REVIEW: EVITA (Preview performance) @ Leicester Curve

 

 

It is perhaps an irony that Eva Peron who despised the middle classes, has become the centre of a musical beloved by middle class theatre goers worldwide.  

The Tim Rice / Andrew Lloyd Webber classic was launched as an album in 1978 featuring Julie Covington, Colm Wilkinson, Tony Christie and Barbara Dickson.  It transfered to the stage in 1978 in a ground breaking production directed by Hal Prince, with Elaine Paige in the starring role backed by David Essex and Joss Ackland. The 1996 movie starring Madonna is perhaps the best of the Lloyd Webber stage-to-movie adaptations thanks to Alan Parker's directorial skill.  Now, we have a revival at the much lauded Leicester Curve, directed by the venue's Artistic Director, Nikolai Foster.  

The story of Evita is one of ambition, power and corruption.  From humble beginnings in a family for which poverty was the norm,  Eva Duarte meets and seduces (or is seduced by) tango singer Augustine Magaldi.  She uses him as a stepping stone to get to Buenos Airies where she becomes an actress and star of the radio. Meeting Colonel Juan Peron at a charity event,  she embarks on an affair and they soon marry. Eva backs her hisband's political ambition and in the process becomes a figure-head for the Peronist movement.  When Peron is voted President of Argentina,  Eva's ambitions reach new heights and she seeks to promote Argentina as a world power and sets out on a tour of Europe to gain powerful political allies. Amid financial mis-management of her charity Foundation,  Eva becomes ill and dies of cancer in 1952, aged just 33.  Three million people attend her funeral procession.

That is of course a very brief summing up of a complex and rivetting story.  Andrew Lloyd Webber supplies perhaps his finest theatre score matched by some savage lyrics from Tim Rice.  Their final collaboration together is a masterpiece, and they were wise not to try and better it.   

The Curve's new production has minimal staging - a moving staircase and a gantry which descends being the two notable set elements - but its use of powerful and striking lighting throughout, brilliantly realised by Joshie Harriette,  lifts the visuals and gives it an epic, almost religious flavour.  Martha Kirby has the uneviable task of performing a role which has become immortalised through the efforts of Elaine Paige in the West End and Patti LuPone on Broadway.  She manages not to let any comparisons phase her, and gives us a vocally excellent Eva, full of the fire and passion which we associate with the character. Her delivery of the scene on the Balcony of the Casa Rosada where she implores Argentina not to cry for her is classily executed. Tyrone Huntley makes his everyman Che a wily commentator on the unfolding events, Huntley nails the beautiful 'High Flying Adored' and is a performer to watch in the future.  Gary Milner's Peron is perhaps less intimidating than previously portrayed but his love for Eva shines through, particularly during 'You Must Love Me', which is an emotional high point. Chumisa Dornford-May as Peron's jilted mistress rises to the challenge of 'Another Suitcase In Another Hall' with a tender vocal that displays a vulnerability and incomprehension at being rejected in favour of Eva.  As ever,  the ensemble are the backbone of the piece, whirling around the stage in Adam Murray's frantic choreography or singing the hell out of 'A New Argentina',  this is an ensemble equal to the challenges of the difficult score.  The ten strong band are an attraction in themselves,  never has Evita sounded so good.

With the stage peopled by a cast mostly in black - save for the Argentinan aristocracy who flounce around in technicolour - this production is a blank canvas awash with brooding set pieces, mercurial lighting and moments of gentle introspection.  The standing ovation at the end of the first preview performance was heartfelt.  Don't cry for the Curve,  word of mouth recommendation should ensure that the money keeps rollin' in over the festive period.  Catch it whilst you can.

Rob & Ian

For further details go to Curve Online

 

 

I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY @ Manchester Opera House (UK Tour)

 

 

 

Where to start with this one. Well, I suppose the creative process started with the worldwide hit music of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman.  The 1980s writers and producers who masterminded huge global smashes for the likes of Kylie, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley, Mel & Kim and Sonia to name but a few.  Debbie Isitt took onboard the task of both writing and directing this ambitious attempt to tie together a disparate series of songs,  all performed to the SAW backing track which filled dancefloors in the decade of dayglo colours and big hair.   

 

In a nutshell,  impending groom Nathan jilts his bride to be Ella at the alter after his Grandad delivers some mysterious news on the day of the wedding. In the aftermath bride and family all jet off to Turkey where the honeymoon was to have been played out, thinking they might as well have a knees up to lift the gloom. Soppy Nathan subsequently decides that he has made a bad decision and heads with best man Ash to said Turkish resort in order to persuade Ella to forgive him and marry him after all.  However Ella has befriended waiter Nadeem so events have moved on quickly...  Chuck in a gay best friend and a campy hotel manager who both seem to have been left over from a 1970s sitcom, plus a couple of Amercian con artists and you have a concoction of events which we struggled to follow,  mostly because the narrative became so absurd.  

Chief calling card for the show is Aphrodite herself,  the goddess that is Kylie.  She appears in a huge mirror dispensing advice to would be bride Ella throughout the piece. Sadly its not enough to save the show. The cast themselves are working their socks off trying to deliver. There are some good voices too as they rip through the SAW classics.  Personally we feel some of the show is a little mis-cast, and whilst there is a lot of love in the air with a happy ending in which all the major protagonists find themselves a partner,  none of the couples seem to have any stage chemistry.  The show is played very broadly - think Benidorm (TV series) meets Mamma Mia!  but without any of the finesse of either, and you are pretty much there.  Some of the ensemble set pieces are impressive but for the most part, the word we kept coming back to was tacky. The characters have no depth, the storyline is all over the place and it just doesn't have any warmth in which we can invest our feelings for the characters. More Blackpool in the sun than anything else.

 

 

Judging from the audience on the night we went,  the largely hen party crowd lapped it all up as they drank their proseccos.  Its the songs themselves that stop this show from turning into a disaster.  'Too Many Broken Hearts',  'Better The Devil You Know',  'Never Gonna Give You Up' and many many more just about save the bacon on this mess of a show.

I Should Be So Lucky knows its audience and will likely do good business around the UK, but as a quality piece of theatre in the words of Mel & Kim it "Ain't never gonna be respectable".

Rob & Ian

 

For further details of the show go to soluckymusical.com

 

TO WONG FOO @ Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

 

It seems incredible that it took so long for this musical to have its professional stage debut given the cult of the Drag Queen which now exists in the mainstream.  Based on Douglas Carter Beane's 1995 movie (starring Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes) which sees three New York drag queens cross America in a cadillac intent of reaching the Drag Queen of the Year finals in Los Angeles.  Its not quite that simple though, their ageing transport breaks down,  and they are towed to the hick town of Snydersville where they are forced to stay until the engine part the car needs arrives.  The crux of the story is the effect that Vita, Noxeema and Chi Chi (our three drag queens) have on the town, and who think they are real women.  There are of course many comparisons with The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert which debuted the year before To Wong Foo and which went on to be a considerable international hit movie and later stage musical.   But unlike that show,  this musical has an especially composed score by Lewis Flinn (Carter Beane's husband) and the songs serve the story very well as turns out.

 Hope Mill Theatre's limited resources are its greatest strength. The inventiveness with which they have always staged their ambitious projects is to be greatly admired. To Wong Foo is no exception.  Gregory Gale's costumes particularly stood out as the show darted between hicks-ville and chics-ville.  Naturally the trio of drag queens get the best costumes and the best lines. Peter Caulfield's Vita Boheme is the sassiest of the bunch whilst Gregory Haney is a delight as the sharp tongued, world weary Miss Noxeema Jackson.  Bringing up the rear as the 'drag princess' and cock tease Chi Chi Rodriguez, an impressive turn from Pable Goméz Jones. All three performers inhabit their characters, making them far more than one dimensional freaks abroad.  An 18 strong cast deliver a memorable theatre experience.  Stand outs include Carolyn Maitland as Carol Ann,  victim of domestic abuse and dreaming of a better life.  Her heartfelt solo  'Maybe Tomorrow' is a highlight of the production.

 

All musicals need a villain of sorts,  and here we have the excellent Lee Harris as bully husband Ed Earl and Duncan Burt playing to the gallery as drag-phobe Sheriff Dollard - both thankfully get their comeuppance. Susie Fenwick delivers a fine country ballad 'Sweet Dreams' when Clara Pearl (unexpected authority on Hollywood's black actors) finally finds her voice. Lovely performances too from Snydersville young sweethearts Bobby Ray (Alexander Kranz, making his professional debut) and Bobby Lee (Emily Ooi).  Despite mentioning a few standouts, this is a real team effort.  Douglas Carter Beane's direction brings out the best in the characters, whooping up the stage in the musical numbers, but allowing the heart warming personalities of Snydersville to break through in more tender moments.  It is yet another noteable entry in Hope Mill's impressive run of productions.

On this evidence To Wong Foo is here to stay. The musical certainly deserves a wider audience and we hope that Vita, Noxeema and Chi Chi take a road trip and deliver the show to venues far and wide. A hit. 

Rob & Ian