tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15190203918281691652024-03-06T02:24:18.168+00:00Sharman PrinceUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger184125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-61811599338948198732019-10-09T23:32:00.003+01:002019-10-09T23:32:56.663+01:00"Solaris", Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 25/9/19<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've been trying to fathom my feelings for this production ever since I saw. This is not necessarily a good thing.</div>
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What I have realised is that I have to separate my adoration for Stanislaw Lem's book and look at David Greig's adaptation on its own merits as a play.<br />
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<a href="http://www.polishculture.org.uk/fileadmin/_processed_/d/4/csm_Solaris_Highlights_Box__862x486_9aa2543b39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://www.polishculture.org.uk/fileadmin/_processed_/d/4/csm_Solaris_Highlights_Box__862x486_9aa2543b39.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Greig's writing is adept at focusing themes and motives though it's apparent that he became enamoured of his own take on Lem's ideas, transforming them into more palatable - though inherently mundane -tropes which have been used over and again in science fiction. Greig crams a number of conceits in that aren't always consistent and bloat the play with concepts: some are subtle and some are hammered home (iterations of "that's what it is to be human" are oft repeated by the cast).</div>
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It's also apparent that despite claiming to be based on the novel Greig takes several cues, plot points and ideas from previous incarnations of "Solaris" and even borrows concepts form other sci-fi (such as the conclusion of Michael Crichton's 'Sphere'). It is also clear that Greig used the poor Polish-French-English translation which itself loses much of the nuance and detail that the more recent, Lem-estate authorised translation attempts to restore. The names alone are an indicator: Snaut becomes Snow, Harey becomes Rheya then Ray in this play. </div>
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Greig's best work is where he does a brilliant job of condensing some of the longer exposition into short, credible dialogue and one wishes he had done more of this throughout with the original plot elements. Unfortunately Greig also creates an internal logic which lacks consistency at times and is ignored to promote Greig's concepts.</div>
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Direction by Matthew Lutton is clean and clear though the conceptual design by Hyemi Shin can seem a little obvious - it's more Star Trek perfection than Lem's used reality (which Star Wars went on to utilise). It's also unfortunate that both director and writer have chosen not to show the planet at all (discounting the CG 'water' that is sometimes projected during scene-changes) though Greig does, at least, mentions the planetary formations (if not their names) echoing the treatment of the planet itself much like the previous cinematic takes.</div>
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Act One becomes a little wearisome, for some reason, three-quarters of the way through but does pick up before the act's end whilst Act 2 meanders further away from Lem, becoming bogged down with Greig's ideas on water and the nature of humanity. </div>
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The performances are, given the material, solid and true. The choice to flip some of the characters' genders is not an issue except that Kelvin (now a woman - portrayed here by Polly Frame) becomes more emotional than originally written, which has the effect of seeming to revert to a gender-stereotype which is unfortunate. Another gender-flipped role, Ray (Keegan Joyce) is rewritten to be a stand out performance and is executed as such though the balance between the two lovers has shifted to no positive effect. </div>
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As an adaptation of the novel it's no more faithful than the big-screen versions and bizarrely, though it is inevitably difficult to avoid the Kelvin/Harey relationship, the relationship is staged more intensely (and sexually) thus falling into the same obvious plot lines. In ignoring some of the history of Solaris (which the 1972 film addresses), as well as the plasmic ocean itself, the play inevitably loses the pervading air of cosmic mystery that pervades the novel.<br />
Perhaps the biggest sin - as an adaptation - is the efforts Greig makes to make the alien elements a little more malleable to human experience which goes against Lem's initial concept in the novel.<br />
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All told, Solaris - as adapted by David Grieg - is a perfectly fine theatrical production which makes an effort to bring science fiction into mainstream theatre though it fails to be any more faithful to the source material than any other previous adaptation.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-53822187680202302892019-09-26T12:45:00.000+01:002019-09-26T12:45:59.926+01:00"The Exorcist", Glasgow Theatre Royal, 17/9/19<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's been a while but here's another review written for Backstage Pass:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.backstagepass.biz/2019/09/theatre-review-exorcist-theatre-royal.html"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.backstagepass.biz/2019/09/theatre-review-exorcist-theatre-royal.html</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When young Regan (</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Susannah Edgley</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">) becomes host to a diabolical entity her desperate mother, Chris (</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Sophie Ward</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">), is ultimately forced to seek out the aid of two Jesuit priests, Father Merrin (</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Paul Nicholas</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">) and Father Karras (</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Ben Caplan</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">) - the latter carrying his own troubles. Thus begins the gruelling confrontation between the soldiers of God and the emissary of Evil as the battle for Regan's soul commences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">William Peter Blatty</span>'s 1971 novel of demonic possession, <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">The Exorcist</i>, became a seminal movie in 1973 - with an Oscar-winning screenplay by the author himself - and now, following a West End run last year, the theatrical adaptation by <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">John Pielmeier </span>is trekking across the UK under the auspices of <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Bill Kenwright</span>'s 'Classic Screen to Stage Theatre Company'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pielmeier's script hits most of the iconic moments from the book (and film) but it is a trifle disappointing that the relationship between the demon and Merrin is given short thrift which, sadly, lends their final confrontation little of the weight it deserves. The play's ultimate conclusion also deserves more impact but this may be a staging issue for the director to address. That director is <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Sean Mathias</span> who has <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Ian McKellen </span>providing the voice of the demon; a device that proves their long association still pays great theatrical dividends but which also serves as a dramatic standard that the other performers have to meet. For the most part meet it they do and the conviction in their acting is solid and assured - negating the moments that are, perhaps inevitably, met with some laughter. There are moments where the pacing could be refined but Mathias, wisely, directs the piece with an air of simplicity that allows the atmosphere and tension to build palpably based on the performance of his cast who are aided in proceedings by the atmospheric design of <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Anna Fleischle</span>, the eerie lighting of <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Philip Gladwell</span>, the projections of <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Jon Driscoll</span> and <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Gemma Carrington</span>, the tremendous sound design by <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Adam Cork</span> and the illusions of <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Ben Hart</span>, all of which coalesce into a satisfying fun house of thrills that keeps the audience attentive and poised; waiting for the next inevitable scare.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As Father Merrin <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Paul Nicholas </span>adds a gravitas to proceedings that appropriately shifts the tone of the play towards its climax when his titular presence is finally revealed whilst <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Tristram Wymark</span>, as Burke, amiably leads a solid company that supports and contrasts against the sterner and darker performances of <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Sophie Ward </span>and <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Ben Caplan </span>who have the majority of the heavier moments, most of which are delivered with excellence. <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Susannah Edgley</span>'s performance as Regan is another positive of the production, and her physical unification with the voice of McKellen is both outstanding and unsettling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Regardless of the quibbles I have (most of which will probably be rectified as the cast and crew settle into the play's run - this is still a fairly new production, after all) at its core <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">The Exorcist</i> is about faith and belief, about good and evil, and the play delivers both philosophically on that front and as a piece of thrilling entertainment which contains some truly disturbing and exciting moments.</span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-91411095934096730412019-08-01T11:46:00.000+01:002019-08-01T11:46:27.295+01:00The Passing Of A True Genius Of The Theatre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yesterday, July 31st, one of my absolute theatrical heroes exited the world stage. Given his age (91) it was bound to happen sooner rather than later but Hal Prince was one of those figures who you convince yourself will live forever. In some ways he will: the mark he left on the world of theatre is truly immeasurable and the numerous shows he ushered into the word, be it as producer or director - or sometimes even both, include a substantial number which have become legendary in the entertainment industry. </div>
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To say that the news of Prince's passing came as a blow to me is an understatement and, though I sadly never met the man, his influence on me is quite far-reaching. Prince's methods and philosophy have influence my own approach to all aspects of theatre (and entertainment) and I have always devoured all material I can find on the man. </div>
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Yesterday felt like a real marking of the end of something and I will continue to mourn Harold Prince deeply. I can find some semblance of comfort in the fact that his influence still thrives throughout theatre and his productions will continue to be referred to with reverence and awe. Of course, he was not perfect - no one is - but even in his failures Prince always looked to learn something and that is something I attempt to emulate.</div>
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Harold (Hal) Prince 1928 - 2019</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-72259107559535228352018-09-15T21:48:00.000+01:002018-09-15T21:48:27.210+01:00"An Officer And A Gentleman", Glasgow King's Theatre, 10/9/18<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A review written for Backstage Pass:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.backstagepass.biz/2018/09/theatre-review-officer-and-gentleman.html</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Once most new musicals were based on pre-existing plays and/or novels but nowadays the trend leans towards adapting motion picture titles and one of the newest is </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">An Officer And A Gentleman</i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"> based on the 1982 film starring Richard Gere. This is actually the third musical version following a Japanese adaptation in 2010 and an Australian production in 2012 which featured an original score whereas this new tour utilises pre-existing songs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Zack Mayo is one of a new group of US Navy trainees who face several obstacles before achieving their dream of graduating - none more formidable than drill sergeant Emil Foley. On top of all that romance materialises for Zack and his friend Sid in the form of local factory workers Paula Pokrifki and Lynette Pomeroy who only add to their turbulent experiences.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;" /></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">As a piece of stage work this adaptation's book by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Douglas Day Stewart </b>(writer of the original film) and <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Sharleen Cooper Cohen </b>requires tightening and it is to director <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Nikolai Foster</b>'s credit that he elects to bring out the humour of the script whilst creating some strong moments onstage - including the simple yet rousing finale. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;" /></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Michael Taylor</b>'s set design has some strong elements but does become bland at times and the lighting of <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Ben Cracknell</b> is likewise a bit hit and miss with chaotic choices existing alongside more refined options. Sadly the sound design also requires tinkering with as it was nigh impossible at times to hear the vocals above the incredibly loud - though proficient - band. The orchestrations by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">George Dyer</b> are first-rate and the choice of songs is pretty well on the mark though some are not as organic to the plot as others. Regardless the musical numbers are incredibly enjoyable and bring intense energy to the production.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;" /></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Once again Foster has assembled a fine ensemble led by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Jonny Fines</b> as "Zack </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Mayo" and <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Emma Williams </b>as "Paula Pokrifki" both of whom possess tremendous vocals and stage presence. They also share a palpable chemistry that is essential to the story. <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Ian McIntosh </b>("Sid Worley") and <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Jessica Dale</b>y ("Lynette Pomeroy") are equally as enjoyable especially as their story-line comes to a head. </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">Ray Shell</b> is a huge presence within the show and is on fine form as the domineering "Emil Foley" and he is clearly enjoying himself onstage whilst </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">the company as a whole ably rise above the limitations of the libretto.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;" /></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Though somewhat lacking as a piece of stage drama <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;">An Officer And A Gentleman </i>is still enjoyable fun - if only for the dynamic performances of the various rock and pop songs by the superb cast.</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-29474384989648535312018-07-03T20:49:00.000+01:002018-07-03T20:51:23.134+01:00"Love From A Stranger", Glasgow Theatre Royal, 26/6/18<div class="separator" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Written for Backstage Pass:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.backstagepass.biz/2018/06/theatre-review-love-from-stranger.html</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">First performed in 1936, <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Love From A Stranger</i> presents us with Cecily Harrington (<b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Helen Bradbury</b>) who, following a financial windfall, heedlessly abandons her old life in search of adventure when she encounters titular stranger, Bruce Lovell (<b>Sam Frenchum</b>), moving with him to a remote country cottage. Cecily will come to learn, however, that Bruce is more than the romantic she thought him.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Adapted by<b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"> Agatha Christie</b> and<b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"> Frank Vosper</b> from an earlier Christie short story and play, </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Love From A Stranger</i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> is not one of Christie's typical whodunits though it is </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">constructed around </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Christie's oft-utilised </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">theme of identity with a naive woman at its centre. Some dialogue and situations may be somewhat dated and hard-to-believe for a modern audience but, as with all Christie, it is the mystery that continues to grasp the spectator.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Director <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Lucy Bailey</b>'s staging is a little uneven with the opening scene, apparently played for realism, a little staid. The remaining scenes, however, are more lively and entertainingly directed and include subtle farcical moments. But it is the final scene - a tremendously gripping <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">tour de force -</i> that is something else entirely: </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">superior in every way, it is </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">executed with precision </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">even</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> whilst </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">it i</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">s </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">slightly </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">mind-boggling. </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">The moody, evocative sets by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Mike Britton</b> are used cinematically by Bailey and they are enhanced by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Oliver Fenwick</b>'s l</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">ighting. Bailey, besides introducing some staging contrivances, also elects to rely on sound to create atmosphere and tension. Fortunately s</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">ound designer and composer </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Richard Hammarton</b></span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> handles his duties well and often with subtlety.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are strong, solid performances throughout the play with <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Helen Bradbury</b> ably leading the troupe as seemingly naive 'Cecily' whilst <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Molly Logan</b> ('Ethel') and <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Nicola Sanderson</b> ('Louise Garrard') pepper welcome light relief throughout. <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Justin Avoth</b>, a<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">s jilted fiance 'Mich</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">ael Lawrence', and <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Sam Frenchum</b>, as 'Bruce</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">', </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">proffer </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">arresting performances with Frenchum reaching great heights in the</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">denouement. </i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">That the assured company can bring so much out of Christie and Vosper's 1930's dialogue is nothing but a credit to all of them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Though a little muddled in its staging,<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Love From A Stranger </i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">nevertheless </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">evolves </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">into a riveting, suspense-filled thriller with some awesome performances and it captures that mystery magic for which Agatha Christie remains justly famous.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-38778405123632585152018-06-25T17:07:00.001+01:002018-07-03T20:50:45.815+01:00"Sunshine On Leith", 19/6/18, King's Theatre Glasgow<div class="separator" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Written for Backstage Pass:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.backstagepass.biz/2018/06/theatre-review-sunshine-on-leith-kings.html</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Sunshine on Leith</span></i><span style="background: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> peppers the songs of <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">The Proclaimers </i>throughout an adroit, humourous and moving script by<b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"> Stephen Greenhorn</b> which has been slightly updated since its premiere in 2007. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Following a tour of military duty overseas </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Davy</span></i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> and <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Ally </i>return to their hometown of Edinburgh and have to adapt to life as 'civvies' but, perhaps, their most difficult struggle lies ahead - love. Life is not so simple for their families either and they, too, must answer the questions, 'How far would you go for those you care about?' and 'What constitutes home?'<o:p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Director <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">James Brining</b> stages the musical in an eclectic and thrilling way, keeping the stage alive with movement, action and moments of physical theatre. <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Brining handles Greenhorn's finely tuned libretto with a deft hand and perfectly tailors each scene with suitable care and attention. </span>The musicians are also brilliantly integrated and <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Emily-Jane Boyle</b>'s illuminating choreography emerges seamlessly from the action. <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Colin Richmond</b>'s design is surprisingly versatile and is refined by some beautifully evocative lighting by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Tim Mitchell</b>.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0cm; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">For a 'jukebox' musical the songs by <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">The Proclaimers</i> are incorporated so successfully that one forgets they were not written especially for the stage. The variety of songs is also surprising and they range from the majestically moving to the ebulliently joyous and, with the script, serve to create one of the most dramatically and theatrically successful musicals ('jukebox' or otherwise) of modern times. Kudos must also be given to music arranger <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">David Shrubsole,</b> sound designer <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Richard Brooker </b>and musical director <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Toby Higgins </b>who, jointly, </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">service the score eminently providing several spine-tingling moments.</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Phil McKee</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;">'s </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Rab </i><span style="font-weight: inherit;">and </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"><b>Hilary Maclean</b></span><span style="font-weight: inherit;"> as </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Jean</i><span style="font-weight: inherit;"> handle one of the most dramatic story-lines with skilled ease, masterfully creating a meaningful relationship that movingly speaks to an audience. </span><span style="font-weight: inherit; transition-delay: initial; transition-property: all;"><o:p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Jocasta Almgill</b><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">'s </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Yvonne</i><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> and</span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Neshla Caplan</b><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">'s </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Liz</i><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> are </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">executed with rounded precision, rising beyond </span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">mere love interests and catalysing the denouement with their characters' various choices. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">The ensemble is comprised of outstanding artists, some of whom augment the brilliant band becoming actor/musicians led by a dynamic</span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Tyler Collins</b><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">and</span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"> John McLarnon</b><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">As </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Ally</i><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Paul-James Corrigan</b><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">crafts an adept performance, formulating a character ultimately tortured by frustration. Well known for his role in television's </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">River City</i><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">, Corrigan here proves himself a versatile and engaging musical performer.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">That former </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Casualty </i><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">actor</span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Steven Miller</b><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">is not a bigger name is something of a puzzle: as </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Davy </span></i><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">he</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">is a sterling leading man with a beautifully lyrical voice and deft physical prowess with a sincere acting style absolutely in sync with the piece - something true of every performer onstage.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">A splendid entertainment that provides an uplifting force whilst simultaneously impressing a more sober message of family and home, </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Sunshine on Leith</span></i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> is a superbly constructed modern musical executed with sublime magnificence. One not to be missed!</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-31310283692497844732018-06-25T17:03:00.000+01:002018-06-25T17:03:05.798+01:00"The Last Ship", 18/6/18, Glasgow Theatre Royal<div class="separator" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">
Written for Backstage Pass:</div>
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http://www.backstagepass.biz/2018/06/theatre-review-last-ship-theatre-royal.html</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: red !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 1em; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizyz9PaAVPHsVGxUYpCgek0J4lJXpTAjZKlhFxnB9Nu9cyX6tOprxisMia6KOb3ysB25zvxMiGhz4a7Lf1Vg2uWb5kYj09nHe9BJ0F4bgk59yQGm4U0yOZTZr9a6XlLbbno2LsFZza1X8/s1600/TLS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: red !important; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 1em; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizyz9PaAVPHsVGxUYpCgek0J4lJXpTAjZKlhFxnB9Nu9cyX6tOprxisMia6KOb3ysB25zvxMiGhz4a7Lf1Vg2uWb5kYj09nHe9BJ0F4bgk59yQGm4U0yOZTZr9a6XlLbbno2LsFZza1X8/s320/TLS.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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Four years after its premiere in America<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">The Last Ship</i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">makes its way around the UK in a new production retaining the music and lyrics of Sting but with a brand-new book by director Lorne Campbell (original book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey).</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stemming initially from <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Sting</b>'s own Northern childhood and his 1990 album, <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">The Soul Cages</i>, the fall of the great shipyards becomes a reflection on mortality with the musical portraying a community, fronted by foreman Jackie White, facing the reality of life without their shipbuilding industry. Simultaneously, we also follow the re-emerging romance between Meg and Gideon who returns to his hometown after 17 years away at sea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Director <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Lorne Campbell</b> creates some eloquent moments on stage with the pace generally well sustained, although Act One does require refining and some trimming of the musical score is needed. Campbell's new book comes into its own in the second act, dramatically and emotionally, and ultimately transforms the production into a powerful, political statement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">59 Productions' design, complimented by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Matt Daw</b>'s lighting, is a stunningly beautiful and evocative environment with impressive projections that enable a cinematic sense of movement within which the working-class nature of the characters is appropriately echoed in the movement of Lucy Hind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are some gripping scenes, notably when the book finds its feet and becomes political - as when we see <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Susan Fay</b> as a Thatcher-like Baroness Tynedale - and the ensemble are wonderful in them. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, several lyrics are unintelligible and sometimes - as in the case of <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Kevin Wathen </b>channelling a drunk Oliver Reed as Davey - dialogue is equally as indecipherable.<o:p style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Richard Fleeshman's</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">vocal quality is not necessarily conducive to musical theatre but he nevertheless comes across well as Gideon, especially in Act Two, with a sincere performance that is more than equalled by a dynamic</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Frances McNamee</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">as Meg.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Joe McGann</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">is a solid, rousing Jackie White and he is superbly partnered by</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Penelope Woodman</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">as his wife, Peggy, who is a powerhouse in the role.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">The Last Ship</i></b> is a little muddled to begin with but, ultimately, surprises with some beautiful songs supporting a plot that metamorphoses into a spirited call to arms for the working class and the conscientious.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-49582720081561187162018-06-16T10:58:00.002+01:002018-06-17T16:52:32.575+01:00"Jim Steinman's Bat Out Of Hell - The Musical", Dominion Theatre, 30/5/16<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Bat Out Of Hell</i> is resurrected at London's Dominion Theatre and rocks bigger than before! A futuristic, rock retelling of the <i>Peter Pan</i> fable, we enter the world of "Obsidian", an island city separated from the mainland following chemical wars, whose inhabitants form two factions - dictator <i>Falco</i>, his family and followers/employees and <i>The Lost</i>, a group of perpetual 18 year-olds - victims of the chemical warfare - led by <i>Strat</i>,<i> </i>who rebel against <i>Falco</i>'s real estate ambitions. As <i>Falco</i>'s daughter, <i>Raven</i>, turns 18 she encounters <i>Strat </i>and the two fall in love. Confrontations ensue as various members of the factions struggle to live and love dealing with issues of love, loss and revenge along the way.<br />
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The production is leaner than ever, although "It Just Won't Quit" is still missed and some of the edits are unnecessary - particularly<i> Zahara</i>'s prompting <i>Strat </i>to return to <i>Raven </i>- and ideally should be reinstated. The new elements, however, only enhance the production and clarify plot elements further filling the stage with a mass of exciting details to observe: Director Jay Scheib has added many little details of business that create even more depth to the staging and supplement the characters and their development within Jim Steinman's story; the distillation of his ethos, more commercially viable than the previous versions (<i>Neverland</i>, <i>The Dream</i> <i>Engine</i>), retaining the elements that excite him.</div>
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Scheib continues to sculpt a mesmerising physical production that is part musical, part rock concert, part opera and it's perhaps the latter form that best describes Jim Steinman's opus. Steinman and Scheib have grafted the larger than life elements of high-brow art onto the rock concert form and melded it with the mega-musical and they have continued to hone the staging to further the story and Scheib's direction is perfectly attuned to making the best of it. Emma Portner's choreography has also been tweaked and remains an enjoyable element as part of the whole.<br />
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On a side note, the newspapers that have been part of this show since the Coliseum last year were not in evidence at this particular performance. They were created to provide the audience with a little exposition and insight into the environment before the show starts and have had several revisions since their first appearance. Frankly, as nice as they are to have as a memento they really aren't required as the exposition is treated well throughout the first act for an audience to gauge what's what.<br />
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Alternate Jordan Luke Gage brings an ethereal quality to the role of <i>Strat</i>, looking and acting less mature (appropriately) than Andrew Polec, and his vocals also bring a new aspect to the part. Gage's youthful appearance also adds credence to his portrayal and his confidence in the part grew exponentially as the show progressed. Gage need only work on the irreverent physical abandon that erupts from <i>Strat </i>at particular moments but this will come with more experience in the role.<br />
Christina Bennington surpasses herself as <i>Raven </i>digging deeper into the role whilst retaining the essential elements of the part and continuing to provide a voice of diverse features.<br />
Danielle Steers continues to arrest the viewer as <i>Zahara </i>and steals scenes easily with the slightest of efforts benefiting greatly from the retooled direction with her various facial asides worth the ticket price alone, never mind her million dollar voice.<br />
Understudy Christopher Cameron as <i>Jagwire </i>brought a gritty, raw vocal and an earthy honesty to the role he was playing for the first time ever, having been a last-minute installation following regular actor Wayne Robinson's indisposition. A remarkable performance that grew before our eyes and I have no doubt he'll exceed himself again and again the more he undertakes the role.<br />
Alex Thomas-Smith is visually more believable than his predecessor as the pre-pubescent <i>Tink </i>(thanks, in part, to a redesigned costume) but, like the other new actors, he brings a different quality and sweeter voice to the part. This new <i>Tink</i>, aided by subtle changes in direction, is at once more fragile and more dangerous than before though, for some reason, there is an unfortunate sense that the role has been reduced, which is untrue, but this must certainly be due to cutting "It Just Won't Quit" and the graveyard scene which aided keeping his spirit within the show.<br />
The veteran company members continue to find new depths in the lines and lyrics they voice and their acting through song is superior and Sharon Sexton and Rob Fowler as <i>Sloane </i>and <i>Falco </i>lead the pack, continuing to excel as the mature couple searching for what they've lost. The new ensemble members have integrated seamlessly and blend well as members of <i>The Lost</i>.<br />
The production's superb casting enables each performer to be unique and there are no mere look/act/soundalikes here; even the understudies and alternates bring individual takes to the lead roles which further the variations on offer to the audience - so much so that many fans 'collect' performers and try to see as many different actors in a role as possible. The divine cast are surely one of the many strengths in this immense production.<br />
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Jon Bausor's design has also undergone some minor tweaks and it continues to impress as one of the boldest, metamorphic sets to ever grace a stage. That it was overlooked for an Olivier Award (in fact the show only received one nomination for Sound) is, frankly, mind-boggling. The costumes have been further refined and the video and lighting designs are still perfect for the production. Likewise the orchestra - or, perhaps, band is more appropriate for such a rock opera - persist in their brilliant execution of Steinman's monumental rock score and kudos must be heaped upon musical director Rob Emery and the orchestrators and arrangers Steve Sidwell and Michael Reed.<br />
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Whilst <i>Bat Out Of Hell </i>is, in many ways, the same show as that which occupied the Coliseum, it is also something else entirely, with an added dimension and depth brought about by a superlative cast and creative team.<br />
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An epic, ethereal, surreal, comic-book rock and roll fantasy faerie-tale, "Bat Out Of Hell" is every bit of wonderful. Rock and roll dreams really do come through ...</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-38723092955707072932018-06-08T18:31:00.001+01:002018-06-08T21:30:42.839+01:00"Chess", English National Opera, London Coliseum, 31/5/18<div style="text-align: justify;">
For such a well-loved musical it is surprising that it has taken so long for a West End revival of <i>Chess </i>to materialise. Then again, given its endless revisions, perhaps it isn't such a wonder. But, finally, it <i>has </i>been revived, albeit in yet another version that aims to bring the material closer to its original source material - the concept album. To a great degree it succeeds and the fact that the orchestra of the English National Opera are involved ensures a rich musical sound.<br />
Tim Rice has said that the addition of Walter de Courcey in the original stage production was an unnecessary complication and this new version in removing him does indeed feel more streamlined and uncomplicated. That said it is not a perfect production but it does hold so much promise.<br />
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Directed by Laurence Connor who also, presumably (as there is no credit given), created the new book. He does a competent job but his construction is a little stunted in the dialogue department, which tends to promote the necessary without any real flair. Connor even rewrites some of Rice's original dialogue unnecessarily. The blunt, sometimes abrupt, nature of the scenes also crosses to Connor's song placements and lyrical choices which are also a little questionable if we look at them for dramatic purposes and I wonder if this was an early issue given the production was billed as "semi-staged" even if the final product was far from "semi". But whatever the cause, these are elements that should be easily rectified should this production re-materialise at some point.<br />
Connor's actual direction is serviceable and he does have some interesting staging ideas but he is certainly blessed to have a brilliant choreographer in Stephen Mear whose musical stagings are witty and intelligent and include the best staging of "Merano" I've seen. Perhaps Connor needs to learn to take more daring risks in his work.<br />
Connor is also fortunate in the design of Matthew Kinley which is beautifully supplemented by the extraordinary video designs of Terry Scruby. Kinley's is an abstract design upon which realistic fixtures are essayed and one wishes they had gone the whole hog with an abstract production, but Connor is clearly uncomfortable with this idea (much like Trevor Nunn in the original production) and has only one abstract sequence throughout. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-weight: lighter; text-align: left;">Patrick Woodroffe's lighting is also another element that brings further dimensions to Connor's sometimes stilted staging. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-weight: lighter; text-align: left;">Christina Cunningham's costumes perfectly represent that period of cross-over that existed between the 1970s and 80s though why so many of the male leads wore similar spectacles is a bit of a strange puzzle. </span>Anders Eljas' ornate orchestrations, naturally, sound thrilling and the synth sounds are evocative of the period and come through brilliantly in Mick Potter's excellent sound design.<br />
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The ENO ensemble do a fine job in adjusting to a more non-operatic sound and it would be difficult to identify them amongst the veteran musical theatre performers though, surprisingly, the ensemble is not used as much as they could have been.<br />
Michael Ball heads the cast as Russian Grand-master "Anatoly Sergievsky" and he does a fine job of portraying a man weary of the political machinations of his government. Ball also acts through the melodies and lyrics rather than just singing them though he is sometimes limited by static direction. As his wife, "Svetlana", Alexandra Burke offers a powerful, though somewhat breathy in the lower register, voice and peppers her moments with soulful trills which can be a trifle distracting. She emotes appropriately but is a little too big in the role. Connor should have advised her that sometimes less is more. Cedric Neal is a wonderful "Arbiter" with a stunning vocal performance and presence and Phillip Browne brings a threatening deep tone to the Soviet "Molokov". Browne's performance is appropriately mannered and charming but we also get moments where we see "Molokov" reveal his other aspects, notably during "The Soviet Machine". Tim Howar's "Freddie" is something of a revelation, despite Connor's clunky handling of the character. Howar's voice has the appropriate rock edge and easily handles some of the highest notes in musical theatre for a male. He is also charming and vulnerable in the role yet simultaneously dangerous. What was once the lead role of "Florence" is played here by Cassidy Janson who, unquestionably, brings a dynamic voice and presence to the role. Janson is also able to play "Florence" as hard and as soft as and when required and it's just unfortunate that the role comes across as lesser under Connor's hand. But when Janson is given those moments to shine, she blazes and none more so than with her duet with Burke, "I Know Him So Well".<br />
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A sometimes brilliant production, this new version of <i>Chess </i>is ultimately a flawed work - though not necessarily due to its original authors and whilst the new book certainly retains a simplicity it does feel a little pressed in bringing various plot-strands together at the very end. There are, however, moments of theatrical bliss but, sadly, also tepid staging in Laurence Connor's uneven direction which is inevitably salvaged by Stephen Mear's brilliant choreography and the work of the various designers. Still not perfect, but <i>Chess </i>is clearly on the right road to redemption.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-42468430132851161802018-06-03T16:14:00.001+01:002018-06-03T16:14:55.473+01:00"Titanic - The Musical", Glasgow King's Theatre, 28/5/18<div class="separator" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A review written for Backstage Pass:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.backstagepass.biz/2018/05/theatre-review-titanic-musical-kings.html</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some events are so monumental they become seared into the consciousness of history and the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic is one. Famously dubbed "unsinkable" it proved as fallible as every other human creation when an iceberg struck just before midnight on April 14 causing the passenger liner to sink beneath the waves of the freezing Atlantic Ocean less than three hours later. Approximately 1500 people lost their lives in the tragedy which would go on to inspire numerous artistic endeavours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The musical "Titanic" premiered on Broadway in 1997, the same year that a movie of the same name</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">coincidentally appeared. The musical is not an adaptation of the latter, which creates a fictional plot within historical events, but instead focuses on the real-life persons on board to forward a deeply moving and affecting representation of the brief life of Titanic and the aspirations of those aboard. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Historians have oft viewed the Titanic as a microcosm of Western society, with its trivialities in sharp focus, and the musical's authors also take this approach but further it by giving us an insight into the emotional lives of selected </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">representatives from each social strata, humanising the names in history books, manifesting them before an audience who bear witness to the tragic events and, where James Cameron invented an emotional focus for his film's audience, Peter Stone (book) and Maury Yeston (music and lyrics) have us empathise and invest in the characters' fates so that when the inevitable happens it strikes more bitterly than can be imagined leaving the second act infinitely poignant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Titanic" is a remarkable ensemble piece with Yeston and Stone creating a commonality within each social group, focusing the material and furthering the drama, negating the need for a single lead character for the audience to follow and it is through the deft structure of Stone's book and the emotional impact of Yeston's compositions that we can engage with the numerous figures onstage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The musical boasts a cast (who double various characters) without a fault among them and there are beautiful performances throughout with an abundance of standout moments, including the three "Kates" of </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Emma Harrold, Devon-Elise Johnson and Victoria Serra</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> leading the third class passengers in the aspirational "Lady's Maid", the tender "Harold Bride" of </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Oliver Marshall</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Niall Sheehy</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">'s robust "Frederick Barrett" singing "The Proposal/The Night Was Alive" and the emotional "Still" performed by </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Judith Street</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Dudley Rogers</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">as "Ida" and "Isidor Straus" to name but a few. </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Lewis Cornay</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">'s "Bellboy" also makes his mark as does </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Claire Machin</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> as would-be-social-climber "Alice Beane". </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Director </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Thom Southerland</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> has great command of his company and his confident staging is simple yet inventive with </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Cressida Carré</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">'s musical staging seamlessly integrated. </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">David Woodhead</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">'s design is uncomplicated in the best sense and used with great imagination. Likewise the sound generated by the six-person band, simultaneously echoing a period ship orchestra whilst executing a superbly deceptive small orchestration (Broadway originally had more than 20 musicians), which, when coupled with the company vocals, is an astonishing listen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">More than a simple retelling of one of history's greatest tragedies, "Titanic" is a masterwork of musical stage drama that reflects on mankind's desire for progress at all costs and the human tragedy it engenders and is a musical that deserves better recognition and is here presented in a superb production replete with stunning theatricality. Musical theatre at its best.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-81121717739945597612018-05-23T14:02:00.000+01:002018-05-23T14:03:07.953+01:00"Evita", Glasgow King's Theatre, 15/5/18Another review written for Backstage Pass:<br />
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http://www.backstagepass.biz/2018/05/theatre-review-evita-kings-theatre.html<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Originally premiering as a concept album in 1976 <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Tim Rice</b> and <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Andrew Lloyd Webber</b>'s <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Evita</i> hit London's West End in 1978 making a star of Elaine Paige before arriving on Broadway with Patti LuPone in the title role. <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Evita </i>(which means "Little Eva") portrays the rags to riches real life story of Eva Duarte who rose from poverty to become first lady of Argentina, alongside president Juan <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Perón</span>, before reaching near-sainthood in the eyes of her beloved <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">descamisados </i>('the shirtless ones') whilst simultaneously evoking the hatred of the upper-classes.</span></div>
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<i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Evita </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">continues as the pinnacle of the union of Rice and Lloyd Webber with an exciting, melodic score by Lloyd Webber and some of Rice's best lyrical work. Bill Kenwright's current touring version utilises the reworked material developed for the 2006 West End revival and continues to prove how iconic and powerful the musical is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's a bit unfortunate that <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Bob Tomson</b> and <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Bill Kenwright'</b>s direction is uneven with clumsy and melodramatic staging <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">sitting alongside </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">more </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">poetic, economic</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> renderings with</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">some of the best ideas originating in Hal Prince's </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">original staging or <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Michael Grandage</b>'s revival but the stuff that works here works brilliantly, almost effortlessly</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">. </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Bill Deamer</b>'s choreogr</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">aphy is witty one moment and understated the next and one yearns for more of it</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> whilst th</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">e design serves the production perfectly well. T</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">he sound balance needs more work in the first act where </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">some </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">stage business overpowers</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> the vocals - u</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">nfortunate in a musical where every lyric needs to be heard. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Another occasional downside is the musical director's knack of reducing the tempo of some numbers rendering them intermittently flaccid. And yet, at other times, the musical direction explodes with energy, as in "A New Argentina". </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps the most unfortunate victim is the musical's most iconic number, "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina", here </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">bizarrely staged before a crowd of oligarchs rather than Eva's natural audience, the workers, whilst the song itself is conducted at a slower pace than usual, further troubled by the choice to pause before each chorus </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">interrupting the dramatic </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">impetus </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">constructed by</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> Lloyd Webber</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yet this production remains a solid, engaging, exciting piece of theatre and is fortunate in its cast who tend to rise above any creative flaws: <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Cristina Hoey</b> has only one number to sing</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> as the teenage mistress of </span>Perón <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">but she </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">more than makes her mark with a </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">striking </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">rendition of "Another Suitcase In A</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">nother Hall" which is the emotional highlight </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">of the first act. <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Jeremy Secomb</b> brings a strong presence and vocal to the role of "Juan Perón" even if he is ill-served by mundane </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">direction. <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Gian Marco Schiaretti</b>'s "<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Ché</span>" is a striking narrator-figure with a voice</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> evoking </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">memories </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">of the movie version's </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Antonio Banderas though he is also left adrift at times by the direction</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Madalena Alberto</b> is a powerful figure with a powerful voice in the eponymous role but she is perhaps too refined at the start of the show </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">to be entirely convincing as the earthy teenage "Ev</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">a" of small-town </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Junin, but when she shines she radiates and never more so than in </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">her </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">heart-breaking performance of "You Must Love Me" and the stunningly staged and sung "</span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">Lament", perhaps the strongest, and simplest, moment in the entire production.</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This may be a bit of an uneven presentation of <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Evita</i> but forty years on the material remains powerful enough to move and thrill its audience as one of the most triumphant works of musical theatre.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-11931139677914827042018-04-22T21:44:00.000+01:002018-04-22T21:44:39.915+01:00"Long Day's Journey Into Night", Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, 19/4/18<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Written for Backstage Pass:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.backstagepass.biz/2018/04/theatre-review-long-days-journey-into.html</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfug_CXkdmodaxVk_trla-EoNrZyqy0jTr96VagqDx1w84yWnIsyzQtNE4gjZyjsYXBKOzpH7GOTxR-hqhclu9zuAbrzTf8YJ9_cm0EDeOB32zBPA_fqb0hnPsVy3sza36EQl5xvDEwVzs/s1600/Long+Day.png" imageanchor="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: red !important; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 1em; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="369" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfug_CXkdmodaxVk_trla-EoNrZyqy0jTr96VagqDx1w84yWnIsyzQtNE4gjZyjsYXBKOzpH7GOTxR-hqhclu9zuAbrzTf8YJ9_cm0EDeOB32zBPA_fqb0hnPsVy3sza36EQl5xvDEwVzs/s320/Long+Day.png" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; position: relative; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" width="213" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Eugene O'Neill</span>'s semi-autobiographical play, <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Long Day's Journey Into Night,</i> makes its mark at Glasgow's Citizens Theatre before the building closes for extensive refurbishment. O'Neill's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning play concerns a taut day in the life of the Tyrone family of Connecticut in August 1912. Addiction, accusation, resentment and tragedy bleed through as the family face off against each other, bitterly recalling each flaw and shattered dream as each tries to placate their troubled past and uncertain present. As the family try to sustain a fragile facade of cohesive existence, bitter truths of poorly-hidden secrets threaten to upend the precarious balance each sustains. But truth will out as the day succumbs to night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Dominic Hill</span> directs a fine cast led by the vigorously mesmerising <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">George Costigan</span> as family head, “James Tyrone”, ably supported by <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Bríd Ní Neachtain</span> as his fragile, tortured wife, “Mary”, and <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Lorn Macdonald </span>and <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Sam Phillips</span> as their imperfect, contrary sons. Each portrays a veneer of stable existence with the rotting truth beneath revealing itself as each emotional crutch is disclosed. <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Dani Heron</span>, as summer maid, “Cathleen”, is equally as impressive; creating a vivid contrast in the production.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The direction gets a bit melodramatic at times but, ultimately, with the superb wooden frame and clear plastic design of <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Tom Piper </span>and the moody lighting of <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Ben Ormerod</span>, the atmospheric sound design and musical score of <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Matt Padden</span> and <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Claire McKenzie</span>, respectively, it all gels to create an elegant, Gothic atmosphere that becomes reminiscent of a <span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Tennessee Williams</span> memory play with phantoms of the past manifesting to possess the animate present: as day turns to night realism metamorphoses into a haunting tragedy of epic proportions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Fair warning – it’s a long play but Hill is, fortunately, able to bring out the humour well and it is, in the end, worth taking in this classic play performed by a strong cast in a visually striking production.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-40570715104770721662018-02-23T17:18:00.001+00:002018-02-23T17:22:19.297+00:00"Top Hat", Glasgow King's Theatre, 21/2/18<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the world of musicals it can honestly be said that many a show is kept alive by the efforts of the amateur company who often perform musicals rarely produced by professional producers and who further the audience and potential fandom of these shows in doing so. It will probably be the case with "Top Hat" which enjoyed a successful, if curtailed, West End run (winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical) and a following UK tour but which has since all but dropped off the map.<br />
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Based on the classic 1935 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers comedy movie with songs by Irving Berlin the plot follows dancer Jerry Travers who falls in love with Dale Tremont after his tap dancing disturbs her sleep in the hotel room below his. Tremont incorrectly assumes Travers is the stage producer Horace Hardwick who has brought Travers over to London to open a new show. Hardwick's wife is Tremont's friend and so Dale is disgusted when the man she assumes to be married proposes to her. Screwball comedy ensues.</div>
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Of course, the plot is rather weak, as to be expected, but is still none-the-less charming especially when delivered with such aplomb as Paisley Musical and Operatic Society bring to it. It is the Irving Berlin songs that really make the show and with such classics as "Cheek To Cheek", "Puttin' On The Ritz" and "Let's Face The Music And Dance" it's hard to go wrong. </div>
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Berlin's music is handled beautifully by musical director Sean Stirling who treats the score with assurance. There is an element of the ol' Hollywood Glamour that is brought out which succinctly suits the production. </div>
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"Top Hat" is famous as a dance production and PMOS had a difficult challenge before them but their efforts pay off with the elegant choreography of Marion Baird delivered well and confidently by the cast; so much so that I believe the company could have handled even more complex material. </div>
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Alasdair Hawthorn directs another assured production, bringing out the humour and the effervescence of the material with ease. The lighting could be more focused and varied but, in reality, this is a small niggle and, sure, there are moments that require tightening - especially in the transitions - but I've no doubt they'll be rectified as the run continues. There are, indeed, some clever location reveals in the first act which I only wish had continued into the second and it is such small details as these that I enjoy and that Hawthorn often delivers. </div>
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<a href="https://scontent.fman1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/28167789_772479242942424_923221830702139744_n.jpg?oh=9010211a657c9dd1050e50d32bd36e9d&oe=5B127916" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://scontent.fman1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/28167789_772479242942424_923221830702139744_n.jpg?oh=9010211a657c9dd1050e50d32bd36e9d&oe=5B127916" width="400" /></a></div>
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The production has double-cast its leads and, on this occasion, I saw Greg Robertson and Claire Logue as "Jerry" and "Dale" respectively who both lead the company amiably and with confidence. Robertson has a natural charm and easy voice whilst Logue is a sweet and funny performer and they play well opposite each other. They are supported by a company who make the most of the humour and the staging. Alastair McCall as "Horace Hardwick", Iain G. Condie as his manservant "Bates" and Ross Nicol as the flamboyant "Alberto Beddini" all have plenty of opportunity to shine and do so with hilarity. Lindsey Ross also shines as "Madge Hardwick", prowling the stage with a commanding presence and brilliant comedic traits. The ensemble are also ebullient and there are a number who stand out in the odd scene including Robin Cameron's "Florist" and Jenny Carty's "Receptionist". The utilisation of the ensemble is another strength in Hawthorn's direction and there is plenty of business within the company to occupy the audience member.</div>
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"Top Hat" is a few hours of joyous, buoyant entertainment filled with cracking musical numbers and numerous laughs delivered by a vibrant, vivacious company who continue to push themselves and each other for the sake of their audiences' enjoyment.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-24811717890048711322018-02-17T14:57:00.000+00:002018-02-17T14:57:32.302+00:00"Rita, Sue & Bob Too", Glasgow Citizen's Theatre, 13/2/17<div style="text-align: justify;">
Written for Backstage Pass:</div>
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http://www.backstagepass.biz/2018/02/theatre-review-rita-sue-and-bob-too.html</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Schoolgirl baby-sitters Rita and Sue long to leave their dull world and so take their charges' father, Bob, up on an offer which develops into a three-way affair. Never mind that Bob is married to Michelle; to the girls he represents excitement, adventure and a brighter future away from their unhappy home lives. But, of course, life is never so simple.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Andrea Dunbar</b>'s play, written whilst still a teenager, re-emerges in a timely revival within a world all-too-similar to the one in which Dunbar birthed it; social divisions and mobility, redundant aspirations and the sexual politics between men and women are as pertinent </span><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">now as they were in the Thatcher era when "Rita, Sue and Bob Too" first premiered.</span></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This co-production between Out Of Joint, Octagon Theatre Bolton and The Royal Court Theatre is an elaboration of Dunbar's world that is reflected in her non-judgmental, frank yet witty writing. That it is not too far removed from current issues is a boon and the play also essays the positives of resilience, reconciliation and the fragile bonds of friendship in unconventional circumstances. In reality fairy-tale happy endings are absurdly rare and Dunbar is unafraid to ponder this fact in her story.</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Director Kate <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Wasserberg</b>'s lithe, uncluttered staging allows a forthright presentation, furthered by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Tim Shortall</b>'s design, where the humour and pathos of the text (newly edited by John <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Hollingworth</b>) is brought to vivid life in splendid performances from a cast led by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Taj Atwal</b>, <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Gemma Dobson</b> and <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">James Atherton</b> as the titular characters. <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Samantha Robinson</b>, <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Sally Bankes</b> and <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">David Walker</b> make up the remainder of a company who each venture delicately balanced interpretations whilst avoiding sentiment and pity. Without exception the cast excel and all are eminently watchable. </span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;" /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Played without an interval (and running less than 90 minutes) "Rita, Sue and Bob Too" is a stark yet amusing enterprise presenting a life scarcely seen - and oft ignored - that speaks eloquently - even in its crudeness - to a contemporary society with all-too-familiar issues. Happy endings are relative and Dunbar reminds us of that.</span></span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-71627442753681433282018-02-02T12:52:00.001+00:002018-02-02T12:52:27.540+00:00People Watching - A Web Series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-media-prod-cld/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,h_240,w_320/v1506275081/ufsxkgp4atewb3induuj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-media-prod-cld/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,h_240,w_320/v1506275081/ufsxkgp4atewb3induuj.jpg" /></a></div>
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Upon a friend's recommendation I viewed the online series "People Watching"; a series of animated shorts based around subjects we in the western world may ponder over at one time or another.</div>
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Each episode lasts between approximately 5 - 11 minutes which enables the series to be watched as and when required without the need to invest a huge chunk of one's time unless you so choose - as I did. With episode titles such as "The One Self Help Group We'd Actually Join" and "Why Non Religious Confessionals Should Be A Thing" there is a subject to attract most adults.</div>
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The series is written, directed and illustrated by Winston Rowntree whose insight is acute, witty and occasionally moving. The writing is sharp and well constructed with a colourful, energised animation style even while purposefully basic with a boldness that extends to the occasional background joke. </div>
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An adroit voice cast performs Rowntree's diatribes and wit and create individual persons in tandem with the unique visual character designs.</div>
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"People Watching" is an entertaining and thought-provoking series which could be used as an opening to some serious discussions amongst folk.<br />
Be aware that the series does have some adult language when taking into account who may wish to view it.</div>
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Series One consists of 10 episodes and you can <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buKMOxNzYjY&index=1&list=PL_saLI-LH-VrxFpFgk467Jn02i46arTyD" target="_blank">Watch Here</a>. Hopefully a second series will emerge.</div>
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<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9PGBV1XgAAsEIN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="800" height="179" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9PGBV1XgAAsEIN.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-78636912140660523762018-01-25T17:21:00.000+00:002018-01-25T17:25:31.065+00:00"Strangers On A Train", Glasgow Theatre Royal, 22/1/18<div style="text-align: justify;">
Written for Backstage Pass:</div>
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http://www.backstagepass.biz/2018/01/theatre-review-strangers-on-train.html</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Based on the novel by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Patricia Highsmith</b>, this stage adaptation by <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Craig Warner</b> of <i style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Strangers On A Train </i>embarks on a UK tour in a production that is regrettably lacking. Highsmith's thriller (famously adapted into a film directed by Hitchcock) depicts two strangers, Guy Haines and Charles Bruno, who randomly meet on a train where Charles proposes the idea that each murder an obstructive figure in the other's life. What follows details obsession, guilt and desperation as both come to terms with the events undertaken. Whilst the concept holds much potential it is primarily in the execution, rather than the writing, that the production falls flat.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Director <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Anthony Banks</b>' approach is melodramatic, his staging often static and the tone he creates is rather arbitrary and irregular which, ultimately, negates the positives - including the homosexual undertones - of Warner's writing which itself could do with some tightening. Banks also needs to address the pacing issues which dog the production and render it sluggish and tension-less; with greater variety in staging and a brighter pace, the play could certainly be of more interest to watch. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Banks' staging is aided somewhat by a set by </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">David Woodhead </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">which - in principle at least, if not implementation - creates interesting theatrical environments within which the characters can live, though transitions still remain which could be contracted, even as the set morphs from one scene to the next. The design is further enhanced by </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Howard Hudson'</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">s lighting and the projections of </span><b style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Duncan McLean</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The actors render the roles melodramatically, though rarely at the same level, and this unevenness is jarring. Most successful are <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">John Middleton </b>(formerly of "Emmerdale") as private detective 'Arthur Gerard' and the 'Elsie Bruno' of <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Helen Anderson</b> with each more attuned in traversing the fine high-wire that is melodrama. <b style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Jack Ashton </b>as 'Guy Haines' ultimately fares well but, fundamentally, the cast are hampered by the overly heightened tone of the production and many occasionally cross the line, unfortunately, into farce. Were the production directed in a more authentic, realistic mood then the results could have been far superior but, as it is, the cast attempt to make the best of their direction to varying degrees of success.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Strangers On A Train</span> is something of a missed opportunity with a promising - if wordy - script impeded by a misjudged conception uneven in tone and pace and is a story worthy of better.</span></span></div>
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-49603109954947154842017-11-14T20:48:00.000+00:002017-11-14T20:48:15.270+00:00"The Wipers Times", Glasgow, Theatre Royal, 7/11/17Written for Backstage Pass:<br />
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http://www.backstagepass.biz/2017/11/theatre-review-wipers-times-theatre.html<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the midst of the centenary of the Great War it is surprising to find that there are few current theatrical efforts on the subject underway; the National Theatre's<span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">War Horse</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">gallops apace, of course, and now</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">The Wipers Times</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">is also on hand to address the imbalance in its UK tour.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Adapted by</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"><b> </b>Ian Hislop</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Nick Newman</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> from their television film, the play tells the story of the creation of the journal named "The Wipers Times" (from the Tommies' inability to correctly pronounce "Ypres"), a precursor to modern satirical magazines that forwent the route of detailing sombre events and endeavoured to raise the spirits of troops in the front lines with jokes, limericks and the like, often parodying the mainstream media of the time.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.wiperstimesplay.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/wipers-times-production-32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="400" src="https://www.wiperstimesplay.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/wipers-times-production-32.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Translating the story from its historical routes via television and onto the stage, Hislop and Newman have skillfully crafted a funny, witty and truly moving play that utilises material from the original newspaper that they turn into theatrical pieces that pepper the true-life story of the newspapers' creators, Captain Roberts and Lieutenant Pearson. Simultaneously, </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Hislop<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and Newman raise these two men and their soldier-appreciated product from the bottom drawer of history.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Forming a backdrop to the frivolity, the Great War's progression poignantly comes to the fore at various points throughout the play and the tragedy of war becomes all the more striking when contrasted with the humour that soldiers themselves created as relief. For the most part, the jokes feel fresh and modern rather than a hundred years old and they further reinforce connections between the past and present (none more so than in the jokes that revolve around the Daily Mail).</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Hislop</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and Newman's script captures the bravery, camaraderie and humour in the face of adversity that evidently saturated the soldiers' lives and director </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Caroline Leslie</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">'s production manages to balance the sober with the ridiculous, with a hint of the amateur nature of the newspaper's production in the skits realised in mock music-hall style. This is furthered by the creative unit set of </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Dora Schweitzer</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and the atmospheric lighting of </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">James Smith.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The sound design of </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Steve Mayo</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> also breeds an appropriately disturbing soundscape and the musical settings by </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Nick Green</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">, incorporating actual poetic content from the journal, furthers authenticity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The cast are nothing short of superb and they are equally hilarious and tragic as apt and they form an authentic company ably led by</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;"> James Dutton</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">George Kemp</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> as Roberts and Pearson, respectively. They deftly portray the underlying fear masked with humour adroitly and their performances become all the more tremendous for it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A powerfully moving yet heartily humorous play, </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">The Wipers Times</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is strong stuff and serves also as an informative document of a forgotten piece of Great War history. Employing contemporaneous material composed by serving soldiers adds a depth to the humanity of such people not often seen in material written after the fact and this extra dimension creates a fresh take on a grim period of history.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy a ticket - history is rarely as concurrently moving and entertaining!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-1727670066415753832017-10-14T16:59:00.001+01:002017-10-14T19:47:46.700+01:00"Hairspray", Glasgow King's Theatre, 2/10/17<div style="text-align: justify;">
A massive success when it premiered on Broadway 15 years ago, <i>Hairspray </i>is based on the cult John Waters film and revolves around the rotund <i>Tracy Turnblad</i> who refuses to let her size stand in the way of her dreams and inspires those she meets to stand for what is right. Along the way she falls in love and becomes a driving force for good in a story that deals with race, integration, acceptance and dance.<br />
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Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan's book is respectful of the original film and is filled with humour and warmth whilst the music and lyrics of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman perfectly encapsulates the bouncy, soulful sounds of the 1960's with a few anthemic numbers to boot.<br />
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The cast, led by Rebecca Mendoza as <i>Tracy</i>, Matt Rixon as <i>Edna </i>and Norman Price as <i>Wilbur </i>are pretty much faultless with stirring vocals, precise comedic timing and sterling performances throughout with standout moments from Brenda Edwards as <i>Motormouth Maybelle</i> including her rousing rendition of <i>I Know Where I've Been</i>.<br />
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As <i>Seaweed</i>, Layton Williams exhibits true star power in his lithe gymnastic performance which plays perfectly opposite his love interest <i>Penny </i>played by the charming Annalise Liard-Bailey. Jon Tsouras also stand out in his role as <i>Corny Collins</i> presenting some brilliant faces in his asides. The remainder of the cast are no less appropriate to their characters and purvey rounded performances.<br />
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The direction by Paul Kerryson is unfussy but it is the choreography of Drew McOnie which really brings events alive. Given that Hairspray is a vibrant and uplifting show set in the 60's it is unfortunate that the production is so ugly. The design by Takis is dull and uninspired and is rather unsympathetic with the nature of the musical. It is a clumsy design of unattractive angles which inhibit staging and sight lines and comes complete with dodgy projection and, sadly, the lighting of Philip Gladwell can do little to redeem it. Takis' costumes rarely do any better and, frankly, the production deserves better.<br />
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Given the promise contained within the material and the talents of its cast this production rises above mediocrity but could have been so much better again if it were not for such a dire design concept. Perhaps the next tour will look to rectify this.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-29744739671658034842017-10-14T13:32:00.001+01:002017-10-14T13:32:17.264+01:00"The Addams Family", Glasgow King's Theatre, 10/10/17<div style="text-align: justify;">
Based on the macabre single-panel cartoons of Charles Addams the revised version of the musical tours the UK in its premiere professional production. With music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice we join the Addams clan just as turmoil is about to hit the (un)happy household when eldest child <i>Wednesday </i>announces that she is - bizarrely - in love with a typically all-American boy and plans to marry. Cue a meeting of the parents and revelation of secrets to disturb one and all and anarchic chaos ensues.</div>
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The book is appropriately simplistic and relative to the nature of the original Charles Addams cartoons whilst Lippa's songs have suitable variety and wittiness and include some really heartfelt numbers.</div>
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The set by Diego Pitarch is economic yet elegantly shambolic and is used well throughout whilst his costumes are quirky and reverent to the original cartoons. Ben Cracknell's lighting design perfectly compliments both and adds dimension to the rotting visuals.</div>
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Matthew White's direction is affirmed and creates many interesting visual pictures though there are times when some of the jokes fall a little flat and he could tighten some places within the first act. The second act, however, moves at an extraordinary pace and is near perfection. Add to this the vibrant choreography of Alistair David and the parts make up a sumptuous whole, even if the King's stage felt a little cramped at times.</div>
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The production boasts an excellent cast led by the dynamic Cameron Blakely as <i>Gomez </i>and the resolute Samantha Womack as <i>Morticia</i>. Blakely is a bundle of energy on the stage and cements his prowess with ease whilst Womack is suitably stone-faced and economic until the role demands otherwise when she reveals just enough of the underlying passion within the character. Carrie Hope Fletcher's <i>Wednesday </i>is ostensibly the catalyst for the evening's proceedings and she handles the role with aplomb and gives Wednesday a depth and variety to match her outstanding vocals. The other members of the family shine equally in the smaller roles with Valda Aviks' <i>Grandma </i>a visual and dangerous treat to behold and Grant McIntyre making <i>Pugsley</i> a rather tender character mourning the potential loss of his sister to another boy. Oliver Ormson plays that particular boy, <i>Lucas Beineke</i>, with verve and gloss and Charlotte Page and Dale Rapley as his parents also add a dynamic that enhances the drama. The ensemble who play the various (un)dead clan members who flit in and out are varied and add much to the production with their dedicated and assorted characters. One of the long-running jokes within the production is the mute butler <i>Lurch</i>, played stoically by Dickon Gough who has a number of surprises in store. Special mention must also be made of understudy Scott Paige who played <i>Uncle Fester</i> at this performance. His performance was exemplary with superb comedic timing and charm and it's hard to say how Les Dennis, who usually plays the role, could be any better.</div>
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Though not perfect, <i>The Addams Family</i> is a wacky and thoroughly enjoyable musical treat with a life-affirming heartbeat at its core. With strong performances and a suitably grubby visual style this is another case of a top-rate production doing the rounds once again proving that one need not journey to London's West End to enjoy a cracking production.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-5033803847960788642017-10-05T12:40:00.002+01:002018-02-04T17:43:24.662+00:00"Sunset Boulevard", 3/10/17, Edinburgh Playhouse<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Sunset Boulevard</i>, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Christopher Hampton's musical, based on the Billy Wilder film, portrays the story of hard-up screenwriter <i>Joe Gillis</i> and his fateful encounter with former silent movie goddess <i>Norma Desmond</i>. Desmond ostensibly employs <i>Gillis </i>to rewrite her <strike>comeback</strike> return whist he elects to make the most of the situation while alternately engaging in another partnership.<br />
The original movie contained elements of film noir and melodrama and these are retained for the musical's book and are promoted in Nikolai Foster's stunning production.<br />
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The production boasts an orchestra of 16 which is quite an exception these days (but would be seen as small some years past) and is all the better for it; Lloyd Webber's score is inherently cinematic and as such relies on string and brass orchestration for emotional and physical prowess which pulsates throughout the piece. The sound design further enhances the power of the live musicians.<br />
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This production is blessed with a beautiful design which is both evocative and striking and perfectly encapsulates Foster's concept of a theatrical film production; with the set moving fluidly, cinematically at one time; then physically, theatrically the next, the mix is a sublime blend. Added to that are exceptional projections brilliantly used to add further depth as well as some contrasting lighting which furthers the experience. In tandem they create some exciting sequences including the care chase which was at once both cinematic and theatrical. Foster is a director who really knows how to work a set and his use of space and dimension is second to none and I am always excited by his production, even the ones that don't quite hit the mark.<br />
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The ensemble cast lend great vocal power to the musical and portray many varying roles, including the stagehands who lurk about the sound-stage set, silently observing an occasional moment before engaging in the next scene-change. There are occasions when an older actor would be more appropriate (as in the studio figures <i>Norma </i>recalls from previous days) but this is a small niggle.<br />
Molly Lynch as <i>Betty Schaefer</i>, a wannabe screenwriter, lends an amiable yet determined air and a sweet voice that manages to harden as the plot reaches its resolution. Adam Pearce is a strong and centred <i>Max </i>with a voice that is both powerful and tender. His precise movements are appropriately attuned and something that leading man Danny Mac should learn from; Mac is too energised as cynical <i>Joe Gillis</i> with lots of arm gestures and bouncing throughout the production. There is an economy of stillness that he should learn which would make his performance all the more powerful. As it is he is adequate in the role even if his vocals are unremarkable for the most part.<br />
Ria Jones however has an awesome presence and exceptional vocals in the role of <i>Norma Desmond</i>, the part she originated in the musical's early workshop. When she sings <i>As If We Never Said Goodbye</i> she really means it. Jones captures the melodramatic elements of <i>Desmond </i>with aplomb and the only negative is that she really doesn't play the various descents in to melancholy with enough darkness until the final scene. That said, she stalks the set and hovers over all her scenes like some decrepit vulture eagerly anticipating the next opportunity - be it in <i>Joe Gillis</i> or her reunion with <i>Cecil B. DeMille</i>. Hers is a mesmeric performance and she demands attention every time she opens her mouth to sing.<br />
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The production is nearly perfect aside from a few small issues; I was surprised to see that the scene for much of the Act I finale - Artie's apartment - was replaced with Schwab's Drugstore requiring some slightly clunky dialogue changes and though the use of projection was, in the main, inspired there were occasions where it was overused and none more so than in the sequence where <i>Betty </i>journeys to <i>Norma</i>'s mansion where we are treated to projection that was reminiscent of <i>The Matrix</i>'s falling letters. Here the chosen images were out of place with the remainder of the production. At other occasional moments the amount of projection threatened to become distracting from the onstage action. There is also a need for the final scene to be played at a more suitable pace as it felt too rushed and it should be where we see <i>Norma </i>completely deconstruct, and the audience should have the time to appreciate the awful tragedy of it all. Elsewhere in Act I pace could be picked up here and there, though in reality this may be an argument for some trimming of the musical's book/score (There is at least one small part that I feel could be cut without any damage to the piece's structure at all).<br />
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<i>Sunset Boulevard</i> remains one of the best of Andrew Lloyd Webber's canon and this production is as near perfect as such a production can be and extols how, with the right director and design team, a touring production can match - even excel - much of what London's west End can offer. Exquisite design and conception matched with (for the most part) exceptional talent has created one of the best productions to emerge for many a year.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-66976518133516893752017-09-26T16:35:00.000+01:002017-09-26T16:35:02.945+01:00Letter (On Externalising) 26/9/17<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The Residence</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">26/9/17</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I ask, and am asked, why self-harm? First, though evidently an appropriate term, "self-harm" is also not; I cannot speak for others but, in my own interests, it is a release, an escape: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">To put it succinctly - feeling such pain, frustration and anger as I do, there comes a time when one feels constricted, suffocated and trapped and I reach such depths of mood where things have compressed so tightly that some effective relief is needed and the ideas I have on such relief are not the best to have. For others, as well as myself. Thus the safest release I can enact incurs some mild danger of its own and I attempt to externalise this internal suffering. Is it totally effective? Of course not, but it does - albeit briefly - abate that tension and oppression. The residual pain is also something of a device that serves to render the act effective.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I do not undertake such actions lightly and resist as I may. Others may say that such actions serve as a reminder, for those who live in the depressive void, that one is alive, that they can feel. Yes, I'd have to agree with that but, for me, the liberation of the inner anguish that I endure is my primary thought. Frankly, feeling is something I can be all too capable of and I often try <u>not</u> to feel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">There is nothing perfect in this world. And I hope it's the last.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">SP</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-66348140719200501422017-09-13T14:09:00.001+01:002017-09-22T23:13:21.179+01:00"IT", 9/9/17, Odeon Glasgow<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Based on the Stephen King novel which sees a group of young teenagers (known as <i>The Losers' Club</i>) fight against the otherworldly child-killing evil in the form of <i>Pennywise the Dancing Clown</i> that looms over their small town of Derry, Maine, and their later return as adults, this new adaptation elects to concentrate on the children and their encounters in the summer of 1989 when the creature they come to know as <i>It</i> awakes from its cyclical slumber to once again feed.</div>
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The film has reset events into the years 1988/89 whilst the original novel follows King's own childhood years of the late 50s. The reason for this change is obvious, and the proposed follow up film (which will primarily follow <i>The Losers' Club</i> as adults) will be set in the present, as the novel was when it was published in the 1980s.<br />
No doubt there are those who will compare it with the 1990 television mini-series that starred Tim Curry, but that is really unfair if only because of the inherent limitations a television series must face. Rather, I look upon the film as a new, original, take on a great novel and here treat it as such.</div>
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Beware of potential spoilers ahead.</div>
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There have been some serious alterations from the novel beyond the time period and whilst most are appropriate and purposeful, there are a few which jar with me; given how much of the novel is spent on the childhood experiences of a summer, the film doesn't spend enough time on these, instead choosing to hint at them and omitting sequences which aid in the set up of the future adults whilst establishing the forming and bonding of the group (the iconic building of the dam, for one) though there are some equivalent reinterpretations present. Even small things such as nicknames ("Haystack" and "Trashmouth") are all but omitted, though the film is littered with easter eggs to other events or details from the novel. </div>
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The biggest alteration is the ultimate form and nature of <i>It</i> which, apparently, the film's director never liked (even the term "deadlights" goes unmentioned). Given the Lovecraftian essence of the creature and the form of the ultimate final confrontation in the novel, I am interested how they intend to approach the finale of the story and how they can better the 1990 mini-series' approach - besides in special effects. Of course, <span style="background-color: white;">readers of the novel</span><span style="background-color: white;"> will know </span>the confrontation (<span style="font-family: inherit;">the <i>R</i></span><i>itual of </i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>Chüd</i>) </span><span style="background-color: white;">would be exceedingly difficult to present on film, but I ache for an imaginative reinterpretation of them on celluloid. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Other inventions that don't quite sit right include <i>Beverly </i>becoming the lure for the boys' descent into the sewers, leading to their confrontation with <i>Pennywise</i>. The teenage <i>Beverly Marsh</i> is a strong character, here and in the novel, and this event diminishes her somewhat. The sense of "damsel in distress" is unfortunate and also lessons the role of <i>Henry Bowers</i> who is the novel's original reason for the entry into the sewers. He and his gang could certainly have featured more than they do.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">We do learn that the film's full title is "<i>IT Chapter 1</i>" and I do wonder, however, how many of the changes/inventions that I quibble about will come to some sort of fruition of service in the second chapter. I have been reading articles about proposals for the proposed second feature which are positive but these are inevitably subject to change and until the film is made and released </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">I have to - ultimately - reserve judgement as to what the final outcome will be.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The film, nonetheless, is a superior King adaptation and is a strong movie in other regards. What it is most successful at is capturing the sense of childhood, </span>innocence<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and its loss </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">which is one of the most powerful aspects of the novel</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">. The camaraderie between the members of <i>The Losers' Club</i> is palpable and it makes one nostalgic for one's own similar experiences. Director Andy Muschietti succinctly builds characters into multi-dimensional creations with surprisingly very little, no doubt aided by a supremely talented young cast.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The casting of the club members is inspired with Jaeden Lieberher leading the way as an endearing <i>Bill Denbrough</i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">. Sophia Lillis' <i>Beverly Marsh</i> is an attractive, deep girl on the cusp of womanhood and her approach to the role is beautifully judged. This could be said of all members of the young cast, who manifest the varying aspects of the children with diversity, honesty and commitment, from Finn Wolfhard as <i>Richie Tozier </i>to Wyatt Oleff as <i>Stan Uris</i> and all the teens between. Despite limited screen time, and through careful script/editing choices by his director, Nicholas Hamilton as <i>Henry Bowers</i> is able to effortlessly give us a complex school bully, though his fellow gang members are less dimensional. The limited adult cast lend on air of danger when one realises that they are but pawns in <i>It</i>'s game and it's a positive that the film revolves utterly around the children and so the adults, appropriately, require far less rounding as characters.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Of course, the most iconic character is<i> Pennywise </i>itself and Bill </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">Skarsgård</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"> creates a disturbingly alluring, creepy and original take on one of Stephen King's most infamous characters. The sense of age and corruption he exudes in the role is inherent and his physicality is as inhuman as it is perturbing. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The film is really quite lean and efficient and could afford a little more padding to afford more character development and history, be it for <i>The Losers' Club</i> members or <i>Henry Bowers </i>and his gang but t</span><span style="background-color: white;">he pacing is generally well judged</span><span style="background-color: white;">. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The visual palette is dynamic and the production design is beautiful, even in its terror and the re-imagining if <i>It</i>'s lair is creative and disturbing, even though it is quite different to what King wrote. Of course, we may yet see even more of <i>It</i>'s habitat so there may be surprises yet to come. It is a credit that the use of CGI is actually limited and that the environments were physically created as this lends an air of reality to events, even on their unnaturalness and makes the CGI appropriately more otherworldly when it does crop up.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another strength is the superb musical score of Benjamin Wallfisch which radiates terror, suspense and - at the opposite end - brief moments of tenderness and warmth and its presence is integral to the success of the movie as a whole.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite the loss of some infamous scenes from the novel, "<i>IT</i> " is its own creation and honours the spirit of King's book, even with the deviations and inventions it makes. It is blessed with a stunningly gifted cast and with creatives who, together, create a real, tangible world that contrasts wildly with the terrifying force that intrudes. The film is not "Hollywood glossy" and has no excessive gore but relies on more traditional techniques to build and execute terror. The script is well-crafted and the direction is lithe and un-fussy, aided by sharp editing and that pervasive musical score. "<i>IT</i>" is a return to the greater form of horror movie, whilst never neglecting the essential human characters at its core.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-8445931265214890502017-09-11T14:25:00.002+01:002017-09-11T14:26:23.639+01:00"Blood Brothers", 8/9/17, Glasgow King's Theatre<div style="text-align: justify;">
Bill Kenwright's perennial production of Willy Russel's <i>Blood Brothers</i> returns to Glasgow with Lyn Paul returning to the central role of <i>Mrs Johnstone</i>.<br />
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The show is a moral parable that remains surprisingly moving, despite the somewhat odd structure of the show; being made up of occasion poetry, abstract and Brechtian staging together with gritty realism, all to tell the tale of two twins separated at birth after <i>Mrs Johnstone </i>and the woman she works for, <i>Mrs Lyons</i>, strike an unusual bargain. Russel asks whether it is nature or nurture that influences the path a person can take and, whist he offers no real answers, the diverging paths of the twins makes for intriguing viewing.<br />
Russel's compositions are easy on the ear and though there may not be a huge amount of varieties in melody, his lyrics are witty and moving in turns and he has written two of the most emotionally striking songs in "Easy Terms" and the devastating finale, "Tell Me It's Not True". In the hands (or vocal chords) of such a great singer as Lyn Paul these numbers reach new heights.</div>
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The cast feature some old favourites including Sean Jones as <i>Mickey </i>and Mark Hutchinson as <i>Eddie</i> (who I first saw in the role more than 20 years ago in London's West End) and both continue to breathe fresh life in the roles whilst the newer additions are mostly as successful, though Sarah Jane Buckley's <i>Mrs Lyons</i> verges more on the melodramatic than appropriate as opposed to the <i>Narrator </i>of Dean Chisnell which was suitably subtle with a firm, strong voice. Danielle Corlass' <i>Linda</i> is also another acutely measured performance that shines.</div>
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Lyn Paul's <i>Mrs Johnstone</i> is an understated, yet precisely attuned acting and physical performance tightly balanced with her stirring and assured vocals. The emotional resonance in her performance is replete and her song delivery can be equally joyous and heart-breaking.<br />
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Sadly, the production is starting to show its age and could do with updating starting with the orchestrations which have occasionally been updated since the 1988 West End opening (which was itself updated from the original - non-Kenwright produced - 1982 production's orchestrations). Typically Kenwright neglects to credit the orchestrator but, regardless, the arrangements have become terribly dated and new orchestrations are in order. Also the various pieces of underscore that have also been added throughout the London run need to be examined as the number and effect is excessive in places.<br />
The design by Andy Walmsley, itself slightly updated from the London version, is perfectly serviceable as is the lighting by Nick Richings but it is unfortunate that the performance was marred by a poor sound balance which left the cast barely audible at times whilst the volume of the band became excessive so I do hope this is rectified sooner rather than later.<br />
The direction by Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright remains effective - if safe - and I was left wondering how successful a completely new production would be if Kenwright were brave enough to pursue that avenue. But I doubt he will.</div>
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Altogether <i>Blood Brothers</i> remains a stirring, emotional and enjoyable production despite the various negative aspects of its aged production. Ultimately it is Russel's material and the cast that elevate the production.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-47476002854886257842017-09-10T16:30:00.001+01:002017-09-10T16:30:10.221+01:00Letter (On Dreams) 10/9/17<div style="text-align: right;">
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">10/9/17</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have of late been suffering from what I can only call psychosomatic dreams - dreams that leave residual physical symptoms upon waking. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The details of these dreams are only clear in that fragile state that exists between sleep and awake and once a step is taken into the latter realm the dream is shattered irreparably and I am lucky if I recall the simplest detail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The clearest detail I do have is from a dream which has yet to reoccur - in it I am at some point pierced in the testicle with a fine, long needle - for what reason I am unsure, though a sense of female retribution hangs over the event - and I awoke with a throbbing ache in the relevant region.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Other symptoms I have awakened with indicate that I had undergone physical exertions in some of my dreams, complete with racing heart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">At other times I have been left feeling emotionally worn out and compromised as though I had undergone some terribly trying trial. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">What these dreams can mean I do not know. But how I welcome their cessation.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519020391828169165.post-90272422847897751762017-09-07T12:38:00.001+01:002017-09-07T16:52:13.142+01:00"Jim Steinman's Bat Out Of Hell The Musical", London Coliseum, 22/8/17 (Closing Night)<div style="text-align: justify;">
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A monumental, dominating, exuberant production, Jim Steinman's life work realises the promise within his rock and roll fantasies in the temple of imagination that is the theatrical stage and now the end has come and <i>Jim Steinman's Bat Out Of Hell The Musical </i>(to give it its full title) has played its final performance at the London Coliseum. The fact the pre-show sequence was greeted with a standing ovation speaks volumes about how much this production has come to mean to so many different people; <i>Bat Out Of Hell </i>has become more than a musical, more than an experience - for some, it is a way of life.<br />
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Jim Steinman has apparently always had a fascination with <i>Peter Pan </i>- something I can relate to - believing it to be naturally equatable with rock music and its ethos. This, tied with his love of grand opera, gave birth to his early attempts to create a musical based on J. M. Barrie's fairy-tale and nearly half a century later these principles still form the fulcrum of Steinman's megalithic musical, the ultimate realisation of all his previous efforts.<br />
Sometime in the future a cataclysmic event has separated the island of Manhattan from the mainland of America, isolating its inhabitants. In the same event a group of teenagers are mysteriously genetically frozen so that they never age a day again. This group form <i>The Lost</i> who are led by eternal rebel <i>Strat</i>, whilst the remaining inhabitants eventually come under the rule of <i>Falco</i> who, in the year 2100, is busy redeveloping the island which has come to be known as Obsidian. <i>The Lost</i> are opposed to much of his plans and the two opposing sides frequently clash.<br />
Each side has their own issues with <i>Falco </i>having to deal with his unhappy, alcohol fueled wife, <i>Sloane</i>, who aches for the passion and freedom of her youth (something <i>Falco</i> also envies of <i>The Lost</i>) and the impending 18th birthday of his rebellious daughter, <i>Raven</i>, who is enamoured with <i>The Lost</i> and their secret lives.<br />
<i>The Lost </i>battle to retain their way of life whilst attempting to deal with their internal relationships; tribe members partner up with each other, some evidently moving from one to the other, whilst adult emotions attempt to make their mark with <i>Jagwire</i> persistently pursuing the exotic <i>Zahara </i>despite her protestations of un-interest in a serious relationship with him.<br />
<i>Strat</i>'s best friend, <i>Tink</i>, suffers constant emotional turmoil given the fact he was 'frozen' on the brink of pubescent maturity and he harbours a secret love for his hero and leader which soon turns to jealousy when <i>Strat</i> falls in love with <i>Raven</i>, prompting severe reactions from her father and, sadly, from <i>Tink</i>. It is <i>Strat</i> and <i>Raven</i>'s relationship that forms the core of the musical, whilst the other relationships also have to be dealt with.<br />
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In presenting three variations of a love story, Steinman enriches his plot and forms a unique triumvirate which can be seen as different facets of love at different stages of life. We also see an outside force acting upon this triumvirate in the form of <i>Tink</i>, who epitomises the darker aspects of unfulfilled love; love gone bad, as it were.<br />
Through all the action and emotional eddies that occur, ultimately it is the rock and roll sensibilities, based on primary emotions, that must win out and, naturally, love and hope are the strongest of these.<br />
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Jim Steinman's book is relatively simple and frequently punctuated with his famed word-play and abstract speeches and it is quite a change from the earlier incarnations of <i>Neverland </i>and <i>The Dream Engine</i> in being far more accessible for an audience than the earlier versions of the musical. His retelling of J. M. Barrie's <i>Peter Pan</i> is infused with his sexual and rebellious rock and roll sensibility whilst the integration of Steinman's songs are completely organic, generally serving to promote the plot and/or reflect internal feelings whilst often exploding externally.<br />
It is, perhaps, rather misleading to call <i>Bat Out Of Hell</i> a "jukebox" musical - as some have done - since the majority of songs have been created from some incarnation or another of Steinman's <i>Neverland </i>project and therefore suitably reflect the appropriate requirements of a particular scene or moment. Even the 'flashback' scene works utterly in harmony with the nature of the piece. Rather, <i>Bat Out Of Hell </i>is the ultimate development of a musical that has had a number of permutations over the decades. As the saying goes, musicals aren't written - they are <i>rewritten</i>.<br />
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Steinman has never thought small and the creative team assembled rise to meet his OTT standards to create a theatrical language and environment that suitably match his otherworldly vision, from the monolithic set which encapsulates the environments of the island city of Obsidian, further enhanced with video projection and some incredibly dynamic lighting that fuses the best elements used in theatre and stadium shows through to the energised and spirited unconventional choreography (which often tells its own story) and the fluid, sometimes abstract, direction which is perfectly paced whilst eloquently presenting the relevant information. The costumes, redesigned following the Manchester run, are also integral to the world and now create a unified vision whereas, in Manchester, a number of pieces stood out glaringly - and not always for the right reason. Altogether a unified visual ideal is promoted that is succinctly attuned to Steinman's material.<br />
The orchestra (or band) are also quite exceptional, breathing new life into Steinman's songs with their dynamic playing of the incredible arrangements and orchestrations that pay homage to the original recordings whilst also serving as fresh, theatrical interpretations. Led by the more than capable Robert Emery they are an equal part in the success of the production and the little nod to the orchestra's presence in the first act is quite brilliant.<br />
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The production has undergone some further changes just before closing; changes in dialogue, dialogue cuts and a line or two moved streamline the musical further without damaging the plot at all, though the "mirror" speech omission - cut down a while back - still makes the sole remaining line rather awkward, coming out of nowhere as it does and without any context. Reinstating the speech, or some version of it, would only benefit the scene.<br />
The biggest change is the cutting of the gorgeous "It Just Won't Quit", one of the more mellow songs that added an emotional resonance to proceedings as they stood. Whilst the reworked scene works just as well, and the emotional connection between <i>Strat </i>and <i>Raven </i>easily reaffirmed elsewhere, the song is missed as a gentler number amidst the more frantic ones that dominate the musical score and also as an opportunity to give <i>Raven</i> more musical material. Missed most is the brief moment of <i>Tink </i>singing the final line of the song which further suggested <i>Tink</i>'s inner turmoil which ultimately leads to his final choices.<br />
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The magnificent cast excelled themselves even further than previously and it's clear that the closing night was an emotional one for all and the company evidently made the most of their final performance with sheer joy on some faces and tears in their eyes as and when appropriate. Danielle Steers' and Dom Hartley-Harris' relationship as <i>Zahara </i>and <i>Jagwire </i>has never been stronger and their connection has never been so heart-warming, no doubt reflecting the fact that Dom is not travelling on to Toronto with the company. Steer's face said it all during their moments together, especially during "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad" where it was a case of smiling through the tears. Steers really is something else and is an especially unique find amongst the gifted cast. The emotional and vocal powerhouses extend throughout the company with Rob Fowler's <i>Falco </i>and Sharon Sexton's <i>Sloane </i>continuing to be a dynamic duo whose bitterness and despair spills across the stage as they journey through the disappointments of growing up. Something that Aran MacRae's <i>Tink </i>laments being unable to do. MacRae is the catalyst for several plot points and his is a precisely attuned performance and it's a shame there is not more made out of the character. Christina Bennington surpassed herself as <i>Raven</i>, aching to be free and revelling when the opportunity arises, while Andrew Polec's dynamo performance as <i>Strat</i> reached new heights, as did his vocal prowess which has never been more assured. His embodiment of Steinman's rock-n-roll ethos is sublime perfection.<br />
Steinman and his creative team could not have wished for a more perfect ensemble and it is one of the greater joys of this production to see a youthful company make fresh claims on Steinman's epic songs and interpret them with new eyes and voices; voices that, unlike many current musicals, are all distinct and unique yet, when blended together, beautifully harmonious.<br />
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Looks like <i>The Lost</i> have indeed been found ...<br />
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I have, of course, previously written about <i>Bat Out Of Hell</i> and those writings can be found <a href="http://sharmanprince.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/bat-out-of-hell-london-coliseum-18717.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://sharmanprince.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/jim-steinmans-bat-out-of-hell-musical.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://sharmanprince.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/jim-steinmans-bat-out-of-hell-musical.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Finally; it is a shame that, presumably for health-reasons, Jim Steinman could not witness his creation in the flesh and bask in the triumph so deserved. I hope he gets the chance to attend the Toronto production but I, selfishly, am overjoyed to know that the production will be returning to London in 2018 and urge all to buy a ticket when it does!</div>
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