From being one of my favourite film musicals as I have a love for the sixties and New York this tale of a girl unlucky in love and just about everything else in life is so life affirming.
Charity Hope Valentine, at this performance played by Tiffany Graves was amazing in the role much to the point that I could not imagine Tamzin Outhwaite playing the part at all. Graves brought a girlish naivety in the role and did cute little traits that drew me to the character even more. Things such as poking her tongue in the side of her mouth when she danced just made her even more cuter. She danced tremendously as did all the cast, and the fact that she was not a celebrity name or recognisable face allowed the audience to connect to her as a character even more.
Mark Umbers playing all three love interests was especially clever and he was almost unrecognisable as all three different men which is a credit to his acting abilities. His singing voice was brilliant, but it was as the lovable, geeky Oscar he showed his acting abilities off to there finest.
I think this is a point that has to be brought up that all the cast managed to do, when cracks started to show within the plot line - whether it be Charity's love life or the misery the girls are ensuing at the Dance Hall, we laughed with them and we cried with them alike.
Special mention must be given to Josefina Gabrielle as Nickie who deserves an award for her supporting role. She reminded me of Ugly Betty's sister in the show, a punchy powerful woman who I imagined came from Queens in New York, she gave real substance to her characters and she looked particularly beautiful and glamourous on the stage.
The dance routines particularly in the club was extraordinary and the 1960's influence was ever present throughout and the intensity that the ensemble danced with throughout was electrifying. I enjoyed the incorporation of the movements used to symbolise the taking of cocaine. I thought it was clever and inventive.The band were brilliant and the portrayal of Big Spender by the ensemble of girls instead of being sexy and raunchy was that of boredom and being unfulfilled was extremely clever too.
I especially enjoyed the way that even though some of the ensemble members may not have had many lines or things to say, they each adopted a character and stuck to it throughout which drew the audience to them even more. Something that I think is quite easily done with a smaller cast, or can be given more attention to.
Being on the front row was good for being drawn into the action and performances, but not as good for the set. Sometimes I cannot help thinking that I would have preffered to see the show in the Menier Chocolate Factory rather than its transferred theatre, because some of the set and scenery looked to be a bit cheaply made and compared to some of the bigger budget musicals in the West End at the moment it should have been revised. It wasn't a major flaw I didn't think it to be majorly terrible just some of the bits a little rough round the edges.
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Going to see the show again on 28/10/10
A lovely post :)
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by your opinion of the set design - although you say it didn't detract from your overall enjoyment of the play, do you think that as a modern production it could have been enhanced by very minimal structuring to contrast with the high energy, almost kitsch music?
I would've liked to have seen a contrast between those two forms of art (song & design), I think.
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I revisited the show last night and sat in a back row in the first circle and I have to say my opinion slightly changed of the set.
ReplyDeleteI feel from a distance you didn't notice the budget feel I first got from it and particular scenes such as the ferris wheel and the night club scene looked quite visually pleasing from the distance.
I feel the musical could have been produced with minimal structure yet I feel small details such that were of the era may have been lost.
I deffinately feel colour was a big part of the 60's and picturing the show set in a black box studio theatre could work for scenes such as the Dance Hall, but I feel other scenes may have been lost.
Personally as the show was first produced in the small Menier Chocolate Factory, I feel the staging has been kept to a minimum and I feel what they did with it was good just some things looked slightly cheaply produced and if small details were looked at it may have been enhanced.
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