Barmitzvah Boy - Review

Upstairs At The Gatehouse, London

****

Music by Jule Styne

Lyrics by Don Black

Book by Jack Rosenthal

Book revised by David Thompson

Lara Stubbs, Sue Kelvin and Robert Maskell

Jule Styne and Don Black's Barmitzvah Boy, now playing in Highgate, takes a look at Jewish life in suburban London with a perspective that is both delightfully dated and yet timeless. It was in 1976 that Jack Rosenthal’s inspired BBC TV play of the same title was broadcast. Rosenthal's skill lay in affectionately spotting the satire that exists in the world around us and then gently, subtly, teasing his observations into a carefully crafted script. Barmitzvah Boy was so much more than a (rather far-fetched) tale of a young boy balking at the rite of passage that lies ahead of him. It offered a perfectly weighted glimpse into the quasi-assimilated angst of North West London's Jewish community, with a cast of characters that were as recognisable as they were hilarious. 

It was to be Don Black who spotted the story’s musical potential and whilst musical theatre may not have been Rosenthal's genre of choice, his magnificent characters lend themselves well to the transition. 

We find the Green family preparing to celebrate the Barmitzvah of their youngest, Eliot. Cab-driver Victor (Eliot's father) resigns himself to the cost of the event (with three insurance policies cashed in and counting) whilst his wife Rita frets about her hair, the guest list and all manner of trivia which, as a major celebration looms, of course take on an immense significance.

Making his professional debut in the title role, Adam Bregman (just 13 and only recently Bar Mitzvah'd himself) puts in a cutely confident turn, displaying just the right amount of cheeky chutzpah. Robert Maskell's Victor is a comic delight - He doesn't over-egg his hard working sufferance in life, rather offering a portrayal of a Tevye 100 years on, only driving a cab and reading the Daily Express rather than hauling a milk cart and praying in synagogue. The enduring pathos of Victor’s well-worn love for Rita (think again of Tevye and Golde, only moved to a suburban semi rather than the shtetl), as well as a delightful duet with his aged father in law (Hayward B Morse) in Why Can't He Be Like Me?, mark a nicely measured performance.

Sue Kelvin as Rita is every inch the Jewish mother. Rosenthal was merciless in skewering her character's much stereotyped neuroses - but where so often comedy has usually placed such a matriarch in New York's Brooklyn, to find her so recognisably sketched out in Willesden remains one of Barmitzvah Boy’s endearing treats. 

The cast in general deliver a quality package. Lara Stubbs puts in a beautifully voiced turn as Eliot's older sister Lesley and there's particularly fine supporting work from Nicholas Corre as Harold, her schlemiel of a boyfriend. What makes Corre's work in particular so remarkable is his delivery of a guy who is a complete klutz, yet doing so with a combination of well-crafted acting, fine movement and a stunning vocal presence. There is also a charming cameo from NYMT alumna Hannah Rose-Thompson as Eliot's school friend Denise. 

Notwithstanding the familiarity of its family/Jewish shtick, Barmitzvah Boy is very much a period piece. David Thompson has updated the book and whilst Rosenthal's reference to TV cop Kojak squarely (and delightfully) pitches the action into the 1970's, the outmoded references to "Chinks" (now unpleasantly racist and not penned by Rosenthal either) could have been cut out completely.

Bravo to producer Katy Lipson for having blown the dust off this time-machine of a show and credit to Stewart Nicholls for cleverly helming a potentially tricky piece. Ultimately Rosenthal and Black (along with Styne's score, some of which is sensational and which is delightfully delivered on the night by Ed Court's four piece band) have created a show that describes, over 2 hours, a culture that Jason Robert Brown distilled into 3 minutes in the song Shiksa Goddess from his show The Last Five Years.

Dripping with so much schmaltz that it could quite possibly congeal arteries, Barmitzvah Boy is most likely to appeal to musical theatre fans and Jews. This is one of those shows that makes London's fringe great - and, after the recent triumphs of Gypsy and Funny Girl, for those who want to discover one of Jule Styne's lesser known works, it’s unmissable.

Runs until 10th April, then at the Radlett Centre

A Man Of No Importance

Salisbury Playhouse, Salisbury

***

Music by Stephen Flaherty

Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens

Book by Terence McNally
Directed by Gareth Machin



The company perform a musical interlude

A Man Of No Importance, drawn from the 1990s film of the same name, is a musical that explores the prejudices of Catholic Ireland in 1964. Alfie, performed by Mark Meadows, is the "man" in question, a bus conductor by trade and an am-dram theatre director as a hobby. His passion for literature is such that he rather endearingly even if a little eccentrically, shares his love of the arts with his regular bus passengers, whilst at the same time grappling with his closeted and virginal homosexuality. His stifled inability to express his sexual inclination has driven him to the works of Oscar Wilde and in a further, but unexplained, change of character has him leading his theatre company into a provocative production of Wilde's Salome, a show widely signalled as likely to prove heretical anathema to the Catholic Church hierarchy under whose auspices his theatre company meet.

This Salisbury Playhouse production is a pot-pourri of prejudices that highlights the Church's and broader Irish society's disapproval not only of homosexuality but also of extra-marital sex and pregnancy outside wedlock. These huge social issues are thrown into the plot in act two with such apparent casualness that they render the musical more of an unsatisfying and unsubtle picket line of protest rather than an occasion of well-crafted entertainment. Ahrens' and Flaherty's hearts and minds are unquestionably in the right place in writing this show, however their (often wonderful) creative talents seem to have wandered off, with this piece lacking the wit and bite that, for example Ragtime, had in abundance.

This is a fragmented story, desperately tragic at times yet with a curiously bolted on happy ending that almost desperately tries to create a final feel-good factor. Ultimately, this is a production whose merits lie in a handful of astonishing moments and performances that are, it should be said, rather special.

In two acts, the first half being too much of a mournful ballad-fest, it is the performances of Fra Fee and Laura Pitt-Pulford that justify the ticket price alone. Fee brings the show to life with The Streets of Dublin, a beautiful song that wonderfully sums up all that is folksy and traditionally Irish about that city. Pitt-Pulford's Adele, a newcomer to the community who finds herself cast as Salome, inspires with both voice and dance and who, after the interval, simply sizzles as the Princess. Robert Maskell as bible-bashing butcher Carney and one of the bad guys of the piece, is delightfully ruddy faced and fulsomely voiced as he sings Books, in a mildly comic number with Alfie's elderly sister who he is wooing.

A Man of No Importance brings some outstanding talent to Salisbury and is to be seen if only for its eclectic curiosity value. A nod of congratulation too to the cast, who all double up as accomplished musicians at different times in the show. Flaws notwithstanding, the appreciative Saturday matinee audience appeared to enjoy the fare on offer, with Fee's good looks in particular, especially what with him being fresh off the Les Mis movie barricades, proving a hit amongst the city's teenage girls!


Runs to May 18 2013