Birdsong- Derby Theatre

Posted on June 12, 2018 by garylongden

Birdsong

The centenary of the ending of the Great War has prompted many tributes, some more meritorious than others. The eponymous novel, by Sebastian Faulks, first published in 1993, has established itself as a modern classic, a love story set against the backcloth of war, where the omnipresent threat of death heightens human’s search for love, and loss is only a rifle shot or shell blast away. Stephen Wraysford, who arrived first as a textile industrialist, returns as a British officer, taking his men over the top at the Somme, injured in a field hospital.

 

A weighty novel always poses a page to stage challenge. As it is, the production runs to two and a half hours. Flashbacks are used extensively by adapter Rachel Wagstaff to fill in the narrative gaps, a device used with uneven, and narrative slowing, effect. Wagstaff impressively gained Faulk’s support, endorsement and involvement in this adaptation, which does not rely upon the audience having read the book.

 

For scenery, a trench, ladders, and tunnels cutaway, dominates the stage. Before the War, Wraysford, had engaged in a passionate and dangerous affair with the beautiful Isabelle Azaire. After war breaks out, he must lead his men into the carnage of the Battle of the Somme, and through the sprawling tunnels that lie deep underground. Credit is due to Victoria Spearing’s authentic and convincing set, overlaid with Dominic Bilkey’s soundscape, and Alex Wardle’s clever lighting. Music and songs are also powerfully deployed, courtesy of James Findlay, not least in the moving scene when the troops are writing what they know are likely to be their last letters home. Confronted with the ghastly tableau of war, Wraysford holds the memories both of his affair with Isabelle, and his untroubled life before, tight, as he tries to survive the maelstrom.

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The flashbacks can sometimes teeter on the absurd, rather than the dream like. But Tom Kay works hard to offer a poignant compelling performance of Wraysford’s fragile mental state. Yet it is the vox pops of the ordinary protagonists which resonate. A sapper, Tipper, choosing to take his own life rather than let someone else do it, personifies the tragic tradition of a man who cannot escape his fate. A Private borrows from the “Inbetweeners” tradition in a portrayal of sexual bravado, seemingly emulating Wraysford’s exploits, which in truth, amount to nothing. Madelaine Knight effortlessly oozes sex appeal as textile heiress Isabelle Azaire

 

Wagstaff has succeeded in producing a play which stands, and breathes, in its own right. Although the audience was dominated by female aficionados of the book, those who had not seen it expressed no difficulty in appreciating the story, driven by Alastair Whatley and Charlotte Peters’ creative direction. A fine response to a powerful moment in history. Birdsong runs until Saturday 16th, then continues on tour.

http://www.birdsongthetour.com/
Gary Longden

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The Bowie Experience – Wolverhampton Grand

Posted on June 11, 2018 by garylongden

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I went to the show as a Bowie devotee. I have seen Bowie live several times, three times in the seventies, I own all of his recorded material, and have been a fan since 1973. When I first heard Mick Ronson’s wailing guitar from “Moonage Daydream”, floating from my neighbours’ bedroom window, I was hooked.

 

I also went to see Visconti’s “Holy Holy”, with Woodmansey on drums. It had been surprisingly good. Glen Gregory, Marc Almond and Ronson’s daughter were brilliant on vocals. It augured well, the music would stand reinterpretation and revocalsiation. My feelings pre- show were mixed. It was time for another Bowie fix, certainly. I was not interested in a look a like, or sound a like show. That would be pointless. I did want something which captured the spirit of the man and the music. Then there was the matter of song choices. The “Lets Dance” version of “China Girl” is awful, the “Idiot” version sublime. Would he go for a pop presentation, or a more daring dive into Bowie’s back catalogue?

 

Any Bowie Tribute act has a challenge. Which Bowie? Some, like, myself have followed him from the start, but we are not in the majority. Broadly speaking there are three Bowie sub-tribes. The first will take in anything up to Station to Station, the Ziggy Stardust fans. Then there are those from Low to Scary Monsters. Then from Lets Dance onwards. You can’t be all things to everyone.

 

The Grand was pretty much sold out on Friday night, which is good, by any measure. A reflection of the enduring popularity of David Bowie, and his music. It was packed with Bowie aficionados and cognoscenti, a big audience, but it was going to be a demanding one too.

 

I have grown a little blasé about “Space oddity”, his oldest, most enduring, and arguably biggest hit. Opening with it made sense chronologically, and as a crowd pleaser. What surprised me was how good the BE arrangement was. Two female backing vocalists, and multi instrumentalists Emily and Charlotte, flanked the stage. Not only were they easy on the eye, but their vocals beefed up the lead vocal, harmonised, and were to prove a reassuring constant as the show evolved. The full band sound was far richer than the more sparse original recordings and set a standard from which they rarely slipped. They skipped into “Queen Bitch” without pausing for breath, producing one of the several highlights of the evening. The first half was material up to “Aladdin Sane” from which there is so much to go at.

 

Any judgement of the show, and running order, will be coloured by personal preference. Bowie’s live shows were far from flawless. “Lady Grinning Soul” was a delight to hear, and well done. Bowie never played it live, not because it was not a great song, it is, but because there are three very demanding components. Firstly, Bowie hits a G#5, secondly flamenco guitar, is a specialist skill. Thirdly Garson is one of the finest jazz pianists in the world. On the studio track Bowie is credited with acoustic guitar which I query because his playing was competent, but not exceptional, Ronson was very accomplished and although credited with electric guitar only may have filled in on the recording. How did they do? The keyboards for the show sounded predominantly chord based, wisely no attempt was made to out Garson, Garson. Darren Jones made the best of a very demanding guitar part, but was to emerge as an ebullient set moved on, and Laurence Knight focussed on the spirit of the song rather than trying to hit every note. As the show went on Charlotte Talbot was given increased vocal duties – it would have been interesting to hear her take lead, or shared vocals on this one, as well as “Lady Stardust” which was not played on the night.

 

On bankers “Ziggy Stardust”, “Suffragette City” and “Moonage Daydream” lead guitarist Tim Wedlake suffered from his guitar being low in the mix, what should have been a sledgehammer became a gentle tap. Yet on “The Man Who Sold the World” the more intricate guitar work found him in his element. One of the many challenges facing any such guitarist playing from Bowie’s entire catalogue is that they are up against Ronson, Alomar, Slick, Fripp, Belew and Frampton – which is quite stiff comparative competition, not least because of the specialism that each brought. “Rebel Rebel” and “Jean Genie” closed off the first set nicely. “Watch that Man” and “Drive in Saturday” would have been welcome additions though.

 

The second half stretched over a far greater timeline, and while the song choices were good, inevitably some felt discordant against each other. “Diamond Dogs” for me has not worn well, although they opened the second half with it. Oddly they played the album intro, complete with Rod Stewart “hey”, whose live excerpt they lifted for the crowd section, rather than re-record it themselves. “Hallo Spaceboy” was brilliantly played but jarred . “Ashes to Ashes” suffered from the keyboard part being to low in the mix, and the outro shortened and simplified. The closing “Heroes” did not work because the signature guitar motif was absent and again the keyboards were too low in the mix. By contrast “Under Pressure” was an absolute highlight, again courtesy of Charlotte Talbot, as was “Fashion”. I would have added in “Look Back in Anger” and “Thursdays Child” into the second half. The first half of “Station to Station” was a bit of an oddity, “Golden Years” worked brilliantly. But why, with Charlotte and Emily, and the other backing singers amongst the band, were a few more songs from “Young Americans” not played beyond the title track? “Fascination” would have been perfect.

 

The voice of the people is the voice of God. The BE sold out a medium sized theatre, the feedback from fellow hard core fans at the interval and curtain was positive, crucially, the feedback from the curious and “plus ones” even better. I did feel that at times Laurence was concentrating more on imitating Bowie than capturing the feel of the music, I also thought that the costume changes ended up being an irritation. Good as they were, they were often unnecessary. The unsung heroes were the rhythm section, Paul Gill on drums and Lydia Close on bass. Tucked at the back they were the reliable, essential, engine room of the show. I also enjoyed the obvious rapport between sax player Emily, and rhythm guitarist Darren Jones. More than anyone they captured the spirit of the music, exuding an infectious joie de vivre and all round happiness. James Stead on Keyboards, like Tim Wedlake on lead guitar, suffered from a poor mix so it is difficult to say anything other than a competent contribution to a great show was made.

 

It is pretty clear that the Bowie Experience has a winning formula on their hands. Bowie’s career, and catalogue, is so extensive that it offers the opportunity to present several self contained shows, as well as a greatest hits format. “China Girl”? They cheated! The arrangement featured the Nile Rodgers choppy oriental guitar motif, but rocked out at the end.

 

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Lonely Boy – Steve Jones, the biography

Posted on June 6, 2018 by garylongden

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I was there when punk broke. It was exciting. There was a sense that music, and the way that young people saw the world around them, was changing. The Boomtown Rats, Buzzcocks, Magazine, and Jam first tours, the Clash complete control tour, the Damned, Siouxsie, the Stranglers, all of that was happening around me. They were gigs I saw. I knew that something special was unfolding.

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Svengali Malcolm McLaren

The Sex Pistols were an anomaly. Undoubtedly the flag around which punk gathered, exactly what they were, was uncertain. For a start not many saw them play live. The relatively small numbers of shows they did play were at small venues, with attendances measured in hundreds, not thousands. Were the Pistols the band, or were they an artifice, puppets for puppet master Malcolm McLaren? Everything they did seemed to revolve round hyperbole. The “Anarchy” single was rudimentary, not revolutionary “God Save the Queen” was a PR masterstroke, the “Bollocks” album created more controversy for its title, than the music. Then there was the question of the music. “Pretty Vacant” was a classic single with a killer intro, and infectious sing a long chorus. Beyond that, little endures.

 

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Matlock Era Pistols- the classic line up

The Steve Jones biography has to be viewed in that context. With Mclaren dead, and Johnny Rotten as unreliably mouthy as ever, I looked to “Lonely Boy” as an opportunity for a more considered window into a hall of smoke and mirrors. It is helpfully divided into three sections, Before the Pistols, During, and After, and is surprisingly factual. Throughout it is an uneasy juxtaposition of push and shove as Jones regales us with prurient, salacious titbits, which in the end become quite laborious. Contrasted with factual detail which is often disappointingly scant.

 

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The infamous, ill fated, Sid era Pistols

Jones’ obsession with sex, and predilection for thievery, is a constant. A constancy which becomes tiresome. You only need to be told he is irresistible to women a few times. His thievery smacks as much of attention seeking as criminality or need. Yet amongst the spunk and stolen goods are some gems. Punk era Jones did not even have a bank account. Jones, far from being lonely, had drummer Cook by his side, while Rotten and Matlock were the outsiders. Vicious was an innocent pawn of McLaren’s Machiavellian masterplan, unlamented, unmissed, unloved.

 

To some extent the myth is laid bare. Jones was a music fan who learned the guitar to a fashion that made him competent and marketable. He would have loved to have been in The Clash and liked American Soft Rock. His gift has been charm and resilience, the latter in evidence with his musical career culminating in his current LA DJ career, the latter in his survival of sex, alcohol, drug and kleptomania dependence. His friendship with early conquest Chrissie Hynde has endured, but it has to be said that she did better as her career unfolded.

 

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Chrissie Hynde

His biography is light, readable and of interest to any contemporary with an interest in the punk scene. But it falls well short of the exaggerated claims on the front and back covers. The “puff pieces” are no doubt down to the connections of biographer and journalist Ben Thompson. Ben Thompson is one of Britain’s most respected cultural critics. He currently contributes to the FT, Mojo and the Sunday Telegraph. As well as two critically acclaimed collections of rock journalism (Seven Years of Plenty and Ways of Hearing) and a landmark history of modern British comedy (Sunshine on Putty), he has also co-written memoirs with Vic Reeves (Me Moir), Phil Daniels (Class Actor), Mike Skinner (The Story of the Streets) and others. Worth reading, not worth buying, Steve would not mind if you stole a copy.

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The Grand Old Days- Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Posted on June 5, 2018 by garylongden

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***
A music hall variety show indebted to the “Good Old Days” format which was so popular on television fifty years ago. Vintage films were playing in the foyer to capture the mood for the audience. On stage, period photograph projections evoked chattered reminiscing. Ian Adams is chairman for the evening, combining master of ceremony duties, with solo and ensemble singing. Confident and ebullient, he kept proceedings moving at a brisk pace. All of the acts made two appearances, one in each half. Panto and comic local favourite Don Maclean topped the bill with material which was aimed squarely at the predominantly elderly audience. It is quite common to observe parents waiting for their children in the foyer as the evening ends, this night, there were children waiting for their parents!

 

 
The star was singer Julie Paton. Her vocals, stage craft, and charisma engaged all whenever she was on stage, her performance of “Burlington Bertie” was a sassy delight. Magic duo Van Buren and Allyson managed to combine retro kitsch with a smile. Plate spinning, unicycling, straight jacket escaping, and dress changing all made an appearance, with Van Buren providing the gasps, and the glamorous Allyson the sighs and sights. All the traditional songs that you would expect were there. An onstage three piece band provided musical accompaniment. With all the ingredients in place, the audience were given what they came for- plenty of sing a long opportunities, and no shortage of laughs, particularly from Don Maclean.

 

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Audience members entered into the spirit of the evening

 
This, the first of three performances, was not without its teething problems. The Director’s notebook will have been full. Soloists went unlit, microphones did not come on to cue, and so many songs were crammed in that, particularly in the second half, they were performed at a speed which the Ramones would have been proud of. The projected finishing time was significantly over run resulting in some members of the audience leaving early too. Presumably to meet travel commitments. Although Julie Paton excelled on the vocals front, some of her fellow cast did not. A more ruthless approach from the Director and Musical Director can easily correct a show whose fundamentals are strong, but whose discipline on the opening night, was weak.
Finishes its run with two performances on 5/6/18.

Gary Longden

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Stomp! Birmingham Hippodrome

Posted on May 29, 2018 by garylongden


After a fifteen year run in London, Stomp is now stomping around the provinces on tour. What is it? Loosely fitting into the physical theatre genre, it is a musical without narrative, a street comedy without words. A professional production which, for once, does not abuse the meaning of the word unique. A segment from the show was used in the closing ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012, and is showing, around the world with five productions running simultaneously.

Originating in Brighton, Stomp was created by Steve McNicholas and Luke Cresswell in 1991 as a percussive extravaganza utilizing street tricks and juggling that both had explored in earlier work. The basics remain unchanged, pulsating rhythms driven by everyday objects, borrowing the visceral impact of the music of a show like “Riverdance”, without the dancing, costumes, or need for musicians. The tour accountant will be happy.

A street/ yard set provides abundant fodder for banging, buckets, signs, ladders and pipes, together, they create quite a thorubos. This is not a show to watch if suffering from a hangover. There is no interval for its hundred minute duration, much to the Bar Manager’s despair. The absence of a break is strange because the production is episodic, and could easily take one. But, as it is, no-one should miss the last bus or train home. It opens to the sound of a gentle, insistent, brush before building, by degrees, to a level where everything including the kitchen sink is thrown at the joyous cacophony. A pole fighting contest is straight out of Little John and Robin Hood, culminating in a gladiatorial display, with dustbin lids as shields, which Ridley Scott must be kicking himself not to have thought of himself. The outsized tin boots would have Elton John, green with envy.

The singlets, dungarees and hard hats have a touch of the Village People about them, the predominantly female audience were certainly not complaining about that. An ethnically and gender diverse cast also produced a similarly diverse audience- casting directors take note. The running time may not hold the attention of young children, though older children, those for whom English is not a first language, and those whose visits to the theatre are infrequent, will find this accessible and rewarding. Seasoned theatre buffs will enjoy this off-beat, but on rhythm, show in which the eight stage performers throw everything at their performance. A family show for a family audience who rose in appreciation at the final curtain.

Gary Longden

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Brighton Rock – Derby Theatre

Posted on May 16, 2018 by garylongden

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Brighton Rock is one of the great 20th century British novels first published in 1938, later adapted for film in 1947, and again in 2010. This stage adaptation by Bryony Lavery is a timely reassessment of the work set in 1930’s Brighton. A “Peaky Blinders” for the South Coast. Ostensibly, the story is a crime noir, a thriller, visceral, brutal and unforgiving. Lavery offers us a literal and metaphorical noir, with dark space between spotlights, edgy, and riddled with angst. Episodic and jarring. Underpinning it is Greene’s Catholic world view, something rarely given a 21st century outing, a religious prologue, and epilogue, bookending the production.

There is a moment in the second act when seventeen year old anti-hero Pinkie Brown (Jacob James Beswick) pauses from his path of psychotic mayhem, his eyes staring out into the distance distant beyond, but simultaneously looking inwards into his own soul. He leads life on the edge, each vicious encounter a dramatization of the real life Russian roulette which Greene used to dabble in. Brown is a thug on the up, a Brighton Face who has stepped into the shoes of his erstwhile boss. But a revenge-murder is witnessed by a young waitress, Rose, whom he decides to marry to avoid the possibility of adverse testimony. An unlikely, love hate, Romeo and Juliet plot evolves. He loves her, he hates her, he loves his life, he hates what it makes him do. Sarah Middleton’s, Rose is naïve, but sound, she understands she is being manipulated, but has no idea of what love is. She is a girl thrust into a bleak adult world. Brown, for all his brash bravado, is a boy struggling in a man’s world. If in doubt- lash out.

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The entire play is a prolonged contemplation of the melancholy of Brown, a transcription and translation of his despair and the pain of his uncertainty. Moral failure is not only inevitable for Brown; it is also necessary for redemption. The world of sin finds its release in knife pulling, acid attacks, attempted murders, and turf wars. And it is here, amidst these sordid exploits, that Greene searches for Divine Grace. The play revels in social realism, good and evil, and the line between.

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Brown is counterpointed by “tart with a heart” Ida, (Gloria Onitiri), who is the star of the show. Her understated beauty itself counterpointed by a mellifluous, doleful, versatile voice, her statuesque figure swathed in crimson and leopard print.Ida, looks out for Rose, her humanity an antidote for the brutality around her, a beacon of hope. Defiant, it is she who wants to uncover the true circumstances of the death of a man with whom she was fleetingly acquainted. Her face to face confrontations with Brown are highlights as her dominating presence dwarfs that of her rat like opponent. Her relationship with companion Jack, sensitively played by Chris Jack, is a tantalisingly explored sub-plot.

Artistic director, Pilot Theatre’s Esther Richardson, offers us a wonderful period vision. The stage is dominated by an iron walkway, looming above the stage. Sara Perks’ stage design enables it, spot lit to becomes a pier, a bedroom, a nightclub and bar. No brash seaside colours intrude, just an all -pervading sense of gloom. Hannah Peel’s insistent musical score is omnipresent, manifested live by two onstage musicians, driving the tragedy on.

Brighton Rock is a visual delight, the longer second half more satisfying than the first. I was uneasy about the dramatization of the climax, which convention dictates I cannot reveal. A bolder showdown was called for. Continues until 19th May, before finishing its nationwide tour in Manchester the following week.

Gary Longden

 

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Mountains: The Dreams of Lily Kwok – Derby Theatre

Posted on May 10, 2018 by garylongden

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***

A play, playwright, and story, that were all new to me, adding a large dollop of intrigue on the opening night.

The playwright In -Sook Chappell is a Korean-born, London-based playwright and filmmaker. She studied dance in New York at Alvin Ailey before moving into acting. Her first play won the Verity Bargate Award. Her work for theatre includes; This Isn’t Romance and Tales of the Harrow Road at the Soho Theatre; Absence at the Young Vic; P’yongyang at Finborough; and Mountains at the Royal Exchange. Her work in film includes Full , and Kotchebi , and has made work for Film4 and BBC Radio 3.

The play is based upon a story by Helen Tse, MBE,” Sweet Mandarin”, a memoir of three generations of Chinese women, beginning with her grandmother, Lily Kwok, establishing themselves in Manchester . Before she became an author and restaurateur, she studied law at Cambridge University and then worked in finance and law .

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Director Jennifer Tang graduated from UEA in 2004 and is in demand across the country. She specialises in multi-disciplinary work which for this production involves on stage cooking! As a British born woman of Chinese descent she is well placed to present the story.

Ostensibly this is the familiar, but specific, story of an immigrant’s fight to establish herself in a new country. But as it unfolds, the reason for the touring success of this production becomes apparent. It is an Everyman tale which everyone should be able to empathise with, as well as a tribute to the play’s eponymous heroine. Its focus is food and family.

In an era of Brexit, the writing celebrates the qualities and resilience of refugees and immigrants and the contribution that they can make as demonstrated by Lily’s Sweet Mandarin restaurant. Food is used as a connecting theme, the onstage aromas drawing the audience in with real dishes prepared and cooked onstage, uniting cast and audience. Family recipes are offered as a badge of identity and a unifying cross- generational device.

Tina Chiang beautifully unfolds the character of Lily, an ordinary woman doing extraordinary things, an anonymous face which demands prominence. She is the standard bearer for several diverse themes, migration, identity , assimilation, colonialism, faith and superstition, amongst them, as well as the roles and expectations different societies, and cultures, have of women.

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Helen (Siu- See Hung) has been brought up in the UK by her Chinese family. She has always felt that a part of her story, and her, her identity, were missing. Thus she heads out to Hong Kong to visit her mother’s birthplace for the first time. However when she swaps Manchester’s Deansgate for Hong Kong she not only finds her grandmother, Lily Kwok, she also discovers things which will change her destiny.

Characters, time and locations do shift in a dream like way, meaning that you do have to pay attention, and sometimes work a bit harder than usual to work out what is going on. It is also narrative driven, told as a story. To illustrate the mix of old and new, samples of traditional Chinese songs are mixed with a modern electronic score, courtesy of Elena Pena, composed by Ruth Chan. Amelia Jane Hankin’s stage set is a marvel featuring a platform that can be deconstructed and reconfigured, Transformers style, into pretty much anything, lit pleasingly by Amy Mae, part of an all -female creative team.

“Mountains” IS different. Pleasingly so. It is also very good, taking the audience on a journey that tugs on the heart-strings, and tantalises the nostrils in equal measure. A set menu to savour- runs until Saturday 12th May.

Gary Longden

 

 

 

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Crazy for You – Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Posted on May 9, 2018 by garylongden

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****
This was the first time I had seen this show. It seems as though it has been around forever, with the songs familiar by a process of popular osmosis. Yet upon conducting some dutiful pre-review research, I was surprised to discover that I was mistaken. It was written as recently as 1992. Ken Ludwig rewrote the book of a 1930 Gershwin musical, “Girl Crazy”, but retained only five of the original 19 numbers. The balance amounts to George and Ira Gershwin’s greatest hits. Thus, in some respects, “Crazy for You” can lay claim to be the first modern Jukebox musical.

 

 

Billed as a romantic comedy, we follow the fortunes of Bobby and Polly. Bobby Child is sent to close a failing theatre in 1930’s Deadrock, Nevada. He falls for Polly Baker and, assuming the persona of an Hungarian impresario, Zangler, decides to save the theatre by putting on a show. Mistaken identity, love heartbreak and joy await. The plot utilises a theatrical favourite, the show within a show, but the cast breathe life into the device. Tom Chambers, as Bobby, and Claire Sweeney as Irene, offer the star billing, but it is Charlotte Wakefield’s Polly who dominates the proceedings with a wonderful virtuoso performance.

18. CRAZY FOR YOU. Tom Chambers 'Bobby' and Charlotte Wakefield 'Polly' and Company. Photo Richard Davenport.

 

The show is vibrant, packed with great songs and awash with a feel-good mood, courtesy of Paul Hart’s direction and Nathan Wright’s choreography. The best known song is,“ I Got Rhythm” , a wonderful set piece of movement and colour. A battery of percussion provides a visceral, as well as a cerebral highlight, enhanced by the onstage musicians, framed by impressive sets designed by Diego Pitarch . Obviously, much work was required to convert the well- appointed, sumptuous Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton, into a ramshackle dive in Nevada!

 

Having musician as actors on stage is a shrewd move. It reduces the headcount for the tour, but brings an immediacy and zest to the music, ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me’ and ‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ come alive spectacularly.

 

Tom Chambers clearly loves his role, preening and prancing, and showing himself to be an accomplished comic actor too, particularly in a mirror routine with the real Zangler, early in the second half, when Child and Zangler are together, dressed identically, each playing their role to great humorous effect, “I am beside myself”. Chambers can dance too. What he lacks in vocal prowess he compensates for with energy, charm and brio.

Claire Sweeney and Tom Chambers

 

The female chorus line is a joy, boasting gorgeous costumes, sharp dance steps, and musical instrument playing prowess. The big dance numbers are also sumptuously lit by Howard Hudson. Director Paul Hart, musical arranger Catherine Jayes, and musical director Benjamin Holder have produced a magical alchemy in which all the parts of musical theatre come together in a joyful celebration of the genre.

 

The first half of the show belongs to the star turns as individuals, the second half belongs to the company. Sweeney is a hugely accomplished actress, her role here slightly underwritten, but being the professional she is, she demonstrates a determination to eke the maximum out of every opportunity she is given to shine.

 

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Claire Sweeney

 

The audience comes to see Tom Chambers dance, and hear the big Gershwin numbers. Director Hart delivers what is required. Narratively the end of the second act is a bit of a mess, compensated for by a big production finish. A very satisfying night which was enthusiastically received by a well- attended opening night house. Last but not least, do buy the large format programme, it is the best I have ever seen for a touring production.

Crazy For You UK TourPhoto Credit : The Other Richard

Crazy For You UK Tour Photo Credit : The Other Richard

 

“Crazy For You” UK Tour is running until 9th June 2018. For more information, venues and tickets see http://www.crazyforyoutour.com/

 

Gary Longden

 

 

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Sarah Brigham – Derby Theatre

Posted on May 6, 2018 by garylongden

 

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Sarah Brigham

 

As theatre reviewers we tend to focus on the script, score and cast of the shows we see. Production Directors are as anonymous to an audience as they are omnipresent to the cast during rehearsals. Yet their role is pivotal to a production’s success. Their insight, their vision, is what the audience has laid before it. Artistic Directors, as well as invariably producing and directing some shows personally, also welcome visiting productions and one nighters. They determine what the audience sees in their theatre.

Derby Theatre’s renaissance in recent years has coincided with the tenure of Sarah Brigham as Artistic Director. From relative regional obscurity she has established the theatre as a learning, and community, hub in conjunction with Derby University, and a place that offers the best of touring productions, as well as a formidable roster of in house productions. She has made a difference.

Sarah has found herself in the unwelcome position of being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Notwithstanding the best efforts of the NHS, a treatment not available in this country is required. Unsurprisingly, the professional and personal esteem in which she is held has resulted in a campaign to raise funds to assist her. The details follow. If you are able to help, please do via her crowdfunding page:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/teambrig-aid?utm_id=60&utm_term=Y9zk8MQZK
Weʼre raising £60,000 to get Sarah Brigham the cancer treatment she needs

What is crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is a new type of fundraising where you can raise funds for your own personal cause, even if you’re not a registered charity.
The page owner is responsible for the distribution of funds raised.
Story
Hello there!
As lots of you now know, our friend Sarah Brigham has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She has a 6cm tumour in her trachea. The cancer is adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) and only two in a million people have this type of cancer in the UK. The cancer is slow growing but relentless, and so it’s important that it is stopped in its tracks as soon as possible.
The best way to treat Sarah’s cancer would be surgery. Unfortunately, due to the size and location of Sarah’s tumour, this is not an option for her. This type of cancer doesn’t respond to chemotherapy and has limited response to normal radiotherapy.
There’s no escaping the fact that this is all devastating. But in true Brigham fashion, she is dealing with it like a bad-ass superhero. The amount of research, questioning and chasing of medical professionals that Sarah has done, whilst coming to terms with all of this, whilst also running a theatre and continuing to support artists, young people, friends and colleagues around her, is admirable… incredible… unbelievable… (there is no word big enough here to sum up her response thus far to this outrage of an illness).
And she remains very much herself. To quote Sarah:
“On the positive side (there has to be one right!) I physically feel ok and I remain positive. If you see me you wouldn’t know I have this 6 cm tumour in my windpipe. I’m still working, still laughing, still putting the world to rights and still talking in a broad Hull accent. So Cancer is not winning!”
But Sarah cannot and should not fight this on her own. Here’s where you all come in…
The best treatment option is Carbon Ion Therapy, which will hopefully stop the cancer from growing or spreading and may offer the best long term prognosis. But here’s the spanner in the frankly crappy works: this treatment is not funded by the NHS. Sarah will have to travel to Germany to receive the treatment, and to do this, she needs to raise £60,000. *Gulp* *Pause* *Gulp*
It’s a huge amount of money, but so many people have been in touch to say how much you want to support her, so we’re actually going to try and make this happen.
How do I help raise the money?
60k is a lot of money right? But what if 100 people pledged to raise £600 each? What if 1,000 people pledged £60 each? What if you donate an hour’s wages? A day’s wages? A week’s? Cut out a coffee a day for a month and donate that money! Feeling sweary? Get a swear jar on the go! £1 for slightly bad words and £5 for the really bad ones.. and so on….

If it’s legal, do it, if you can have fun at the same time – even better!
You can help as follows:
1. Contribute directly to this fundraising page
2. Donate via PayPal, fee free: http://www.paypal.me/BrigAid
3. Give cold hard cash to Nicky or Heidi in the Derby Theatre offices
4. Want to put on your own event? Great! We’ve put together some guidelines
Most importantly! Share, shout and shout some more! We have set up a Brig-Aid facebook page, which we will use to for updates and sharing your fundraising adventures. Like the page if you are on facebook and please share far and wide across as many platforms as you can, with your networks, friends, family, neighbours, rich distant cousin…
Important: If you have any questions or ideas relating to the fundraising campaign, please send them all to teambrigaid@gmail.com rather than bombard Sarah with messages and emails. Team Brig-Aid will be monitoring emails and will run things by Sarah if we need to.
Sarah is aiming to start the treatment in June, however we have set a target to raise 60K in 12 weeks. Following that this page will be extended after the deadline if we need to continue raising funds.
Who knows what the next steps will be after Sarah’s treatment in Heidelberg, so please keep sharing and shouting. And as you’d expect, Sarah, in all of her generosity, has already started thinking about where she will donate any surplus funds to.
Team Brig-Aid assemble!
Much love and thanks,
Team Brig-Aid
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Not Now Darling – Sutton Arts Theatre

Posted on May 4, 2018 by garylongden

Not now

“Not Now Darling” is a 1967 farce written by English playwrights John Chapman and Ray Cooney, first staged at the Richmond Theatre, in Richmond, London, prior to a long West End run. It is  the tenth play penned by Cooney in an illustrious career.It follows the misadventures of insatiable womaniser Gilbert Bodley in an upmarket London Furriers.
Fifty one years on, inevitably, comedy has shifted. Cooney learned his craft as an actor in Brian Rix’s farces, a tradition carried on today by Torben Betts, who has worked under Alan Ayckbourn, who in turn had worked under Rix. The lineage is formidable. The danger is that the formula has outlived its usefulness. If written today, this  farce would have no hope of making it to the West End ,or to Broadway (as it did then), because it is just about as politically incorrect as you could imagine. Arch feminists and anti-fur campaigners would be in a state of apoplexy. Its short run on Broadway, just twenty one performances, is easy to explain. Its quirky Britishness gives it its appeal, and its limitations.

 

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Angelique Runnalls – Bould, as Jane McMichael, sporting a pretty hairband for lover Gilbert

 

 

The audience was largely the one that would have been around in the 1970’s, it is also one which supports amateur theatre, which is why these farces are put on. Whether the genre can skip a generation will depend upon how effective the likes of Torben Betts are in reinventing the formula.

 

 

Fortunately, veteran Director Barrie Atchison is on hand to wrest the maximum out of the script, playing to the play’s period strengths, and not pandering to modern sensibilities. The action moves along briskly, visually there  are lashings of sauce, but no smut, and the physical gags are well acted out. It is an object lesson in producing a farce onstage.

 

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Arnold Crouch tries to handle a tricky situation as best he can

 

 

That means plenty of pretty girls in their underwear celebrating a traditional British bawdiness with structural complication, as characters leap to assumptions, are forced to pretend to be things that they are not, and often talk at cross-purposes.  Harriet Harman was not in the audience on opening night.

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Drinking, and remembering which girl is in which cupboard, is not easy

Dexter Whitehead as Arnold Crouch,and Gary Pritchard as Gilbert Bodley, lead  as co- West End fur salon owners, with an unusually strong supporting cast bringing eleven people on stage in total. The action pivots around a fur coat  intended  for Bodley’s mistress, which along with other items of female apparel, are defenestrated with great regularity, much to the bemusement of the staff on the ground floor and passengers on the No 9 bus. Whitehead captures a sense of innocent haplessness with great comic assurance, Pritchard’s swaggering Lothario-like persona unravels with delightful despair.

 

Richard Clarke plays Harry McMichael with impatient suspicion, while his wife Janie, entertainingly played by Angelique Runnalls -Bould, has all the fun as mistress to Bodley, displaying her shapely figure , as Gilbert’s cash figures unravel.

 

 

 

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A rare scene in which the cast are not hidden in cupboards

Elena Serafinas  gives a brief, classy performance, as Bodley’s wife, arriving back from a holiday where she has not been enjoying the sun alone. Indeed it is the men who end up looking foolish, the women who come out on top.

 

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The genre demands slamming doors, and girls secreted in cupboards, “Not Now Darling” does not fail to disappoint in this regard.

 

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Arnold Crouch upon realising that the phrase “All fur coat and no knickers” is not metaphorical in this instance.

 

 

However the real star of the show does not say a single word. It is the set. John Islip and his team have excelled themselves, producing a beautifully presented, and appointed, Furriers salon, balcony with London street scene, and, naturally, capacious cupboards.

 

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Mr & Mrs Bodley, with secrets as yet unrevealed

Amidst the Marx Brothers style mayhem, Louise Farmer, as Miss Tipdale, keeps her clothes on, and attempts to make some sense of the chaos around her with a smile. Maureen George and Phil Shaw are a delight as Commander and Mrs Frencham, the latter worrying about having sixpences for parking, the former amazed at his wife’s reported new found libido.

 

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Miss Tipdale makes a note of the replacement clothing required for the women onstage – it is a long list.

 

All the players find their stride in the second act when the script and misunderstandings come to a head.

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This production is a lot of fun, a couple of hours of gentle escapism, laughs and giggles, delivered with zest, commitment, enthusiasm and discipline. All involved should feel proud. The full house on the opening night showed their approval with warm and generous applause at the final curtain, the cast looking out with deserved satisfaction. Runs until Saturday 12th May.

 

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When Barrie met Gary

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Longden

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