Miss Saigon - Review

Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

****

Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg

Lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil

Directed by Robert Hastie and Anthony Lau

Joanna Ampil

A daring, bold yet incredibly exciting recipe for musical theatre. Take an iconic piece world renowned and adored, make some bold changes compared to previous versions and take it off the traditional proscenium stage and place it an intimate thrust style. Robert Hastie and Anthony Laus’ gamble has paid off as they bring Miss Saigon back to the stage in a new production by special arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh.

With 30+ musical numbers it is no wonder that at times Schönberg and Boublil’s piece feels more like an opera, but the cast’s ensemble work is strong, driving the piece from city to city as we follow Kim’s journey, fleeing the Vietnam conflict. Jade Hackett's choreography is a treat and the company deliver the big numbers and transitions with great precision.

Ben Stones’ mostly minimal set leaves a bare stage, allowing a blank canvas for a combination of exquisite lighting and projection from Jessica Hung Han Yun and Andrzej Goulding respectively. Stones however vividly captures the contrast of between the dark and damp streets outside the bars of Saigon with the bright neon lights of Bangkok. The second act’s famed evacuation from the American embassy is a wonder to behold and a treat in itself. 

That said, the biggest treat in the show comes from the duo that is Joanna Ampil as The Engineer and Jessica Lee as Kim. Ampil is no stranger to Miss Saigon but in this production brings a new take on The Engineer. Her rendition of The American Dream towards the end of Act 2 is a tragic celebration of what could have been, exposing all sides and shades of The Engineer in one number, a performance that would be a marathon for many but seemingly effortless for Ampil and immensely gripping. This new interpretation of The Engineer offers a whole new chemistry between her and Kim with some darker moments seeming all the more sinister in contrast, but with also occasional moments of surprising tenderness.

Lee gave a performance that reached every single corner of The Crucible. With an intensity that never wavered, vocal dexterity that never wobbled and a presence and sometimes vulnerability that was incredibly powerful to watch. Her rendition of ‘Id Give My Life For You’ at the end of Act 1 was faultless as was ‘I Still Believe’ where Lee was joined by Christian Maynard who plays Chris, the young American soldier along with Shanay Holmes who plays Ellen. A nod too to the sumptuous performance of the score from Chris Poon and the 15 piece orchestra.

War is sadly a tragedy that seems to rip through the hearts of so many and this production places us, the audience right in the thick of it. At a time when travel and London ticket prices make a trip to the West End simply unaffordable for many it’s incredibly encouraging that regional theatres such as The Crucible are able to offer such a landmark production as this to their audiences.

Runs until 19th August

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Les Misérables - Review

Sondheim Theatre, London

****

Concept, book and original French lyrics by Alain Boublil

Book and music by Claude-Michel Schönberg

Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer

Directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell

Bradley Jaden and Jon Robyns

Arriving in London following a toured and international try-out, Les Misérables (or rather Les Mis 2.0 as the programme affectionately describes it) opens at Cameron Mackintosh’s newly revamped Sondheim (formerly the Queens) Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue.

For nearly 35 years this behemoth of show has dominated the global musical theatre scene, spawning a movie treatment along the way and for one simple reason. For not only are Claude-Michel Schönberg’s melodies as stirring as they are heart-rending in equal measure, with Herbert Kretzmer’s lyrics skewering the very essence of humanity with wit and tenderness, but at the core of Les Misérables is Victor Hugo’s classic novel that is possibly unmatched in its ability to drive a musical. For however smart the words or snappy the tunes, a good show demands to be constructed upon a sound book and Hugo’s is the best. It may be set at least two centuries ago, but this epic tale of humanity, redemption, forgiveness, envy and greed still packs a relevant and oh-so timely punch, particularly as cries for the recognition of democracy have only recently been heard echoing around these isles. Did we hear the people sing (or vote)?

There are some modest, subtle changes to Kretzmer’s prose, but the tunes are still the same and the narrative still gorgeous. The Queens’ revolve has been rolled away and in its place are Matt Kinley's automated scenery trucks married to Finn Ross' ingenious projections. It is no wonder that this production has achieved such acclaim on tour with a technical portability that the original show never could match. For the most part the new designs generally deliver an innovative take on their predecessor, but it has not been a perfect transition. The tragic impact of the second half's Final Battle, where back in the day and with one half-turn the old revolve revealed the massacred students’ bodies, is not lived up to in v 2.0. The projections and techno-wizardry are fun though, as pyrotechnically enhanced fusillades ricochet around the auditorium (credit to Mick Potter's sound design). reminiscent of the audio brilliance of Saving Private Ryan’s opening battle scene.

[SPOILER ALERT] Javert’s Suicide is a (visual) treat. In place of the bridge’s balustrade being whisked up to the flies, the eponymous cop himself joins the flying squad. Indeed, so spectacular is Javert’s death that one is only left hoping for something even more celestially impressive for Jean Valjean’s last gasp. Sadly, when our hero does eventually expire, the moment is nowhere near as visually thrilling as Javert’s demise.

Vocally the piece remains a classy gathering of talent. Jon Robyns ages majestically through the piece as Valjean, his dramatic tenor tones catching the full range of his heroic character’s power and sensitivity. Opposite Robyn and hunting him across the years, Bradley Jaden captures Javert’s flawed but principled complexities.

Carrie Hope Fletcher sees a sideward promotion (to the Green Room for most of the show) as she takes over Fantine. Fletcher’s vocal talent and presence remains is amongst the finest of her generation and her singing exquisite. But is she a Fantine? Although this reviewer is unconvinced, Fletcher’s 500K Twitter followers may well have a different view. 

Hauled back in from the touring production, Ian Hughes’ Thénardier is in fine form capturing the show’s comic moments with perfect timing and delivery. Opposite him, the always outstanding Josefina Gabrielle’s Mme Thénardier is equally brilliant. But to take a step back for one moment, times have moved on since the 1980s. In this #MeToo era is it really right to be laughing so whole-heartedly at such a couple of child-abusers as the Thénardiers? The pair are actually terrifying monsters, rather than clowns. Elsewhere, the eternal triangle of Marius, Eponine, and Cosette is played well by Harry Apps, Shan Ako and Lily Kerhoas respectively. There is vocal talent here a ‘plenty but the true and passionate chemistry that these roles demand has yet to fully emerge.

Above all it is Kretzmer’s stunning lyrical treatment of those soaring French melodies (on press night, immaculately delivered under Steve Moss’ baton) woven around a story that is breathtaking in its scope that still define Les Misérables as a night of world class musical theatre.

Booking until 27th October

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Les Miserables - Review

Queens Theatre, London 


*****

PROLOGUE 

It has been a while since I'd last seen Les Miserables in the West End, but every now and then a show’s casting proves so irresistible that it cries out to be seen again. 

Firstly, there is the wonderful Carrie Hope-Fletcher's take on Eponine. Having seen Carrie perform at a couple of concert events I had long hankered after catching her acclaimed interpretation first hand. And then there’s Rachelle Ann Go’s Fantine. I’d adored her Movie In My Mind in Miss Saigon, but on hearing Rachelle sing I Dreamed A Dream at Hugh Maynard’s Hippodrome gig a few months ago, she simply set spines tingling.  

However, both of those yearnings were eclipsed by the announcement, earlier this year, that Phil Daniels was to play musical theatre’s ultimate scum-meister, taking over as M. Thenardier. 

Virtually a national treasure, Daniels etched himself into the nation’s psyche in the 70s and 80s. Along with a youthful Ray Winstone he offered a brutal perspective on British borstal life in Alan Clarke’s controversial movie, Scum – if you haven’t seen that picture, download it and find out why Winstone has been known forever since as The Daddy. And from then on, including The Who's iconic Quadrophenia and later film and stage performances, Daniels’ work has been nothing sort of exceptional. 

And so it was, that with this cast, Les Mis moved back on to my “unmissable” list…

REVIEW

Author/Dramatist ALAIN BOUBLIL
Book & Music CLAUDE-MICHEL SCHÖNBERG
Lyricist HERBERT KRETZMER
Adaptation & Direction TREVOR NUNN
Adaptation & Direction JOHN CAIRD

Les Miserables has long impressed me, not just for having such a stirring libretto, but also for the cheekily economic creativity of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schoenberg that was able to hang quite so many different songs on just a handful of (oft repeated) melodies! Herbert Kretzmer deserves handsome credit for the lyrics. Kretzmer has compressed Victor Hugo's panoramic vision of 19th century France into 3 hours of sung-through genius, with a wit and nuance perfectly tailored to the modern idiom.

On the night of this review Adam Bayjou was standing in for Peter Lockyer as the eponymous ex-con Jean Valjean. Youthful but nonetheless assured, Bayjou mastered the gravitas of driving the show, stirring and inspirational as needed and touching souls with an exquisite Bring Him Home.

Hunting him across the years is Jeremy Secomb's Javert. Secomb, with the full built frame of a cop, pound for pound probably outweighs the more diminutive Bayjou whose lifting of both cart and carcass through the show as required defies probability. Secomb though brings just the right amount of dour, booted, gravitas to the lugubrious lawman including a thrilling delivery of Stars. And as Javert grapples with Valjean's divine mercy that he simply cannot comprehend, this talented actor displays a truly tortured soul. 

There can never be a great deal to write about Fantine, perhaps one of theatre's most underwritten leading ladies, but Rachelle Ann Go carries the pride of the Philippines with her as she re-defines the role, making I Dreamed A Dream truly her own.

Carrie Hope-Fletcher's Eponine must surely have proved an inspired casting over the last couple of years. She embodies her character's sincerity with beauty, coquettish charm and a voice of amazingly youthful power. And as her coat falls open to reveal that bloodstained blouse, even seeing the show for the umpteenth time one can't hold back the tears. For Hope-Fletcher her Les Mis time is running out and one looks forward to see how her talents will next be deployed.

Perhaps the toughest roles in the show are those of Cosette and Marius - their love is sincere, but where Eponine is endowed with a tragically romantic death, these youngsters see their finale wedding overshadowed first by the Thenardiers' thievery and then Valjean's demise. Tough gigs indeed, but Zoe Doano, as ever, defines enchanting as she falls for her handsome student, filling the role with a passionate credibility and a celestial voice. And if Rob Houchen's Marius is a slightly understated gem, at least it’s well polished.

And then there's Katie Secombe and Phil Daniels as the ghastly Thenardiers. The pair's timing, acting and song are a masterclass in bitter-sweet grotesque. Blessed with comedy in her genes Secombe's Mme T is every inch a Lady Macbeth of her time, keeping her performance just the right side of pantomime. Daniels simply lives up to expectations. With his park life voice that’s been dredged from somewhere east of Tilbury, Daniels defines the red-nosed brigand perfectly. It will take some double act to match this monstrous couple.

Above all, the credit for Les Mis' continued excellence has to lie with its producer. Cameron Mackintosh may have elevated this particular show to the level of a global franchise - but he's never sacrificed a moment of its quality, Amidst John Napier’s ever revolving designs, the show’s details remain finely honed. And whether it is (simply by way of example) Adam Pearce's immaculate multi-role ensemble work, or Alex Parker's pinpoint musical direction, Les Miserables remains an example of world class excellence.

Now booking into 2016

Hugh Maynard - Something Inside So Strong - Concert Review

London Hippodrome

***** 

Hugh Maynard - inset Rachelle Ann Go and Kwang-Ho Hong

Every now and then a gig comes along that not only marks a performer's talent, but also evidences their status in the industry and even more rarely, a remarkable generosity of spirit. So it is with Hugh Maynard, currently playing John in the West End’s revived Miss Saigon, who on the night he launched his debut solo album Something Inside So Strong not only sang sensationally but also chose to share his stage with a talented corps of Miss Saigon colleagues. It all made for a memorable night at the Hippodrome.

In front of his 5-piece band (MD Liam Holms) and on his own Maynard sparkled, covering Seal’s Kiss From A Rose in a distinctly fresh interpretation that still retained a hint of the writer’s hallmark edgy tenderness. When A Man Loves A Woman offered a further glimpse of the controlled power of Maynard’s belt, whilst in a disarmingly brave choice for a fella, his take on Brenda Russell’s Get Here (a smash hit for Oleta Adams) showed the full range of his tenor magnificence.

Maynard’s big number in the Boublil and Schoenberg epic is Bui Doi, an impassioned plea on behalf of Vietnam’s “dust of life” kids, the mixed-race progeny fathered by long absent GIs. A neat twist saw a 7-strong ensemble of Miss Saigon’s finest give a stunning, cheeky twist on the number, referring to the "spice of life" and sung a-capella no less, conducted by Maynard and gloriously led by the show’s Carolyn Maitland.

Making the short trip from the Prince Edward Theatre to guest for Maynard, his featured colleagues Rachelle Ann Go and Kwang-Ho Hong both sung solos from Les Miserables. Each famous in SE Asia, both guests offered proof, if any was needed, of Cameron Mackintosh’s ability to source talent from across the globe. Hong’s Bring Him Home along with Go’s I Dreamed A Dream set spines-tingling. Their song  choices may have been well worn favourites yet each electrified the Hippodrome crowd before going on to duet with their host. 

One night was not enough and Hugh Maynard needs to return to the cabaret stage soon. Until then he remains a living reminder of the excellence to be found in London’s musical theatre today.

Miss Saigon

Prince Edward Theatre, London

****

Book and lyrics by Alain Boublil

Concept, book and music by Claude Michel Schonberg

Lyrics by Richard Maltby Jnr

Additional lyrics by Michael Mahler

Directed by Laurence Connor

Jon Jon Briones as The Engineer

Cameron Mackintosh is the consummate showman. His re-launch of Miss Saigon, some 25 years after it first landed on a London stage has already recouped its reported £4.5million investment and it appears that not a penny has been wasted. His excellent cast is large and immaculately rehearsed, whilst the design and technical wizardry of his creative team is further evidence of the capital's world class reputation in stagecraft. 

The show re-works Puccini’s classic tale from Madam Butterfly, setting it amongst the melee of the fall of Saigon in 1975, and introducing The Engineer, an (anti) hero Eurasian pimp and one of the finest characters to be written for musical theatre in recent years. A man whose only loyalty is to himself and to whom knowing and exploiting the weaknesses of all men is second nature, he dreams of a new life in the USA. His portrayal in this production by US actor Jon Jon Briones is a revelation. Briones holds the audience in the palm of his hand throughout, with his act two showstopper The American Dream being a glorious comment upon Western greed and cynicism. 

Eva Noblezada plays Kim, the virginal Saigon bar girl caught up in a whirlwind romance with GI Chris, and who falls pregnant just as her lover is flown out of Vietnam with the US withdrawal. Noblezada, who incredibly is making her professional stage debut in the role, is gorgeously convincing and fabulously voiced as she evolves from timid country girl to fiercely protective mother. Her character’s story is not as striking as her performance however and there is too much of her journey that is clichéd melodrama, with plotlines that defy credibility. 

The beauty of this show though lies in its staging and in the talent that Mackintosh has assembled on one stage. Bob Avian’s original choreography has been re-worked and the clarity of his vision is no better demonstrated than in the phenomenal routines of a flag waving communist army in act one’s The Morning Of The Dragon, contrasted with the dollar-bill and Cadillac extravaganza of the second half’s The American Dream, both numbers being sensational. Amidst much (occasionally tiresome) musical motif repetition, other tunes stand out, notably The Movie In My Mind, sung by Kim and fellow bargirl GiGi a perceptive performance from Rachelle Ann Go,  whose plaintive lyrics speak too of the dream to flee their Saigon poverty and build a new life in the USA, the land of the movies.If The Engineer is the show’s best creation, then this number is arguably one of its best songs.

Miss Saigon also bears a nod to the legacy of the Bui Doi, the mixed-race kids that feckless GIs left behind. Act two opens with Bui Doi, an anthemic number that champions these youngsters’ cause and in which, 25 years ago, John played by Peter Polycarpou broke hearts at Drury Lane as he sang. Today’s John is played by Hugh Maynard and the song is a disappointing rush, set to a beat that is at odds with the melody’s pulse. As with Boublil and Schonberg's Les Miserables, the entire production is set to music, with nearly every line of dialog in rhyme which often proves a naïve distraction. Along with the 2 minute gimmick of an on-stage helicopter these are a reminder of just how far audience expectations have grown over the last two decades. Gimmicks are out and strong songs are in – hence the rise of the juke box musical across both Broadway and the West End. Audiences want to tap their feet.

Immaculate to look at for sure, no doubt Miss Saigon will provide employment for many and will also channel much tourist wealth into both the London economy and the (deserving) coffers of Mackintosh whose philanthropic support of musical theatre is nothing short of remarkable. It’s not a must see by any means, but it is undoubtedly one hell of a show!

Booking until 2015

Les Miserables - Movie

Certificate 12A - On general release

***

Screenplay by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and William Nicholson

Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer

Music by  Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg

Directed by Tom Hooper

Samntha Barks as Eponine

Evolving from 27 years of spectacular live performance, Tom Hooper has taken Boublil, Schonberg and Kretzmer’s Les Miserables and  transplanted  their masterpiece from stage to screen.

As an exercise in pushing the technical boundaries of some aspects of musical performance in cinema, the film is an unqualified success, but as an adaptation of one of the most celebrated works in the musical theatre canon, it fails to satisfy.

In the Prologue, an impressive blend of performance and CGI, we first encounter Jean Valjean the convict amongst a team of prisoners hauling in a massive shipwreck. The scenery is breathtakingly vast, but the vocal work is intimate and up close and thereby hangs the movie's flaw. Boublil and Schonbergs' compositions are grand and beautiful and do not lend themselves well to the repeated scrutiny of solo close up that is Hooper's signature. His directorial style worked well in The King's Speech, and also in television's EastEnders, where individual intimacy is crucial to the flowing of the story. Few canvases however are as vast as that of Victor Hugo's french classic and an enormous tale demands a similarly proportioned sense of perspective from the director and not just in the rumbustious ensemble numbers.

Hugh Jackman as Valjean is not only an actor of global presence but also possesses a fine pedigree in musical theatre. His performance of Valjean, that has already garnered a Golden Globe, is a noble depiction of a heroic journey. But where cinema has permitted the “zooming out” of the visual experience of this story,  the decision to “zoom in” on the vocal work robs these songs of the impressive majesty that the writers conceived some thirty odd years ago. In One Day More, arguably one of the finest “Act One Closers” ever written, the fragmented camerawork, with Jackman making Valjean’s contribution whilst fleeing in a stagecoach, robs a fantastic number of its impact. This is a song written for the stage, not the screen and Hooper’s adaptation has stripped the number of both magic and also of its gut-wrenching power. On stage this song is pivotal but on screen it is reduced to not much more than an inventory of different character's perspectives, adding little value to the tale.  All too often in this film, wonderful songs are reduced to simply rhyming dialogue with a muslcal background.

Jackman’s fellow antipodean Russell Crowe is Javert, Valjean’s nemesis, and the face of authority that pursues him throughout the story. Thankfully, Crowe is a masterful actor because his singing disappoints. His big number Stars, a song that has a beautiful poetic lilt to its construction is terribly mauled in his rendition, sung as it is from a high rooftop parapet looking out across a Parisian backdrop in a setting that suggests the singing gargoyles from Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Much has been made of the use of live singing to camera, rather than the miming to a previously recorded soundtrack, that this movie espouses. Technically, this is impressive, and it is generally pleasing to see voice so well linked to face.  Perfect musical theatre (or musical cinema) however is a trinity  of voice, physical movement and music and whilst in earlier filmed musicals the pre-recorded vocals may have been disconnected from the on-screen acting, in Les Miserables, the performers' acting has been severed from the orchestral accompaniment that plays through almost the entire length of the film. This was of course not the intention when these songs were first written and whilst the score has by its nature required adaptation from stage to screen, the adaptive process has diluted much of the brilliance of Boublil and Schonberg's composition. It is of no small significance that on the website of Working Title, who co-produced the movie, writing credits are displayed but no credit at all is shown for the composers of the music.

Where scenes and structure do permit, then the ensemble performances in the film are glorious. Sasha Baron-Cohen and Helena Bonham-Carter as the Thenardiers lead a wonderful Master Of The House, whilst the students'  Red & Black also stirs. Up close, Ann Hathaway’s I Dreamed a Dream and Come to Me reach out to touch the emotions alongside Eddie Redmayne’s Empty Chairs At Empty Tables that is equally a performance of powerful poignance. But when Samantha Barks performs On My Own and A Little Fall of Rain, the barrier of the screen between audience and actor descends and whilst her singing is exquisite, she fails to tug those same heartstrings that Boublil, Schonberg and Kretzmer so cunningly detected all those years ago in composing these tragic blockbusters.

It is impossible not to compare this film with the stage show. It is certainly as long as what one will find in the West End, albeit without the interval, although at least one advantage of the inevitable DVD release will be the ability to pause the movie after One Day More to take a comfort break. Stripped of its on-stage majesty, whilst the acting is magnificent throughout, the adaptation as a whole is a somewhat castrated version of the original work.   Some of the singing is wonderful and many of the visuals are magnificent. The credits list a vast team of talented and crafted folk who have laboured hard to deliver this film, which does deserve to be seen. Just don’t set your expectations too high.