Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London – until 1 November 2024
Reviewed by Emily Smith
2**
On Thursday October 31st Little Piece of You: An Atypical Musical, in concert, had its European premiere at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. With music and lyrics by Kjersti Long, who is only 17, and Jeremy Long who is also lead producer, the songs have a modern pop/rock feel, in the nostalgic style of well-loved bands such as Paramore. Kjersti Long started writing the music for the show at just 14 years old, and in many ways it is the music that is the star, along with Kjersti’s incredible voice and stage presence. In her own words, the songs were her way to ‘help others work through emotions; the good, the bad, and the dark’.
Unfortunately, the book, by Melissa Leilani Larson is what really lets this show down – and given the story is what weaves the dialogue and songs together, this is quite a fundamental flaw. The story follows a teenage girl and her relationship with her mother, with flashbacks to the same mother/daughter relationship in previous generations of the family, who all have the same artistic talent yet get trapped in cycles of depression.
In the opening numbers, a big part of the plot appears to be ‘the daughter’s’ (Dujonna Gift’s) obsession with Sydney Hill (Kjersti Long) who appears onstage with backing singers, as if performing at a concert, each time ‘the daughter’ plays one of her songs through her headphones/radio/speaker. As most people who have a favourite artist know, they usually have a song that fits any one of your moods or occasions. The concept of Sydney Hill appearing throughout the show when the different songs are played feels very original, but unfortunately, this famous singer commits suicide quite early on. That being said, she still appears on stage to deliver the songs throughout the rest of the show, which feels odd, with the suicide only mentioned in passing once or twice as a contributing factor to ‘the daughter’s’ depression.
Between these factors, a lot of the dialogue felt slow, and poorly paced, with the interwoven songs failing to connect to the conversations. The whole show unfortunately lacked emotional depth and I failed to feel connected to the characters and their plight. Having seen Next to Normal earlier this year, it is hard not to compare the two shows that both deal with significant mental health issues. Comparatively, Next to Normal delivered powerhouse performances with intensity and emotion, whereas Little Piece of You failed to tug on any heartstrings in my case.
One saving grace was the casting of Dujonna Gift as ‘the daughters’. Gift recently finished playing the female lead in Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York and it is clear that she is incredibly talented, able to deliver a powerful performance and flawless vocals. Equally, Mica Paris (‘the mothers’) delivered a soulful performance. That being said, the duets and harmonies between these two, and Long, didn’t gel, which may have been contributed to by ongoing sound issues that plagued the performance in places. Individually, the vocals were great, but unfortunately not when brought together.
Justin Williams’ set design and Tim Oliver’s lighting design were impressive for a show that is only playing two nights. The stage consisted of a metal frame of a house centre stage, with a traditional orchestra to the left of the stage and a rock band on the right, and backing vocalists appearing at the top rear of the stage whenever Long came to deliver one of her musical numbers.
For me, the eight members of the ensemble did little to add to the performance, often appearing simply to manoeuvre items across the stage, or pass things around in circles. While some choreography worked, in general it felt they were misplaced, that there were too many of them, and it left the performance feeling confused.
The real star of the show is the music and lyrics, delivered with power and presence by Kjersti Long. Perhaps with a different story these songs could have a new life, but for me this show fell flat.