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Posts Tagged ‘Charles Strouse’

Rags

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 15, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Given the pedigree of its creators (music by Annie’s Charles Strouse, lyrics by Godspell’s Stephen Schwartz and book by Fiddler on the Roof’s Joseph Stein) this musical had a troubled life, surviving only three nights after its Broadway opening. Though there have been excellent drama school productions (I saw it at both GSMD & RAM in recent years), Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre gave it its UK professional premiere, in a revised version with a book by David Thompson, last year, and have now brought it to London, substantially recast.

It’s the story of the American immigrant experience, in this case Jewish refugees fleeing the East European pogroms at the beginning of the 20th Century. Rebecca and Bella meet and bond on a  ship bound for New York. Rebecca and her ten-year-old son David are seeking a new life, Bella is joining her widowed father, who emigrated two years earlier to join his brother. Rebecca is unable to pay her entrance fee on arrival, so Bella persuades her father to vouch for her, then her uncle to house and employ her. From there, their lives are intertwined as they navigate sweat shop exploitation and anti-semitism and get caught up in labour disputes. Rebecca chooses the wrong man whilst Bella chooses a good one.

Bronagh Lagan’s production flows beautifully on a set by Gregor Donnelly defined by suitcases, like the 2016 RAM production, and lines of washing, with excellent costumes underlining the heritage and period. In an ensemble packed with fine performances, Carolyn Maitland shines as Rebecca, with beautiful vocals, passionately delivered. Dave Willetts is on fine form as Avram, Bella’s father, Alex Gibson-Giorgio is excellent as Italian union man Sal, and there’s a terrific performance from a boy actor as David. Two ‘Americans’, played as vaudevillians, pop up regularly to illustrate the ‘welcome’ these immigrants receive and. a four-piece Klezmer band do likewise to emphasise the Jewish roots.

This is the second Hope Mill / Aria Entertainment production I’ve seen in four days. Their march for domination of regional and touring musical theatre continues with five more productions between them in the first half of 2020. Long may it continue.

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Sweeney Todd / Rags – Royal Academy of Music at Stratford East

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 12, 2016| 2 Comments »

Forty years before Stephen Sondheim turned up in a pie shop in Tooting, he went to see Christopher Bond’s play Sweeney Todd at the Theatre Royal Stratford East (I like to think he met another of my theatrical hero’s, Joan Littlewood, still their AD at the time) and so his musical Sweeney Todd was born. Twelve years later I went to the Half Moon Theatre in Stepney Green, three miles down the road,  where Christopher Bond, then their AD, was returning the compliment by directing Sondheim’s musical adaptation. That was my first Sweeney. Thirty-one years later I’m at Stratford East for my 21st performance / 15th production of the show by the students of the Royal Academy of Music, six years after I was at the RAM for the presentation of Mr. Sondheim’s honorary doctorate. I love all these connections!

They’ve made a great job of it too, in a more contemporary and very dark production by Michael Fentimam. The two-tier set allows a barber shop above the pie shop, though they haven’t included traps for the bodies. The oven is under the stage, which makes for dramatic plunges of ghostly walking bodies. There’s a lot of blood. The chorus are sometimes in blood-splattered white gowns, sometimes in retro contemporary dress, always in dark glasses. I wasn’t convinced by the introduction of a child, presumably to show Sweeney had some compassion. The eight-piece band under Torquil Munro sounded superb.

Elissa Churchill as Mrs Lovett started on a high with The Worst Pies in London and stayed there through A Little Priest, God That’s Good, By the Sea and her duet with Brian Raftery’s Tobias, Not While I’m Around, relishing every word of Sondheim’s brilliant lyrics; a terrific performance. Lawrence Smith was an excellent Sweeney, with the right mix of menace and mania, an appropriate contrast to Mrs L. Ruben Van keer was a superb Anthony, singing Joanna beautifully and passionately. There’s also a delightfully flamboyant Pirelli from Fransisco del Solar. It’s a fine ensemble; the class of 2016 are as good as any I’ve seen at RAM.

Rags was such a commercial flop on Broadway that I’m not sure it’s ever had a UK professional production. I’ve only seen another conservatoire production, at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, three years ago (https://garethjames.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/rags-at-guildhall-school-of-music-drama) so RAM at Stratford East is an opportunity for a second look at a show from the man who wrote the book of Fiddler on the Roof, the man who wrote the music for Annie and the man who did the music & lyrics for Godspell and Wicked!

The story of East European Jewish immigrants in New York City, exploited in the rag trade sweatshops, suits musical theatre. The ragtime infused score, with East European Jewish influences, sounds even better second time around, and it’s played beautifully by an orchestra twice the size of the Sweeney band, under Caroline Humphris. The vocal standards are high too, with Julia Lissel as Rebecca and Victoria Blackburn as Bella sounding particularly gorgeous. In addition to these two excellent female leads there are fine acting performances from Neil Canfer as Avram and Oliver Marshall as Ben.

I liked the idea of a back wall of suitcases and trunks and suitcases carried by the migrants used to create all of the props, but in practice it did make Hannah Chissick’s production seem a bit cramped. I wasn’t convinced by young David played by a six-foot-something actor with puppet, I’m afraid! The finale introducing a new wave of migrants was an inspired idea and a moving conclusion.

Both shows provided a wonderful showcase for thirty-two performers and twenty-five musicians about to launch their musical theatre careers. That’s a lot of talent!

 

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Superman – The Musical

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

This was the third musical comedy I’d seen in London in eight days. Top price tickets for the other two, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and I Can’t Sing in the West End, are five times as much and though I enjoyed the other two, I can honestly say this was just as much fun. The belated UK premiere of Charles Strouse’s 1966 Broadway show (11 years before he wrote his big hit Annie) is a coup for Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre in Walthamstow, and yet another reason to justify this venue’s candidature for musical theatre indispensability.

The baddies in this particular Superman tale are atomic scientist Dr Abner Sedgwick, determined to destroy the world’s iconic goodie in revenge for the lack of respect of other scientists, and Max Mencken, a challenger for the affections of Lois. We also have five acrobatic Ling’s – Fan Po, Tai, Ding Ming Foo and father Ling! – brilliantly choreographed by Kate McPhee, when she wasn’t designing the costumes. Randy Smartnick, when he wasn’t directing, designed an inventive ‘cardboard cut-out’ set of panels that change to become the Daily Planet offices, Sedgwick’s laboratory and all other locations, with an air blower and a doll on a wire giving us flying sequences. The low budget is turned to an advantage by giving us production values to match the tongue-in-cheek tone of the parody.

It’a got some great songs and they are sung really well, accompanied by Aaron Clingham’s excellent quintet behind the stage. Craig Berry as Superman has a commanding presence, a kiss curl, an earnest look and a booming baritone voice. Matthew Ibbotson is a suitably manic baddie (and a dead ringer for The Book of Mormon’s Elder Cunningham, Jared Gertner) and Michelle LaFortune is a lovely Lois. Sarah Kennedy almost steals the show with a terrific performance as put-upon Sydney. There’s great energy and enthusiasm in the whole ensemble which was infectious.

Sadly the run is now over but if there’s any justice it’ll be back. Huge fun on a shoestring.

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