A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

Cut to the Chase at the Queen's Theatre Hornchurch

27.09.10

for The Public Reviews

“... three, four!” Some business with the front cloth, an invocation to Thespis, and we're off on a romp through Ancient Rome, with courtesans, slaves and a eunuch on the fiddle. Comedy tonight !

Keeping the show together, and playing guitar for that delicious vaudeville number Everybody Ought To Have A Maid, was Pseudolus, played by Julian Littman, who was also Musical Director. Prancing, preening, going through his repertoire of gestures and grimaces, he lacked the warmth and comic charm which would have endeared us to him and drawn us into the action.

Senex, a stock character from Roman Comedy, was ably played by Stuart Organ, as he escaped his overbearing wife to have a last fling with the lovely Philia. Lindsay Ashworth was the Gilbertian Domina; her delivery of That Dirty Old Man was brilliant. And the Cretan top-of-the-range courtesan was Natasha Moore. I loved Matthew Quinn's Hysterium, the slave with the cheeky smile who ends up as a dead virgin bride [it's a convoluted plot …] And Oliver Seymour-Marsh, who made an impression in Camp Horror and Ladies Down Under in this house, chalked up another memorable character as the inexperienced Hero, almost upstaged by his canary in his big number, Love I Hear. Steve Simmonds struck poses and sang powerfully as Miles Gloriosus [another archetype]. And James Earl Adair, as Erronius, won the audience over as he jogged myopically round Rome.

Cut to the Chase actors are nothing if not versatile, and everyone pitched in musically, from Philia on flute to Panacea on sax. One of the best sight gags was the double bass in the trunk, prelude to one of the most imaginative numbers, the reluctant slave trio accompanying Impossible – tap dancing thrown in. Great running gags included the Pirates dance and the cod muttering from the put-upon pair of slaves.

As we have come to expect at the Queen's, the set [Mark Walters] was magnificent – three varied houses on two levels for the frons scenae, with a nice cartoon feel to the design, and cunning masks around the curved perimeter of the acting area.

Some of the quick fire routines will be snappier as the run goes on, and the sound balance wasn't always kind to Sondheim's intricate lyrics – nonetheless a stylish revival of a masterwork to mark the composer's 80^th birthday year, from one of the most enterprising resident companies in the region.

The show was directed by Queen's Artistic Director Bob Carlton, with choreography by Donna Berlin.

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews

INTO THE WOODS

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

09.09.10

For all its flaws, this Sondheim was made for the forest floor of Regent's Park.

I saw a matinée [no, no rain and some sunshine, though the seats were a little soggy], so lost out on the power of the encircling gloom, but the show was nonetheless incredibly powerful, with a faultless cast, from the voice of Dame Judi to the child who narrates the mashed-up nightmare fairytales.

This interpretation [ director Timothy Sheader ] adds considerable emotional clout to the piece [the original London production had Nicholas Parsons narrating !]. The boy is running away from some sort of family row; on the edge of the woods he unpacks random dolls from his rucksack, and acts out with them the stories we see unfold. He is continually involved in the narrative, until the second act, when the sequel is a mere dream, in which he is finally sacrificed to the giant. He is the only “real” character, with his school blazer and bright red lunch box. The others are all pantomime creatures – this is a very British interpretation.

Hard to single out performances, but I did enjoy Beverley Rudd's gormless “Little” Red Riding Hood, and Michael Xavier's sexy Wolf. He was also a preening Prince, and with Simon Thomas as Rapunzel's swain, brought the house down with one of the strongest numbers – Agony. Great to see Gaye Brown still on top form as the Wicked Stepmother, and Billy Boyle as the Mystery Man, wandering into the action and wilfully smoking, heedless of the risk of forest fire.

But the performance of the afternoon was Hannah Waddington's Witch, beautifully acted and sung, both in and out of her grotesque tendrilled costume with its Sher crutches.

The design, by Soutra Gilmour, blends into the trees of the park – the many platform levels echo the shabby seating. Loved Grandma's bed, and her window, and the scrap-metallic Giant. The hen made out of a lawnmower, and the beanstalk made out of umbrellas, were two more deft touches.

For all the foolery and colourful frocks, this is a dark piece, full of recrimination and blame, blood and blindness. The woods are a metaphor, wouldn't you know, for loss of innocence and the scary grown-up flipside of happy-ever-after.

Not often done, and never again quite like this. Video cameras in evidence when I caught it near the end of the run. Any chance of a DVD, I wonder ...

SONDHEIM AT 80

BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall

31.07.10


There could have been a whole week of such concerts without anywhere near exhausting the riches of the Sondheim canon !

We were in the fourth row of choir seats, and apart from the pleasure of sharing the occasion, and feeling the mighty organ vibrate, we were able to watch the conductor's obvious, and understandable, delight at being in charge of it all …

It would have been worth the ticket price just to hear this excellent band play the Overture to Follies. But we also had generous extracts from Sunday in the Park with George, Simon Russell Beale and Dame Judi Dench. Not forgetting the grand old man himself, coming on to take a bow at the end.

Here's a proper rave review from an expert in the field …