Yanks and Francs

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

Dominion Theatre, London, Wednesday 8^th November, 2017

 

At long last, I get to see the hit show people have been raving about.  The contrarian in me expects to hate what everyone else enjoys but no, it really is at least as good as I’ve heard.

A new show, based on the 1951 Oscar-winning film, this is much more than a jukebox musical of Gershwin hits.  Set in post-war, post-Occupation Paris, it’s the story of Jerry, former soldier, now starving artist.  A chance encounter teams him up with another American, Adam, a composer whose music is just like Gershwin’s!  Third Musketeer in this group is Henri, a native Parisian who is hiding a dark secret from his stuffy parents (SPOILER: he’s a – gasp – a song-and-dance man!).  Jerry and Adam get work with a ballet company, where Jerry finally meets the fugacious Lise, a young ballerina with a fantastic haircut and even better dance moves.  Each of the three lads forms an attachment to Lise and drama ensues.  Jerry becomes a sort of part-time gigolo for wealthy benefactor Milo (relax, it’s a woman) which doesn’t exactly keep him in Lise’s good books.  This being a Hollywood version of reality, everything comes good at the end, via a series of eye-popping musical numbers.

As ever with musical theatre when they’re doing a show-within-a-show, I wonder why they bother.  They only need to go out onto the street and everyone will readily join in, subjugating their own lives and free will to participate in whatever moment the main characters need to express through song and dance.  In this Hollywood world, everyone is trained and proficient in the performing arts!

In Ashley Day as Jerry we have the perfect leading man, gliding, leaping, twirling and kicking his way through the story.  Day is an excellent singer too and can also meet the acting requirements of the role, the effortless comedy, the emotional points; Day’s Jerry is cheeky, cocky, charming and funny, served with just the right amount of cheese.  But before this review turns into a love letter to Ashley Day, I must remember there are other people in the show.

Ashley Day defying gravity (oops, wrong musical) Photo: Alastair Muir

David Seadon-Young’s Adam is our contact with this rarefied world, narrating prologue and epilogue.  Seadon-Young is a warm and appealing presence but we know all along he’s not going to get the girl.  We know how these things work.  Haydn Oakley amuses as Henri, bumbling his way through a routine that can’t live up to the Hollywood production number in his head (we get to see both!).  Leanne Cope is a tiny mega-star as Lise, the gamin role, darting around one minute, and then gliding through the air as though it were water, the next.  Lise is a figure of mystery – why is she so resistant to Jerry’s relentless advances? – torn between duty and her true feelings, and Cope brings depth to the part so Lise is more than the object of men’s affections, desire or what-have-you.  Also strong is Zoe Rainey as brassy rich lady, Milo Davenport, with a belting voice as clear as a bell.  There is enjoyable support from Julie Legrand as Henri’s mother, and Julian Forsyth as his dad.

A massive ensemble populates this Paris, keeping the stage busy and giving weight to the big numbers.  They are a joy to behold, dancing in synch, in a range of colourful costumes.  Designer Bob Crowley is not shy of using stereotypes (berets and striped jumpers, for example) as shorthand, and his ever-moving set combines practical pieces with projections to give us impressions of a war-damaged city as seen through Jerry’s sketchbook.

Stephen Ridley conducts a fantastic orchestra, filling the auditorium with Gershwin’s energising, life-giving jazz, yet another element of perfection in this fabulous, glorious show.  Director Christopher Wheeldon also choreographs with vibrancy and plenty of period touches, while Craig Lucas’s book, which contains a couple of ‘shits’ and ‘Christs’ keep us in touch with the darker reality underpinning this balletic world.

The show works superbly well as a piece of escapism; it’s great to get away from the world of Tory sleaze, mass shootings and all the rest of it – but I think it’s doing the show a disservice to count it purely as escapism.  There is, to me, a clear message coming through.  This Paris is broken, seeking to rebuild itself and for that, the people need to keep their spirits up.  When the Brexit insanity and this rotten government have finally finished bringing this country down, we are going to need to keep our spirits up too.  This production reminds us to make time for singing and dancing in our lives.  We need joy to help us through hardship.

Ashley Day getting to grips with his co-star, Leanne Cope (Photo: Alastair Muir)

 

Lady in Dread

THE WOMAN IN BLACK

Festival Theatre, Malvern, Tuesday 14^th May, 2013

 

Stephen Mallatratt’s splendid adaptation of Susan Hill’s novel continues to pull in the crowds in London’s West End, and this touring production shows no dip in quality.  The genius of the adaptation is that it celebrates its theatricality.  The central ghost story becomes a play-within-a-play.  Arthur Kipps (Julian Forsyth) has enlisted The Actor (Antony Eden) to help him zhuzh up his storytelling techniques – he has a tale from his past he needs to get off his chest.  As they rehearse, the Actor brings in more and more theatrical elements (lighting changes, recorded sounds) taking on the role of Kipps for himself.  This means that Kipps has to portray all the other characters in the story and as we are led through some humorous scenes that chart Kipps’s halting progress as a budding performer, we are introduced to the conventions that will be used as the central narrative takes shape.

And so we are drawn in to the tale of a young solicitor visiting the remote estate of a deceased client.  There is a town of suspicious and truculent locals and a tragic history that makes everyone shifty and jumpy.

It works brilliantly.

The atmosphere is quickly created and the tension cranks up through judicious use of silence and sudden loud noises.  People scream.  As more details about the story are teased out, the terror in the auditorium becomes almost palpable.

Antony Eden leads the performance as the Actor, guiding Kipps through his various roles, and playing out moments of suspense and shock with perfect timing.  Julian Forsyth is endearing as the mumbling Kipps who gets into his stride with an impressive range of characterisations.

Robin Herford’s direction plays the audience like a string section.  Contrasts of loud and quiet, stillness and movement, and changes of pace keep us on edge.  When laughter comes, it is from nervous relief.  Our imaginations are thoroughly engaged – and no one can scare you more than you can scare yourself.

I think people keep going back to The Woman in Black precisely because it delivers a theatrical experience.  It puts us through the mill via tried and tested theatrical conventions and techniques.  It is like surrendering yourself to a ride at a theme park.  A ghost train.

Something’s gone bump…Antony Eden has a rough night