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

Curtains - Review

Landor Theatre, London

*****

Book: Rupert Holmes

Music: John Kander

Lyrics: Fred Ebb

Original book and concept: Peter Stone

Additional lyrics: John Kander and Rupert Holmes

Director: Robert McWhir

This review was first published on The Public Reviews
 

Curtains is a complex yet frivolous piece of musical theatre from Kander and Ebb. Having satirised Nazi Germany and the American penal and justice system with Cabaret and Chicago, this work, in its first professional UK production, sees the writers fix their satirical cannon on show-business itself.

The show opens with a theatrical troupe performing “Robbin Hood” in Boston, en route to a hopeful transfer to Broadway. When the leading lady is poisoned on stage, Lieutenant Cioffi arrives, forbidding the entire cast to leave the theatre until the crime is solved. What then follows is a whodunnit, and several more deaths, with each member of the company’s motives and alibis in turn challenged by Cioffi. Of course as the genre demands, each cast member appears to have a troublesome skeleton in their closet for the detective to eliminate.

Kander and Ebb’s wit shines through most of the show, with an early number that sets its sights on theatre critics, What Kind of Man ? ( ie would be a critic ) causing much mirth on press night.

Leading the cast is Jeremy Legat as Cioffi. Clearly the most stagey of cops, Cioffi has a love for musical theatre, and a hilarious knack for giving notes to the company as their rehearsals continue, that prove to be spot on in improving the show within a show. Legat’s youthful experience shows and he leads the production with assured professionalism that is neither arrogant nor scene-stealing. The one regret of the evening is that more solos are not afforded to his character. Legat’s voice in Coffee Shop Nights and A Tough Act To Follow is sublime. Buster Skeggs is a convincing Carmen Bernstein a co-producer of the show. Her role calls for overstated energy and drive, and she delivers a tough New York shtick that at times leaves her breathless.

One can easily forget that this show is being staged in ‘a room above a pub’. The production calls for adult actors that span a broad spectrum of ages and generations and Andrew Keates as casting director has assembled a stunning 20 strong troupe. Some, like Bryan Kennedy who’s camp director, Christopher Belling is a masterclass in controlled understatement, have years of talent under their belt. When reminded that he is a suspect in a murder enquiry, Kennedy’s foppish reply that “its an honour just to be nominated” is a moment of comic genius. Other performers like Stephanie Parker, murdered in the shows opening and then ensemble member, are recent drama school graduates. There is not a weak link amongst them.

McWhir has again helmed a production of magical potential in this South London venue. Under his direction, Martin Thomas has produced a set that is as detailed as it is imaginative, bringing countless fly ropes and even a proscenium arch into the modestly sized performance space, yet still allowing room for dance numbers of stunning vivacity and impact that are a credit to choreographer Robbie O’Reilly. Rachel Dingle’s costumes have been meticulously assembled and lend authenticity to both Robbin Hood, as well as the shows real-time context and Michael Webborn musical director, leads his 5 piece band perfectly. One criticism is that female company voice work is at times inaudible, but there is plenty of time to set that straight.

The show’s programme runs to an impressive 24 pages and its meticulous design hints at the tremendous commitment to excellence in production values that motivate both McWhir and Keates. London is famed for its theatre, both West End and off. In this Olympian summer, Curtains contributes to that outstanding reputation.

Runs until September 1st

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