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Posts Tagged ‘Mark Bailey’

Intimate Apparel

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

It’s great that we’ve got theatres like the Park & St. James that can bring small scale shows in from outer London and the regions quickly. The thought of London missing out on this little gem from Bath, now a regional powerhouse, is inconceivable.

The play tells the story of Esther, who traveled from Carolina to New York City in her teens, after the death of her mother. In Mrs Dixon’s rooming house she works as a seamstress and is shown how to make intimate apparel, a lucrative line. When we meet her she is 35, successful (she has saved a veritable fortune) but unmarried. We meet two of her clients, a wealthy but unhappy society woman and a prostitute. We also meet orthodox Jew Mr Marks from whom she procures all her fabric. They share a love of fine cloth and there is a certain frisson between them. She receives a letter from a labourer on the Panama Canal who becomes her pen pal, though others have to read his letters and write her replies as she can’t. He proposes by letter, she accepts, he arrives in New York, they marry and her world is turned upside down.

It’s slow to take off, but when it does its a captivating and deeply moving story. There are only six characters but a lot of short scenes and a lot of locations, but with a clever design (Mark Bailey) it doesn’t lose pace in Laurence Boswell’s fine staging. Tanya Moodie is sensational in the lead role; she plays it with such delicacy and conviction. Chu Omambala as George has great presence, though I occasionally struggled with his accent, as I think he did! Dawn Hope is a lovely contrast as Mrs Dixon, who confides in Esther and relies on her. Further contrast comes with her unlikely friendship with prostitute Mayme, beautifully played by Rochelle Neil. There are fine supporting performances from Sara Topham as wealthy Mrs Van Buren and Ilan Goodman (a bit of a dead ringer for his dad Henry, who was in the audience last night) as Mr Marks.

This is a very different piece from other Lynn Nottage plays that have crossed the Atlantic – Fabulation and Ruined – and there seem to be another half-dozen plays we haven’t seen yet. She’s a fine playwright, so let’s see them please!

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Sweet Smell of Success

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

It’s hard to believe it’s taken 10 years for this Marvin Hamlisch show to get to the UK, a delay no doubt resulting from its lack of success on Broadway in a production by our very own Nicholas Hytner. It may be on the fringe, but the production feels very West End; a bit too slick maybe?

It’s set in 1952 (a good year!) in the manipulative, machaeavelian world of gossip columnist JJ Hunsecker. A mere mention in his column and you hit the bigtime or disappear into obscurity. Venues and people employ press agents specifically to get them into his column and he befriends one such agent, Sidney Falcone, in a club where Sidney poses as JJ’s sister Susan’s friend in order to cover up her relationship with jazz pianist Dallas – though he hasn’t even met her. JJ’s relationship with his younger sister is possessive, obsessive and rather unhealthy. They propel Dallas to stardom, but when JJ and Dallas discover the truth the shit hits the fan bigtime.

The seven piece band under MD Bob Broad makes one of the biggest sounds I’ve ever heard in the theatre and you jump as they hit the first notes. Fortunately, Ed Borgnis’ sound design maintains perfect balance with the vocals and it all sounds great. The new Arcola studio has seats on three sides and three galleries – one long one for the audience, a smaller one for the band and an even smaller performance space. Most of the action takes place on the unelevated stage floor, though the arrival of the chorus at the back in a space that has something to do with the building’s former use is ingenious. A few neon signs and some furniture constitute the minimalist but effective design by Mark Bailey – there are 17 scenes in 14 different places!

I was hugely impressed by Adrian der Gregorian as Sidney; great characterisation and superb singing. Stuart Matthew Price was in fine voice as Dallas and Celia Graham gives a lovely cameo as Sidney’s girl Rita. I thought David Bamber was good though he didn’t blow me away like Der Gregorian did. Caroline Keiff’s seemed to be singing uncomfortably high as Susan. There’s an excellent ensemble who are well choreographed by Nathan M Wright. Mehmet Ergen’s production is super-slick and that for me was a bit of a problem. The show is a bit cold and cynical (typical of book writer John Guare), failing to engage on an emotional level, and the production’s slickness just adds to that rather than trying to balance it. Perhaps coming just two nights after Howard Goodall’s deeply moving musical of  A Winter’s Tale at the Landor didn’t help.

Still, as impressive an outing as the show is ever likely to get and just 3 months after Hamlisch’s sad demise. Off to Dalston you go…..

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Chaplin

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Presenting the London premiere of this show by Americans Ernest Kinoy, Lee Goldsmith & Roger Anderson may be considered a coup for the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Thirty years ago, the Broadway production was cancelled just before the first rehearsal when financing fell through after another show about Chaplin was being prepared. Sadly, it proves a bit of a disappointment.

The show (somewhat pretentiously sub-titled A Memory as Entertainment) concentrates on Chaplin’s early life, up to his departure from Keystone films when he was just 26. It’s a fascinating life and reading Eliot Shrimpton’s excellent programme notes before the start heightens the anticipation.

The fatal flaw of the show proves to be the long first half (despite the fact it appears to have lost 15-20 mins in the last few days!) when a fascinating life is presented very slowly and made dull. The music, newly orchestrated by prolific MD Steven Edis, is unremarkable and the book rather clunky. It was all a bit Oliver! without any of the sparkle. Things improve in the second half, which starts on the ship to the US and zips through the five years that took Chaplin to stardom, but its a bit late.

Mark Bailey’s design is outstanding. There is a giant gold picture frame at the back, with projections onto its canvas, red velvet curtains descend for the music hall scenes and the costumes are excellent. The opening of Act II on a liner heading for NYC with the projection of the sea, a large smoking funnel and a pair of handrails looks brilliant. Bill Deamer, who has done such good work at the Open Air Theatre, choreographs well. In fact there’s nothing much wrong with Martin Connor’s staging other than its pacing.

The acting is better than the singing. Though the musical standards in the pit are good, the singing onstage is (unusually for GSMD) often ropey with far too many off-key moments. The most impressive performances come from Tim Bowie as elder brother Sydney (though he looks four years younger rather than four years older), Sion Alun Davies as Keystone films supremo Mack Sennett, Katherine Rose Morley as his Mabel and Rose Reynolds as the Lily Chaplin marries.

In the 20 or so years I’ve been going to the GSMD end-of-year musicals, I’m not sure I’ve ever left as disappointed as I did last night. Most of their previous shows have been revivals of tested material. This just shows that however good the talent, if the material isn’t good enough, you’re bound to end up with a dud.

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