Whilst Yeston's show opened before the movie, watching his musical in 2013 we find that it teaches us nothing new. We already know that many of the ship's officers were noble, that the owner was ruthless, that some men were heroic and that passengers in 3rd class and steerage were treated appallingly. Yeston's melodies (mostly unfortunately forgettable) don't age well and not for the first time his lyrics are found to be lacking in substance. An epic story demands a deep and epic treatment. Yeston's analysis runs aground in very shallow waters.

So hurrah for Tarento and her team. Philip Rham quite literally is Captain Smith. His bearded poise and weary acceptance of Ismay, the owner’s, persistent demands for reckless speed through a treacherous ice field, is worth the price of admission alone. Rham’s patrician Captain exemplifies both the steel and responsibility of his command yet also the elegant and dignified courtesy of the time. Simon Green’s despicable Ismay is another fine performance, even if he has been written as little more than a pantomime villain. Where Smith is a finely fleshed out man of handsome character, Green's Ismay can at times be imagined stroking an evil moustache as his lust for speed and profit over safety condemns the journey, such is the cliche of his character. Greg Castoglioni is Andrews the ships architect, one of several portentous players who caution Smith against reckless speed. His is a measured portrayal of a man placed in desperate circumstances.

The passenger list has some first class gems. Celia Graham maintains her reputation for excellence as Alice Beane a desperate social climber, whilst below decks Victoria Serra as a shamed pregnant Irish lass off to make a new life in the New World puts in a stylish turn along with Shane McDaid as the charming young lad who falls for her. Veterans Judith Street and Dudley Rogers provide a rare moment of authentic poignancy as elderly millionaires who reject the lifeboats, electing for an icy death in each others arms and James Hume as their champagne pouring steward also puts in a convincing and subtly understated performance of profound tragedy.

The design is brilliant in its suggestion of the ship's famous lines. Tarento avoids expensive gimmickry, relying instead on a pure simplicity of image and the audience's fertile imagination, pre-fuelled thanks to our familiarity with the Cameron oscar-winner. When her Titantic finally and famously rears up, with horizontal decking horrifically becoming the sheerest of deathly cliff faces, the effect is a perfect combination of desperately beautiful stagecraft and Southerland's classy direction.

Like a classic albeit tragically true fairy tale, we know Titanic's story before we take our seats. Tarento's take on history is nothing less than respectful and humbling and she tells it with production values that continue to re-define excellence in London's off-West End.


Runs until 31 August 2013

Phantom

Rose & Crown Theatre, London

***

Book by Arthur Kopit

Music & lyrics by Maury Yeston

Directed by Dawn Kalani Cole

Kira Morsley sings as Kieran Brown looks on

Phantom is the "other" musical based upon Gaston Leroux's classic  horror-romance, The Phantom Of The Opera. Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit wrote their show for Broadway in the early 1980's but whilst under development Andrew Lloyd Webber's show opened  and plans for the Yeston/Kopit production were suspended. It was not until 1991 that the show first played to an audience and this production at Walthamstow's Rose & Crown Theatre marks its UK premiere.

It is an ambitious project from director Dawn Kalani Cowle. Set in, under and on the rooftops above, the Paris Opera House it demands spectacular settings and whilst the scenery is simply defined in the show, Cowle broadly succeeds in creating the story's different locations on a shoestring budget.

Perhaps the only similarity between this show and that other mega musical is that both productions have the Phantom's tutelage of Christine and the love between teacher and ingenue as a central theme. That though is where the similarities end, as this Phantom's plot and also its villains are a refreshing alternative. To say any more of the story would be to spoil, but to learn that the disfigured, ghostly Phantom, is in fact just a man called Eric (albeit with a "k"), does give the show a Pythonesque moment of mundanity that the writers could never have foreseen.

Kieran Brown a seasoned West End trouper, is Erik the Phantom. Masked throughout, his performance offers a great display of acting through voice, movement and also via his eyes that are clearly visible (excuse the pun) in such a close up venue. Vocally, whilst Brown is subtly good, Yeston does not give him showstopper numbers and he rarely makes the spine tingle.

Christine however, played by Kira Morsley is a soprano treat. The flame-haired Australian stuns when she sings and hers is a performance to relish. Her admiration for her masked maestro is convincing and her ability to combine the fresh-faced naivete of her character, with a deep understanding of the power of love is what musical theatre is all about. See this  show if for no other reason than to experience the vocal delight that Miss Morsley provides.

Other notables are Pippa Winslow's wonderfully wicked Carlotta, whilst Tom Murphy's theatre-manager Carriere gives a well performed explanation of the Phantom's back-story and Elizabeth Atkinson's Belladova is a cameo role that is fabulously played.

A modest flaw is Aaron Clingham's band. He needs to drill his hard-working musicians with   a touch more polish and whilst the ensemble numbers were a joy to hear, too often the music drowns out some of the solo performances.

It's a credit to Cowle, the theatre and the company that there is such talent to fill this off West End venue. This is a grand show, well cast and with lofty aspirations.

Runs to 31 May 2013