A look at London's Soho
"low-life" of the 50s, this musical begins with a sinister melody
that kind of warn us that this is going to be a dark score, but we soon
discover that although it tells a story of a group of marginal characters with
troubles this isn't a sad show, on the contrary.
Peter Greenwell wrote a rich score
that goes from conventional musical tunes to operatic levels and thanks to
Gordon Langford's terrific orchestrations it has a lush sound that's high
rewarding. There's a beautiful ballad, "If I Ever Fall in Love
Again", sang with feeling by Elisabeth Welch that haunts the entire score
and "Free" is a strong melody that kinds of set the feeling of the
whole play.
Besides the beautiful voiced
Welch, there's the funny Millicent Martin who has a great time with
"Horticulture" and shares in perfection a funny duet, "Meet the
Family", with Welch. Jack MacGowran doesn't have a great voice but he
delivers "Free" and the sad "Spare a Penny" with sentiment.
Both John Larsen (who has an amusing duet with Welch, "Cousin
Country", about the differences between English and Americans) and Alan
Thomas have strong operatic voices to which they give full range in "Down
to Earth" and "Luigi" respectively.
I'm not going to say that this is
a great score, but it deserves a place in any musical fan's cast album
collection. You may not fall in love with it, but after a few listenings you'll
find plenty to be pleased about.
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