CHICAGO
* * * *
December 4, 2013
Curve, Leicester, until Saturday, January 18, 2014
CURVE artistic director Paul Kerryson staged Chicago as his first show when he arrived at the old Leicester Haymarket. Now he’s brought it back to mark the fifth birthday of the new building, creating the first new production of the musical since its hugely successful West End and Broadway version.
The latest in a run of spectacular Christmas musicals at Curve, this Chicago is glitzy, glamorous and groaning with sequins. It also features a stunning on-stage band under the baton of Ben Atkinson, who keeps the tempo tripping along as those wonderful Kander and Ebb songs roll out, one after another.
The stage is rarely empty, with a large and energetic ensemble of talented young singer-dancers, while the principals belt out the songs with gusto and clear enjoyment as they’re asked to do some rather extraordinary things by their director.
But when it comes to the big second-act number about blinding the courtroom audience with showbiz razzmatazz, it suddenly dawns why this brash, brassy production never quite adds up to the sum of its parts. Like the lyrics say, “Give ’em the old razzle dazzle… and they’ll never get wise.”
There’s razzle dazzle by the bucketload, no question, and it’s quality razzle dazzle at that. The vocals are uniformly strong and convincing, and if the choreography isn’t quite Bob Fosse, it certainly does a more than adequate job of keeping things on the go.
But there’s a real danger at the heart of this show about two Chicago vaudeville girls in the 1920s who literally get away with murder thanks to the showmanship of their lawyer Billy Flynn, and it’s down to the simple fact that they’re remorseless killers. Unless they’re somehow likeable or can wring empathy from the audience, there’s a genuine sense of empty values about them – and the show.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens here, and it takes the edge off what should be a breathtaking production. There’s no doubt it’s very, very good, but as you stroll home afterwards you’re left with a nagging feeling that ultimately it’s a show that has no soul.
ANYTHING GOES
* * * *
August 15, 2013
Kilworth House Theatre, Leicestershire, until Sunday, September 1, 2013
ANYTHING Goes may not be Cole Porter’s finest musical – Kiss Me Kate or High Society might have to battle it out for that title – but it’s got no shortage of those fabulous tunes. You’re The Top, I Get a Kick Out of You and Blow, Gabriel, Blow are just three of the high points.
And as a lightweight diversion on a pleasant summer’s evening, this latest production at the de-lovely open-air venue fits well into Kilworth’s catalogue of West-End quality musicals. With regular director Mitch Sebastian and musical chief Garth Hall again in command of the ship, audiences can relax, safe in the knowledge that this vessel is in good hands.
The 1930s setting of the transatlantic liner and its ragtag collection of passengers and crew allows for much period detail in the choreography and instrumentation, and it’s in the big production numbers that Sebastian’s talents really shine. The Act One finale is a total showstopper and, to be honest, we’d all have gone home happy right then.
There’s plenty of broad comedy and fine singing on show, notably in the over-the-top gangster Moonface Martin, courtesy of Nic Greenshields, and the stunning vocals of Kara Lane’s cabaret star Reno Sweeney. And, as always, there’s a whole throng of toe-tappingly good dancers and singers throughout the large cast.
Libby Watson’s design – unusually for Kilworth – is more restrictive than facilitative, and much of the action is constrained by a shallow forestage and some cumbersome scenery, while Carl Knapper’s lighting has a tendency towards the garish and unsubtle.
But these minor quibbles aside, it’s yet another success in the seemingly relentless line of Kilworth summer triumphs and a de-lightful way to spend an August evening.
MY FAIR LADY
* * * *
June 8, 2013
Kilworth House Theatre, Leicestershire, until Sunday, July 14, 2013
LERNER and Loewe’s musical retelling of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion has had a long and successful stage history. Its first Broadway and West End productions featured Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway, while the film adaptation substituted Audrey Hepburn in the central role.
In the beautiful open-air setting of Leicestershire’s Kilworth House Theatre, that honour goes to Helena Blackman, last seen here as Maria von Trapp and probably best known for her runner-up spot in the TV talent search How Do You Solve a Problem…
As in The Sound of Music, she proves more than capable of holding a show. Her transition from the guttersnipe Covent Garden flower girl to would-be duchess under the tutelage of disciplinarian Professor Higgins is superb. Blackman’s voice continues to mature with confidence and some crystal-clear high notes, and she acts and dances as well as she sings.
With such an assured star in the driving seat, Mitch Sebastian’s production barely puts a foot wrong. His previous successes at the venue make it hard to sustain the standard he’s set himself, but he has again acquired an ensemble of hard-working, dedicated professionals to give rural theatregoers a taste of West End quality.
Mark Inscoe is a Higgins in the Harrison vein, mixing spoken lyrics with a pleasing singing voice to good effect, and he’s got a nice double act going with Hugh Osborne’s blustering Colonel Pickering.
Tom Sterling as the young suitor Freddy has perhaps the finest voice on stage but sadly gets just one song to show it off, while Cornelius Clarke invests his Alfred Doolittle with a judicious combination of charm and cheek.
Garth Hall’s excellent ten-strong band provide some seamless musical accompaniment and the strong cast fill Libby Watson’s amazing and versatile set with a host of likeable characters and amusing incident.
It may not quite have the stunning spectacle of earlier shows – and that might be as much down to Messrs Lerner and Loewe as anything – but it’s another welcome production that will entertain its highly supportive audience until the second half of summer, when Cole Porter’s Anything Goes comes along.
THE HIRED MAN
* * * *
April 16, 2013
Curve Studio, Leicester, until Saturday, April 27, 2013
For such a big, sweeping story, the restricted stage of the Curve Studio seems an unlikely home. Melvyn Bragg’s novel, transformed into a quintessentially English musical by the composer Howard Goodall, gets an outing courtesy of a co-production between Curve and Colchester’s Mercury Theatre, where it was seen first.
Goodall was just 26 when he wrote the music and lyrics, nearly 30 years ago now, and it’s full of the energetic vivacity of youth. Telling the story of a Cumbrian land worker around the turn of the last century, who gets caught up in everything from pit disasters to World War One, it’s something of a Catherine Cookson type saga, and hard to contain, especially in the cramped surroundings.
But director Daniel Buckroyd has clearly decided to turn necessity into a virtue, and the stage is constantly teeming with life, characters and movement, not to mention also housing a tight band around overworked pianist Richard Reeday.
Among the cast, there are some fine voices and stout performances. David Hunter – one of the finalists in ITV’s search for a Jesus Christ Superstar – gives the protagonist John plenty of depth and emotion, while Julie Atherton is constantly engaging as his wife Emily. They are well supported across the 10-strong acting line-up plus two further musicians and between them they make for a powerful ensemble.
Juliet Shillingford’s imaginative, multi-stepped design facilitates lots of variety and the overall impression is one of a haunting, challenging past, long gone but not forgotten.
PIAF
* * * *
February 26, 2013
Curve Studio, Leicester, until Saturday, March 16, 2013
CURVE director Paul Kerryson has made something of a speciality out of his magic touch with musicals. In the big space of the main house he has presented blockbusters including 42nd Street, The King and I and Hello Dolly!. But the intimacy of the venue’s studio theatre and the claustrophobic smallness of Pam Gems’s 1978 play-with-music about the Little Sparrow are a different matter altogether.
Fortunately for all concerned, Kerryson completely ignores the confines of both the space and the material and gives us another spectacular show, all the more powerful for being up close and (very) personal.
Simon Scullion’s set design is all Parisian walkways, dark corners and atmospheric moodiness, aided by some subtle and effective lighting (Arnim Friess) and elegant costumes (Siobhan Boyd).
The supporting cast of eight throng the tight space in a multitude of characters, rushing through the Piaf biography in an episodic, ramshackle race from childhood poverty to drug-dependent stardom. They may not have much to work with in a succession of short, snappy scenes, but they do it in fine style.
Equally important are the superb band of just three – accordionist, percussionist and musical director/pianist Ben Atkinson – who render the songs musically as soulful, mournful and deeply emotional.
But there’s no doubting who this show really belongs to. And it’s not – despite the best efforts of its author to present a flawed, sympathetic genius – Piaf herself. It’s Frances Ruffelle, the diminutive, extraordinarily-voiced actress who barely leaves the stage for two-and-a-half long hours, ravaging her voice and body in the representation of this French icon.
Piaf’s tale is grim, gritty and pretty sordid, and Gems gives us every unpleasant detail in full focus. In the end, she emerges as selfish, amoral and reckless to the point of self-destruction – hardly sympathetic. But in Ruffelle’s supremely controlled vocal performance, there is genius in abundance, and it’s her delivery of the haunting, impassioned songs that strikes the real note of emotional truth that Piaf herself was apparently so desperate to convey.
A tour de force, she heads a production that looks and sounds both powerful and bleak, and is not for the faint-hearted.
* * * *
December 4, 2013
Curve, Leicester, until Saturday, January 18, 2014
CURVE artistic director Paul Kerryson staged Chicago as his first show when he arrived at the old Leicester Haymarket. Now he’s brought it back to mark the fifth birthday of the new building, creating the first new production of the musical since its hugely successful West End and Broadway version.
The latest in a run of spectacular Christmas musicals at Curve, this Chicago is glitzy, glamorous and groaning with sequins. It also features a stunning on-stage band under the baton of Ben Atkinson, who keeps the tempo tripping along as those wonderful Kander and Ebb songs roll out, one after another.
The stage is rarely empty, with a large and energetic ensemble of talented young singer-dancers, while the principals belt out the songs with gusto and clear enjoyment as they’re asked to do some rather extraordinary things by their director.
But when it comes to the big second-act number about blinding the courtroom audience with showbiz razzmatazz, it suddenly dawns why this brash, brassy production never quite adds up to the sum of its parts. Like the lyrics say, “Give ’em the old razzle dazzle… and they’ll never get wise.”
There’s razzle dazzle by the bucketload, no question, and it’s quality razzle dazzle at that. The vocals are uniformly strong and convincing, and if the choreography isn’t quite Bob Fosse, it certainly does a more than adequate job of keeping things on the go.
But there’s a real danger at the heart of this show about two Chicago vaudeville girls in the 1920s who literally get away with murder thanks to the showmanship of their lawyer Billy Flynn, and it’s down to the simple fact that they’re remorseless killers. Unless they’re somehow likeable or can wring empathy from the audience, there’s a genuine sense of empty values about them – and the show.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens here, and it takes the edge off what should be a breathtaking production. There’s no doubt it’s very, very good, but as you stroll home afterwards you’re left with a nagging feeling that ultimately it’s a show that has no soul.
ANYTHING GOES
* * * *
August 15, 2013
Kilworth House Theatre, Leicestershire, until Sunday, September 1, 2013
ANYTHING Goes may not be Cole Porter’s finest musical – Kiss Me Kate or High Society might have to battle it out for that title – but it’s got no shortage of those fabulous tunes. You’re The Top, I Get a Kick Out of You and Blow, Gabriel, Blow are just three of the high points.
And as a lightweight diversion on a pleasant summer’s evening, this latest production at the de-lovely open-air venue fits well into Kilworth’s catalogue of West-End quality musicals. With regular director Mitch Sebastian and musical chief Garth Hall again in command of the ship, audiences can relax, safe in the knowledge that this vessel is in good hands.
The 1930s setting of the transatlantic liner and its ragtag collection of passengers and crew allows for much period detail in the choreography and instrumentation, and it’s in the big production numbers that Sebastian’s talents really shine. The Act One finale is a total showstopper and, to be honest, we’d all have gone home happy right then.
There’s plenty of broad comedy and fine singing on show, notably in the over-the-top gangster Moonface Martin, courtesy of Nic Greenshields, and the stunning vocals of Kara Lane’s cabaret star Reno Sweeney. And, as always, there’s a whole throng of toe-tappingly good dancers and singers throughout the large cast.
Libby Watson’s design – unusually for Kilworth – is more restrictive than facilitative, and much of the action is constrained by a shallow forestage and some cumbersome scenery, while Carl Knapper’s lighting has a tendency towards the garish and unsubtle.
But these minor quibbles aside, it’s yet another success in the seemingly relentless line of Kilworth summer triumphs and a de-lightful way to spend an August evening.
MY FAIR LADY
* * * *
June 8, 2013
Kilworth House Theatre, Leicestershire, until Sunday, July 14, 2013
LERNER and Loewe’s musical retelling of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion has had a long and successful stage history. Its first Broadway and West End productions featured Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway, while the film adaptation substituted Audrey Hepburn in the central role.
In the beautiful open-air setting of Leicestershire’s Kilworth House Theatre, that honour goes to Helena Blackman, last seen here as Maria von Trapp and probably best known for her runner-up spot in the TV talent search How Do You Solve a Problem…
As in The Sound of Music, she proves more than capable of holding a show. Her transition from the guttersnipe Covent Garden flower girl to would-be duchess under the tutelage of disciplinarian Professor Higgins is superb. Blackman’s voice continues to mature with confidence and some crystal-clear high notes, and she acts and dances as well as she sings.
With such an assured star in the driving seat, Mitch Sebastian’s production barely puts a foot wrong. His previous successes at the venue make it hard to sustain the standard he’s set himself, but he has again acquired an ensemble of hard-working, dedicated professionals to give rural theatregoers a taste of West End quality.
Mark Inscoe is a Higgins in the Harrison vein, mixing spoken lyrics with a pleasing singing voice to good effect, and he’s got a nice double act going with Hugh Osborne’s blustering Colonel Pickering.
Tom Sterling as the young suitor Freddy has perhaps the finest voice on stage but sadly gets just one song to show it off, while Cornelius Clarke invests his Alfred Doolittle with a judicious combination of charm and cheek.
Garth Hall’s excellent ten-strong band provide some seamless musical accompaniment and the strong cast fill Libby Watson’s amazing and versatile set with a host of likeable characters and amusing incident.
It may not quite have the stunning spectacle of earlier shows – and that might be as much down to Messrs Lerner and Loewe as anything – but it’s another welcome production that will entertain its highly supportive audience until the second half of summer, when Cole Porter’s Anything Goes comes along.
THE HIRED MAN
* * * *
April 16, 2013
Curve Studio, Leicester, until Saturday, April 27, 2013
For such a big, sweeping story, the restricted stage of the Curve Studio seems an unlikely home. Melvyn Bragg’s novel, transformed into a quintessentially English musical by the composer Howard Goodall, gets an outing courtesy of a co-production between Curve and Colchester’s Mercury Theatre, where it was seen first.
Goodall was just 26 when he wrote the music and lyrics, nearly 30 years ago now, and it’s full of the energetic vivacity of youth. Telling the story of a Cumbrian land worker around the turn of the last century, who gets caught up in everything from pit disasters to World War One, it’s something of a Catherine Cookson type saga, and hard to contain, especially in the cramped surroundings.
But director Daniel Buckroyd has clearly decided to turn necessity into a virtue, and the stage is constantly teeming with life, characters and movement, not to mention also housing a tight band around overworked pianist Richard Reeday.
Among the cast, there are some fine voices and stout performances. David Hunter – one of the finalists in ITV’s search for a Jesus Christ Superstar – gives the protagonist John plenty of depth and emotion, while Julie Atherton is constantly engaging as his wife Emily. They are well supported across the 10-strong acting line-up plus two further musicians and between them they make for a powerful ensemble.
Juliet Shillingford’s imaginative, multi-stepped design facilitates lots of variety and the overall impression is one of a haunting, challenging past, long gone but not forgotten.
PIAF
* * * *
February 26, 2013
Curve Studio, Leicester, until Saturday, March 16, 2013
CURVE director Paul Kerryson has made something of a speciality out of his magic touch with musicals. In the big space of the main house he has presented blockbusters including 42nd Street, The King and I and Hello Dolly!. But the intimacy of the venue’s studio theatre and the claustrophobic smallness of Pam Gems’s 1978 play-with-music about the Little Sparrow are a different matter altogether.
Fortunately for all concerned, Kerryson completely ignores the confines of both the space and the material and gives us another spectacular show, all the more powerful for being up close and (very) personal.
Simon Scullion’s set design is all Parisian walkways, dark corners and atmospheric moodiness, aided by some subtle and effective lighting (Arnim Friess) and elegant costumes (Siobhan Boyd).
The supporting cast of eight throng the tight space in a multitude of characters, rushing through the Piaf biography in an episodic, ramshackle race from childhood poverty to drug-dependent stardom. They may not have much to work with in a succession of short, snappy scenes, but they do it in fine style.
Equally important are the superb band of just three – accordionist, percussionist and musical director/pianist Ben Atkinson – who render the songs musically as soulful, mournful and deeply emotional.
But there’s no doubting who this show really belongs to. And it’s not – despite the best efforts of its author to present a flawed, sympathetic genius – Piaf herself. It’s Frances Ruffelle, the diminutive, extraordinarily-voiced actress who barely leaves the stage for two-and-a-half long hours, ravaging her voice and body in the representation of this French icon.
Piaf’s tale is grim, gritty and pretty sordid, and Gems gives us every unpleasant detail in full focus. In the end, she emerges as selfish, amoral and reckless to the point of self-destruction – hardly sympathetic. But in Ruffelle’s supremely controlled vocal performance, there is genius in abundance, and it’s her delivery of the haunting, impassioned songs that strikes the real note of emotional truth that Piaf herself was apparently so desperate to convey.
A tour de force, she heads a production that looks and sounds both powerful and bleak, and is not for the faint-hearted.
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