Sweet Charity (at The Watermill Theatre, Newbury) - Review

Watermill Theatre, Newbury

****

Music by Cy Coleman

Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

Book by Neil Simon

Directed by Paul Hart

Gemma Sutton

Cy Coleman’s score for Sweet Charity, much like his compositions for The Life, define his ability to create a musical around humanity’s grittier perspectives. Inspired by a Fellini screenplay, Neil Simon’s book carries a timeless ring of abuse.  Charity is a good trusting woman who is ultimately used by both the men we see her become involved with; the humble Oscar and the powerful Vittorio Vidal. The message is clear - irrespective of their place in society, men are manipulative misogynists. And yet although the narrative may be harsh, the genius of the show’s writers lies in having framed their tale within a structure of some of the 1960’s finest musical theatre writing.

The powerhouse driving this production is Gemma Sutton’s Charity. Sutton is a performer who only knows the meaning of excellence in her work, capturing Charity’s kooky complex vulnerability and delivering a performance that by turn breaks our hearts and then makes them soar in the show’s biggest numbers. Her voice and presence are majestic in songs such as If My Friends Could See Me Now and I’m A Brass Band and yet, throughout, she captures Charity’s precious fragility, so painfully recognisable in her exquisite interpretation.

Sutton is well supported by a perfectly cast company. Tomi Ogbaro as Daddy revives and inspires the audience as he leads Rhythm Of Life. Elliot Harper’s Vidal is convincing in his suave arrogance, while the show’s girls (Nicola Bryan, Vivien Carter, Stacey Ghent Emma Jane Morton and Laura Sillett) make magnificent work of Big Spender, returning it to its pre-Bassey beauty.

Perhaps the greatest revelation of the evening is Alex Cardall’s Oscar. Straight out of the Arts Educational School, and yet another NYMT alumnus to make a leading debut this summer, Cardall masters Oscar’s manipulative maturity with a confidence that belies his years. With perfectly weighted nuance and pinpoint delivery on the gags, his is classy work indeed.

Behind the scenes Diego Pitarch’s designs sees two pairs of bi-folding mirrors whirled around the stage ingeniously, while the translations of Coleman’s score to an actor-muso company is, yet again, flawless musical supervision from Sarah Travis. Charlie Ingles has directed Travis’ work with the instrumentalists, but on the night and on stage it is an assured Tom Self that oversees the delivery of these bold, brassy melodies.

Bob Fosse directed the show (originally on Broadway and later, its Hollywood iteration too) and while Tom Jackson Greaves has choreographed with imaginative flair within the Watermill’s cockpit space, Fosse’s fingerprints (footprints?) are everywhere. But for all the talent within this show, it is hampered by the Watermill’s challenging (and sometimes non-existent) sightlines that can render too much of Jackson Greaves’ (no doubt brilliant) dance work, invisible.

Yet again, the people of Newbury find themselves spoiled with this display of some of the finest talent in the land putting on a show that alongside being a rollercoaster of emotions, is a festival of sensational song and dance.

Runs until 15th September

Photo credit: Philip Tull

Scrooge The Musical - Review

Curve Theatre, Leicester

****

Music, lyrics and book by Leslie Bricusse

Directed by Nikolai Foster

Jasper Britton

Made At Curve is a brand name that is growing in traction. Producers Michael Harrison and David Ian have a canny eye for what will make a successful show and Scrooge The Musical is their latest partnership with Leicester’s Curve that sees the theatre’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster helm a thoughtfully crafted take on the Leslie Bricusse show.

It all makes for classic festive fayre with Bricusse’s original work, last seen some 15 years ago, being subtly re-engineered for this revival. Jasper Britton (and Curve Board Member) heads the cast in the title role, convincing us throughout of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge. As he is visited by the spirit of his dead business partner Jacob Marley and then the three ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, we believe in Britton’s Scrooge learning to sip the milk of human kindness and to redeem himself.

Around Britton there are no co-leading roles, rather an ensemble of wonderful quality. Notable in the company are an enchanting Lauren Stroud who doubles up as both the fiancée of the young Ebenezer in times past and as the current wife of his nephew Harry. Anton Stephans turns in a crackingly fizzing take as the Ghost Of Christmas Present, while Danny-Boy Hatchard as local lad Tom Jenkins is also particularly striking.

The show has been put together with a view to taking the spirit of future Christmases on the road (Harrison and Ian are no fools) – and Michael Taylor’s ingenious designs, brilliantly  lit by Ben Cracknell, capture the gritty flamboyance of London’s Cheapside, the towering misery of Scrooge’s office and the impoverished warmth of the Cratchit household. No expense has been spared on the creative talent throughout the production – Sarah Travis has (as ever) done a wondrous job arranging Bricusse’s score, which on the evening is delivered by Neil MacDonald’s eight piece band. Local legend Stephen Mear returns to his home town to choreograph, bringing a magic to those numbers that allow a spectacle in movement – the Toy Ballet and The Milk of Human Kindness being two particularly ingenious routines (pantomime aficionados should look out for the two dames in the latter).

The musical makes no bones about the darkness of Dickens’ tale and Scrooge’s journey of redemption. The ghosts are scary (Karen Mann’s Marley is particularly ghoulish), with Britton fleshing out Scrooge’s journey of redemption in a way that highlights the character’s own childhood of emotional abuse and neglect.

There is perceptive stuff here, from both the leading man and Nikolai Foster, and by rights the show should be garnering 5 stars. But it is Britton’s singing that is perhaps the show’s only flaw. The actor’s eminent background has been hard won on stage and deservedly so, but his expertise stems primarily from the spoken word. While this Scrooge is undoubtedly believable, commanding our empathy, one cannot help but speculate how a different actor, who perhaps has a Valjean or the Phantom under his belt, might take Bricusse’s songs to their fullest potential. But… these are early days for the production and Foster is a shrewd director – it may well be that come mid-December Britton will inhabit the musical numbers with a more majestic vocal confidence and presence.

The story here is classic and heart-warming and it says much for the city of Leicester that a multi-racial cast, evidently drawn from a mix of ethnic backgrounds, can so lovingly tell a story that celebrates an English heritage. Scrooge The Musical is another Christmas cracker at the Curve.

Runs until 7th January

Photo credit: Pamela Raith

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

MS. A Song Cycle - Review

*****

An album themed around the impact of a disease makes for an unusual release at the best of times and yet there is an unexpected noble beauty to Rory Sherman's MS. A Song Cycle. As Sherman writes in his CD sleeve notes, most of the people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are women, often in their 20s or 30s whose lives are at best, rearranged and at worst, devastated. Drawn from his own conversations with friends and family, Sherman has written a collection 14 songs, each one set to music by a different composer, and each recorded by a different woman drawn from amongst the cream of Britain's musical theatre performers.

Whilst all of the recordings are as humbling as they are beautifully crafted, a number are particularly profound, moving or even dammit downright entertaining. Robert J. Sherman (he of the illustrious songwriting line of Shermans and no relation to Rory) has scored the reflective Mondays, recorded by Rosemary Ashe. There's an innate sense of wisdom in Ashe's timbre, singing of the therapy found in a weekly group meeting - with Sherman's gentle melodies only enhancing the song's message.

What's That Jim? scored by George Stiles and sung by Caroline Quentin has a music-hall ring to its take on a woman's frustration at her condition, with a clever fusion of wit and irony in  Quentin’s delivery. Likewise the satire in Mummy's Not Well sung by Lauren Samuels with music by Paul Boyd is another bittersweet gem. The song tells of a child's perspective on her mother's diagnosis, the lyrics bringing a clever poignancy - naive, yet knowing.

Laura Pitt-Pulford's Cerulean Skies (penned by the talented Sarah Travis, more often to be found directing other people's music rather than composing her own) offers a deeply personal message from a mother contemplating her own decline in health as she addresses her child. 

One of the most heartbreaking perspectives on the album comes from Caroline Sheen's Tortoise & Hare (composer Gianni Onori) - sung by a woman who sees her partner physically speeding up in comparison to her own battle with MS, that is leaving her impaired and slow. It's perceptive, painful songwriting, powerfully performed.

And that last sentence is actually an apt description for the entire album. This review has highlighted those that tracks I found left the deepest personal impression and the key word there is “personal”. There's a bevy of other songs from other talented performers and creatives, each of whose contribution may strike each listener differently. They all deserve credit so: Also appearing on the album are Alexia Khadime, Lillie Flynne, Anna Francolini, Jodie Jacobs, Siubhan Harrison, Josefina Gabrielle, Preeya Kalidas, Janie Dee and Julie Atherton. Additional compositions come from George Maguire, Brian Lowdermilk, Erin Murray Quinlan, Verity Quade, Amy Bowie, Luke Di Somma, Tamar Broadbent, Robbie White and Eamonn O'Dwyer.

And on nearly all of the tracks, Ellie Verkerk puts in sterling work on the piano.

No personal gain is being made from the album, with profits going to The MS Society. All the artists involved have donated their time and talent, with Richard O'Brien providing the cash to get the CD released. As such, this review can only be a loving appraisal - to critique would be invidious - as would be to award anything less than 5 stars. MS. A Song Cycle is beautifully performed. Buy it!

The Hired Man - Review

St James Theatre, London

****

Music and lyrics by Howard Goodall
Book by Melvyn Bragg
Directed by Nikolai Foster

Dominic Harrison and Amara Okereke

The programme notes for this production written by Howard Goodall himself, speak of the poignant significance of The Hired Man being staged in 2014, the centenary of the Great War. Goodall references the youthful age of the soldiers slaughtered in that infernal conflict, bringing a haunting resonance to bear upon this powerful interpretation of the show, produced by NYMT with a predominantly teenage cast.

The tale spans a thirty year stretch of English history, betwixt the 19th and 20th centuries and follows John Tallentire, the titular hired man and his journey through the economic evolution of his beloved Cumbrian fells. We see John shift from being a skilled ploughman, to an oppressed life below ground in a coal mine.  The demands of industry are replacing the more traditional rural lifestyles whilst against this backdrop, wife Emily falls into an adulterous affair with Jackson Pennington the dashing son of the local landowner and the First World War looms, ultimately to devastate the Tallentire family and the wider community.

Goodall and Bragg created an ingenious piece of theatre with The Hired Man. The first act is intimate, focussed upon John, his family and Emily’s extra-marital desires, before the second act widens the musical’s scope exponentially, addressing the march of industry, the rise of the trade union movement and the brutality of the War.

Under Nikolai Foster’s generally perceptive eye Dominic Harrison does well as John, carrying the burden of the narrative through his performance. It’s not easy for any teenage boy to play a cuckold, though Harrison rises to the challenge with a creditable performance as a good, if wronged man. Opposite him Amara Okereke, Maria in NYMT’s 2013 West Side Story is Emily, reprising her exquisite vocal work, combined with immaculate nuance, to create her complex character. A Yorkshire lass, Okereke’s natural northern brogue suits the play’s geography perfectly. The cast of thirty are at their best in Nick Winston’s splendidly choreographed numbers, none better than the multi-part harmonies that close each act, thrilling with the fusion of melody, lyrics and a stage full of young people in perfect synchronicity. 

An actor-muso production, many of the company are all the more remarkable for mastering their instrument on stage as well as acting. Joe Eaton-Kent’s exquisite work on violin/viola more than matches his work as Jackson Pennington, whilst amongst the (many) unsung gems of this cast Gloria Obianyo’s guitar playing adds a folksy contemporary touch to the sound not commonly heard. The credit for this innovative musical impact with musical director Sarah Travis. Re-arranging numbers to accommodate the actor-muso transition it turns out that much like adding mineral water to a fine scotch malt, so has Travis taken Goodall’s score and opened it up, releasing hitherto hidden yet beautiful complexities. These revelations are particularly highlighted in act one’s Fill It To The Top and in the second half’s haunting post-war elegy, Day Follows Day. 

Farewell Song, sung by the entire company immediately before the young men leave to  face the terrors of France, remains one of the most moving songs in the musical theatre canon, its words depicting  the anguish of such painful partings. As Goodall’s exquisite key changes pluck at our heart strings, if ever a song were to merit inclusion in November’s annual Festival of Remembrance it is this one.

Ben Cracknell’s stark lighting work cleverly depicts the shifts in the story’s time and location, whilst Matthew Wright’s flag-stoned stage perfectly anchors the show’s era. Notably absent from the production team is a hair and make-up professional. This is an unfortunate omission as the show’s final scenes, of Emily and John in more senior years, demand a more visible change in appearances to mark the passing of time and would have assisted the young actors in portraying their parents’ generation more convincingly.

But bravo to NYMT and the inspirational vision of producer Jeremy Walker. Yet again, in an incredibly short space of time and coached by some of the industry’s finest creatives, talented young amateurs have gone on to realise theatrical excellence on a commercial stage.

Fiddler On The Roof

Mayflower Theatre, Southampton

****

Book by Joseph Stein

Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

Music by Jerry Bock

Directed by Craig Revel Horwood

Paul Michael Glaser

Making his UK stage debut, it’s a treat to see Paul Michael Glaser step up to the challenge of Tevye in Craig Revel Horwood’s take on this classic musical. Some 40 years ago the actor enjoyed global stardom as the Starsky of Starsky & Hutch fame, but to mis-quote Michael Caine, not many people know that around the same time he also enjoyed a supporting role as Perchik in Norman Jewison’s movie of Fiddler. Thus it was almost destined for Glaser to rise to the mantle of the story’s leading man and as a father and husband who has known profound personal tragedy in his life, his performance at times evokes real pathos. When Glaser's Tevye reaches out from the stage to share his deliberations with the audience and we share his monologue debates with God, there are moments of truly wry observation and a shrug so authentic that it symbolises a person familiar with enormous challenge. Not quite the finished product, Glaser occasionally stumbles in word and performance, though these are but bumps that a few performances into the tour will iron out.

Revel Horwood again directs a musical that has been set around a cast of actor-musicians. To explain, all the cast are on-stage members of the orchestra and have responsibility for giving life to Jerry Bock's wonderful score. To their credit, this is quite possibly the best actor-muso production to have been seen in some time. As musicians the performers are spot on, no small task given that they are denied the luxury of sheet music that a typical pit-orchestra would enjoy and all play entirely from memory. Bravo to them and to the slick musical direction and orchestration from Sarah Travis that allows them to blend in effortlessly with the staging. Extra special credit to Jennifer Douglas who as the most nimbly gamine Fiddler gives the show a perfect haunting klezmer-esque violin signature.

It is easy for a Fiddler On The Roof to slip into cliché and the meerkat-Russian accents that plague the dialogue, though thankfully not the songs, would be best dropped. Together with some of the ridiculously glued on beards, they distract from the otherwise beautifully simple design of the show and at this early stage in the run, these points can be easily addressed. A more permanent irritation is the Hebrew text written on the timbers and the roof tiles of the village buildings. Whilst Anatevka may be fictional, it is not some Disney created fantasy village. It represents a beautiful if at times grim snapshot of a culture destroyed and Diego Pitarch's whimsical lettering cheapens that memory.

The supporting cast prove that they can act as well as play a tune. Daniel Bolton’s Fyedka is a beautifully voiced Cossack dancer. Liz Kitchen gives a wonderfully gossipy Yente as well as a touchingly hilarious Grandmother Tzeitel. Jon Trenchard’s Motel is a delightfully plausible and sincere schlemiel whilst Claire Petzal’s Chava broke hearts as she clawed in vain at the rock of her father’s faith in choosing to marry Fyedka. The audience on press night were warm and enthusiastic, laughing in all the right places and even clapping along to To Life. That they laughed however at Golde’s (Karen Mann) raw grief at Chava’s marriage suggests that the structure of that moment needs to be re-examined by Revel Horwood.  

The choreography, as to be expected from such an expert in movement, is divine. Revel Horwood has reproduced Jerome Robbin’s original Broadway staging and Glaser's Tevye, swaggering in his celebration of life is glorious, whilst the highlight of the Bottle Dance exceeds expectations with sweetly synchronised movement that is as always, breathtaking.

Playing at Southampton until September 14, the show tours Britain and Ireland until well into next year. It’s an affectionately crafted production, crammed full of familiar numbers that are sung to perfection and makes for a grand night out.


To find out tour dates and to book tickets visit the production website here

Emerald

Landor Theatre, London

***

Book & lyrics by Chris Burgess

Music by Denise Wright

Directed by Nikolai Foster

Emerald at the Landor Theatre was a rather special occasion in the From Page To Stage season that is running at this Clapham cockpit of musical theatre creativity. Whilst (only) a rehearsed reading from the book, it was nonetheless a pitch perfect delivery of the show’s musical numbers, in a performance of such fidelity that it could have easily passed muster as a top notch radio play, such was the company’s vocal excellence.

The programme documents Emerald’s extensive workshopping to date, however the show remains very much in development and as a story it sits fairly and squarely in the shadow of Bill Forsyth’s 1983 movie, Local Hero:  Big corporation seeks to exploit local village to exploit oil/gold resources and the villagers win. Forsyth’s story (albeit Scottish, whereas Emerald is set on the Irish west coast) was more magical and whimsical and Chris Burgess’ book and lyrics for the most part fail to enchant and transport in the way that good musical theatre should do. The writers say in a programme note that the tale transcends nationality, going on to say, by way of example, that one does not need to be Argentinian to appreciate Evita. Whilst they have a point in principle, their comparison is conceited. Evita was majestic and global, Emerald is compact  and parochial, with a story that lacks originality. Notwithstanding, Nikolai Foster has worked his usual magic to achieve some beautiful sounds from this outstanding troupe.

West End leading lady and former soap star Claire Sweeney heads the cast as Grace, a New Yorker who journeys to the Emerald Isle in search of her roots. Sweeney is one of the few Brits who as Paulette has played an Irishwoman in the USA, in Legally Blonde and here reverses nationalities to play a Yank in Ireland. She has a large singing role in the show and two of her duets above all stood out, Everyday and I Never Wanted To Want You, the latter, with love interest Mulcahy played by the muscular and gorgeously voiced Glenn Carter, showing a real vocal chemistry between the singers. Helena Blackman put in the finely voiced turn that we have come to expect from this Maria finalist, her Hopeless was wonderful, whilst her paramour Oliver, played by Jon Paul Hevey , was an absolute aural delight as a hopelessly idiotic young Irishman in love with her. The surprise performance of the night came from veteran Sidney Livingstone as elderly villager Theo, who struck emotional gold with his beautiful number First Love.

Sarah Travis puts in a fine shift at the piano, with playing that was at all times perfectly nuanced, but the star of this reading is Nikolai Foster, who brings every voice to a perfect delivery and whose company work was stunning with some incredibly structured harmonies in the ensemble numbers with Black Pig in particular being a song that was spine-tingling to listen to.

It is hard to discern if there is a broad commercial future for this show. It needs a producer to take it on to the next step and its book needs some serious stiffening up. The production also needs to break away from the Local Hero mould to provide a more stimulating and unique journey. Nonetheless, as an opportunity to peak “behind the scenes” at some industry greats working hard to support the development of new writing, the evening was a privileged treat.