I have been cast in a Bench production for 2008. I am playing the Badger in the Christmas production of "Wind in the Willows" . I will publish the dates later in this blog. It was a part I wanted and I am looking forward to my first acting role of the year with the Bench. I have tried to interest CCADS in casting me in one of their productions but so far to no avail.
I have also discussed with my pal, David Penrose, the resurrection of Cunning Plan in 2009, as a touring theatre for two middle aged actors and actress. We have a few ideas on that score, which I will keep up my sleeve for the moment ,in case someone else thinks they are worth copying.
2009 season is the 40th Anniversary of the Bench Theatre, with which I have been associated for 36 years. The group is doing "Old Times" in February, "Closer" in April, "Road" in July, a Brand New Play in September and "What the Butler Saw" in December. The first two productions will have no parts for me and although I like working backstage - as witnessed by this year - I do prefer to tread the boards, luvvies. The last three may or may not have parts for me but I shall be auditioning, even though I played Dr Rance in our last production of "What the Butler Saw" back in 1984. I was younger then (37 to be precise) and was playing above my range. I am just about the right age now of course. However as I have stated elsewhere this is a farce and farces are real hard work - do I have the stamina, the strength, the will power? - oh f***, of course I do! Talent will out, children!
I am also looking forward to seeing Bob in "Crave" in a couple of weeks as part of the Bench double bill July 2008 production. She has suggested directing a full length monologue with yours truly that made me drool on reading the script. There is a slight delay this year in the availability of amateur rights so hopefully this will be another project for 2009. Good on yer, Bob!
Thursday, 10 July 2008
The Music Man
The Chichester Festival Theatre are mounting two musicals this year: "Funny Girl" in the Minerva and "Music Man" in the main theatre. I was eager to see the former and ambivalent about the latter. After last night's performance of "Music Man", I still prefer "Funny Girl" but was won over by the performances of Brian Conley and Scarlet Strallen in particular.
The Meredith Willson musical opened on Broadway in 1957 and followed in the same vein as "Oklahoma", "Carousel" and "Shenandoah" to capture the spirit of the early American heartland. Willson wrote about his home state of Iowa and created a classic Broadway musical, full of invention and traditional Broadway numbers. "Seventy Six Trombones" is a well known number as is the much covered "Till There Was You".
We find ourselves in River City, Iowa, in the company of self-styled Professor Harold Hill, who is renowned for selling band instruments and uniforms, promising to give lessons but cannot read a note of music and disappearing with the money. Brian Conley eases himself into the part and charms the audience as much as the good folk of River City. He lacks the sleazy aspect of the salesman but wins us over firmly onto his side by his smooth humour and brilliant smile. By the end, he made me care about his character and provoked a tear or two in the Best Beloved.
His co-star and the love interest of the piece is the stunning Scarlet Strallen. She plays Marion the librarian and is gorgeous. She is beautiful, slim with a wonderful behind and the movement of a dancer, which later in the show she proves herself to be. However it is when she sings that my heart fluttered helplessly against my rib cage. "Goodnight My Someone", "Will I Ever Tell you? and "Till There Was you" are delivered in a crystal clear voice, which effortlessly reaches into the higher notes and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention.
The director, Rachel Kavanaugh, has done a fine job with a good looking show and some terrific moments. She is indebted to Robert Jones, the designer, Stephen Ridley, the musical director and Stephen Mear the choreographer (who was also responsible for "Funny Girl" this season). The set design succeeds in creating a train, River City, the gymnasium, the interior of the library, the Wells Fargo Wagon and the Footbridge. The Footbridge is a touch of real magic on the open thrust stage of Chichester aided superbly by the lighting design of Howard Harrison. For a while I was suspended in space by the beauty of the set and the movement and singing, especially of "Till There Was You". Stephen Mear's work in choreography raises the standards even higher with a particularly fine rendition of "Marion the Librarian" (rhyming her name with her occupation and at one point in the song with "carrion") in the library interior and the chicken dance in "Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little".
Stephen Ridley, the musical director, also plays his part in putting together a marvellous evening. The melody of "Seventy Six Trombones" with the tempo slowed down is used in "Goodnight, My Someone" to link the Professor and the librarian in romantic, operatic fashion. This was as written by Meredith Willson of course. "Till There Was You" i s the traditional Broadway ballad but beautifully delivered by Scarlet Strallen. It begins in tremulous fashion with two short, halting phrases of three notes each, then rushes more freely and blissfully onwards in an expansive style. I didn't want the song to finish.
The curtain call is pure razzamatazz and I heard a Chichester audience cheering and calling for more - a sound rarely heard there by me. I think Jonathan Church and Alan Finch might have come up with yet another outstanding season!
I love musicals! I know they appeal to the more sensitive or feminine side of my nature but I can play 'butch' as well, you know!
The Meredith Willson musical opened on Broadway in 1957 and followed in the same vein as "Oklahoma", "Carousel" and "Shenandoah" to capture the spirit of the early American heartland. Willson wrote about his home state of Iowa and created a classic Broadway musical, full of invention and traditional Broadway numbers. "Seventy Six Trombones" is a well known number as is the much covered "Till There Was You".
We find ourselves in River City, Iowa, in the company of self-styled Professor Harold Hill, who is renowned for selling band instruments and uniforms, promising to give lessons but cannot read a note of music and disappearing with the money. Brian Conley eases himself into the part and charms the audience as much as the good folk of River City. He lacks the sleazy aspect of the salesman but wins us over firmly onto his side by his smooth humour and brilliant smile. By the end, he made me care about his character and provoked a tear or two in the Best Beloved.
His co-star and the love interest of the piece is the stunning Scarlet Strallen. She plays Marion the librarian and is gorgeous. She is beautiful, slim with a wonderful behind and the movement of a dancer, which later in the show she proves herself to be. However it is when she sings that my heart fluttered helplessly against my rib cage. "Goodnight My Someone", "Will I Ever Tell you? and "Till There Was you" are delivered in a crystal clear voice, which effortlessly reaches into the higher notes and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention.
The director, Rachel Kavanaugh, has done a fine job with a good looking show and some terrific moments. She is indebted to Robert Jones, the designer, Stephen Ridley, the musical director and Stephen Mear the choreographer (who was also responsible for "Funny Girl" this season). The set design succeeds in creating a train, River City, the gymnasium, the interior of the library, the Wells Fargo Wagon and the Footbridge. The Footbridge is a touch of real magic on the open thrust stage of Chichester aided superbly by the lighting design of Howard Harrison. For a while I was suspended in space by the beauty of the set and the movement and singing, especially of "Till There Was You". Stephen Mear's work in choreography raises the standards even higher with a particularly fine rendition of "Marion the Librarian" (rhyming her name with her occupation and at one point in the song with "carrion") in the library interior and the chicken dance in "Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little".
Stephen Ridley, the musical director, also plays his part in putting together a marvellous evening. The melody of "Seventy Six Trombones" with the tempo slowed down is used in "Goodnight, My Someone" to link the Professor and the librarian in romantic, operatic fashion. This was as written by Meredith Willson of course. "Till There Was You" i s the traditional Broadway ballad but beautifully delivered by Scarlet Strallen. It begins in tremulous fashion with two short, halting phrases of three notes each, then rushes more freely and blissfully onwards in an expansive style. I didn't want the song to finish.
The curtain call is pure razzamatazz and I heard a Chichester audience cheering and calling for more - a sound rarely heard there by me. I think Jonathan Church and Alan Finch might have come up with yet another outstanding season!
I love musicals! I know they appeal to the more sensitive or feminine side of my nature but I can play 'butch' as well, you know!
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Tales from the Green Room 1984
Continuing this series of personal reminiscences of the Bench Theatre, unsupported by any documentary evidence other than my somewhat suspect memory, I jump five years from my last article and the introduction of David Penrose in 1979. We are in the year 1984 and after a few years in the wilderness bringing a family into the world and earning a degree in my spare time, I decided the time was ripe for a Peter Corrigan production.
I have always read lots of plays and I try to see as many as I can (although I can never do enough of either pastime). In 1984 I was much taken by the work of Peter Whelan, as was the RSC at the time. In particular I read his "The Accrington Pals" and was bowled over. I loved the play and had to do it. I felt the Bench could really do it credit by doing it well in our intimate theatre and inadvertently I also introduced a great character into the Bench firmament.
"Accrington Pals" is set in Lancashire in the First World War and is about the Pals battalion set from that town to fight. In fact, it is more about the impact on the town and upon the womenfolk left behind. The Accrington Pals suffered grievous losses in the War. The comment, "lions led by donkeys", about the flower of British youth and the First World war generals who led them, has long resounded in my heart and mind. The production would give me the chance to articulate some of those thoughts and feelings. I rarely direct plays as that combination of passion and intellectual stimulation are hard to find and to maintain.
The set was extraordinary and was probably realised by David Hemsley-Brown, who also starred in the play as the young male lead, Tom Hackford, an apprentice, nineteen. As usual the finishing touches, the artistic touches of the set, were applied by David Penrose, playing Arthur Boggis. An all black set it all became part of the black box of the theatre. It was easy therefore with lighting to portray interiors and exteriors ranging from kitchen ranges to cobbled market streets and the Western front. David's (Penrose) touch was to introduce the deepest red, so deep it was almost black, on to the black walls. Most of the time it was invisible but when you became conscious of it, it was always there in the background of your vision and consciousness. I had a stage manager who created the effect of smoky streets before the audience entered the auditorium.
The play is concerned with a love affair between Tom and May Hassal. May is a stall holder, in her late twenties or older. May was played by Nicola Scadding in a stunning performance. In fact the cast was one of the very best I ever assembled. We worked very hard in the rehearsals on the scenes set in Accrington and especially the ones before the Pals left for war. To this day I still remember the scene with Ralph in the tin bath. But more than anything I remember the scene between Tom and May on the eve of his departure. She was dressed in a whiter than white nightdress and he in his khakis. He brought a bunch of red roses with him. During what should have been a loving farewell, they quarrel as invariably they did. In a final gesture, Tom hurled a red rose into her lap before banging out of the house. Under the steely blue light and on that whitest of night gowns and because she was seated on a black stool, the rose landed in such a way that it looked like a bloodstain. The symbolism of that one moment could have been a painting and was for me the key moment of the whole play. It could only be captured under full lighting, costume and performance. We worked for weeks but that is what I had dreamed and its fruition was greater than I had ever imagined.
The men in the play were quite disappointed because I only rehearsed the trenches scene once or twice when the Pals went over the top. I did so because it was a beautifully written scene and once we had determined the Pals would charge up the central aisle through the audience and disappear into history, it was easy to stage. I also didn't bring the men back for the curtain call. Instead the curtain call was entirely populated by the women who opened their ranks to let through the cripple Reggie, a boy of fourteen or fifteen, the only surviving male. It was my attempt to say how we had thrown away the flower of our manhood and yet the strain was borne by women.
We were trained and drilled by the Territorial Army in the uniforms and weaponry. I had wanted to use a live pigeon in one poignant scene when Arthur at the front writes home to Annie, his wife (a powerful and heart wringing performance by Jane Hart) but had to settle for a fake one as the production was threatened with blockade by a animal rights group. I have the habit of riling people unintentionally as I go about my single minded dedication to the theatrical arts.
Finally I wonder if you have worked out the great Bench character who made his debut in that production? Well I was into the second night of auditions and was just beginning to jig the cast in my mind, when a stranger walked into the Lecture Room. I could have cast the play comfortably and usually I use the same repertory of actors when doing so. I suppose this opens me up to accusations of cliquishness. However, I was always more concerned with delivering the piece and getting it on stage than I was with developing actors. I spent my working days developing and broadening young minds and didn't want to do it as part of my hobby.
Anyway I was looking for someone to play the part of C.S.M. Rivers, a regular soldier in his thirties or forties, which believe it or not, is what I was back in 1984. The part is an important pivotal part as he is the one that induces the young men to join the Pals and rather Pied Piper like leads them away from Accrington to the battlefields, from whence they never return. Into the rehearsal space stepped one Peter Woodward, full of apologies for his late arrival and hoping he would still be allowed to audition. I believe he had been at a social or sporting event that evening and had imbibed before his arrival. Those of you who know Peter will perhaps recognise the state he must have been in that night. Now the original Rivers had been played by one of my favourite actors of all time, Bob Peck. (Have I told you about the three months I spent as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Midlands arts Centre, where Bob Peck was the star? If not, perhaps I should another time!) Peter read beautifully and caught both the martinet and the lonely man inside the uniform instinctively. I was able to welcome a new Bench member, who became one of those Bench stalwarts Mike Allen always likes to mention, and who would always be in any cast of mine if he wanted and was available.
I am not sure where this occasional series of Bench Green Room Tales will take me but I hope you will join me the next time.
I have always read lots of plays and I try to see as many as I can (although I can never do enough of either pastime). In 1984 I was much taken by the work of Peter Whelan, as was the RSC at the time. In particular I read his "The Accrington Pals" and was bowled over. I loved the play and had to do it. I felt the Bench could really do it credit by doing it well in our intimate theatre and inadvertently I also introduced a great character into the Bench firmament.
"Accrington Pals" is set in Lancashire in the First World War and is about the Pals battalion set from that town to fight. In fact, it is more about the impact on the town and upon the womenfolk left behind. The Accrington Pals suffered grievous losses in the War. The comment, "lions led by donkeys", about the flower of British youth and the First World war generals who led them, has long resounded in my heart and mind. The production would give me the chance to articulate some of those thoughts and feelings. I rarely direct plays as that combination of passion and intellectual stimulation are hard to find and to maintain.
The set was extraordinary and was probably realised by David Hemsley-Brown, who also starred in the play as the young male lead, Tom Hackford, an apprentice, nineteen. As usual the finishing touches, the artistic touches of the set, were applied by David Penrose, playing Arthur Boggis. An all black set it all became part of the black box of the theatre. It was easy therefore with lighting to portray interiors and exteriors ranging from kitchen ranges to cobbled market streets and the Western front. David's (Penrose) touch was to introduce the deepest red, so deep it was almost black, on to the black walls. Most of the time it was invisible but when you became conscious of it, it was always there in the background of your vision and consciousness. I had a stage manager who created the effect of smoky streets before the audience entered the auditorium.
The play is concerned with a love affair between Tom and May Hassal. May is a stall holder, in her late twenties or older. May was played by Nicola Scadding in a stunning performance. In fact the cast was one of the very best I ever assembled. We worked very hard in the rehearsals on the scenes set in Accrington and especially the ones before the Pals left for war. To this day I still remember the scene with Ralph in the tin bath. But more than anything I remember the scene between Tom and May on the eve of his departure. She was dressed in a whiter than white nightdress and he in his khakis. He brought a bunch of red roses with him. During what should have been a loving farewell, they quarrel as invariably they did. In a final gesture, Tom hurled a red rose into her lap before banging out of the house. Under the steely blue light and on that whitest of night gowns and because she was seated on a black stool, the rose landed in such a way that it looked like a bloodstain. The symbolism of that one moment could have been a painting and was for me the key moment of the whole play. It could only be captured under full lighting, costume and performance. We worked for weeks but that is what I had dreamed and its fruition was greater than I had ever imagined.
The men in the play were quite disappointed because I only rehearsed the trenches scene once or twice when the Pals went over the top. I did so because it was a beautifully written scene and once we had determined the Pals would charge up the central aisle through the audience and disappear into history, it was easy to stage. I also didn't bring the men back for the curtain call. Instead the curtain call was entirely populated by the women who opened their ranks to let through the cripple Reggie, a boy of fourteen or fifteen, the only surviving male. It was my attempt to say how we had thrown away the flower of our manhood and yet the strain was borne by women.
We were trained and drilled by the Territorial Army in the uniforms and weaponry. I had wanted to use a live pigeon in one poignant scene when Arthur at the front writes home to Annie, his wife (a powerful and heart wringing performance by Jane Hart) but had to settle for a fake one as the production was threatened with blockade by a animal rights group. I have the habit of riling people unintentionally as I go about my single minded dedication to the theatrical arts.
Finally I wonder if you have worked out the great Bench character who made his debut in that production? Well I was into the second night of auditions and was just beginning to jig the cast in my mind, when a stranger walked into the Lecture Room. I could have cast the play comfortably and usually I use the same repertory of actors when doing so. I suppose this opens me up to accusations of cliquishness. However, I was always more concerned with delivering the piece and getting it on stage than I was with developing actors. I spent my working days developing and broadening young minds and didn't want to do it as part of my hobby.
Anyway I was looking for someone to play the part of C.S.M. Rivers, a regular soldier in his thirties or forties, which believe it or not, is what I was back in 1984. The part is an important pivotal part as he is the one that induces the young men to join the Pals and rather Pied Piper like leads them away from Accrington to the battlefields, from whence they never return. Into the rehearsal space stepped one Peter Woodward, full of apologies for his late arrival and hoping he would still be allowed to audition. I believe he had been at a social or sporting event that evening and had imbibed before his arrival. Those of you who know Peter will perhaps recognise the state he must have been in that night. Now the original Rivers had been played by one of my favourite actors of all time, Bob Peck. (Have I told you about the three months I spent as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Midlands arts Centre, where Bob Peck was the star? If not, perhaps I should another time!) Peter read beautifully and caught both the martinet and the lonely man inside the uniform instinctively. I was able to welcome a new Bench member, who became one of those Bench stalwarts Mike Allen always likes to mention, and who would always be in any cast of mine if he wanted and was available.
I am not sure where this occasional series of Bench Green Room Tales will take me but I hope you will join me the next time.
Friday, 30 May 2008
Reading "Passion Play"
I didn't put on my play reading list the one play I am reading at the moment, which is "Passion Play" by Peter Nichols. I only got through the first act yesterday so wasn't able to get it ready in time for presentation at the Bench Artistic Panel as a possibility for next season. It is a 1980's play so I may still have another chance if there are second stages of selection needed. I believe there is only one production on offer for the 1980 slot and it may get turned down by the company so opening up the opportunity of a second bite of the apple for slowcoaches like me.
The subject matter is adultery and I was much taken by the sex war. Peter Nichols also uses the actor's training exercise of having a second actor portray the character's innermost feelings and thoughts. He does this for both the main male and female leads. I will let you know how I get on with finishing the reading and possible production.
The subject matter is adultery and I was much taken by the sex war. Peter Nichols also uses the actor's training exercise of having a second actor portray the character's innermost feelings and thoughts. He does this for both the main male and female leads. I will let you know how I get on with finishing the reading and possible production.
The Cherry Orchard
This is one of the clearest productions by Philip Franks of a Chekhov play I have ever seen. It also moves at a very brisk pace through its two hours on the stage, there are no “longeurs” that I have often associated with English versions of Chekhov classics in the past. The set by Leslie Travers is deliberately minimal and interior scenes are depicted by a few pieces of furniture – the grey of the nursery in Act 1, the plush red of the ballroom in Act 2. There is almost a proscenium arch effect upstage under which the nursery furniture is stored under sheets in the final Act and under which the majority of the party takes place screened off by red drapes. This allows the majority of the stage to be used as thrust. The cherry orchard seems to be the audience.
The play opens with Michael Siberry as Lopakhin preparing the house and us for the return of Madam Ranyevskaya after her five year self imposed exile in Paris. He does so brilliantly and with verve and vigour. This was the real star performance of the evening for me. I totally believed in this complicated and complex self-made man. His triumphs and setbacks were achieved with energy and subtlety. It was a thrill to see Frank Finlay as Firs, the head valet, on the Chichester stage – one of the heroes of the early days of the National Theatre and a theatre icon. Like all great actors (Anthony Sher and Derek Jacobi spring to mind here) he isn’t a big man but his presence fills a stage. Unfortunately for me, Mr Finlay didn’t ever capture my heart as the old man and the famous final scene went for naught. I know the actor is probably of the same age as the character but in fact appeared too sound in limb and mind to achieve the collapse at the end.
Then entered Diana Rigg as Ranyevskaya. This actress is up there amongst my favourites with Barbra Streisand (read review on “Funny Girl” previously) so it was with great anticipation that I waited to see her performance. Last year I made the mistake of criticising Patrick Stewart’s Scottish thane because of his age and he went on to Tony nominations for best Actor on Broadway so that shows you how much I know! However I did find Miss Rigg too old for the part. Ranyevskaya’s five year self-imposed exile in Paris is prompted by the death of her seven year old son by drowning on this very estate. If he had lived, he would now be twelve years old, and though I do not wish to be ungallant I could not believe this Ranyevskaya was young enough to be the right age for child bearing a dozen years before. I must admit that the characterisation is spot on and Miss Rigg makes what can be a tiresome and silly woman believable and interesting, although the hand gestures are a little too repetitive for my liking.
William Gaunt as Gayev, the empty headed brother of Ranyevskaya, and John Nettleton, as the ever-penurious Simeonov-Pischik, provide excellent support in the parts I could see myself playing. Maureen Lipman is imperious as the German governess, Charlotta, and made sense for me of what is usually an enigmatic part. It needed someone of her stature to make it work. Young Charlotte Riley as the daughter Anya and the youngest person at stage is delightfully fresh and optimistic.
The star performance for me though came from Jemma Redgrave as Ranyevskaya’s adopted daughter. Varya is the sensible one, the one who keeps the estate going despite her mother’s profligacy, and the one who is feared by the older serfs and peasants as the enforcer. This is not the position she would wish to find herself in and her relationship with Lopakhin is the only chance of escape. Miss Redgrave captures magnificently the desperation of the character and her dissolution times in with that of the Cherry orchard itself. Her performance made me feel whereas for most of the production I admired.
I did feel the sound effect for the chopping in the cherry orchard in the final act fell short of being a powerful and affecting one, which rather sums up my feeling about the whole production. If you are a Chekhov fan or even if you are new to Chekhov, this is a production worth seeing for the clarity of the story telling and the sureness of the pace with which it is performed.
The play opens with Michael Siberry as Lopakhin preparing the house and us for the return of Madam Ranyevskaya after her five year self imposed exile in Paris. He does so brilliantly and with verve and vigour. This was the real star performance of the evening for me. I totally believed in this complicated and complex self-made man. His triumphs and setbacks were achieved with energy and subtlety. It was a thrill to see Frank Finlay as Firs, the head valet, on the Chichester stage – one of the heroes of the early days of the National Theatre and a theatre icon. Like all great actors (Anthony Sher and Derek Jacobi spring to mind here) he isn’t a big man but his presence fills a stage. Unfortunately for me, Mr Finlay didn’t ever capture my heart as the old man and the famous final scene went for naught. I know the actor is probably of the same age as the character but in fact appeared too sound in limb and mind to achieve the collapse at the end.
Then entered Diana Rigg as Ranyevskaya. This actress is up there amongst my favourites with Barbra Streisand (read review on “Funny Girl” previously) so it was with great anticipation that I waited to see her performance. Last year I made the mistake of criticising Patrick Stewart’s Scottish thane because of his age and he went on to Tony nominations for best Actor on Broadway so that shows you how much I know! However I did find Miss Rigg too old for the part. Ranyevskaya’s five year self-imposed exile in Paris is prompted by the death of her seven year old son by drowning on this very estate. If he had lived, he would now be twelve years old, and though I do not wish to be ungallant I could not believe this Ranyevskaya was young enough to be the right age for child bearing a dozen years before. I must admit that the characterisation is spot on and Miss Rigg makes what can be a tiresome and silly woman believable and interesting, although the hand gestures are a little too repetitive for my liking.
William Gaunt as Gayev, the empty headed brother of Ranyevskaya, and John Nettleton, as the ever-penurious Simeonov-Pischik, provide excellent support in the parts I could see myself playing. Maureen Lipman is imperious as the German governess, Charlotta, and made sense for me of what is usually an enigmatic part. It needed someone of her stature to make it work. Young Charlotte Riley as the daughter Anya and the youngest person at stage is delightfully fresh and optimistic.
The star performance for me though came from Jemma Redgrave as Ranyevskaya’s adopted daughter. Varya is the sensible one, the one who keeps the estate going despite her mother’s profligacy, and the one who is feared by the older serfs and peasants as the enforcer. This is not the position she would wish to find herself in and her relationship with Lopakhin is the only chance of escape. Miss Redgrave captures magnificently the desperation of the character and her dissolution times in with that of the Cherry orchard itself. Her performance made me feel whereas for most of the production I admired.
I did feel the sound effect for the chopping in the cherry orchard in the final act fell short of being a powerful and affecting one, which rather sums up my feeling about the whole production. If you are a Chekhov fan or even if you are new to Chekhov, this is a production worth seeing for the clarity of the story telling and the sureness of the pace with which it is performed.
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Current playscript reading list
Over on my personal blog page, “Boanerges”, I said I would list my current playscripts reading list and so here it is below.
“The Wind in the Willows” is the Bench Christmas production 2008. I am auditioning and helping with a dance for the auditions on Monday June 10th and Thursday June 13th. I would like a part.
Irish writers do dominate. I will try and do thumbnail impressions of the plays as they are read.
Alan Bennett : The History Boys; The Wind in the Willows
Kate Atkinson: Abandonment
Gregory Doran: Merry Wives the Musical
Brian Friel: Making History
Simon Gray: Little Nell
David Hare: My Zinc Bed; The Permanent Way
David Harrower: Dark Earth; Knives in Hens
Derek Hines: Gilgamesh – The Play
Robert Holman: Jonah and Otto
Kneehigh Theatre: Tristan & Yseult
Greg Kotis: Urinetown;The Musical
Martin McDonagh: The Beauty Queen of Leenane; The Lonesome West; The Lieutenant of Inishmore.
Duncan Macmillan: Monster
Conor McPherson: Port Authority; Dublin Carol; Shining City
Owen McCafferty: JP Miller’s Days of Wine and Roses
Moliere: Don Juan
Wallace Shawn: The Designated Mourner
Polly Teale: Jane Eyre
Over on my personal blog page, “Boanerges”, I said I would also complete my internal debate about choosing plays for production. That will be my next posting, unless I get round to uploading some of my “Tales from the Green Room: a personal history of the Bench Theatre” before then. There are also reviews of “The Cherry Orchard” (Chichester Festival Theatre) and “Brassed Off” (Theatre Royal, CCADS) due this week as well.
“The Wind in the Willows” is the Bench Christmas production 2008. I am auditioning and helping with a dance for the auditions on Monday June 10th and Thursday June 13th. I would like a part.
Irish writers do dominate. I will try and do thumbnail impressions of the plays as they are read.
Alan Bennett : The History Boys; The Wind in the Willows
Kate Atkinson: Abandonment
Gregory Doran: Merry Wives the Musical
Brian Friel: Making History
Simon Gray: Little Nell
David Hare: My Zinc Bed; The Permanent Way
David Harrower: Dark Earth; Knives in Hens
Derek Hines: Gilgamesh – The Play
Robert Holman: Jonah and Otto
Kneehigh Theatre: Tristan & Yseult
Greg Kotis: Urinetown;The Musical
Martin McDonagh: The Beauty Queen of Leenane; The Lonesome West; The Lieutenant of Inishmore.
Duncan Macmillan: Monster
Conor McPherson: Port Authority; Dublin Carol; Shining City
Owen McCafferty: JP Miller’s Days of Wine and Roses
Moliere: Don Juan
Wallace Shawn: The Designated Mourner
Polly Teale: Jane Eyre
Over on my personal blog page, “Boanerges”, I said I would also complete my internal debate about choosing plays for production. That will be my next posting, unless I get round to uploading some of my “Tales from the Green Room: a personal history of the Bench Theatre” before then. There are also reviews of “The Cherry Orchard” (Chichester Festival Theatre) and “Brassed Off” (Theatre Royal, CCADS) due this week as well.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Run! To the Minerva, you MUST go!
I loved the 1968 William Wyler Oscar winning adaptation of the 1964 Broadway hit “Funny Girl”, starring the incomparable Barbra Streisand. I loved the concept and I loved the songs and the singing of the leading lady.
Yet here I am in 2008, forty years later, saying get yourself across to the Minerva Theatre in Chichester – Fanny Brice is back in town! Tiny Samantha Spiro (5’2” of dynamite) is wonderful as the eponymous Funny Girl. She takes on the feisty Jewish girl and produces a marvellous heart wrenching but ultimately uplifting performance. Her voice may not match the great diva but she sings the great anthems “Don’t Rain on my Parade”, “People” and “I’m the Greatest Star” with passion and commitment. You believe in this Fanny. She is actually funny in the comedy sequences, she is a triumphant Broadway star in the dance sequences and backstage and she is in love with her incredibly handsome but no-good man. You will not see a better musical theatre performance this year anywhere.
At times this does feel like a one-woman show and Miss Spiro does have to carry most of the emotional weight. A wonderful cast and a chorus line of eight gorgeous dancers with very long ladder length legs are on hand to support her. Rose Brice, her mother, is a wise cracking, wiseacre of a Jewish momma, warmly played by Sheila Steafel. I loved the songs, “Who Taught Her Everything?” and “Find Yourself a Man” but these were especially sold on me by the performance of Sebastien Torka as Eddie. He is Fanny’s longstanding friend, who helps get her launched on her career, and who is the one to caution against Nicky Arnstein, the good looking gambler.
Mark Umbers certainly is a good looking heart throb and he sings well. The Best Beloved fell for him during the evening and none more so in the beautifully recreated restaurant scene. The sophisticated gentleman in the “height of nonchalance, providing beds in restaurants”, woos the feisty, prickly and bad tempered Fanny (“You Are Woman, I am Man”). She is introduced to the delights of posh food and high living but discovers pate is only “chopped liver” after all.
The set is marvellous in a design by Mark Thompson. I particularly liked the way the theatre is stripped back to the bare black walls for the back stage but the white roses for the Long Island mansion, the red ottoman for the restaurant and the same ottoman stripped for the railway station are simply done but most evocative. Special mention must go to Stephen Mear, the choreographer, who produces some marvellous thrilling dance sequences. The musical direction of the unseen band is wonderful by Robert Scott and one has to thank Jason Carr for his orchestrations and his informative notes in the programme. The director, Angus Jackson, doesn’t allow his cast to put a foot wrong. He drives the show through its two and three quarter hour length without making me once conscious of time or haste.
Well done, Jonathan Church and Alan Finch, for another great opening to another great Season at Chichester. The last two seasons have been marvellous and this one promises to be just as good. I would just echo Michael Billington and say Jule Styne’s “Gipsy”, the story of Gipsy Rose Lee and her fearsome mother, Rose, would go down a storm. (I want to do it myself at the Bench if I can find a musical director). Especially if the musical is done in the Minerva – doing a full-scale musical in the smaller auditorium was a masterstroke.
If you are still reading this review, you shouldn’t be here now! You should be phoning up the box office 01243 781312, going online at http://www.cft.org.uk/. You only have until June 14th to join “People (who need people are the luckiest people in the world) and who have seen glorious Sam Spiro as the fearless ugly duckling in this Cinderella meets Prince Charming of a musical delight.
Yet here I am in 2008, forty years later, saying get yourself across to the Minerva Theatre in Chichester – Fanny Brice is back in town! Tiny Samantha Spiro (5’2” of dynamite) is wonderful as the eponymous Funny Girl. She takes on the feisty Jewish girl and produces a marvellous heart wrenching but ultimately uplifting performance. Her voice may not match the great diva but she sings the great anthems “Don’t Rain on my Parade”, “People” and “I’m the Greatest Star” with passion and commitment. You believe in this Fanny. She is actually funny in the comedy sequences, she is a triumphant Broadway star in the dance sequences and backstage and she is in love with her incredibly handsome but no-good man. You will not see a better musical theatre performance this year anywhere.
At times this does feel like a one-woman show and Miss Spiro does have to carry most of the emotional weight. A wonderful cast and a chorus line of eight gorgeous dancers with very long ladder length legs are on hand to support her. Rose Brice, her mother, is a wise cracking, wiseacre of a Jewish momma, warmly played by Sheila Steafel. I loved the songs, “Who Taught Her Everything?” and “Find Yourself a Man” but these were especially sold on me by the performance of Sebastien Torka as Eddie. He is Fanny’s longstanding friend, who helps get her launched on her career, and who is the one to caution against Nicky Arnstein, the good looking gambler.
Mark Umbers certainly is a good looking heart throb and he sings well. The Best Beloved fell for him during the evening and none more so in the beautifully recreated restaurant scene. The sophisticated gentleman in the “height of nonchalance, providing beds in restaurants”, woos the feisty, prickly and bad tempered Fanny (“You Are Woman, I am Man”). She is introduced to the delights of posh food and high living but discovers pate is only “chopped liver” after all.
The set is marvellous in a design by Mark Thompson. I particularly liked the way the theatre is stripped back to the bare black walls for the back stage but the white roses for the Long Island mansion, the red ottoman for the restaurant and the same ottoman stripped for the railway station are simply done but most evocative. Special mention must go to Stephen Mear, the choreographer, who produces some marvellous thrilling dance sequences. The musical direction of the unseen band is wonderful by Robert Scott and one has to thank Jason Carr for his orchestrations and his informative notes in the programme. The director, Angus Jackson, doesn’t allow his cast to put a foot wrong. He drives the show through its two and three quarter hour length without making me once conscious of time or haste.
Well done, Jonathan Church and Alan Finch, for another great opening to another great Season at Chichester. The last two seasons have been marvellous and this one promises to be just as good. I would just echo Michael Billington and say Jule Styne’s “Gipsy”, the story of Gipsy Rose Lee and her fearsome mother, Rose, would go down a storm. (I want to do it myself at the Bench if I can find a musical director). Especially if the musical is done in the Minerva – doing a full-scale musical in the smaller auditorium was a masterstroke.
If you are still reading this review, you shouldn’t be here now! You should be phoning up the box office 01243 781312, going online at http://www.cft.org.uk/. You only have until June 14th to join “People (who need people are the luckiest people in the world) and who have seen glorious Sam Spiro as the fearless ugly duckling in this Cinderella meets Prince Charming of a musical delight.
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