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THE BOOK OF MORMON – London 2013: A Theatre Review

The Plot: Two Mormons, Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, are sent to a village in Uganda in order to preach their religion. Once there they are faced with a violent general and a group of poor villagers all suffering from AIDS. Elder Price, who thinks he is the best, had big dreams for his career but has a problem dealing with the reality of the situation. Elder Cunningham, a lonely guy who loves STAR WARS and THE LORD OF THE RINGS, manages to get the attention of the villagers by mixing the facts of the Mormon religion with situations from his favorite movies.

The Show: Yes, I know that the plot seems serious and dark, but the guys of SOUTHPARK, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, with the help of Robert Lopez, transformed it into probably the funniest, craziest musical I ever seen. Together they managed to turn bad taste into a highly entertaining art and the cast is a perfect match. Their score, even with a few rock songs, is simply a sinful joyful one. They’re blissfully inspired and their imagination and the humor is, most of the time, contagious.

Nothing is sacred in this musical and “politically correct” is a concept they never heard about; thank God for that! At the same time, with its feel-good atmosphere, I doubt anyone will feel offended by what’s happening on stage. Religion, Africans, AIDS, gays, Darth Vader, Hitler, Uhura, Jesus Christ, racism, all of this and much more are part of this mad musical that make us laugh until it hurts.

Choreographer Casey Nicholaw gives us some hilarious musical numbers like “Hello!”,  “Two by Two” and “Turn It Off”, where silly dance movements make all the difference, making this numbers irresistible. I also loved the stage chaos of “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream”, the innocent but sexually charged “Baptize Me”, the insanely obscene “Joseph Smith American Moses” and the tribal “Hasa Diga Eebowai”.

This isn’t just an insane show with gag after gag. Directors Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker gave the show a big heart and reveal a great care with its characters. We may be laughing, but when Nabulungi, the daughter of the village chef, delivers “Sal Tlay Ka Siti” we feel her emotion and it almost made me cry. The relationship between the two leads is well built and it’s credible. The fun sets, with lots of crazy details, don’t get in the way of the story, they’re there to serve it and that’s refreshing.

The Cast: As Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, Gavin Creel and David O’Reilly are really good and the chemistry between them is palpable. Creel is truly cocky, but also has a charm that conquers us and when he delivers “I Believe” we truly believe in him. O’Reilly fills the stage with his good humor and is completely irresistible; together with the lovely Alexia Khadime he gives us the delicious “Baptize Me”. As Nabulunig, Khadime is a joy to watch and has a beautiful and warm singing voice. Stephen Ashfield, as the gay Mormon, really enjoys what he’s doing and has a great time with “Turn It Off”. Who also seems to have fun with their roles are Giles Terera and Chris Jarman as, respectively, the village chief and the general. The rest of the cast is a terrific company that keeps us entertained and enthralling though out the entire show.

You’ll have the time of your life with this big-hearted obscene musical comedy. No to be missed! I’ll give them all my blessings!

Cast: Gavin Creel, David O’Reilly, Alexia Khadime, Stephen Asfield, Giles Terera, Haydn Oakley, Chris Jarman

Creative Team: Book, Music and Lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez & Matt Stone • Choreography by Casey Nicholaw • Directed by Casey Nicholaw & Trey Parker 
Photos by Johan Persson

My rate: 8 (from 1 to 10)

MATILDA – London 2013: A Theatre Review

The Plot: Matilda is a very special and bright little girl whose parents don’t appreciate. In school she becomes friends with a sweet teacher, but both have to deal with the terrible Miss Trunchbull, the school director who hates children and everyone else. Only Matilda’s special powers can save them from the hands of Miss Trunchbull.

The Show: As soon as we enter the theatre we are inside a magic world of cubes with letters and it’s impossible to resist the urge to find words around the stage. The cubes are the main attraction of the set and work perfectly into the context of the show. In fact, set and costume designer Rob Howell reveals a fantastic imagination and director Matthew Warchus takes full advantage of his work.

The entire show runs smoothly. Everything works in a simple magic way that conquers us from beginning to end. Warchus knows exactly how to make the story work and the fact that he doesn’t make it kind of childish is remarkable. The way the sets move, the way the action seamlessly flows with the choreography (a great work by Peter Darling), the balance between the comedy and the drama, the fabulous theatre of shadows… Warchus is an inventive genius!

I confess I didn’t like the score when I listened to the cast recording, but it works well on stage and my favorite song, “When I Grow Up”, is a part of a true magic theatre moment with the kids playing on the swings. I also enjoyed the funny “Telly” sung by a flawless James Clyde as Mr. Wormwood, Matilda’s father. As Matilda’s mother, Kay Murphy and her Latino dance teacher, Joshua Lay, are a riot with “Loud”.

The Cast: The delightful cast is lead by the talented Cristina Fray as Matilda; she manages to make her character appealing without being too sugar sweet and delivers her song with all her heart. Alex Gaumond is perfect as the gigantic and hilarious Miss Trunchbull, giving his all to the numbers “The Hammer” and “The Smell of Rebellion”. As the nice teacher, Haley Flaherty is sweet and tender. Although I already mentioned them, James Clyde and Kay Murphy as Matilda’s parents are a match made in heaven! A terrific group of young kids, including the amusing Emily Robbins and Daniel Dowling, together with the “older kids”, brings life and power to the production helping to make this a terrific trip to the theatre. 

Children and grownups will all have a great time with this touching, entertaining and magic show. I sure did! It’s highly entertaining and imaginative. Don’t miss it!

Cast: Cristina Fray, Alex Gaumond, James Clyde, Haley Flaherty, Kay Murphy, Joshua Wyatt, Lisa Davina Phillip, Antony Lawrence, Lara Denning, Joshua Lay

Creative Team: Music & Lyrics by Tim Minchin • Book by Dennis Kelly based on the novel by Roald Dahl • Choreography by Peter Darling • Directed by Matthew Warchus

Photos by Manuel Harlan and others 

My rate: 8 (from 1 to 10)

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – London 2013: A Theatre Review

The Plot: Little Charlie is a nice boy who lives with his poor family in a small house, he loves chocolates and the Willy Wonka bars are is favorite. One day, Willy Wonka himself creates a contest where five lucky winners will visit his chocolate factory, in order to be one of the winners you have to find a golden ticket inside one of his chocolate bars. Although poor, Charlie manages to get a golden ticket and with his grandfather goes to the factory, along with four horrible child and their parents. 

Review: I never read the Roald Dahl’s book or even saw the movie version starring Gene Wilder. My first contact with the story was with Tim Burton’s fabulous movie adaptation, that was magic and made me cry.

It’s obvious money wasn’t an issue when Warner Bros decided to transform CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY into a stage musical. So what we have here is a huge production, but unfortunately is heartless and soulless. I wasn’t able to connect with the characters and so I wasn’t emotional involved with what happened on stage.

The first act is boringly slow and made me sleepy. In it we got to know the winning children through a television show that I think is supposed to be funny, but it isn’t and the songs are uninteresting. Charlie’s songs are dull and there’s also a depressing ballad, “If Your Mother Were Here”, sung by his parents. The only lively numbers are the ones sung by Charlie’s grandparents – “The Amazing Tale of Mr. Willy Wonka” and “Don’t Ya Pinch Me, Charlie”.

On the second act we finally go inside the chocolate factory, but even with the gigantic sets and the use and abuse of projections (leds?) things don’t become very interesting. Everything happens too quickly and the much-needed magic only happens when Willy takes Charlie on his glass elevator. But that’s not enough to save this musical.

Sam Mendes directs everything with a heavy hand and the humor doesn’t work. The choreography by Peter Darling is disappointing; to imagine what he could have done with the Oompa-Loompas… The score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman only comes alive when the orchestra plays the overture of act two and it reminded me of better scores like OLIVER, MARY POPPINS, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG and DOCTOR DOLITTLE. None of the songs are catchy. In fact, the best song of the entire score is “Pure Imagination”, that was written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley for the Gene Wilder movie. Maybe they should have used more songs from that movie. Anyway, no one can say that the score is monotonous, but it’s easily forgettable. 

Douglas Hodge was fabulous in GUYS AND DOLLS and LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, but in the role of Willy Wonka he didn’t convince me. His character should be bigger than life and he plays it like he’s running a circus; I felt that he isn’t having any fun or pleasure doing it. As for his singing voice sometimes I could hear Zaza in it. As Grandpa Joe, Billy Boyle seems like he is enjoying his role and plays it lively. Isaac Rouse is a sweet Charlie, but he doesn’t have any number where he can shine. As the four horrible children, Regan Stokes, Ellie Simmons, India Ria Amarteifio and Luca Toomey were convincingly unlikable.  

Not very far from the theatre where this dull musical is playing we can see MATILDA, also based on a Roald Dahl book, and this one is simply a work of genius. Both shows are made with children as their main target, but while MATILDA appeals to all ages, this CHARLIE is a childish tedious show that can put children and grownups sleeping.

Creative Team: Music by Marc Shaiman • Lyrics by Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman • Book by David Greif based on the novel by Roald Dahl • Choreography by Peter Darling • Directed by Sam Mendes
Photos by Brinkhoff/Mögenburg, Helen Maybanks, Johan Persson and others 
My rate: 2 (from 1 to 10)

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS – London 2013: A Theatre Review

The Plot: Alabama 1931 – 9 “Negros” travelling in a train are wrongly accused of raping two white women. The police put them in jail and at court they are found guilty. Year after year, they try different courts, but the verdict is always the same, even when one of the women tells the truth.

The Show: Do you know what a Minstrel Show is? Well, it’s a show that “uses white actors to portray African Americans in ways that are negative and disrespectful”. Typically these shows used a semicircle of chairs, a kind of an Emcee and two comic characters that interrupted the show with their sketches. That’s the structure chosen by director/choreographer Susan Stroman to put on this musical.

The set of this musical is made basically of chairs and thanks to the always very inventive Susan Stroman these are transformed, with the help of the cast, into a train, a prison, a court room and everything that it’s needed. The energetic dance numbers also take place among or at the top of the chairs; the dance here isn’t elegant, but rather brutal and that works perfectly with the context of the story. Stroman manages to tell a very dramatic story as a dark musical comedy, making us laugh and involving us emotionally with the characters. She also inverts the rules of the Minstrel Show, using black actors playing exaggerated white roles.

The score by John Kander and Fred Ebb isn’t among their best work, but even so is very enjoyable and at the first accords we feel like we’re inside a real minstrel show. There’s a contagious “Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey!” opening the show; Stroman has a full day with “Commencing in Chattanooga” and “Electric Chair”; “Go Back Home” is a poignant ballad powerfully sung by Kyle Scatliffe and the company; “Never Too Late” is a funny number and “You Can’t Do Me” is the most Kander & Ebb song of the score.

The Cast: Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon, as the two comics, lively play very different roles and enjoy doing it. As the “leader” of the “Negros”, Kyle Scatliffe has a very strong presence and is the emotional core of the musical. On the funnier side, James T. Lane and Christian Dante White are delicious as the two white ladies. There’s also Dawn Hope, the only female cast member, who says a lot with her silence and eyes. The only white actor is Julian Glover who plays the Emcee as a pathetic, racist silly man. One last word for the other 6 actors, who all dance, sing and act with talent.

This isn’t a big musical production, but a plain and very entertaining one that ends with a bitter note that, unfortunately, still echoes in our modern times. If it wasn’t this musical this poor 9 guys will still be seen as guilty of a crime that they didn’t commit, but thanks to this show they were finally absolved.

Cast: Kyle Sctaliffe, Christian Dante White, James T. Lane, Adebayo Bolaji, Idriss Kargbo, Jorden Shaw, Carl Spencer, Clinton Roane, Emile Ruddock, Colman Domingo, Forrest McClendon, Julian Glover, Dawn Hope. 

Creative Team: Music by John Kander • Lyrics by Fred Ebb • Book by David Thompson • Choreography by Susan Stroman • Directed by Susan Stroman

Photos by Richard Hubert Smith, Henry DiRocco and Alastair Muir

My Rate: 7 (from 1 to 10)

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN – A webpage

Last year I saw in London the revival production of SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN and I was kind of disappointed with it. Even so, I finally built a small webpage about that show: http://www.jorgeplace.com/shows_SinginintheRain.htm

TOP HAT – A Webpage

On my last trip to London, in November 2012, one of the musicals I saw was TOP HAT and I had an enjoyable time with it. I’ve been thinking in building a webpage about the show since then and finally I did it. 

I hope you’ll like it: TopHat.htm

LOST MUSICALS IN LONDON: 2013 SEASON

If you live around London or not very far from it, this year’s LOST MUSICAL season has a very interesting offer.

It begins on July 14, with Noel Coward's 'lost' 1932 satirical revue WORDS AND MUSIC. For that show, Coward wrote songs like “Mad About The Boy” and “Mad Dogs and Englishmen”.

Starting in September, it’s time for HOLLY GOLIGHTLY, the Bob Merrill and Abe Burrows musical version of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Truman Capote. This 1966 musical closed during its Broadway previews and never opened again.

The season ends with AROUND THE WORLD, a 1946 musical adaptation of the famous Jules Verne novel “Around the World in Eighty Days”, with a book by Orson Wells and a score by Cole Porter. The show starts its performances in October 20.

All the shows only have performances on Sundays and can be seen at the Sadler’s Wells Lilian Bayliss Studio. For more information visit the following link www.lostmusicals.org or call the box office: 0844 412 4300.

LONDON: THE TAILOR-MADE MAN

On February 14^th, for a eight-week run, a new musical opens in London – THE TAILOR-MADE MAN.

Based on the true-story of William Haines, a silent movie star of the 20s that refused to stay in the “closet” by marrying a woman and leaving his partner Jimmy Shields, this musical tells “a story about the Hollywood studio system and its hypocrisy, but above all it is the story of Billy and Jimmy's turbulent, passionate love affair that survived and lasted over 50 years.”

The show stars Faye Tozer (Smash-Hit band Steps), Dylan Turner (Mamma Mia! London and Movie) and Mike McShane (Little Shop Of Horrors),

The show will be playing at the Arts Theatre - Great Newport Street,London,United Kingdom,WC2H 7JB.

LONDON: DEAR WORLD

DEAR WORLD, the Jerry Herman and Angela Lansbury musical that flopped on Broadway when it opened in 1969, as finally arrived in London, where it’ll play for 8 weeks only.

Starring Betty Buckley in the leading role and with a couple of different musical numbers, let’s hope this new production will succeed and do justice to this amazing score, one of the best ever written for a musical.

Here is a look at the production, all photos copyrighted by Eric Richmond.