Curtains - Review

Wyndham’s Theatre, London



****



Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Book by Rupert Holmes
Directed by Paul Foster 

The company of Curtains

American songwriters Kander and Ebb are probably best-known for creating the smash-hit musicals Chicago and Cabaret. But now another of the duo’s creations Curtains,  currently in the middle of a UK tour, steps into the limelight in London’s West End replacing The Man In The White Suit at the Wyndham’s Theatre until early January. 

With a book by Rupert Holmes (based on an original book and concept by Peter Stone), Curtains is a musical comedy whodunnit which initially opened on Broadway two years after the death of Fred Ebb. When musical actress Jessica Cranshaw, star of Robin Hood and the weakest link in a Boston theatre company, is murdered during the curtain call on opening night, her fellow cast mates and crew are all put under the spotlight as suspects. Enter stage left Lieutenant Frank Cioffi (Jason Manford), who puts the theatre on lockdown while he interviews those under suspicion. A keen musical theatre fan himself, Cioffi soon gets wrapped up in Robin Hood and sets about trying to save the show whilst catching a killer. 

Boasting a unique concept, Curtains is a classic murder mystery which at the same time provides the audience with an amusing look behind of the scenes of a critically-panned musical. With a show-within-a-show concept, plenty of clever twists and turns and humour throughout, Curtains is an enjoyable production sure to be a hit with fans of musical theatre. The soundtrack is pleasing, with toe-tapping numbers like Show People alongside more amusing tunes such as The Woman’s Dead and What Kind of Man? (the latter of which takes aim at critics, and went down particularly well on press night). Unlike Kander and Ebb’s more renowned productions, the songs here sadly aren’t particularly memorable but they’re all performed well by the brilliant cast. The ensemble numbers however highlight both the show and the company’s talent, providing a visual treat for the audience thanks to Alistair David’s spectacular choreography and Paul Foster’s clever direction. The beauty of Curtains is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, packed full of clichés, puns and delightful digs at critics. 

Jason Manford proves likeable and funny as the overly enthusiastic yet charming detective. Carley Stenson shines as Georgia Hendricks, one of the songwriters behind Robin Hood, while Andy Coxon does an equally great job as her ex Aaron, his rendition of ‘I Miss the Music’ one of the more touching moments of the show. Rebecca Lock is fantastic as the tough-edged producer Carmen and it is she and Samuel Holmes who very nearly steal the show. Holmes gets most of the best lines in his role as British director Christopher, delivering his many one-liners with a delightful dose of witty acerbic sarcasm.

Curtains makes for a warm and entertaining musical sure to leave you with a smile on your face and a spring in your step. With dazzling choreography, slick humour and top-notch performances it is well worth seeing this Christmas. 

Runs until 11th January 2020 before continuing its UK Tour
Reviewed by Kirsty Herrington

Photo credit: Richard Davenport

A Little Night Music - Review

Watermill Theatre, Newbury


*****


Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by Hugh Wheeler

Directed by Paul Foster

The Company

The enchanted narrative of A Little Night Music sees the summer night famously smiling three times: once upon the young, again upon the foolish and finally, upon the old. With Paul Foster’s production can now be added a fourth smile, the one that falls upon an extraordinarily talented musical theatre company. 

Alongside his musical supervisor and arranger Sarah Travis, Foster has seen this most lush of Stephen Sondheim’s scores (all in waltz-time, to the cognoscenti) reduced to the demands of an actor-musician company, yet retaining all of the original’s magic. It is understood that Sondheim only agreed to his compositions being so arranged if the work was to be carried out by Travis - and one can but hope that in the next few weeks the man himself will hop across the Atlantic to enjoy her remarkable adaptation. Unusually for www.jonathanbaz.com, the paragraphs that follow are as much a review as they are, quite simply, a roll call of excellence.

Josefina Gabrielle and Alastair Brookshaw lead the show’s coterie of romantic fools with their Desiree Armfeldt and Fredrik Egerman respectively. Gabrielle is perfection as the much desired actress, maintaining a poise and presence that is both elegant and seductive. Passionate lover, absent mother and truculent daughter, Gabrielle nails them all tackling the hilarious irony of The Glamorous Life (as well as the delicious comedy of You Must Meet My Wife) perfectly. The show’s fame is probably eclipsed by that of its torch song, Send In The Clowns which since the 1970s has been many a diva’s hallmark. Gabrielle takes this most challenging of numbers, making it her own. Her understanding of the lyrics’ undulating nuance is crystal clear and in the song’s pre-finale reprise, the pathos is as heartbreaking as it is inspirational.

Josefina Gabrielle

Brookshaw’s Egerman is a masterclass of pitch-perfect acting through song, his choral training bringing an elegant crispness to the role that is rarely seen. Egerman is a man capable of the most bungling ineptitude alongside the purest of passions and imbued by Sondheim with some of the wittiest moments in the canon. Brookshaw, the most talented of tenors, plays the role wonderfully, convincing in his undying love for Desiree.

The quartet of fools is completed by Alex Hammond’s Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm and Phoebe Fildes as his wife, the Countess Charlotte. Hammond’s clipped dragoon is a monstrous misogynist, filled with testosterone and a misplaced bravado in place of brains. His is a man and husband that is simply too awful to believe, while visually, his muscular physique alongside Brookshaw’s diminutive frame only adds to the evening’s wit. 

Of course, behind the Count’s braggadocio lies a deeply damaged wife and Fildes depicts Charlotte’s agony in a piercingly poignant Every Day A Little Of Death. Sondheim ensures however that any sympathy for the Countess is short-lived as she evolves into a scheming seductress, out to win her husband back irrespective of who she tramples upon (or who is even, potentially, shot!) Fildes’ squeal of delight as her husband, finally, becomes a tiger “for her” is spot-on, while her increasing dismay as the first half’s closing number A Weekend In The Country plays out, is comedy gold. [And note too that as act one, pre-interval closers go, they don’t get much better than the treat that is this multi-part harmonic confection!) 

And then there is the genius that is Dillie Keane, an actress who’s surely spent her life preparing for the dowager role of Madame Armfeldt. Her lines are minimal but Keane captures the grande-dame’s witty, loving irascibility to a tee. In the first half, her take on the reminiscences of Liaisons is a treat, while in the finale and without a trace of mawkish sentimentality she holds us in the palm of her hand as the summer night finally smiles upon the old.

The youth of the tale are played by Lucy Keirl as Anne, Frederik’s wife of 11 months and young enough to be his daughter, Benedict Salter as Fredrik’s troubled son Henrik, grappling with the conflicting desires of a burning lust and a commitment to the priesthood, and Tilly-Mae Millbrook as Desiree’s illegitimate daughter Fredrika. All three capture their roles’ responsibilities with an immaculate craft. Keirl’s anguished bride, still virginal, defines Anne’s complex combination of youthful innocence with feminine intuition and we believe in her throughout. Salter’s Henrik is sensational - gifted with some stunning solo moments (alongside some outstanding cello work) he brims with an angst and self-doubt that, when his pent-up love finally spills, only offers yet another of the evening’s many highlights. Millbrook is every inch the wide-eyed teenager. A girl who’s wise beyond her years, her Fredrika is both a loving granddaughter and a knowing companion to her mother. 

As the audience are left stunned by Send In The Clowns, another of Sondheim’s master strokes is to send in the Egermans’ maid Petra, to swirl her skirts in the red-blooded whirl that is The Miller’s Son. Christina Tedders steps up to the part with a palpable passion as she brings Matt Flint’s choreography to life. Tedders delights throughout the show with her one-liners and truly makes the most of this cracking song.

The show’s chorus of Liebeslieders, often unsung heroes, are essential to a strong A Little Night Music and here Rachel Dawson, Alexander Evans, Alice Keedwell and Neil Macdonald bring a vocal magic (alongside a musical talent that pervades the entire ensemble) that seamlessly shifts both time and location – and again one witnesses excellent work from Flint.

Tom Marshall’s sound design is stunning. Every word and note is audible, with sound effects subtly blended in to enhance the suspension of our disbelief. Alongside in the creative team, David Woodhead’s ingenious design of distressed grandeur captures the fading elegance of a Sweden long since disappeared. Howard Hudson’s lighting work is yet another sensation - for a show that’s set in “perpetual twilight” Hudson cleverly suggests the Northern midsummer sun.

In what is quite probably the best musical to have recently opened in the UK, one can only hope that the summer night can smile once more and perhaps see the show transfer to the wider audience it deserves. Until then, head to Newbury and the Watermill’s manicured lawns. A Little Night Music is truly unmissable musical theatre.

Runs until 16th September
Photo credit: Philip Tull

Darling Of The Day

Union Theatre, London

****

Music by Jule Styne

Lyrics by E. Y. "Yip" Harburg

Book by Nunnally Johnson

Directed by Paul Foster

Katy Secombe and company

An Edwardian Englishman returns to London after many years on the other side of the world and assumes a new identity. A baddy seeks to expose him and a feisty widow desires his hand in marriage. Sounds like Sweeney Todd? Well in key plotlines maybe, but as a story, this is far more lighthearted than that of the dark and vengeful barber. Darling Of The Day is a whimsical musical based upon an enchantingly frivolous tale that notwithstanding a disappointing opening history on Broadway, eventually arrives at London’s compact Union Theatre for its European premiere.

The Darling of the title is celebrated artist Priam Farll, recently returned home, accompanied only by his loyal valet Henry Leek. No sooner back in Blighty, than Leek drops dead and a bumbling doctor mistakenly certifies his body as that of Farll. The real Farll, keen to escape the rat race of mercenary art dealers and fawning fans, siezes upon the opportunity to assume his butler's identity. Unbeknownst to Farll though, his manservant had established a romance via correspondence with perhaps one of the most assonantly named characters ever created, a Mrs Alice Challis. Love of course blossoms between Farll and Challis and the premise of the show follows the farcical course that Farll's adopted identity causes amongst the affairs both of the heart and of London's art scene.

Elegantly patrician with an almost Wildean affected air of disdain, James Dinsmore plays Farll as an eminently believable bohemian, keen to duck out of life's commitments. Beautifully voiced, amongst other numbers Dinsmore has the final solo of the show, Butler In The Abbey, which is a as funny as it is cleverly melodious. Michael Hobbs is Clive Oxford an art dealer whose ethics are non-existent. Oxford is another gentleman of apparent breeding and the interaction between these two wise and wily men is banter at its most elegant.

Katy Secombe plays Challis. She fits the bill of an ever so ‘umble but nonetheless feisty Putney woman superbly and her character’s arc from being a predatory widow in search of husband no. 2, to lovingly besotted wife is cleverly drawn. Buxom, grinning and cuddly, Secombe's Challis is a carefully concocted hybrid that bares more than a passing resemblance to Sondheim's Mrs Lovett and Lionel Bart's Nancy. She is a delight to observe throughout, even if occasionally she is caught out, singing beyond the limits of her most comfortable range.

As wealthy patron Lady Vale, Rebecca Caine’s performance is a treat. Much like a (significantly younger) Maggie Smith, Caine's pouting poise and presence, with a delightful mastery of the raised eyebrow where necessary, ensure that every barbed nuance of her character's ignorant and impressionable landed lady is to be savoured . Suffering from laryngitis on press night her songs were ably sung by Olivia Maffett.

Mention too for Matthew Rowland, who this reviewer saw not long back as Boy George in Taboo. The lad only has a modest supporting role, but his talent and presence are outstanding. Recently graduated, this remarkable young man is one to watch and he adds another dimension of quality to the show. Also in the company, Secombe's older brother Andy mops up a handful of minor characters, including a delightfully dotty judge. His face, voice and movement are a comic joy and both siblings are a credit to their legendary father Harry.

Ultimately the show is (yet another) quaint American view of England in the early 20^th century, albeit written with a touch more panache than some and one that will keep you smiling throughout and guffawing occasionally. Matt Flint choreographs imaginatively around the Union’s iron girders whilst Inga Davis-Rutter leads her 4 piece band with flair. Like a long lost painting found in the attic, Darling Of The Day is a newly discovered treasure that will be enjoyed by all who savour imaginative musical theatre.

Runs to 20th April 2013