Musical – Live Art Alive

My Fair Lady

Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

Music by Frederick Loewe

Directed by James Brining

LEEDS PLAYHOUSE and OPERA NORTH

This is a genuinely delightful production that is as delectable as a floral posy from Eliza’s basket. Director James Brining is clearly Team Eliza casting Katie Bird as a strong vibrant Eliza who has learned how to take care of herself and is not giving up her independence for anyone. As a gritty working class girl she may dream of ‘a room somewhere, far away from the cold night air’ but she never loses sight of the reality of her circumstances. This linguistics experiment and potential transformation might be an intellectual challenge for Professor Higgins but for Eliza it is a chance to strive for a more secure career not a passive assumption of acquiring a wealthy lover or husband. This Edwardian musical romp stays pretty close to the original which works well in a cost of living crisis where many head to their local library to keep warm just as Eliza warms herself at the street brazier and her father and his pals huddle in the cosy warmth of a gaslit pub.

This co-production with Opera North allows for the large scale scenes and gives power and vibrancy to the classic score. The orchestra led by Oliver Rundell fills the large Quarry Theatre and sounds pitch perfect for a production on this scale. The big musical numbers feel sumptuous and the chorus do a wonderful job of bringing these scenes to life aided by Lucy Hind‘s joyful choreography. There are some lovely touches such as the barbershop elements to numbers such as Wouldn’t It Be Loverly and the memorable crowd scenes at Ascot which are wittily portrayed using quirky photo boards to transform the chorus into the gentry. The Embassy Ball scene has real energy and perfectly portrays Eliza’s successful move into polite society. The clever staging by Madeleine Boyd allows for a very varied range of scenes and the two levels act as an effective allusion to the class division of Edwardian London.

Katie Bird as Eliza in My Fair Lady at Leeds Playhouse. Image credit: Pamela Raith

The chemistry between Katie Bird as Eliza and John Hopkins as Professor Higgins works well. Bird is earthy and feisty whereas Hopkins brings a loose-limbed laconic aspect to his Higgins that is both infuriating and endearing. The will they/won’t they get together element which was introduced in the original musical by Lerner & Loewe was never intended in George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion. Director James Brining brings a truth to the closing scenes in that both characters are irrevocably changed by the other but that may not be enough to bring them together. Eliza has newfound confidence in herself that is no longer just bravado whereas Higgins may have discovered that we are all capable of profound and deep feelings regardless of how we sound when we seek to articulate our innermost emotions.

John Hopkins and Dean Robinson as Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering in My Fair Lady. Image credit: Pamela Raith

The other main characters are well cast with Richard Mosley-Evans bringing warmth and a certain likability to his portrayal as England’s most “original moralist” and Eliza’s pragmatic father. Dean Robinson as the kindly Colonel Pickering is a good foil for the more belligerent and foolish antics of the Professor, as is the calming influences of an excellent Helen Évora and Molly Barker as the housekeeper and Mrs Higgins. Ahmed Hamad is boyishly sweet and naive as Freddy who is hopelessly enamoured of Eliza.

There can be real risks in blending operatic styles with musicals but here they are in perfect accord. Katie Bird soars when required but retains the capacity to delightfully butcher her vowels as she attempts to follow Higgins rather extreme teaching methods. What John Hopkins delivers vocally builds as the extremes of his character are revealed but most vitally he brings a delightful quirkiness that is quite captivating. My Fair Lady is a musical classic filled with songs that most of us remember from childhood and this production at Leeds Playhouse is a satisfyingly pleasurable experience for anyone already familiar with or experiencing this classic for the very first time. For the cast, the creatives and the crew…You did It. You Did It…Ev’ry bit of credit for it all (And the credit for it all)
Belongs to you! (belongs to you!)

LEEDS PLAYHOUSE 31st May – 29th June 2024

In The Time Of Dragons

Immersive Theatre, Musical, Small Theatres

Written and Directed by Janine Waters

Music by Simon Waters and Alec Waters

The Edge Theatre

Stepping into the theatre for this production is an immediate immersion into 1960s club life. The opulent deep red of the theatre space is a perfect foil to the blue neon sign for The Blue Angel. A smartly dressed Alec Waters is seated at the piano and the side of stage is dotted with tables with lamps and tablecloths giving the audience the option to watch the show from the stalls or within the club itself. When Chanteuse Sheelagh Bell steps up to the microphone onstage in her gold lamè dress it really does feel like being in an intimate club setting.

Writer and Director Janine Waters has lovingly crafted this production into something quite magical. Each character feels fully fleshed out and utterly believable. It would have been easy to slip into a pastiche of the Swinging Sixties but thankfully Waters has a light touch and the piece feels very fresh and acutely observed. This is an ambitious piece for a small theatre as it frequently flits from the club in 1965 to a classroom setting in 2024 and a Salford flat simultaneously in both eras. The set design by David Howarth is highly effective and deceptively simple. Especially in scenes where the two eras collide as the divan beds align with a crumpled stripe duvet and a neat pastel counterpane.

The two central characters are nightclub singer Sheelagh and teacher Jack. Making her professional debut is Megan Keaveney who is perfectly cast as the pretty young singer navigating a disappointing marriage while pursuing her dream of a record deal and a career in music. Her vocal delivery is impressive and I’d probably pay to see her perform these songs in a nightclub now or in the Sixties. Coronation Street veteran Rupert Hill is great as the crumpled music teacher who abandoned his musical dreams for a love that turned sour. He is initially downbeat and desperate but his character starts to grow in confidence and stature as he finds his way back back to a love of music. Both characters act as a perfect foil for each other to make momentous shifts. The other two performers adeptly take on a number of roles. Tom Guest brings warmth and humour to his role as the kindly club manager and clearly relishes his role as the feckless husband/manager. His rendition of “That’s My Job” brings the house down. A catchy tune with pithy, witty lyrics that poke sly, gentle fun at men with a wandering eye who refuse to blame their big Y chromosome. Hannah Nuttall gives a really subtle performance as the stoic dresser who loves Shellagh and is comfortable in her own sexuality. Nuttall is quietly luminous as Anne and its impossible not to be routing for her to have her happy ending too.

Tom Guest as Frank in In The Time of Dragons at The Edge Theatre 📷Joel Fildes

This production is peppered with witty asides and genuine humour and the songs are uniformly strong with great tunes from Simon and Alec Waters, the clever lyrics drive the narrative and never feel shoehorned into the production. Running at 80 minutes without interval this could easily have sustained a longer running time and an interval. There is real love invested in the story telling and a celebration of the power of music, friendship and kindness. In The Time of Dragons is a worthy follow up to Spinach. I look forward to seeing what the creative team at The Edge do next.

THE EDGE THEATRE 19th Feb – 9th March 2024

OLIVER!

Large Theatres, Musical

Books, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart

Adapted from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist

Directed by James Brining

Leeds Playhouse

Christmas is certainly the time for nostalgia and sitting back rewatching old movies and indulging in familiar traditions such as Pantomime or a juicy epic from Charles Dickens. Leeds Playhouse have opted for the later and have thrown all the festive bells and whistles at this gloriously indulgent production. The classic Lionel Bart musical adaptation Oliver! has been a crowd pleaser for over 70 years. Director James Brining has taken his personal childhood memory of starring as a hungry urchin boy in a school production and lovingly celebrates this theatrical gem with a diverse and highly talented cast.

Set and costume Designer Colin Richmond has made brilliant use of the main stage in The Quarry by staging in the round with a range of elaborate platforms and bridges which allows for maximum drama and loads of very naturalistic movement on stage. The costumes are lovingly detailed and evoke every echelon of society that Dickens describes. London street markets come alive with the hustle and bustle of traders, shoppers and pickpockets. The grim workhouse filled with pallid hungry children desperate for gruel but dreaming of Food, Glorious Food is powerfully contrasted by the laden tables of food carried to gluttonous Victorian besuited men who frequent the same hallowed private clubs still entered by Tory politicians today who seem equally unconcerned by today’s food banks. Scenes in the funeral parlour where Oliver is sold as a tiny coffin follower are gleefully macabre as gloomy coffins open in the floor or a white faced child emerges from another to a sea of black clad mourners with quirky steam punk dark glasses. The overhead bridges and walkways work very well in allowing a large cast to move around on stage with freedom and give great scope to the clever choreography of Lucy Hind.

Felix Holt and cast in Oliver! at Leeds Playhouse. Image credit: Alastair Muir

Oliver! at Leeds Playhouse.
Image credit: Alastair Muir

Fagin’s base is filled with colourful pocket squares and eccentric bric a brac that allude more to the Victorian eccentricity of a born entrepreneur than the darker antisemitism of the original Fagin in Dickens. Steve Furst as Fagin is wily and has a certain Bohemian seedy charm but is also reminiscent of Wilfred Brambell in Steptoe and Son. The real brute is of course Bill Sykes played with real thuggish menace by Chris Bennett who is genuinely scary on stage. The feisty performance of vocal powerhouse Jenny Fitzpatrick makes for a striking and moving contrast as her Nancy feels robust enough to have no time for the thuggery of her lover. When she sings As Long As He Needs Me it is incredibly emotive as the complexity nature of love in a violent and coercive relationship is perfectly evoked. There are some great performances from all the main cast with a standout comedic turn from Minal Patel and Rosie Edie as the ghastly Bumbles.

The children in the Young Company are consummate professionals throughout this lengthy and demanding production. The young Oliver and The Artful Dodger are played by a rotating cast of young actors befitting modern child labour legislation. The press night production had Nicholas Teixeira playing Oliver and his clear diction and strong, pitch perfect renditions of Where Is Love? and Who Will Buy? were very impressive. Felix Holt was perfectly cast as the impudent but charming Artful Dodger.

This is a lush, exuberant extravaganza of a production that is memorable for all the right reasons. Every aspect feels well thought out and lovingly attended to. It’s truly encouraging to see large scale theatre productions in the North West that are worthy of coaxing London theatre goers to come North and hopefully remind Arts Council England that money allocated outside of London is a sound investment. If nothing else it might help keep Northern theatres from potentially resorting to pick a pocket or two to survive!!

OLIVER! at Leeds Playhouse 24th Nov 2023 – 27th Jan 2024

Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder!

Large Theatres, Musical

Book and Lyrics/ Co-directed by Jon Brittain

Music and Lyrics/Musical Director Matthew Floyd Jones

Co-Director/Choreographer Fabian Aloise

HOME

Two social misfits in Hull host a murder mystery podcast having forged an intense friendship in primary school with their shared love of guts and gore. So far so good, but real life stuff is getting in their way and mounting family pressure is urging them to get out of Kathys’ Mums’ garage and get a life…or at least a career. Luckily for them, their true crime writer heroine breezes into Hull and they meet her on her book signing. Unluckily for her, a mysterious murderer beheads her and the hapless duo decide to investigate her murder. Suddenly these wannabes have the opportunity to become somebodies…not just anybodies but the sort of podcast bodies who trend and go viral with the help of no less than Lorraine Kelly!!

Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder! was a sell out success at Edinburgh Fringe in 2022 and 2023. This tour taking in Bristol Old Vic and HOME featuring a strong cast, a great set by Cecilia Carey and high production values courtesy of Francesca Moody Productions looks set to take this Hull based crime romp straight into the West End of London. This is a rollicking good yarn with songs that have catchy melodies and terrific lyrics that showcase the Hull accent in all its Northern glory. It is a fun night out at the theatre that unashamedly pokes fun at the police force while raising pertinent questions about the role of social media in real life crime cases and our obsession with fame at any cost. At its heart it is a story of true friendship and how it can survive being tested to its limits.

The cast of Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder!
Image credit: Ellie Kurttz

Bronté Barbé and Rebekah Hinds as Kathy and Stella make a great onstage pairing. Bronté is perfectly cast as the nervy, bookish University dropout and Hinds is utterly believable as the steely eyed, insouciant Stella whose tough exterior marks her vulnerability. There is great onstage chemistry and their vocal range compliments each other beautifully. The rest of the cast play multiple roles with great enthusiasm. Jodie Jacobs shines as ghastly crime writer Felicia Taylor, her siblings and the detective tasked with uncovering her murder. T.J Lloyd is a delight as mortician Justin and Imelda Warren-Green slays her primary role as the bug-eyed superfan Erica.

There is genuinely much to love in this riotous goofy murder mystery…and this is written by someone who is not a natural lover of musicals. The frenetic pace of this production can sometimes feel like speeding along having mainlined a Mars Bar and washed it down with Red Bull but every line and phrasing is perfectly pitched and hits its mark. We may never know the true identity of The Hull Decapitator but we can be certain that the team behind Fleabag and Baby Reindeer have another hit production that may soon be adding awards to their mantelpiece!

HOME 5th – 21st October 2023

The Faggots And Their Friends Between Revolutions

Musical, Theatre

Music by Philip Venables

Wtiting and Direction by Ted Huffman

Based on novel by Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta

HOME

MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions achieved cult status since Larry Mitchell self published in 1977. In a world where acceptance and compassion can flow generously and hopefully then quickly appear to ebb away again, this new production feels timely as LGBTQIA+ rights and safety seems to be worryingly under threat. The blending of a wide range of musical styles, instruments and voices are a carousing anthem for unity and change. A high point of this performance is Kit Green breaking the fourth wall to bring the whole audience together in song. There is a palpable sense of unified passion as everyone literally sings from the same hymn sheet. The word Faggot is cherished here and used with real love in this celebration of queerness and the revolutionary attitude to male patriarchal society required to achieve self-determination.

This is the third collaboration between Composer Philip Venables and Writer/Director Ted Huffman. This new opera commissioned by Factory International is one of the touring productions which premieres at HOME before going to festivals in France and Austria. Previous work includes a highly disturbing opera production of Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis which apparently induced panic attacks in some of the audience members. Here there is a warmth and generosity in the music that is playful and highly engaging. The Faggots are alongside the faeries, the faggatinas and the women who love women. The music here has opera sitting alongside baroque, bossa nova, and club music. Fifteen musicians, singers, dancers and actors play multiple instruments from lutes and accordions to violins and viola da gambas. The score vividly evokes the sexually charged urgency as magic cock fluid is ejaculated, the folky sense of campfire singing in a Commune and the euphoria of a drug fuelled club night.

The history of the patriarchal society is told as a subversive fairytale. This story flips the history books and slyly suggests it’s the power and paper hungry men who are the aberrations in Society and its the Faggots and their friends who are the original people. All the performers have their moment in the spotlight with some beautiful virtuoso performances. However it’s the inimitable Kit Green and dancer/choreographer Yandass who primarily tell the story. They are a perfect foil for each other with Green all laconic, fluid elegance and pithy delivery whereas Yandass is a powerhouse of taut, passionate energy.

The stage at HOME looks like a vast black box creating a wonderful sense of looking back in time and seeing these performers in a stripped back way where there are no other visual distractions…they have to be seen…and they are seen…as extraordinary, gifted and ultimately human individuals who will carry on and survive whatever Revolutions are yet to come.

HOME 28 JUNE – 2 JULY

Manchester International Festival 29 JUNE – 16 JULY

A Little Night Music

Large Theatres, Musical, Opera

Sandra Piques Eddy and Quirijn de Lang as Desiree and Fredrik.
Photo by Sharron Wallace

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Directed by James Brining

A Leeds Playhouse and Opera North co-production

Quarry Theatre, Leeds Playhouse

This production of A Little Night Music returns to Leeds Playhouse after successfully opening here last summer. The main changes for 2022 are Sandra Piques Eddy as Desiree Armfeldt and Sam Marston as Henrik Egerman, the removal of social distancing measures and the poignant reality that musical theatre genius Stephen Sondheim is no longer with us. This is a confident partnership between Leeds Playhouse and Opera North which looks and sounds absolutely glorious. This really delivers as a special night out at the theatre which in our current rather grim society is a breathe of fresh air and a much needed tonic for the soul.

The cast of A Little Night Music.
Photo by Sharron Wallace

There is real drama and impact in the sheer simplicity of Madeleine Boyd’s set design. The opening act reveals the full orchestra warming up with Conductor Oliver Rundell while The Quintet start to unpack the set pulling away white sheets as they set up the staging. There’s something particularly exciting about seeing what will appear next and what it may reveal about the production…perhaps akin to post pandemic measures seeing the face behind a mask. For Act 2 at Madame Armfeldt’s chateau there is a vast functioning fountain complete with cherub! The elegant polished parquet floor that surrounds it adds to the sense of a bygone age. Tellingly the floor is peeling and damaged at the edges, poignantly suggestive that this golden age of champagne weekends in the country are coming to an end…aging and decaying alongside the elegant chatelaine of the chateau.

A Little Night Music merges a romantic musical with elements of French farce. Written in triple time to create variety, it also neatly links the multiple triangles of complex love relationships that play out around the three generations of Armfeldt women, and theThe musical opened on Broadway in 1973 and has seen many successful productions in the subsequent almost 50 years. Originally set in Sweden in 1900, director James Brining cleverly moves the action to the 1950s where the restless, career-oriented Desiree looks forward to more opportunities for her and her daughter Fredrika, whereas her elegant mother looks wistfully back to her heyday as a beautiful courtesan desired by Princes and Dukes. What remains unchanged and unchanging is the theme of love… Sondheim’s score makes the heart soar while his incisive, perceptive lyrics get to the core of all the highs and lows of love in its many and complex guises.

Opera North already have a great relationship with musical theatre and in 2016 worked with Leeds Playhouse on a highly successful production of Into The Woods. The full orchestra in place for this production is an added delight as on stage with the actors it both adds to the drama of life on tour for Desiree and life in the luxury of a chateau for Madame Armfeldt, while providing a perfect accompaniment to pitch perfect vocals from the cast.

Unsurprisingly the standout performance is Dame Josephine Bardtow as the grand dame Madame Armfeldt. Her crystal perfect diction, regal bearing and acerbic reflections make for the archetypal matriach. She effortlessly moves into tender and beguiling as she reflects on her early life in Liasons. Her facial expressions even when not centre stage are a study in storytelling and her every move is delicately and precisely nuanced.

Dame Josephine Bardtow as Madame Armfeldt Photo by Sharron Wallace

New to this 2022 production is Sandra Piques Eddy who is a real joy as Desiree. She looks gorgeous enough to merit It Would Have Been Wonderful and exudes Desirees’ playful and impetuous nature. Her Send In The Clowns is spine pricking in the anguish and regret of a woman realising she may have missed her best chance at love. Quirijn de Lang returns as Fredrik and looks like a quintessential Hollywood leading man from the 1950s. He has a polished but slightly weary elegance and brings both vanity and vulnerability to a middle aged man caught in a love triangle. He also brings great physical humour and timing to his role as the hapless lawyer. He is simply wonderful in all his big numbers such as Now, It Would Have Been Wonderful and Send In The Clowns.

This production seems perfectly cast throughout with Corinne Cowling as Fredriks’ vacuous and naive young wife and Sam Marston as his brittle and intense only son. Christopher Nairne as Count Carl-Marcus and Amy J Payne as Petra are highly entertaining on stage while Lucy Sherman brings a stillness and serenity that perfectly counterbalances some of the other more dramatic performances. Helen Évora as Countess Charlotte is simply wonderful as the brittle, disillusioned wife who still loves her errant buffoon of a husband. Her rendition of Every Day A Little Death is pitch perfect on every level and utterly unforgettable.

This production really is a pleasure to sit back and just relax in the assured direction of James Brining. Everything about it works smoothly yet nothing feels slick or shallow. Complex and flawed as every character undoubtedly is, there is such care and attention to each performance that its impossible to not leave the theatre on a summer night and feel that just as Madame Armfeldt promised…the night really has smiled.

Quarry Theatre, Leeds Playhouse 6th-16th July 2022

The House with Chicken Legs

Children's Theatre, Large Theatres, Musical, Puppetry, Uncategorized

Written by Sophie Anderson

Adapted by Oliver Lansley

Directed by Oliver Lansley and James Seager

Co-production HOME and Les Enfants Terribles

HOME excels at being a welcoming venue for vibrant, colourful and riotous productions such as the Emma Rice’s Wise Children and The Tiger Lillies Corrido de la Sangre. This brand new collaboration with Les Enfants Terribles is no exception. This lively adaptation of the hugely successful children’s book by Sophie Anderson is brimming with energetic performances, Eastern European folklore, music, puppetry and animation. Its easy to see why The House with Chicken Legs was such a great choice to showcase the very varied talents of Les Enfants Terrible as they celebrate 20 years as a successful company.

The House with Chicken Legs tells a tale steeped in Eastern European folklore as the audience are invited into the netherworld of this house of bones which is home to Baba Yaga and her granddaughter Marinka. They play host to nightly parties for the dead before guiding souls through the gate to the afterlife and safely on their journey back to the stars. Baba Yaga relishes her role as gatekeeper unlike 12 year old Marinka who wistfully dreams of a life among the living. The fantastical house moves often and careers around the world on its chicken legs so Marinka is quite literally a displaced child. Although in development from before the pandemic this story is particularly relevant in our current political times. The folk music and the rustic borscht and kvass that nourish the living and the dead have much of their roots in Ukraine. Witnessing Marinka in this house that literally moves without warning is a potent reflection on what it is to be a refugee child who has witnessed death all around her.

Eve de Leon Allen as Marinka
Andrew AB Photography

This production is brimming over with passion and energy. Like the house itself it moves constantly between quiet, beautiful moments of reflective song or charming storytelling through puppets crafted from wood and bones through to riotous parties for the dead and dreamy, kaleidoscopic animation sequences. The house is sometimes homespun cosy for Baba Yaga or jazzy and sassy for the Yaga Tatiana in New Orleans while in other instances it literally grows legs to be on the move. Intimate moments with ingenue Marinka can be replaced by big song numbers with the whole cast resplendent in Yaga house costumes from across the world that lead to bizarre sequences that feel like you are suddenly watching some bonkers Eastern European entry for Eurovision!!

Pérola Conga as Baba Tatiana
Andrew AB Photography

There is enough content here to have something for everyone. The set design by Jasmine Swan is suitably fantastical and glorious, as is the lighting design and fabulous costumes. The musicians are multi talented and a pleasure to listen to. The performances are strong and well fleshed out. Eve de Leon Allen is perfectly cast as Marinka and has a beautiful tone to their singing voice. Lisa Howard and Pérola Conga excel as Baba Yaga and Baba Tatiana, with the latter giving a real powerhouse performance as a sexy, sultry ancient Yaga full of wisdom and panache. Matthew Burns brings magic with a simple puppet and a glistening fan that brings Jackdaw to life for both adults and children. There really is a lot to enjoy and admire in this production however there are points where the pace gets bogged down in repetitive narrative and this clever show loses its tautness. The result is overly long and coming in at just under 3 hours with the interval may be more than some younger kids will comfortably appreciate.

The House with Chicken Legs
Andrew AB Photography

The House with Chicken Legs has definitely got big enough Legs to take itself out on tour. This is a production that celebrates being different and has a strong message of inclusion. It is both magical and macabre but with enough heart at its core to tell us about death and loss in a way that may bring comfort and reassurance to children and adults alike as we navigate our own stories of what it is to live our lives and mourn our dead.

HOME 29th March – 23rd April 2022

The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson

Les Enfants Terribles

INSANE ANIMALS

Large Theatres, Musical

Bourgeois and Maurice. Image by Drew Forsyth

Written by George Heyworth and Liv Morris

Directed by Philip McMahon

HOME

From the moment the spoken intro distorts into static and alien green beams swirl out across the audience, it is clear the mothership has landed. HOME is now host to the lovable alien glitter gods Bourgeois and Maurice. All brittle deadpan delivery and bored insouciance the delightful duo open with a cheery ditty Brink of Extinction reminding their audience things are not great on Earth, while also informing us that with their assistance and the aircon pumping out Poppers…well we might just be okay.

It is quickly evident why this dastardly duo secured the first T1 Commission to create a new piece of work for the main stage at HOME. Witty fast paced lyrics and double entendres ricochet like alien laser beams as they stride around a tinfoil stage as though on a Parisian runway. Writers and performers George Heyworth and Liv Morris have their audience in the palms of their exquisitely manicured hands and we are going on the ride of our lives as we are pulled back 1500 hundred years before Homer wrote The Iliad to the oldest written story The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Michael Hankin has designed a set that blends all the enthusiasm for arts and crafts of 1970s Blue Peter with traces of a set from The Mighty Boosh or an Austin Powers movie. The overall effect is a full on riot of colour and glitz that works surprisingly well. Accommodating a cast of eight plus all their musical instruments and a most unlikely throne, there is thankfully still space on stage for singing, dancing, fighting, fucking and brain sucking.

Emer Dineen in Insane Animals. Image by Drew Forsyth

Despite being a long established double act who take no prisoners there is a real generosity in this production and the writing allows the rest of the cast to glitter every bit as brightly as the dynamic duo themselves. A definite surprise hit is Lockie Chapman as Gilganesh, he absolutely owns his onstage kingdom and provides a mighty vocal talent. His big ballad Don’t Want to Get Old is simply beautiful; incredibly moving lyrics delivered with a poignant depth of emotion. The comic timing with his opponent/bedfellow Enkidu is as electrifying as the sparks crackling from the elegant talons of the alien gods. Kayed Mohamed-Mason charms with his forest innocence but quickly ramps up the mischief after his raunchy encounters with the high priestess Shamhat. Emer Dineen has the natural talent to steal every scene she features in. A gorgeous bluesy vocal is accompanied by easy charm and deft comic expressions that captivate.

This is a fast paced musical that unapologetically steals from popular culture whether by an impish note from an Amazon delivery or a bed scene that could be from Morecambe and Wise or The Odd Couple. There are some weak points in the storyline and the first act ideally could end on the absolute high of the sublime anthem Gay for You. However by the end it’s hard to remember these points as the infectious joy of the show threatens to overwhelm even the Poppers in the atmosphere. Director Phillip McMahon of Thisispopbaby has given the whole production an extra layer of gloss and sequins. The songs are witty, pithy and socially relevant and are delivered with gusto by the whole cast. With a little editing and careful maintenance of the tinfoil budget this is a musical that could run and run.

HOME 28th Feb – 14th March 2020

West Side Story

Large Theatres, Musical

ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE

Directed by Sarah Frankcom

Initially conceived by Jerome Robbins in 1949, WEST SIDE STORY finally arrived on Broadway in 1957. A resounding hit, it was made into a movie in 1961 and has remained an iconic and groundbreaking musical ever since. New versions are in production for Broadway and cinema, but the first big production to makes changes to the choreography and score is this Sarah Frankcom version.

Based on star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, this tale of thwarted love amidst gangland violence and knife crime is as horribly relevant in modern British cities as it was in 1950s Manhattan. It speaks so vividly of young people adapting to their burgeoning independence in a world where they may struggle for acceptance. This tale of gangs is evergreen in that it perfectly depicts the human quest for social identity. We all seek a sense of belonging and to affirm this we adhere to an in group which might be family, social class, a gang or a football team. To increase self esteem we discriminate against the out group, the more prejudice and seperateness then the greater enhancement of self image. The beauty and the tragedy of this has resonated throughout the ages and in every culture. In my teenage years it was Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland where boys were knee capped and girls tarred and feathered if they dared to fall in love with someone outside their religion.

The set design by Anna Fleischle is all clean stark lines of white steel and glass, like possible staging for A Clockwork Orange. Although beautiful in a minimalist manner it initially seemed too cold for this tale of passion. There is no context or sense of location which is disconcerting yet highly effective as a potent reminder that this story is ongoing – here in the theatre and outside in every town and city.

This set also works brilliantly with the new choreography by Aletta Collins. She has kept the beauty of the original but adapted it for the round stage and added a fresh athletic element that sees the performers really use the multi levels of the set with cat like grace and agility so there is almost an element of Parkour in the choreography.

Jason Carr has ensured that the music really is the star of this production with an orchestra concealed outside the theatre itself delivering a glorious version of Bernstein’s score. Every note seems flawless and crystal clear as though the orchestra was actually centre stage.

The cast exude the confidence and youthful exuberance of teenagers with a lust for life and a casual disregard for the brutal reality of death until tragedy actually strikes. There are some great vocal performances. Gabriela García as Maria has a pure soaring operatic vocal while Andy Coxon as Tony has a rich warm voice which grows in confidence throughout the show. Gang leader Riff Michael Duke is a powerful dancer but it is his lover Anita, Jocasta Almgill who steals the show. A brilliant singer and dancer, it is also her stage presence which ensures she exudes both passion and compassion.

The central protagonists Coxon and García have do have great chemistry as the lovers torn between two worlds. The love scenes are full of tenderness and the reckless passion of teenage hormones. The rumble scenes and resulting deaths are impactful and exude horror and regret at the wasted young lives. The overall feel of this production is that it is a beautiful and lovingly crafted yet I left feeling curiously flat. Perhaps as Maria says It’s not Us, its everything around us, the knowledge that our young people appear destined to keep repeating the same mistakes in an unyielding world.

Royal Exchange Theatre 6 April – 25 May 2019

Images by Richard Davenport: The other Richard

THE PRODUCERS

Large Theatres, Musical

ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE

Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan

Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks

Directed by Raz Shaw

A Riot of colour sequins and spangly frocks. A cluster of corny jokes that the audience know by heart. A bonkers evil anti-hero. A dame in drag. A warm-hearted gentleman thief. A beautiful young ingénue. An innocent abroad in an unknown world. Catchy songs and madcap dance routines. Lights, sequins, laughter….It’s Christmas and this must be Pantomime?

Thankfully this is bad taste theatre at its very best and aimed at entertaining the grown ups. Raz Shaw brings the Mel Brooks classic The Producers to the stage of The Royal Exchange Theatre. Joyful and irreverent, this is a production that both delights and appalls in equal measure. Filled with bad taste jokes and bawdy humour which could/should repel, it manages to triumph with a heart of gold as glittering as the show girls costumes and as gleaming as the coiffeur of Roger de Bris.

The Producers dating from the 1960s, pokes fun at the Nazis, and although the jokes might be old, the message remains current – we need humour and parody to diminish the power of extremism. It might be a foppish Hitler being mocked on stage but replace the black moustache with an orange wig and the central message remains the same.

This is a genuinely top notch Broadway affair with a superb cast who whole heartedly embrace this production with verve and skill. Julius D’Silva is excellent as Max Bialystock, adding his own flair to a role made so iconic by Zero Mostel and Nathan Lane. He is every inch the shabby King of Old Broadway with his wild eyes and strands of over-black hair pasted across a sweaty, shiny pate. The cynical theatrical ham who can woo old ladies for cash and command a stage with sheer class and dignity while singing in a prison cell toilet in Sing Sing.

Stuart Neal as Leo Bloom is utterly believable as the baby-faced accountant with big dreams. His nasal twang and youthful inexperience perhaps takes more from the Matthew Broderick performance than the Gene Wilder. His big number with the showgirls is pure old school Broadway glamour. Swedish Ulla is played with Monroesque allure by a wigglicious Emily-Mae. Charles Brunton is outrageously camp as director Roger de Bris channelling a Rita Hayworth any drag queen would be proud off. Hammed Animashaun steps out of the chorus and shines in the office scene then goes on to do a star turn as Carmen Ghia.

Designer Ben Stones creates a perfect Broadway experience and captures a moment in history with flair and drama. Lighting designer Jack Knowles may have taken down the National Grid with his use of yellow bulbs; but to great effect. From the bulb illuminated orchestra to the outrageous spangly Swastika signs and Hitler descending from the ceiling the visual impact is high octane throughout. The costumes are utterly fabulous with an array of spectacle that would not look amiss on a McQueen or Westwood catwalk.

The Producers is a gobsmacking riot of glitz, glamour and chutzpah. If someone at The Royal Exchange raised funds for this production betting on it being a first night flop and aiming on a flight to Rio, then right now they must be eating the account books and bedding in for Christmas in Strangeways!!

Royal Exchange Theatre 30 Nov – 26 Jan

All images by Johan Perrson