London Musicals - Over The Footlights

2005
1
MEETING MARY
London run: Jermyn Street, January 7th – 22nd
Music & Lyrics: Tim Marriott
Additional songs: Richard Sonnex
Book: Tim Marriott
Director: Kevin Pallister
Cast: Hugh Skinner (Guy), Martha Dancy (Mary),
Tim Marriott (Mike), Katy Odey (Abi),
Lucy May (Sophie)
Story: Mary, a prissy 18 year old English miss from
Oxford visits New York to meet the father she hasn’t
seen since she was a child. She is expecting a
Hugh Skinner & Tim Marriott
sophisticated singer-songwriter with Broadway at his
feet and a martini cocktail in his hand. What she finds is a bitter inadequate who composes advertising jingles
with his gay friend, Mike, and who insists that Abi, the attractive woman who shares his apartment, is nothing
more than lodger. He also neglects to tell her that he has a daughter by a previous relationship hidden away in
the flat upstairs whilst Mary is visiting. Following a lot of insults, and more skeletons in the closet, there is a
final reconciliation, understanding and a happy ending.
Notes: Criticised for dragging in all manner of serious issues – the 9/11 attack, terminal illness, etc –in order to
give the show some unearned gravitas, most critics dismissed this as a ridiculous, horribly sentimental and
badly performed waste of time.
HAVE A NICE LIFE (1st Revival)
London run : Union, January 14th – 29th
Music & Lyrics: Conor Mitchell
Director: Conor Mitchell
Cast: Jamie Anderson (Neville), Carl Patrick (Frank), Stefanie Moore (Barbara), Kira Lauren (Amy),
Sioned Jones (Sheila), Caroline Hartley (Jean), Mark Dugdale (Chris)
Second time round, this fringe production received a much better press. With a three-piece band led by the
composer from the keyboard, the score was described as brilliant with witty lyrics.
Original London run: Pleasance, May 2003
ACORN
ANTIQUES
Julie Walters as
Mrs Overall
Photo by Catherine Ashmore
London run:
Theatre Royal, Haymarket,
February 10th – 21st May
2005
2
ACORN ANTIQUES
London run: Theatre Royal, Haymarket, February 10th – 21st May
Music & Lyrics: Victoria Wood
Book: Victoria Wood
Director: Trevor Nunn
Choreographer: Stephen Mear
Musical Director: Nick Finlow
Cast: Julie Walters/Victoria Wood (Mrs Overall), Celia Imrie (Babs),
Duncan Preston (Mr Clifford), Sally Ann Triplett (Miss Berta), Josie Lawrence,
Neil Morrissey, Jill Martin, Hilary O’Neill
Songs: Manchesterford, Macaroons, Hey Hey We’re On Our Way, Have you Met Miss
Babs?, Tip Top Tap, Love from Mrs O, Shagarama, Once in a Lifetime
Story: The actors in a TV soap called “Acorn Antiques” are out of work because the series has been axed, so the
cast reunite with the object of turning the show into a stage musical. Act One sees them rehearse and bitch about the
script, about each other and the director; Act Two sees the opening performance at the Enoch Powell Arts Centre in
Sutton Coldfield with its consequent mishaps, rivalries and cock-ups.
Notes: A ten minute sketch inside a 30 minute TV comedy series had been expanded into a three hour musical. As a
result, the first half and second halves were virtually two different shows. The whole thing was a muddle, but with
its hugely talented cast, and its satire ranging from “Crossroads” to “Les Mis” and Starbucks to Sondheim, and with
Victoria Wood and Julie Walters alternating in the lead role, it attracted an audience of fanatical supporters who
roared with delight at every familiar gag and malfunctioning prop. In 2006 the show was completely re-written for a
major UK tour, so that the entire show was now the “straight” musical performance of “Acorn Antiques”. Mrs
Overall was played by Ria Jones and the tour received excellent notices and was felt to be much better for the
changes. It is this revised version which is now regarded as the “real” show.
Photo by Alastair Muir
THE BIG LIFE
London run: Theatre Royal , Stratford East,
February 23rd – March 12th
Transfer: Apollo Theatre, May 23rd – Oct 1st
Music: Paul Joseph
Book & Lyrics: Paul Sirett
Director: Clint Dyer
Choreographer: Jason Pennycooke
Musical Director: Robert Hyman
(Paul Joseph for the transfer)
Cast: Tameka Empson (Mrs Aphrodite),
Victor Romero Evans (Ferdy), Neil Reidman (Bernie),
Chris Tummings (Lennie), Marcus Powell (Dennis),
Jason Pennycooke (Admiral/Eros), Claudia Cadette,
Amanda Horlock, Antonia Kemi Coker, Yaa
Songs: Me Can’t Wait to Get to Inglan, Getting Hot, Whatever Happened, You Do It, The Price We Pay, Woman,
Better Than You
Story: In 1948 on the Windrush, sailing from the Caribbean to England, a pact is made by a group of men: there will
be no sex, and no involvement with women for three years while they work to better themselves in their new world.
But the four men (Ferdy, Bernie, Lennie, Dennis) are sitting on the steps beneath the Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus
when suddenly Eros springs to life, jumps down from his plinth and starts tap dancing, leading the cast into a rousing
ska number. By the end of this dream sequence the four men have been joined by a quartet of extremely spunky
women and the battle of the sexes begin. The show roams through a whole series of emotions – starting with the
boarding-house signs which say “No blacks, No Irish, No dogs” - as the fun-loving Caribbean migrants strive for a
better life in London. During scene changes, a Mrs Aphrodite, a prim Caribbean matron, sits in a box and comments
on the action – superficially respectable but hilariously bawdy.
Notes: Originally staged as a try-out at Stratford East in April 2004, this was Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labours Lost”
rewritten as a feel-good ska/reggae musical. A completely re-written version was staged at Stratford East for three
weeks in February 2005 and, thanks to impresario Bill Kenwright, it transferred and was acclaimed as the first
British black musical.
3
2005
I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE! (1st Revival)
London run: Jermyn Street, March 1st – 26th
Music: Jimmy Roberts
Book & Lyrics: Joe Dipietro
Director: Phil Willmott
Musical Director: Anthony England
Cast: John Payton, Lucy Hunter-Jaynes, Mark Hilton, Jo Cook
Notes: The original London production had flopped in 1999 after just 69 performances, and yet the original
New York production of 1996 was still running off-Broadway. Nearly ten years on Broadway and not even ten
weeks in London! This revival had undergone several changes and had been Anglicised to make it more UK
friendly. However, “despite references to Charles and Camilla and shopping at Bluewater, the show still seems
like a series of US sitcom snapshots” (The Times).
(Original London production: Comedy Theatre, July 1999)
FANNY (1st Revival)
London run: Lilian Baylis Theatre, March 6th (4 Sunday performances)
Music & Lyrics: Harold Rome
Book: S.N. Behrman & Joshua Logan
Director: Ian Marshall Fisher
Musical Director: Mark Warman
Producer: Lost Musicals season
Cast: James Smillie (César), Frank Lazarus (Panisse), Liza Pulman (Fanny),
Arvid Larsen (Marius), Barbara Young (Honorine), Benedict Smith (Césario
This was part of a series of Sunday afternoon semi-staged performances in Ian
Marshall Fisher’s season of lost musicals. The intention was to re-create musicals
which had (unfairly) disappeared from the general repertoire. “Fanny” had not
been seen in London for almost 50 years. These Sunday revivals were much
appreciated and proved to be extremely popular with the public and critics alike.
(Original London run: Drury Lane, November 1956)
ON THE TOWN (1st Revival)
Photo by Tristram Kenton
London run: Coliseum, March 10th – May 24th (17 performances in repertoire)
2005
4
ON THE TOWN (1st Revival)
London run: Coliseum, March 10th – May 24th (17 performances in repertoire)
Music: Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics & Book: Betty Comden & Adolph Green
Director: Jude Kelly
Choreographer: Stephen Mear
Musical Director: Simon Lee
Producer: English National Opera
Cast: Willard W. White (Workman), Helen Anker (Ivy Smith), Caroline O’Connor (Hildegarde Esterhazy),
Lucy Schauffer (Clair DeLoon), Timothy Howar (Ozzie), Aaron Lazar (Gabey), Adam Garcia (Chip Offenbloch),
Andrew Shore (Judge), Janine Duvitski (Lucy), Sylvia Syms, Alison Jiear, Rodney Clarke, Greg Winter,
Tom Dwyer
Notes: With the exception of the veteran Willard W. White in a very small role, the cast for this show did not
contain any of the ENO’s regular company, and, primarily, was a dance show rather than a singing show. This
raised a lot of questions as to why the country’s National “opera” should be presenting a show performed by
imported West End singers and dancers, and should have installed a £100,000 sound system for just 17
performances. However, everyone agreed it was a worthwhile revival after more than 40 years, and it proved
highly popular, selling out the enormous Coliseum with no difficulty.
(Original London production: Prince of Wales. May 1963)
HIGH HEEL PARROTFISH
London run: Theatre Royal, Stratford East,
April 13th – May 7th
Music & Lyrics: Christopher Rodriguez
Book: Christopher Rodriguez
Director: Paulette Randall
Choreographer: Omar Okai
Musical Director: Felix Cross
Cast: Peter Straker (Kitty Caress),
Brian Green (Suzy),
Anthony Ofgoebu (Juana),
Ashley Campbell (Betty Boo),
Raj Ghatak (Vashti),
Nicholai La Barrie (Lucy),
Sandra Bee (Leandra)
Anthony Ofoegbu, Peter Straker & Ashley Campbell
Songs: We Are So Lucky, I Will Survive
Story:
Miss Miller’s bar stages an
undercover drag show to mark the Carnival – this is in macho Trinidad, where a man wearing a frock is likely to be
arrested for public indecency. Backstage in the shabby dressing room the disparity
between the glamour of feathers and sequins and the reality of the bitchy rivalry of drag
queens is apparent. The “girls” are Kitty Caress, a fading diva; Suzy, a hostess with the
mostest; Juana, the Spanish firecracker; Betty Boo, the would be queen-bee; beautiful
Vashti and newcomer Lucy. The only “real” girl is Sandra, the outraged ex-wife of Suzy
(whose real name is Harold!), and she has turned up to cause trouble. Will they make it
through to the finale or will the riot police get there first?
Notes: With an impressive half -dozen original calypsos plus some standards like “I Will
Survive”, and a cast of characters including two ageing veterans, a rural Hindu, an on-therun gangster, and an illegal immigrant – there was plenty of scope for a lively show,
especially when laced with bitchy slanging matches and catfights. However, the general
verdict was none of it really hung together – it was too long, too unfocused, too contrived
and it lurched from farce to drama and back again, not really knowing what direction it
really wanted to take.
2005
5
THE FAR PAVILIONS
London run: Shaftesbury Theatre, April 14th – September 17th
Music: Philip Henderson
Book & Lyrics: Stephen Clark
Indian music & lyrics: Kuljit Bhamra
Director: Gale Edwards
Choreographer: Karen Bruce
Indian Dances: Pilai Ray
Musical Director: David Braun-White
Cast: Hadley Fraser (Ashton Pelham-Martyn), Marina Abdeen (Sita),
David Burt (Lt. Harkness), Kabir Bedi (Koda Dad Khan Sahib),
Stewart Scudamore ( Maharajah), David Savile (Sir Louis),
Sophiya Haque (Janoo Rani), Kulvinder Ghir (Maharana),
Simon Gleeson (Lt. Hamilton), Dean Hussain (Awal Shah),
Dianne Pilkington (Belinda), Gayatri Iyer (Princess Anjuli)
Fiona Wade, Marina Abdeen, Hannah Chick, Meryl Fernandes, Graham Vick
Songs: Two Worlds Collide, Hawa Mahal, Torn in Two, The Pindi Club Ball, Look in the Mirror, Gabbru Put
Punjab de Memsahibs, Who Could Have Known?, The Fathers of India, Blood Red Bride, We Have to Be
Gods, Born to the Battle, Freedom and Honour, Hourney of Our Hearts
Story: Set in 19th Century India, the story revolves around an orphaned boy, Ashok, initially raised by an
Indian woman before learning that he is actually of English parentage. He is sent to the mother country,
receives a British education, and as Lieutenant Ashton Pelham-Martyn, returns to India as a British army
officer. Now his loyalties and emotions are torn in different directions. As a boy he lost his heart to Princess
Anjuli, the Maharajah’s daughter, and witnessed a vile murder committed by the girl’s wicked stepmother,
Janoo Rani. As a man he has to struggle with his sense of identity and his conflicting emotions - still in love
with Anjuli, but engaged to the very English Belinda – until she rejects him because of his “Indian” upbringing
– and then suffering further rejection by some of his regiment when they learn of his background. However, in
all the machinations, warmongering and politicking of the British Raj, his adoring best friend, Lieutenant
Walter Hamilton, in the siege of Kabul, sacrifices his own life to save Ashton and finally enables Ash and
Anjuli to depart into the sunset, clearly on their way to their own Shangri-La.
Photos by Alastair Muir
Notes: Margaret Mary Kaye’s 1978 novel “The Far Pavilions” became a world-wide best-seller, and was
described as “a ‘Gone with the Wind’ of the North West Frontier”. In 1984 the novel was adapted into an epic
three-part TV mini series starring Ben Cross as Ashton, Amy Irving as Anjuli, and featuring Omar Sharif,
Christopher Lee, John Gielgud, Robert Hardy, Saeed Jaffrey and Rupert Everett . It was another huge success
with world-wide sales. When her permission was sought to turn the work into a musical, M.M. Kaye publicly
wondered if this would not be a step too far. She died, aged 95, just as rehearsals began for its musical
premiere. Several critics did, indeed, claim this was an adaptation too far. However, it was so splendidly
vulgar, with lavish costumes, a sung-through score, an endlessly revolving stage-set, a touch of the Bollywoods
and some gloriously over-the-top performances, that the overall reaction was one of pleasure.
Hadley Fraser & Gayatri Iyer
Kulvinder Ghir, Sophiya Haque & company
2005
6
BILLY ELLIOT – THE MUSICAL
London run: Victoria Palace, May 11th
Music: Elton John
Book & Lyrics: Lee Hall
Director: Stephen Daldry
Choreographer: Peter Darling
Musical Director: Philip Bateman
Cast: James Lomas/George Maguire/Liam Mower (Billy),
Haydn Gwynne (Mrs Wilkinson), Tim Healy (Dad),
Joe Caffrey (Tony), Ann Emery (Grandma),
Trevor Fox (George), Steve Elias (Mr Braithwaite),
Stephanie Putson (Dead Mum), Isaac James (Older Billy)
Brad Kavanagh/Ashley Long/Ryan Longbottom (Michael),
Brook Havana Bailey/Emma Hudson/Lucy Stephenson
(Debbie),
Songs: The Stars Look Down, Shine, Grandma’s Song, Solidarity, Expressing Yourself, Born to Boogie, Merry
Christmas Mrs Thatcher, He Could Be a Star, Electricity, Swan Lake.
Story: In County Durham, during the 1984-86 coal miners’ strike, motherless 11 year-old Billy secretly leaves his
boxing practice and becomes the only boy in Mrs Wilkinson’s ballet class. When his furious Dad finds out, Billy is
forbidden to attend the dancing lessons, but encouraged by Mrs Wilkinson and her daughter, Debbie, Billy secretly
gets free lessons. Billy’s Dad and brother Tony are engaged in daily battles with the riot police, and struggling to
support the family with very little strike pay. When they learn that Billy has been entered for an audition with the
Royal Ballet School in London, they embarrass and mock him in front of everyone. A humiliated Billy decides to
give up the audition and stop dancing.
During a maudlin Christmas Party at the Community Centre, Billy’s young friend, Michael confesses that he is gay
and has feelings for him, but Billy explains that although he likes ballet, he is not gay. Nonetheless, he lets Michael
give him a kiss on the cheek. Michael leaves, and Billy suddenly feels like dancing for the first time since the day of
the aborted audition. His spontaneous dance is secretly observed by his father who, overcome with emotion,
decides he must support Billy’s talent. To raise the necessary money he breaks his union principals, crosses the
picket line and becomes a strike-breaker. This infuriates Tony and leads to a serious fight, but some of the striking
miners support Billy, and another strike-breaker gives him hundreds of pounds. Billy eventually succeeds in his
audition, and is accepted at the Royal Ballet School. Billy leaves Durham, says goodbye to the miners, to Mrs.
Wilkinson and to Debbie, and when Michael arrives to say goodbye, Billy gives him a friendly kiss on the cheek.
Billy leaves the past behind him and looks to a bright future. The miners know their industry is dying, but the
community spirit lives on in their support for Billy.
Photo by David Scheinmann
Notes: The musical was based on the 2000 film of the same name. The original film was partly inspired by A.J.
Cronin’s 1935 novel “The Stars Look Down”. The musical earned excellent notices - "the greatest British musical
I have ever seen" (Daily Telegraph), "a theatrical masterpiece" (Daily Mail) and won four Olivier Awards, including
Best New Musical and Best Actor in a Musical awarded jointly to all three boys who played Billy. The Broadway
production opened in November 2008, earning totally rave reviews, winning ten Tony Awards, and recovering its
entire $18 million investment in 14 months. (The New York production closed on January 8th, 2012 following 40
previews and 1,304 performances.)
2005
7
BARNUM (3rd Revival)
London run: Union, May 10th – June 4th
Music: Cy Coleman
Lyrics: Michael Stewart
Book: Mark Bramble
Director: Paul Tate & Andrew Lynford
Choreographer: Andrew Lynford
Musical Director: Danny Whitby
Producer: Paul Tate
Cast: Chris Coughlin (PT Barnum), Sarah-Jane Bourne (Charity Barnum),
James Thomas (Ringmaster), Daniel Whiteley (Tom Thumb),
Angela Brereton (Jenny Lind), Natasha Cox, Guy Newman,
Debbie Chapman. Philip Giorgi, Wendy Morgan, Hannah Lindo,
Charlotte Milchard
Attempting to stage this epic circus show in a tiny fringe theatre inevitably led
to questions like where are the acrobats, the trapeze artists, the tightrope
walkers? The “human” story at the heart of the show was simply too weak to
carry the show on its own. The general verdict was: nicely sung, but no more.
Charlotte Milchard
Notes: See Original Production: London Palladium June 1981; First Revival: Victoria Palace, March 1985
Second revival: Dominion Theatre, December 1992
SILK STOCKINGS
London run: Lilian Baylis , May 22nd – June 12th (4 Sunday performances)
Music & Lyrics: Cole Porter
Book: George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath & Abe Burrows
Director: Ian Marshall Fisher
Choreographer: Roland Brine
Musical Director: Simon Beck
Producer: Lost Musicals season
Cast: Valerie Cutko (Ninotchka), Martin Turner (Steven Canfield), Jessica Martin (Janice Dayton),
Frank Lazarus, David Phipps-Davis, Nigel Anthony, James Vaughan, Neil McCaul, Samantha Giffard,
Andrew Beavis
Songs: Paris Loves Lovers, It’s a Chemical Reaction, That’s All, All of You, Too Bad, Satin and Silk, Without
Love, The Red Blues.
Photo by Lucas Orme
Story: Based on the 1939 Greta Garbo film “Ninotchka”, this is the story of a humourless Russian woman
official who is doubly seduced, by Paris itself, and by Steve, a fast-talking American talent scout involved in
convincing a Soviet composer, famous for his “Ode to a
Tractor”, to write the score for a Hollywood version of
“War and Peace” starring the empty-headed starlet,
Janice Dayton. It was a satire on Stalin’s Russia (with
some anti-Hollywood jokes thrown in) and very much a
product of Eisenhower’s Cold War era.
Notes: This was part of a series of Sunday afternoon
semi-staged performances in Ian Marshall Fisher’s
season of lost musicals. This show had never been
presented in London. The original Broadway production
opened in February 1955 and ran for 478 performances
with Hildegarde Neff, Don Ameche and Gretchen Wyler.
It was later filmed with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.
Martin Turner, Jessica Martin & Valerie Cutkko
2005
8
SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM (2nd Revival)
London run: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, May 28th - July 3rd
Music: Stephen Sondheim & others
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Director-Choreographer: Racky Plews
Musical Director: Chris Lambert
Cast: Nikki Gerrard, Susie Harriet, James Pearson,
Andrew MacDonald (Narrator)
Notes: This production avoided the
standard “evening-dress” concert-type
approach, and staged the numbers often in
costume, with props, and with the male
performer occasionally going into drag to
join the girls.
During the run there was a regular change
of narrators.
Original London run:
Mermaid Theatre, May 1976;
First revival: Greenwich Theatre, July 1997
THE MUSICAL MEDIUM
London run: Landor, May 31st – June 18th
Music & Lyrics: Stuart Wood
Director: Robert McWhir
Musical Director: Stuart Wood
Cast: Carol Ball (Peggy Trivet),
Leo Andrew (Schubert),
Paul Spicer (George),
Colleen Daley (Despina)
Story: Frumpy piano teacher, Peggy Trivet, is also a practising medium, and is in frequent contact with dead
composers: Beethoven working on his 10th Symphony, Wagner on a sequel to his Ring Cycle. But her main
contact is Franz Schubert, who has written another song, and would like her to release it to the world. Schubert
is also impressed by her talented piano pupil, George, and wants Peggy help George escape the clutches of his
mad Greek mother, Despina, and go off to study at the Juilliard School. (Thanks to a racing tip from Schubert’s
long-dead sister, Clara, George is able to earn the financial means to carry out his studies.)
Photo by Stagephoto
Notes: This was considered to be
a fun idea for a show, and
containing a very promising score
and lyrics. The book was in
urgent need of development, and
the whole venture was not helped
by being performed to recorded
music. However, Stuart Wood
was reckoned to be a talent worth
watching.
Leo Andrew, Carol Ball,
Paul Spicer & Colleen Daley
2005
9
GUYS AND DOLLS (4th Revival)
London run: Piccadilly Theatre, June 1st (773 performances)
Music and lyrics: Frank Loesser
Book: Jo Swerling & Abe Burrows
Director: Michael Grandage
Choreographer: Rob Ashford
Musical Director: Jae Alexander
Producer: Donmar Warehouse, Ambassador Theatre Group, David Ian,
etc
This revival was very different in approach from the hugely
successful National Theatre version, but it was generally regarded
as equally as exciting and enjoyable. Ewan MacGregor came in
for some mixed reviews, and most of the plaudits were for the
American choreographer, Rob Ashford, for creating some of the
most exciting dancing to be seen in the West End. Cast changes
during the run saw Nigel Harman replace Ewan McGregor, and
Nigel Lindsay and Neil Morrissey take over as Nathan Detroit. At
the end of its first year further cast changes included Patrick
Swayze as Nathan Detroit, Adam Cooper as Sky Masterton, Claire
Sweeney as Miss Adelaide, and Kelly Price promoted from the
chorus to take over as Sarah Brown. The production ran for almost
two years, and closed on April 14th 2007.
Photo by Lorenzo Agius
Cast: Ewan McGregor (Sky Masterton),
Jane Krakowski (Miss Adelaide), Douglas Hodge (Nathan Detroit),
Jenna Russell (Sarah Browne), Martyn Ellis (Nicely-Nicely),
Cory English (Benny), Niall Buggy, Norman Bowman,
Matthew Cole, Sévan Stephan
Jenna Russell, Ewan McGregor,
Douglas Hodge & Jane Krakowski
See original London run: Coliseum, May 1953; 1st revival: Olivier Theatre, March 1982;
2nd revival: Prince of Wales, June 1985; 3rd revival: Olivier Theatre, December 1996
TICK TICK. . . BOOM!
Photo by Alastair Muir
London run: Chocolate Factory, June 9th – September 3rd
Music & Lyrics: Jonathan Larson
Book revised by: David Auburn
Director: Scott Schwartz
Choreographer: Christopher Gattelli
Musical Director: Carolie Humphris
Cast: Neil Patrick Harris (Jonathan),
Cassidy Janson (Susan), Tee Jaye (Michael)
Story: Jonathan is a struggling composer, working
weekends as a waiter to subsidise his art. Hoping to get his
work staged on Broadway, but about to hit his 30th
birthday, he is conscious that time is running out. His best
friend, gay Michael, has already given up the fight to be
Tee Jaye, Cassidy Janson & Neil Patrick Harris
an actor – and has got a decent job and the flashy car and
the new apartment that comes with a “proper” career. His dancer-girlfriend, Susan, is also tired of starving in a
garret and longs for a proper home with a dishwasher. Will Jonathan, teetering in the brink of a nervous breakdown
before the first public performance of his work “Superbia”, finally sell out? Or will he follow his musical and
artistic heart?
Notes: Originally work-shopped in 1990 as a one-person dramatic monologue, but never staged, this was an
autobiographical piece by Jonathan Larsen, who would later gain overnight fame as the composer of the musical
“Rent” and who died, suddenly at the age of 35, on the eve of the first preview of “Rent”. The work-shop
production was revised by the playwright David Auburn into a show for three actors, and ran six months offBroadway, followed by a US tour and several foreign country productions. This was its UK premiere. It had great
interest value, but was ultimately not a particularly successful piece of theatre.
2005
10
THE GENIUS OF RAY CHARLES
London run: Theatre Royal, Haymarket, June 20th (Limited 8 week run)
Music: Various
Created by: David King
Director-Choreographer: Gary Lloyd
Musical Director: Barry Robinson
Singers: Ken Prymus, Maurey Richards, N’Kenge Simpson-Hoffman,
Jonnie Fiori, Natalyia Roni, Ty Stephens, Chris Murrell, Vea Williams,
David Jennings
Notes: With a cast of 9 singers and 12 dancers, an onstage orchestra of 16
musicians and a medley of 36 songs associated with Ray Charles, this was a
tribute compilation staged just a year after his death. It was billed as “a new
musical created by David King”. The critics hated it – claiming false pretences,
since it was nothing more than a concert , and claimed the loudest sound of the evening was that of Ray Charles
spinning in his grave.
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (1st Revival)
London run: Heaven, June 20th – July 1st
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Trask
Book: John Cameron Mitchell
Director: John Maher
Choreographer: Simone de la Rue
Musical Director: Stephen Trask
Cast: David Bedella (Hedwig), K.T. Newman (Yitzak)
Staged at the gay disco venue Heaven as part of the Pride Festival of 2005.
Original London production: Playhouse, September 2000
David Bedella
SOME GIRLS ARE BIGGER THAN OTHERS
London run: Lyric Hammersmith, July 5th – 23rd
Music & Lyrics: Morrissey and Marr
Director: Andrew Wale
Choreographer: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Musical Director: Perrin Manzer Allen
Songs: Last Night I Dreamt that Somebody Loved Me, I Won’t Share
You, The Hand that Rocked the Cradle, Asleep, Please Let Me Get what I
Want, Barbarism Begins at Home
Notes: There was no narrative structure to this show which, musically,
was a compilation of songs recorded by The Smiths (Morrissey and
Johnny Marr). Whilst the vocal and musical performance was agreed to
be powerful and talented, the show itself mystified the audience. It
consisted of a series of episodes against back projections of jerky Super 8
films, interpreting the lyrics of the songs. These episodes included, amongst others, a man in a white rabbit
suit simulating sex with a girl dressed as a leather-clad Alice in Wonderland, a man and a woman having
occasional sex on a table, Helga the au-pair with red hair plaits, and a finale where the rabbit gets shot and has
his throat slit. As one reviewer said: “The white rabbit wasn’t the only unhappy bunny by the end of 90
minutes”.
Photo by Tristram Kenton
Cast: Katie Brayben, Krysten Cummings, Sigalit Feig, Garrie Harvey,
Sean Kingsley, Katrine Lunde
2005
11
EVENING PRIMROSE
London run: Lilian Baylis, July 3rd
(4 Sunday performances)
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: James Goldman
Director: Ian Marshall Fisher
Musical Director: Mark Warman
Photo by Lucas Orme
Producer: Lost Musicals Season
Cast: Michael Matus (Charles Snell),
Betsy Blair (Mrs Monday), Gary Raymond (Roscoe),
Jennifer Higham (Ella), James Vaughan, David O’Brien,
Sylvia Seymour, Myra Sands
Jennifer Higham & Michael Matus
Songs: Take Me to the World, I Remember, If You Can
Find Me I’m Here, When
Story: Charles Snell, a disenchanted poet, hides in Stern’s Manhattan department store after closing time to escape
from the realities of everyday life. He thinks he’s alone with just the store’s mannequins, but they turn out to be
hermits who have secretly been there for years and have created their own society with its rules and social order.
The store society is ruled over by Mrs Monday, a kind of queen bee, and her right-hand man, Roscoe. Charles falls
in love with one of the mannequins, Ella, and their developing romance is the main part of the plot. Charles plans
to escape back into the outside world with Ella, but Mrs. Monday calls in the “Dark Men”, and in a “Twilight
Zone” ending, when the store opens the next morning two new handsome bride and groom mannequins appear,
eerily resembling Ella and Charles.
Notes: Originally a short story by John Collier, in 1966 this was commissioned by an American TV company as a
45 minute television musical, containing four songs. The TV cast was headed by Anthony Perkins. As an early
example of Sondheim’s work this was an eagerly awaited, British premiere, but it was, in reality, strictly for
dedicated Sondheim fans.
DANCING IN THE STREETS
London run: Cambridge Theatre, July 19th (319 performances)
Music: Various
Director & Compiler: Keith Strachan
Choreographer: Carole Todd
Musical Director: Iain Vince-Gatt
Notes: This was yet another compilation show, this time based on the back catalogue of Tamla Motown. In a kind
of “Stars in their Eyes” programme, a cheerfully relentless MC (Ray Shell) introduced various members of the 13
strong cast impersonating the likes of Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross,
Martha Reeves, Marvin
Gaye, the Supremes,
Smokey Robinson et al,
with a lot of high energy,
and explosive dance. The
show itself had an aura of
camp irony, which together
with its sheer exuberance
made it marginally more
welcome than the several
other compilations shows
that had broken out in the
West End this season. It ran
for 319 performances and
12 previews, ending April
22nd, 2006.
2005
12
HMS PINAFORE (Revival)
London run: Open Air, July 21st – September 10th
Music: Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics: W.S. Gilbert
New version: Herbert Appleman
Director: Ian Talbot
Choreographer: Bill Deamer
Musical Director: Catherine Jayes
Producer: New Shakespeare Company
Photo by Tristram Kenton
Cast: Desmond Barrit (Sir Joseph Porter), Lesley Nicol (Buttercup),
Simon Thomas (Ralph Rackstraw), Scarlett Strallen (Josephine),
Hal Fowler (Captain Corcoran), Gary Wilmot (Dick Deadeye)
Notes: The new libretto enlarged the role of Dick Deadeye, making him a kind of
commentator on the action, and providing him with a series of asides to
“modernise” the proceedings. This was not especially welcomed by the majority of
the critics, but the overwhelming high-spirits of the show, and especially the
glorious over-the-top performance by Desmond Barritt, made this an evening that
was almost universally praised.
See earlier London Production: Her Majesty’s, February 1962
Also Old Vic revival April, 1986
Desmond Barrit
BEHIND THE IRON MASK
London run: Duchess Theatre, August 2nd (23 performances)
Music & Lyrics: John Robinson
Book: Colin Scott & Melinda Walker
Director: Tony Craven
Choreographer: Conchita Del Campo
Musical Director: Alasdair MacNeill
Cast: Sheila Ferguson (Gypsy), Robert Fardell (Prisoner), Mark McKerracher (Jailer)
Songs: There is Sweet Music, Do You Look for Love?, Touch Me, You’ll Never Leave
Here, Who’s the Prisoner Here?, Take Me as I Am, I’m a Lady, If All This Means Love
Photo by Marilyn Kingwill
Story: With just three characters, this is the story of a jailer who meets a gypsy temptress
and smuggles her back into the jail where a man in an iron mask is incarcerated, and thus
begins a love-triangle story. However, if her presence in the jail is ever discovered, it will mean certain death for
them all, so they have to decide whether to kill or to hide her.
Notes: This show was greeted with unanimous hoots of derision and disappeared within three weeks. Some of the
critical comments were: “Absolutely all expense has been spared on the skimpy set”; the leading man spends the
whole show “in headgear that makes him
look like a mix of Darth Varder, Hannibal
Lecter and a charred parrot”;
“in a
supposedly erotic dance, Feguson wafts her
skirt as if she is measuring up for curtains
and talks of love and passion as though
checking off a shopping list”; “to suggest
it is plain terrible does not do justice to its
sheer, gothic relentless awfulness”; “The
prisoner’s big number is called ‘Touch
Me’. Given this show, the phrase that
comes to mind is ‘not with a bargepole’”.
This show joined the legendary group of
the most awful West End shows ever.
Sheila Ferguson & Robert Fardell
2005
13
INTO THIN AIR
Cast: Wayne Sleep (Adjutant),
Cate Debenham-Taylor (Pilot Officer Ripley),
William Ludwig (Grebleips), James Bisp, James Head,
Rachel Izen, Sorelle Marsh.
Story: It’s 1957 in a secret and remote RAF station where the duties are
almost non-existent, so the station adjutant decides to put on a musical
revue to while away the time. However, he only has four other men and
women on the site – so the casting is limited. Then suddenly Ripley, a
beautiful new Pilot Officer arrives, so things are looking up. However,
she brings chilling news: it is actually the year 2005, and the RAF
station and its occupants mysteriously vanished into thin air back in
Wayne Sleep
1957. Then Grebleips, an extra-terrestrial, suddenly arrives and declares
his avid interest in earthling mating rituals, and demands that the boys and girls in air-force blue perform for
him.
Photo by Lisa Bowerman
London run: New Players, September 1st - 24th
Music & Lyrics: Robert Gray
Director-Choreographer: Stewart Nicholls
Musical Director: Karl Pendlebury
Notes: With more than a nod to “Brigadoon”, “Dr Who” and “The Rocky Horror Show” this was an
entertaining, light-hearted piece of nonsense, with a pastiche score ranging from Cole Porter, to G&S and
1950s rock-n-roll performed by a cast of 7 and a 3-piece band. The book enabled a series of time-warp gags
with mobile phones, Viagra, etc., and offered plenty of opportunity for Wayne Sleep to perform a series of
dances.
DO I HEAR A WALTZ? (1st Revival)
London run: Landor, September 7th – October 1st
Music: Richard Rodgers
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Arthur Laurents
Director: Myles Stinton
Musical Director: Danny Whitby
Cast: Anna Stolli (Leona Samish), Daniel Gillingwater (Renato di Rossi), Susan Raasay (Signora Floria),
Zoe Ann Brown (Mrs McIlhenny), Ian Dring (Mr McIlhenny), Alexander Evans, Conall McCoy, Julia Riley,
Paul Russell, Gabriella Santinelli
Photo by Stagephoto
Original London production: Landor, June 1999
2005
14
HAIR (3rd Revival)
London run: Gate, September 22nd – October 29th
Music: Galt MacDermot
Lyrics & Book: Gerome Ragni and James Rado
Director: Daniel Kramer
Choreographer: Ann Yee
Musical Director: Steve Hill
Notes: This was an updated production, moving the setting from Vietnam in the 1960s to the current Iraq War,
and updating LBJ to George Bush, etc. A second nude scene reproduced the notorious human pyramid photos of
Abu Ghraib. However, this updating made no real sense: a musical about the lost “love and peace” generation
became one about brash layabouts refusing to grow up; Claude was no longer the hapless victim of a policy
forcing young men into the killing fields, rather he now volunteers for the army. It was generally felt that “Hair”
was truly a period piece
which belonged in the
1960s, and this attempt at
updating it did not really
work. However, it was
agreed the show still has one
of the best musical scores to
come out of that decade,
well worth hearing again.
Original London production,
Shaftesbury Theatre,
September 1968.
First revival:
Queen’s Theatre. June 1974;
Second Revival:
Old Vic, September 1993
HIGH SOCIETY (2nd Revival)
London run: Shaftesbury Theatre, October 10th (120 performances)
Music & Lyrics: Cole Porter
Book: Arthur Kopit
Additional lyrics: Susan Birkenhead
Director: Ian Talbot
Choreographer: Gillian Gregory
Musical Director: James Dunsmore
Producer: New Shakespeare Company/Churchill Bromley, etc.
Cast: Graham Bickley (Dexter), Paul Robinson (Mike), Ria Jones (Liz),
Katherine Kinglsey (Tracy), Royston Kean (Uncle Willie),
Jerry Hall (Mother Lord), Claire Redcliffe, Bryan Torfeh, David Alder
Notes: This was a revival of the 2003 Open-Air Theatre production.
According to the Independent: “In Regent’s Park this was just the
summertime ticket. . .inside the Shaftesbury, badly microphoned,
Jerry Hall as Mother Lord
desperately choreographed and tinnily accompanied by a band of just six
musicians, it looks a bit cheap. . .”. Top billing was given to Jerry Hall,
in the small and somewhat insignificant role of the mother of the bride. However, just eleven days after the Press
Night Jerry Hall withdrew from the show, suffering from glandular fever. (Exactly one year earlier Jerry Hall
had left the cast of “My Darlin’ Janey” at the King’s Head, again suffering from glandular fever.) Her role was
taken over by her understudy, Ali McInnes. Originally announced for a six-month run, the show closed on
January 21st 2006 after just 15 weeks.
Original London production: Victoria Palace, February 1987
First revival: Open Air Theatre, July 2003
Photo by PhotographersDirect.com
Photo by Tristram Kenton
Cast: Charles Aitken (Claude), Kevin Wathen (Berger), Gary Amers (Woof), Golda Rosheuvel (Hud),
Joanna Ampil (Sheila), Robyn Isaac (Jeannie), Nancy Wei-George (Crissy)
2005
15
DR FOSTER
London run: Menier Chocolate Factory, October 20th – November 5th
Cast: Rachel Pickup (Dr Foster),
Zubin Varla (Mephistopheles),
Sergio Covino (Archangel Gabriel),
Emily Watcher (Yummy),
Anna Lowe (Lovely)
Story: An aspiring geeky
academic summons up
Mephistopheles, prepared
to sell her soul in return
for
academic
Rachel Pickup & Zubin Varla
achievement and “all the
pies in the world”, but – shock! – Mephisto turns the offer down. Her soul isn’t worth buying –
she’s too good, and, anyway, Hell is overcrowded. The Archangel Gabriel celebrates with some
mambo dancing.
Notes: A very thin plot, but there was some praise for the composing debut of Malcolm Newton.
THE NEXT BIG THING
London run: New Players Theatre, November 2nd – December 3rd
Music & Lyrics: Mark Burton & Pete Sinclair
Additional songs: Willie Dowling
Director: Clive Paget
Choreographer: Jenny Arnold
Musical Director: John Maher
Cast: Jon-Paul Hevey (Mike West), Melissa Lloyd (Fenda, etc.), Jon Boydon (Zak Love),
Glenn Chapman (Malcolm, etc.), Lisa Baird, Anna Carmichael, Kieron Crook,
Hugo Degenhardt, Guy James, Robin Johnson, James Parkes.
Story: Mike West is a wannabe rock star, and is inspired in this quest by the sexy spirit of
his red Fender Guitar. Despite the efforts of Malcolm, the punk group manager, it becomes
clear that Mike’s
talent can’t hold a
candle to his
bandmate,
Zak
Love, who is destined to be the real success.
Notes: The plot was just an excuse for a
series of original songs sending up every
pop music trend from 60s pop to punk, new
romanticism and glam rock. With a cast of
11 in a series of quick-changes, outrageous
costumes, and great energy, this was a
likeable, fun show.
Jon Boydon as Zak Love
Photo by Colin White
Photo by Elliot Franks
Music: Malcolm Newton
Book & Lyrics: Adrian Schiler
Director: Adrian Schiler
Choreographer: Lynne Page
Musical Director: Malcolm Newton
2005
16
SCROOGE THE MUSICAL (1st Revival)
Producer: Bill Kenwright
Cast: Tommy Steele (Scrooge), Tom Solomon (Young Scrooge),
Glyn Kerslake (Bob Cratchit), Barry Howard (Jacob Marley),
Gemma Page (Christmas Past), James Head (Christmas Present),
Ian Sanders (Christmas Yet to Come)
Notes: According to a plaque in the Dress Circle Bar, Tommy
Steele has headlined more performances at the London Palladium
Tommy Steele & Barry Howard
than any other artist (his last show being “Singing in the Rain” in
1989). Although this cheery cockney persona doesn’t immediately
suggest Scrooge, he was welcomed back like a conquering hero. It was very enjoyable Christmas fayre.
Photo by Keith Pattison
London run: London Palladium,
November 8th – January 14th 2006 (Limited season)
Music, Lyrics & Book: Leslie Bricusse
Director: Bob Tomson
Choreographer: Lisa Kent
Musical Director: Stuart Pedlar
Original London Production: Dominion, November 1996
SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM (3rd Revival)
London run: Union, November 8th - 26th
Music: Stephen Sondheim & others
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Director: Andrew Lynford
Musical Director: Michael Cryne
Cast: Alison Egan, Natalie Searles, Denise Silvey,
Gavin James, Morgan James, Chris Gee (Narrator)
Photo by Union Theatre
Notes: This was the second production of this show in 2005,
and returned to the standard “evening-dress” concert-type
approach
Original London run: Mermaid Theatre, May 1976
First revival: Greenwich Theatre, July 1997
Second revival: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, May 2005
DANNY AND SYLVIA
London run: Jermyn Street, November 10th – 26th
Original Music: Bob Bain
Book and Lyrics: Robert McElwaine
Director-Choreographer: Kenn Oldfield
Musical Director: Karl Pendlebury
Photo by Marilyn Kingwill
Cast: Richard Brightiff (Danny Kaye), Jessica Martin (Sylvia Fine)
Songs: (Original songs): If I Knew Then, I’m a Star (and songs by various
composers from Danny Kaye’s films and shows. )
Story: Robert McElwaine was a long-time friend and colleague of Danny
Kaye, and has created a story of how Danny and Sylvia met, how they worked
together, got married, separated, and then got together again, and how the savvy
Sylvia provided the discipline that made the mercurial Danny Kaye an
international star. Because Richard Brightiff had an uncanny resemblance to the
young Danny Kaye, and captured his personality and act so well, and because
Jessica Martin gave a very powerful performance, this show was much praised.
Richard Brightiff
2005 17
SUNDAY IN THE PARK
WITH GEORGE (1st Revival)
Photo by Tristram Kenton
London run: Menier Chocolate Factory,
Nov 29th – March 12th, 2006
Transfer: Wyndhams ,
May 23rd 2006 – Sept 2nd
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: James Lapine
Director: Sam Buntrock
Choreographer: Christopher Gattelli
Musical Director: Caroline Humphris
Daniel Evans
Cast: Daniel Evans (George),
Anna Jane Casey (Dot), Gay Soper,
Joanne Redman, Simon Green, Liza Sadovy,
Alasdair Harvey, Christopher Colley, Sarah French
Ellis, Kaisa Hammarlund, Mark McKerracher
Notes: Fifteen years after its coolly received National Theatre premiere, this fringe production had almost all the
critics reaching for their superlatives. With a small cast, a five-piece band and its ambitious production techniques
and computer graphics, this show was visually and technically breathtaking. And with the brilliant central
performances from Daniel Evans, Anna Jane Casey and Gay Soper it was hailed as unforgettable, with several
critics deciding it was a Sondheim masterpiece.
Its major achievement seems to be welding the two separate acts together – earlier
critics had claimed this was two separate shows, with no real link between the 1880s
Paris of Seurat and the 1980s USA of his (fictional) grandson. The production
transferred to Wyndhams Theatre in May 2006 and ran until September 2nd . It had
the same principal cast, except Jenna Russell replaced Anna Jane Casey who was
unavailable. It won five Olivier Awards, including Outstanding Musical Production,
Best Actor in a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical. The production was re-created
for a limited engagement on Broadway between January and June 2008, again with
Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell.
Original London Production:
Lyttleton Theatre, March 1990
JACK THE RIPPER (1st Revival)
London run: Jermyn Street, December 1st – 22nd
Music: Ron Pember
Lyrics & Book: Ron Pember & Denis Demarne
Director-Chorerographer: Tim McArthur
Musical Director: Stephen Hose
Cast: Alex Browne (Chairman),
Leanne Masterton (Marie Kelly),
Janine Hales (Annie),
William Ludwig (Montague Druitt),
Cathy McManamon (Lizzie Stride),
Mark Lambourne (Daniel Mendoza),
Kris Abrahams, Peter Huntley, Philip Lee,
Hannah Lindo, Clare Thomas. Maggie Robson
Notes: With 12 actors and one pianist, this was a
scaled down revival of the show first seen in London
30 years earlier.
Original London production:
Ambassadors/Cambridge September 1974
2005
SAUCY JACK AND THE SPACE VIXENS (1st Revival)
18
London run: The Venue, December 6th – February 4th 2006
Music & Lyrics: Robin Forrest & Jonathan Croose
Book & Additional lyrics: Charlotte Mann & Michael Fidler
Director: Michael Fidler
Choreographer: Bruno Fanioli
Musical Director:
Cast: Scott Baker (Saucy Jack), Faye Tozer (Jubilee), Gemma Zirfas (Anna),
Melita Nicola (Bunny), Carl Mullaney (Booby), Mark Carroll (Dr Whackoff),
Carmen Cusack (Chesty), Joel Karie (Sammy), Paul Christopher (Mitch)
Original London Production: Queen’s Theatre, March 1998
London run: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, December 17th – January 29th 2006
Music & Lyrics: Charlie Smalls
Book: Frank Baum & William Brown
Director: John Plews
Choreographer: Racky Plews
Musical Director: Christopher Whitehead
Cast: Sarah Boulton (Dorothy),
Sasha Hermann (Aunt Em),
Stuart Hickey (Uncle Henry/The Wiz),
Spencer James (Scarecrow),
Emma Lindars (Evillene),
Louisa Copperwaite (Addaperle),
Andrew Fitzpatrick (Lion),
Jonathan Eio (Tinman),
Georgina Wyatt, Caroline Fox
Performed by an all-white cast and in the tiny fringe venue, this was praised for its youthful energy and little
else. Original London Production: Lyric Hammersmith, December 1984
Photo by London Evening Standard
THE WIZ (1st Revival)