CHRISTINE THE MUSICAL

CHRISTINE THE MUSICAL

CTM Productions at the Mercury Theatre Colchester

26.06.2015

for The Public Reviews

This tuneful true-life story first surfaced in 2012, just before Lord Lloyd Webber's ill-fated “Stephen Ward”, a musical which ploughs the same murky waters.

They share the same [real-life] characters in Christine Keeler's colourful life, and one song title [“You've Never Had It So Good” - © H MacMillan]. In many ways this modest show is the better piece, not least because of the catchy, pastiche numbers by Tony Franchi, who also produced, and co-wrote the book with Marion Wells. Franchi's musical education dates back to the pop scene of the early 60s, and this shows in the scoring of songs like the Act One finale [with its cheesy kick-line] and Bedroom Rock which opens the second half with suggestive shadow-play on a bed-sheet screen.

Sixteen songs in all – a generous helping in a piece that runs a bare two hours including interval. The title number – My Name's Christine – is perhaps the most memorable, and is reprised at the end of the closing scene with that iconic chair.

The “Style” duet with Ward is effective too, as is the wistful tribute to female celebrity [Jackie Kennedy, the Virgin Queen] “Famous Like Her”. Rice-Davies, “star of the Show” at the Old Bailey, also has a typically Sixties novelty number [Adam and Eve, Bonaparte and Josephine] - “Well, He Would Say That”. Ivanov the Soviet spy is given a lovely clap-along [if over-extended] hymn to Wodka, and Profumo an amusingly operatic [if over-extended] aria Make Love Not War.

Lindsay Lloyd's production starts strikingly with wild gun-shots and a clever bit of knock-off newsreel. It's all set amid the gilded chairs of Murray's topless bar, where Keeler first meets Ward, with back-projections of key cultural moments – Buddy Holly and the Hovercraft, the Mini and the Pill – and Homes and Gardens plates of, presumably, the Cliveden interiors where the notorious sex romps went on. The pace was occasionally hampered by momentary pauses between the scenes, but there were lots of ingenious ideas and plenty of laughs to keep the enthusiastic audience on-side.

And some excellent performances, too. Ashleigh Cole as the ordinary girl from Slough who brought down a government before she was old enough to vote, Angie Diggens as her pal Mandy – as someone says, perfect double act, blonde and brunette, head and heart, John Roberts as the louche, avuncular Pops and Kevin Topple holding it all together as the Hack narrator, with his cynical air and his lived-in, seen-it-all face. David Rutter is Profumo, powerful in his resignation scene, though that big number needs a lot of selling, and Olly Medlicott is the sleazy “almost Harley Street” Dr Stephen Ward.

House Band at the Cabaret Club – the Sex Tets – raised on a dais behind the action provide excellent backing under MD John Chillingworth.

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews

CHRISTINE THE MUSICAL

CHRISTINE THE MUSICAL

CTM Productions at the Headgate Theatre, Colchester

18.10.12

"My name's Christine" – that title number stays with you, a tuneful reminder of a very impressive little musical.

Little not in terms of ambition or theme but a bijou, boutique chamber work with nothing between the singers and their audience.

That title number did get a reprise at the end, as our call-girl/model poses for that iconic shot, a poignant contrast with the wide-eyed [almost] innocent girl from the Sticks whom we meet at the top of the show.

Laura Wyatt plays her straight, but with a glance and a half-smile skilfully suggests the naiveté and the sexual allure which will ultimately engineer her rise and fall.

A characterization nicely contrasted with Angie Diggens' knowing Mandy; she has one of the best numbers in a strong score – He Would Say That – with the jury as backing vocals and a saucy sax obbligato. The two girls duet deliciously in the witty Famous Like Her.

The other stand-out performance comes from Phillip Wilson as the socialite osteopath Stephen Ward, with his sketch pad and his black polo neck [all the costumes were carefully chosen to evoke those distant swinging sixties]. He too has a great number with Keeler – Style, with top hat and cane, and his tragic downfall is expertly handled.

The colourful characters in this sordid story include Adrian Bolton's genial Pops Murray, Peter Drew's Russian spy, and of course war minister Profumo himself [an eleventh hour stand-in from Roger Hearne] who only appears late in the piece, but has a highly emotional musical mea culpa – "What Man ?".

On this tiny stage even a pocket musical will be a challenge. But we did manage a mirror-ball, and a kick-line, stand-up comedy and a full-scale orgy [all in the best possible taste]. Having the tabs across for every scene change was tedious, but it did enable us to enjoy the inspired device of the Hack [superbly played by Kevin Topple] – chorus to this history. Not only did he fill in the detail of the narrative, but he reminded us that this affair saw the cosy relationship of press and powerful men begin to fall apart.

I liked the unplugged intimacy of this performance – only the Wodka number cried out for a bit more kitsch and a real production number. But I can imagine it having a future with a real band, a bigger chorus and [at the risk of sounding like the sad old men in Murray's cabaret bar] actual topless dancing.

Tony Franchi's musical catches the mood, and the musical idioms, of the Sixties perfectly. It is directed with a sure touch by Lindsay Lloyd [assisted by Vicky Tropman]; John Chillingworth oversees the music from a keyboard in the wings. The book [co-written with Marion Wells] wisely concentrates on the carefree, hedonistic years, when this teenager from Slough gets lucky, then unlucky, and, as the Hack has it, brings down a government before she's even old enough to vote.

Snatches of the numbers, and a synopsis, are available on the show's website.