Author: FairyPoweredProductions

THE PRESIDENT IS COMING TO LONDON…

AS WE ASK DOES THE ‘BEST MAN’ ALWAYS WIN THE WHITE HOUSE?

MARTIN SHAW

JEFF FAHEY, MAUREEN LIPMAN, JACK SHEPHERD

HONEYSUCKLE WEEKS AND GLYNIS BARBER

in

THE BEST MAN

THE WEST END PREMIERE OF GORE VIDAL’S AWARD-WINNING

POLITICAL DRAMA

Bill Kenwright presents Martin Shaw in the West End premiere of Gore Vidal’s sharp political drama The Best Man, at The Playhouse Theatre from Saturday 24 February.

Written and produced on Broadway nearly 60 years ago, long before the battles of Trump vs Clinton and May vs Corbyn, The Best Man never achieved a West End transfer at the time because it was thought that American politics were of no real interest to London audiences.

Martin Shaw is William Russell, esteemed ex-Secretary of State and US presidential candidate, with something of a philandering reputation. Jeff Fahey is Joseph Cantwell, an ambitious populist newcomer, opposing Russell for the party nomination.

Running neck and neck, the only thing that might separate the candidates are endorsements from a respected Ex-President (Jack Shepherd) and party big-wig (Maureen Lipman). As the race heats up the campaign gets personal, involving Russell’s estranged wife Alice (Glynis Barber) and Cantwell’s wife Mabel (Honeysuckle Weeks). But where does compromise end and corruption begin? How far will they each go to become the most powerful man in the world? And who in the end will be proven to be “the best man”?

The play mirrors the often surprising results of campaigning, and the all-too-often unscrupulous world of politics.

Leading the cast is Martin Shaw. Best known to TV audiences for the title-roles in Judge John Deed, Inspector George Gently and The Professionals, Shaw’s leading-man West End stage roles have included Twelve Angry Men, A Man For All Seasons and The Country Girl directed by Rufus Norris.

Jeff Fahey has starred in many indie movie classics, including the title role in cult sci-fi hit TheLawnmower Man opposite Pierce Brosnan and in Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse. He has rarely been off our TV screens, starring in US series The Marshal and more recently in Lost. He returns to the West End stage following his acclaimed performance in Twelve Angry Men alongside Martin Shaw.

One of Britain’s finest and best loved film, TV and theatre actresses Maureen Lipman (CBE), is known on the big screen for roles such as Trish in Educating Rita and in the Oscar winning film The Pianist as well as for her wide ranging TV appearances – from the landlady of The Rover’s Return inCoronation Street, to the Princess of France in Love’s Labours Lost.  A prolific stage actress, Lipman is an Olivier Award winner (See How They Run) and has appeared in some 20 West End productions.

Star of TV’s Wycliffe and Bill Brand, Jack Shepherd’s extensive stage career includes his award-winning performance in Glengarry Glen Ross and The Iceman Cometh at the National Theatre. Glynis Barber is known for Dempsey and Makepeace and popular roles in Night and Day and EastEnders.Her stage credits include, the original London Cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Story at the Aldwych Theatre, and The Graduate. And Honeysuckle Weeks is best known for starring alongside Michael Kitchen as Samantha Stewart in hit TV drama Foyle’s War. Her theatre credits include The Shining Lives at the Park Theatre, Pygmalion and Love’s Labour’s Lost at Chichester Festival Theatre and A Daughter’s A Daughter in the West End.

Born into a distinguished political family, Gore Vidal was a prolific writer known for the waspish wit, which peppered his essays, novels, screenplays and Broadway plays. Among his most famous works are Myra Breckinridge and Lincoln. The Best Man premiered on Broadway in 1960 and was nominated for six Tony Awards, including ‘Best Play’. Vidal adapted it into a film with the same title in 1964 starring Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson and Lee Tracy, who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of the crafty ex-President. The play received a major revival on Broadway in 2012 starring James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury, and earned two Tony award nominations including ‘Best Revival of a Play’.

Director Simon Evans‘ credits include The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Silence of the Seas (Donmar Warehouse), The Dazzle, Bug, Fool for Love (Found111), Almost Maine (Park Theatre), Hannah(Unicorn), Speed Twins (Riverside Studio), Laura Marling, Shawshank Redemption and Ghostbusters(Secret Cinema), Rubber Room (The Old Vic) and Madness in Valencia (Trafalgar Studios). Simon was Resident Assistant Director at the Donmar Warehouse, Staff Director at the National and Creative Associate at the Bush.

Further casting to be announced.

The Best Man is produced by Bill Kenwright and directed by Simon Evans, with set and costume design by Michael Taylor, lighting design by Chris Davey and composition and sound design by Ed Lewis.

LISTINGS

BILL KENWRIGHT PRESENTS

THE BEST MAN

www.Kenwright.com

Written By Gore Vidal

Directed By Simon Evans

Playhouse Theatre

24 February – 12 May 2018

Performances:                       

Monday – Saturday evening: 7.45pm

Thursday and Saturday matinee: 3pm  

Ticket Prices: From £15

Address: The Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Ave, London, WC2N 5DE

Box Office: 0844 871 7631

ATG Tickets: www.atgtickets.com

MBP and the Actors Centre present
Love Me Now
Tristan Bates Theatre, 1A Tower St, London WC2H 9NP

I know you feminists are all about sexual equality, and women should be allowed to sleep around, but…I just don’t like the thought of you with someone else.

This spring, the world premiere of Michelle Barnette’s Love Me Now will come to Tristan Bates Theatre. Throwing a sharp light on casual relationships and today’s hook-up culture, Love Me Now is about the toxicity of casual dating and the grey area between love and sex, consent and compliance, yes and no.

Brutal, funny and honest as hell, Michelle Barnette’s debut play explores the superficial intimacies we share and the defensive barriers we put up. The #MeToo campaign, and the conversations that have followed, have forced everyone to re-examine their behaviour in past relationships, and has
emphasised the reality of consent as far more nuanced than simply saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Written in 2015, when Tinder’s popularity was on the rise, Barnette asks why millennials have come to view the relationships and sex as transactional. It has since become apparent that this is not just a story that needs telling, it’s a story that everyone seems to be living in some capacity

Directed by Jamie Armitage, the team includes OV12 Alumni and Linbury Prize winner Fin Redshaw, and 2018 Offie Finalist for Best Lighting Design Ben Jacobs.

Writer Michelle Barnette comments, This play has been sitting in a drawer for longer than I care to admit, but somehow feels more relevant now than when I wrote it. #MeToo showed the world how pervasive rape culture is, and how deeply women of all ages have been affected by it. Ultimately, Love Me Now is about the emotional repercussions of consistently presenting ourselves through a
male lens, accepting our emotions and needs as secondary. We have to stop allowing ourselves to be supporting characters in our own narratives. The overwhelming response from people so far is that Love Me Now is their story too – and I’m excited to put this story forward, continuing conversations about consent, self-worth, and how we can begin to change the culture that’s so deeply embedded in our society.

RedBellyBlack Theatre presents
OK, Bye
VAULT Festival, The Vaults, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN
Wednesday 7th – Sunday 11th March 2018

Following an award-winning run at VAULT Festival 2017 with A Year From Now,
RedBellyBlack Theatre returns with the world premiere of OK, Bye – a fierce and fresh take on saying goodbye.

Whether you are saying goodbye to a person, an addiction or a place, everything you part ways with is concluded by the final farewell ‘OK, Bye’. Using their signature combination of physical theatre and dynamic storytelling, RedBellyBlack explores the very simple premise that saying ‘OK, Bye’ can mean thousands of different things: ‘I love you’, ‘I’m sorry’, ‘I never want to see your stupid face again’ or even just the end of a phone call. Using live music, lip syncing and movement, this production showcases raw, real-life stories from the general public

Director Vicki Baron comments, I am absolutely thrilled that the first production of OK, Bye will be part of the VAULT Festival 2018. Quite frankly, I am giddy about staging my work there again. We had an amazing experience at VAULTS last year because this festival has everything that brings out the best in our work: supportive audiences, wonderful production staff and an inspired programme of events. The Vaults always champions the very best that London fringe theatre has to offer and I cannot wait to be part of this exciting event all over again.

RedBellyBlack Theatre describe their style as theatrical tapas, taking the best of their resources and using them to make intimate, all-encompassing theatre. This includes tales from their own lives, writing, improvisation, music and movement.

Beautifully honest…storytelling at its most unlimited (London Theatre1 – A Year From Now 2017).

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR THE FIVE-TIME TONY AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL

TWENTY ONE MILES BY ARRANGEMENT WITH HERVÉ PRODUCTIONS  PRESENTS THE UK PREMIERE OF

VOCAL IMRESSIONIST & SINGING SENSATION

VÉRONIC DICAIRE’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SHOW 

VÉRONIC VOICES

 OPENING AT THE HIPPODROME CASINO FOR A TWO-NIGHT SHOWCASE ON 12 & 13 MARCH 2018

ONE SINGER…FIFTY VOICES

After opening for Céline Dion to standing ovations at the O2 Arena in 2017, vocal impressionist Véronic Decaire is bringing her smash-hit Las Vegas show Véronic Voices to London, in her first headline show in the UK at the prestigious theatre in the Hippodrome Casino on 12 and 13 March 2018.

Co-produced by Céline Dion, Véronic Voices debuted in 2013 at the world-renowned Jubilee Theater at Bally’s Las Vegas to critical acclaim, being named one of “Las Vegas’ Don’t Miss Shows” by USA Today, and winning “Best Impersonator” and “Best Singing Show” at the Best of Las Vegas Awards in 2014. Véronic has since embarked on a hugely successful world tour, performing to packed performance halls and arenas in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec and finally arrives in London for the highly anticipated UK premiere.   

Véronic Dicaire said, “I am thrilled to be back in London with my own show!  I was so impressed with the energy of the crowd at the O2 Arena last summer when I was the support act for Céline’s tour…  and I promised myself to be back.  Here I am!”

Céline Dion said, “Véronic has one of the greatest voices in the world. From a singer’s point of view, it’s incredible what she does. Her performance is authentic; she showcases all the love she has for these artists and strives to live up to their talent.  It’s a daunting task.”

One singer… Fifty Voices 

Véronic Voices will transport you and your imagination to another dimension of extraordinary entertainment as talented singer-impersonator/entertainer Véronic Decaire pays tribute to the most popular female recording artists in the world, signing their songs in their voices. 

Whether she’s performing as Celine or Lady Gaga, Barbra Streisand or Rihanna, Tina Turner or Katy Perry, Whitney Houston or Taylor Swift, Véronic’s amazing repertoire of voices will take you on a jaw-dropping, captivating entertainment journey like no other.

MERCURY THEATRE COLCHESTER AND TBO PRODUCTIONS

ANNOUNCE BRAND NEW MUSICAL PIECES OF STRING

Developed by Perfect Pitch

Co-produced by the Mercury Theatre Colchester and TBO Productions

PIECES OF STRING

Book, Music & Lyrics by Gus Gowland

Directed by Ryan McBryde; Designed by Fin Redshaw; Musical Direction by Paul Herbert

20 April – 5 May

A Made in Colchester production

Mercury Theatre Colchester and TBO Productions today announce the world première of the brand-new musical – Pieces of String with book, music and lyrics by Gus Gowland. The production, directed by Ryan McBryde and designed by 2017 Linbury Prize Finalist Fin Redshaw, opens on 27 April at the Mercury, with previews from 20 April and runs until 5 May.

When Jane returns from her father’s funeral to start clearing the house she grew up in – packing away the family photographs, closing a chapter – she isn’t prepared for the untold story she’s about to discover threaded through her past, a story that threatens to unravel her relationship with her own children and shake her understanding of who she is.

A new musical set simultaneously in the 1940s and in the present day, Pieces Of String tells how Jane’s father, Edward, came back from the Second World War with a secret that would change his life forever – a secret that he would carry until the day he died.

With hauntingly beautiful music and a heart-rending human story, Pieces Of String is a tender, funny, emotionally-charged exploration of how three generations of one family learn to deal with a story that nobody’s been brave enough to tell until today.

Times may have changed but some battles still need to be fought.

Gus Gowland. Book, Music and Lyrics.

Most recently Gowland wrote a short musical, Sick!, which was performed at LOST Theatre as part of Accidents & Emergencies, while his short play Clocks & Teapots was performed at Rada Studios and the London Transport Museum as part of London Omnibus. He co-wrote and directed Barren, Love Love Love(Canadian Fringe Tour) and wrote and performed in Tell Me on A Thursday at the Camden Fringe and wrote two songs for Copyright Christmas, for Olivier Award-winning theatre collective Duckie at the Barbican. He has also produced and directed a season of Miniscule Musicals at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, one of which was performed at the Duckie 10th anniversary birthday party at South Bank Centre and he also co-wrote the song Home, with Alistair Brammer for the MAD Trust album – The West End Goes MAD for Christmas. Gowland was shortlisted for the inaugural Perfect Pitch award in 2013 and his songs Take Me Back and Turning Stones have been shortlisted for the Stiles & Drewe Best New Song Award. In addition, he was also one of 5 music industry experts to form the UK jury for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014.

Ryan McBryde directs. His credits include The Invisible Man (Queens Theatre, Hornchurch), Before the Party, Cinderella, Jack And The Beanstalk (Salisbury Playhouse) Faust I, 1984, Spring Awakening and The Crucible (Schauspielbühnen, Stuttgart), Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Hamlet – The Musical (Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Richmond Playhouse), Saturday Night Fever (Theatre Royal Bath and UK tour), The House of Mirrors and Hearts and The Jabberwocky (Arcola Theatre), A Day at the Racists (Finborough Theatre), The RSC’s 50th Anniversary Gala (RSC), On the 20th Century (Union Theatre), The Life, The Ruling Class, Sweet Charity, Spring Awakening – The Musical, The Who’s Tommy, The Full Monty, Hysteria, Hair, Deathtrap and The Fox (The English Theatre, Frankfurt).

Production supported by the Linbury Trust

MERCURY THEATRE

The Mercury Theatre Colchester is the most active producing theatre in East Anglia and is a vital centre of excellence in the East’s growing creative economy. The Mercury exists to put theatre at the heart of the community it serves and to make work in Colchester that reaches audiences and generates critical attention regionally and nationally. The Mercury is a champion of regional arts, both as an active co-producer with other venues and companies and also touring our own productions to audiences across the UK. On-site production and workshop facilities create sets, props and costumes for both for in-house productions and touring companies, including the National Theatre.

@mercurytheatre

TBO PRODUCTIONS

TBO Productions have produced a veritable smorgasbord of productions Rhinestone Mondays (UK Tour), Haunting Julia (UK tour), Soho Cinders (Soho Theatre), Sherlock Holmes – The Best Kept Secret (UK tour), September In The Rain (UK tour), Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be (Theatre Royal Stratford East), April in Paris(UK tour), The A-Z of Mrs P (Southwark Playhouse). Recent productions have included, Associate Producers & General Managers for Harvey (Birmingham Repertory Theatre / Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Buskers Opera(Park Theatre), Tap factory (UK tour), Mindgame (UK tour). Their latest production, Son of a Preacher Man is currently on a nationwide UK tour.

@TBO_productions

PERFECT PITCH

Perfect Pitch, supported by Arts Council England, is currently the only non-profit theatre company in the UK dedicated exclusively to creating, developing, producing and promoting new contemporary British musicals. Their mission is to create a high standard of new British musical theatre that reflects and connects with today’s diverse and contemporary Britain. Perfect Pitch aim to predominantly work with artists whose work is contemporary, challenging and innovative. Musicals that could break boundaries and help us develop an audience’s perception of what the musical theatre art form can be. They work in partnership and collaboration with venues, writers, producers and creatives all over the UK and beyond.

@perfectpitch

Listings Information 

Pieces of String

20 April – 5 May

Performance times vary

Tickets £12 – £27 & discounts

www.mercurytheatre.co.uk

01206 573948

The Lowry, Salford Quays – until Saturday 3rd February (excl Thursday 1st February).  Reviewed by Julie Noller 

5*****

My Parents were teenagers during the 60’s, I was a mere future thought, what I know of Nina Simone comes through stories and listening to the radio. What I have learned tonight is far more powerful. I’d heard her called the Queen of Soul and tonight Nina Simone conquered mine.

Nina was originally performed at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool in 2016 before heading for a tour of Sweden and reaching London’s Young Vic in 2017. It’s Directed by Swedish Theatre Director Dritero Kasapi and stars Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE whose previous works include an Olivier nominated role as Rafiki in the production of The Lion King from 2000. It’s fresh, it’s vibrant, it’s simply superb. It carries an important lesson that is so simple, it’s complex. I expected music, I expected an account of the life of a diva from humble beginnings. What we got was explosive and quite possibly if Josette Bushell-Mingo was my teacher then I would be an A* student.

She captivated the audience as soon as she appeared on stage, striking her Nina Poses, talking about politics, Martin Luther King and JFK it was going exactly as I expected. The band began playing as Nina was introduced, she begins to sing Revolution. But wait shes stopping shes telling us ‘Nina I can’t do this’ I’m confused, I look to the audience they look confused, theres an electric buzz in the air, is she having a breakdown? Josette is quite possibly a heroine of mine now, she made me understand, feel like I lived the daily racial tensions and violence of not just 1960’s America but now in modern day Britain and how the times may have changed but the issues never really have. Questions are still questions asked again and again with no real answers. How must Nina have felt? Knowing she deserved to be free but still felt enslaved, her colour was as important as her church was. The backdrop of screen and curtain are used to show pictures mostly of freedom campaigners they come with powerful words, some quiet, some loud. Nina Simone was a truly talented artist who like many of the times wrote music with such thought provoking power it earned her a place with the Civil Rights Movement, yet she was a classically trained pianist.

The first 60 minutes are filled with Josettes parallels of 1960’s to modern day struggles felt across society. Women, Blacks, should all struggles be linked as one? No each is different and can not be talked about in the same context. I feel like I can not do enough justice trying to explain Nina for it is too great to even try. What I can explain is those 60 minutes of rants, chats, calls to arms. Well they lead to us totally understanding the meaning of each song.

Josette resumed the concert and I found I listened to each and every word as if Nina Simone herself was up on that stage performing to a small modest crowd in North West England. Songs I knew well and have often sung along too, changed in context as I heard the anxieties of struggles, a talented singer who wanted to be heard not only musically but politically.

I saw the audience sway, clap and cheer each and every song. I didn’t have enough toes to tap, hands to clap and voice to sing along. It’s not a necessity but a right of passage to join in with Josette as Nina. I can honestly say the heat of the 1960’s found it’s way to cold, damp, wintry Manchester leaving the audience shouting for an encore. An encore is what we got, a second standing ovation was our way of thanking Josette for a play so brilliant it’s left me asking more questions about how life was for Nina and her contempories. I don’t have enough words of praise except to urge fans of drama, fans of musicals, fans of history, fans of one woman shows, fans of fabulous entertainment – well go and see it, your minds will be blown by what you see and I think I may just have to download some Nina Simone to educate me some more, for she’s put a spell on me.

SAMUEL BARNETT AND DECLAN BENNETT JOIN

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN

Manuel Puig’s

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN

In a new adaptation by José Rivera and Allan Baker

Director: Laurie Sansom; Designer: Jon Bausor; Lighting Designer: Paul Anderson

Sound Designer: Philip Pinsky; Projection Design: Andrzej Goulding

8 March – 5 May

The Menier Chocolate Factory, in association with Darren Bagert, today announces that Samuel Barnett (Molina) and Declan Bennett (Valentin) join the company of their new production of Manuel Puig’s ground-breaking novel Kiss of the Spider Woman in a new adaptation by José Rivera and Allan Baker. Laurie Sansom directs this iconic play, making his Menier debut. The production opens on 21 March, with previews from 8 March, and runs until 5 May.

A provocative tale of love, victimisation, fantasy and the friendship that develops between two strikingly different men imprisoned together in a Latin American jail.

Samuel Barnett plays Molina – he returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory having previously appeared in Dealer’s Choice (also West End). His theatre credits for the National Theatre include The Beaux’ Stratagem, Women Beware Women, The History Boys (original cast, also Broadway – Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play), His Dark Materials. Other theatre work includes Twelfth Night, Richard III (Shakespeare’s Globe/Apollo Theatre/Belasco Theater), The Way The World (Sheffield Theatres), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Chichester Festival Theatre/Theatre Royal Haymarket), 66 Books, The Whiskey Taster, When You Cure Me (Bush Theatre), Accrington Pals (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Notes From New York (Arts Theatre). His television credits include  the title role in Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Penny Dreadful, Twenty Twelve, Endeavour, and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps; and for film, The Lady in the Van, Jupiter Ascending, Bright Star, The History Boys and Mrs Henderson Presents.

Declan Bennett plays Valentin. His theatre credits include the title role in Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Once (Phoenix Theatre – originating the role of Guy), American Idiot (St. James Theatre, Broadway/Berkeley Rep), Rent (Nederlander Theatre, Broadway/US tour), Taboo (The Venue/UK tour), It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow and Our Day Out (Belgrade Theatre). For television his credits include as series regular Charlie Cotton in EastEnders; and for film, Inside Llewyn Davis.

Manuel Puig (1932-1990) was an Argentinian novelist, playwright and screenwriter. His other major novels include Betrayed by Rita Hayworth, Heartbreak Tango and The Buenos Aires Affair; and his plays include Under a Mantle of Stars: A Play in Two Acts.

José Rivera is a playwright and screenwriter. His work for the theatre includes Marisol, Cloud Tectonics, References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot and Sonnets for and Old Century. He has won two Obie Awards for playwriting, a Kennedy Center Fund for New American plays Grant, a Fulbright Arts Fellowship in playwriting, a Whiting Award, a McKnight Fellowship, the 2005 Norman Lear Writing Award, a 2005 Impact Award and a Berilla Kerr Playwriting Award. As a screenwriter, he is perhaps best known for The Motorcycle Diaries for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Allan Baker’s first translation was Kiss of the Spider Woman. He also did the adaptation and screenplay of Storia di una Capinera (Sparrow). His television work includes Dead Entry, Aliens in the Family, Just William, and El Tránsfuga.

Laurie Sansom directs – making his Menier debut. He was previously Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal and Derngate in Northampton. His work includes for the National Theatre: The Driver’s Seat, The James Plays, The Holy Rosenbergs, Spring Storm, Beyond the Horizon (also Royal and Derngate – TMA Award and Evening Standard nomination for Best Director); for Royal and Derngate, One for the Road, Hedda Gabler, Blood Wedding, The Bacchae, Eden End, Spring Storm, The Duchess of Malfi, My Zinc Bed, The Prime for Miss Jean Brodie and Follies; and Frankie and Tommy (West Yorkshire Playhouse and Garrick Theatre), Villette, Playing God, Inglorious Technicolour, Soap, I Ought to be in Pictures and Spittin’ Distance (Assembly Rooms).

Listings Information

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Venue:                                Menier Chocolate Factory

Address:                             53 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1RU

Dates:                                 8 March – 5 May

Times:                                Tue – Sat 8pm, matinees Sat and Sun 3.30pm (no matinee on 10 March)

Box Office:                         020 7378 1713 (£2.50 transaction fee per booking)

Website:                        www.menierchocolatefactory.com (£1.50 transaction fee per booking)

Recommended age: 15+

Tickets:                               Prices vary, as below from discounted preview tickets to premier seats. With the emphasis on ‘the sooner you book, the better the price’:

                                             Prices from £32.50

A meal deal ticket includes a 2-course meal from the pre-theatre menu in the Menier Restaurant as well as the theatre ticket.

www.menierchocolatefactory.com

Twitter: @MenChocFactory

Park Theatre – until 17 February.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

3***

Rothschild & Sons does what it says on the tin – you learn a little about Rothschild and his sons, not his wife, or his daughters – this is truly a boy’s own musical.

Reviving this 1970 show seems a strange choice. It may be written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, but this is no Fiddler on the Roof.

The musical follows Mayer Rothschild from his beginnings as a peddler and rare coin collector in the Frankfurt ghetto catching the eye of Prince William of Hesse with his confidence and salesmanship, through his training his sons in commerce and banking, to their international financial dealings during the Napoleonic wars. There is a lot of financial talk, mostly framed in comedic parroting from the sons, but you’ll find out more about bonds in this production than any other musical. The quest for money and influence can be unpalatable, so the Rothschilds’ demands for the declaration of rights for the Jewish people in Europe, and the abolition of ghettos adds a moral compass to the story, with Mayer’s determination to see change in an unfair society.

The sons are pretty interchangeable (except for rebellious Nathan, cue father/son conflicts and journey towards understanding of each other), and are a great team, with their harmonies swelling gloriously, especially in Everything. Gutele, Rothschild’s wife, spends most of the musical popping out sons and then moaning about what Rothschild is doing with them, basically wasting Glory Crampton in a woefully underwritten role. Gary Trainor is full of energy, like an overexuberant puppy as young Nathan, maturing from a reckless and headstrong novice into a strong and canny financier just like his dad. Robert Cuccioli as Mayer is solid and delivers a wonderfully emotional rendition of In My Own Lifetime.

The problem is that the musical numbers are variable, with only two truly memorable songs, although the band, led by the energetic Ben van Tienen do a fine job.

Rothschild & Sons is worth a look as a companion piece to Fiddler, with another strong patriarch fighting for his family, but strong performances and musicianship aside, this show just isn’t in the same league.