Legally Kinky?!
Broadway director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell may have won the hearts of musical theatre fans with quintessentially American show Legally Blonde, but he’s looking back to the Midlands for his next project.
Having already visited English tales when he choreographed the stage production of The Full Monty, he’s now moving his sights from Sheffield to Northampton for a new musical based on film Kinky Boots.
The story is set in a failing Northamptonshire shoe factory and echoes British modern classics including Brassed Off and Billy Elliot with its look at the impact on families and communities when local industry struggles.
In the 2005 film, the shoemaker turns to producing fetish boots to save the business and the fates of his workers, after meeting a drag queen who opens his eyes to alternative footwear.
Cyndi Lauper is writing the score. “It’s very Full Monty in its essence,” says Jerry. “There’s a business struggling to make ends meet, a man trying to make a success of his life, a love story. I fell in love with the film, really found it moving, and knew it would make a great stage show.”
Not that he’s not busy in the meantime with Legally Blonde on UK tour. 
“I guess any director or choreographer has the same starting point when they’re putting a show together – how to tell that story in a physical way. The story can’t stop for a song, the song has to move the action along and you can’t afford to have any lulls in the storytelling. If you have a 5 second lull 12 times you’ve lost a minute and you can’t afford to do that.
“Elle’s story is a clean, clear one but it’s also a sweet story and I wanted to keep it moving along. Of course that hardest part is getting the show off the ground in the first place. The Full Monty took a year to get from film to stage because the book had already been adapted when I came on board, but Legally Blonde took two because there was a year of writing before we could even look at casting or starting rehearsals.”
* Legally Blonde on tour includes dates in Leicester, Dublin, Belfast, Woking, Aberdeen, Canterbury, Southampton, Bradford, Plymouth, Milton Keynes and Cardiff during Spring/Summer 2012. All details at www.legallyblondethemusical.co.uk.
Review: Gypsy, Curve (Leicester)
GYPSY is the ultimate story of the ultimate showbiz mother, an iconic Broadway musical which sadly rarely gets a professional outing in the UK.
Hats-off and a well-deserved ovation then for Curve, bringing a top-notch production from director Paul Kerryson and choreographer David Needham, effortlessly and brilliantly transporting audiences through both the onstage thrills and the shabby backstage life of vaudeville.
Arthur Laurents’ brilliant book centres on showbiz mother Rose – every bit as relentless as the industry which chews up talent and spits it out again, yet that knowledge doesn’t stop her trying to garner for her daughters the success she never achieved herself.
She overlooks the elder and plainer Louise (Victoria Hamilton-Barrit) to favour the gifted June (Daisy Maywood). But when disillusioned June realises her mother is actually holding her back, it’s poor Louise who is pushed from tomboy child to reluctant yet elegant top-class stripper.
Rose has to carry the show and run the gamut from single-minded and passionate, through difficult and defiant, to resigned and even pathetic. What powerhouse Caroline O’Connor skilfully does in a sublime performance is blend these elements so that even though we can’t condone Rose’s behaviour, we can understand it. She steamrollers over the wishes of those she loves, and even though she’s aware of it, still believes she’s doing it for the right reasons. Yet O’Connor never allows her to be truly monstrous – Rose’s pangs of regret, pain and own disappointments are palpable, especially when her daughter’s longed-for success becomes her own tragedy.
There are stellar performances all round: David Fleeshman brings warmth and gravitas as Rose’s lover Herbie and Hamilton-Barrit’s Louise is a quietly-heartbreaking study of a young woman always told she wasn’t good enough.
And despite the emotional rollercoaster there’s plenty of humour and heart too. The trio of strippers (Lucinda Shaw, Jane Fowler, Geraldine Fitzgerald) bring the house down with You Gotta Have A Gimmick; Jason Winter (as Tulsa) shows why he’ll be a leading man of the future with All I Need Is The Girl; the young children (and dogs!) are delightful. Add in the music and lyrics of Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim with timeless classics like Rose’s Turn, Everything’s Coming Up Roses and Some People, and we have a masterclass in musical theatre.
The orchestra is superb orchestra under the baton of Michael Haslam, there’s great sound from Ben Harrison, a stunning set and wonderful lighting from Sara Perks and Philip Gladwell.
But it’s O’Connor’s show and one which surely deserves life beyond Leicester. Flawless.
- Review first published in the Leicester Mercury.
Review: The Phantom of the Opera (25th anniversary tour)
A week may be a long time in politics but a quarter of a century is a milestone in musical theatre.
You could literally count on one hand the number of shows which have played almost constantly for longer than a decade, and up there with Les Miserables is the gothic genius of The Phantom of the Opera.
Of course, it never hurts to revisit a piece artistically, and it’s credit to Cameron Mackintosh and his production team that rather than roll out the same old show, the 25th anniversary touring Phantom has been completely reworked for the occasion.
It’s always a gamble – there’ll be the Phantom faithful who don’t want their favourite show tinkered with, and the old adage “if it ain’t broke” would surely have been ringing in a few ears, but let’s not forget that those who saw the original production are now considerably older. And if a show is to win a new audience, it needs new life.
So what we have is new orchestrations, new set, new choreography, new staging. And yes, a new lease of life for the haunting creature of the Paris Opera House. The show is not as lavishly grand – the huge production numbers are smaller for a tour – noticeably Masquerade – but instead the emphasis of the story shifts to the darkness of backstage, the bowels of the theatre and the underworld of the Phantom’s lair.
It matters not. John Owen Jones’ Phantom may only actually be on stage for 20 minutes or so but you feel his imposing presence constantly regardless. Vocally he has a richness which goes right to the core, and even if Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical themes are occasionally over-repetitive, you never tire of hearing them from Mr Jones. More importantly, he finds the elusive emotional chord which combines fear and sympathy and plays it perfectly.
He’s equally well-matched by fellow Phantom stalwarts Simon Bailey and Katie Hall as handsome love interest Raoul and opera ingenue Christine; all three offer up sterling performances which simply ooze quality. The new production also brings out a lot more comedy, brought out by Angela M Caesar’s monstrous diva Carlotta and the hapless opera house owners, played by Andy Hockley and Simon Green.
There’s also top marks for Paul Brown’s ingenius set which evolves as much as it revolves, constantly transforming with ease, while Anthony Gabriele’s impressive 14-piece orchestra sounds like twice its size.
Overall it’s not quite flawless, there’s still a few teeny technical niggles which need resolving and some of the vocals need a little more amplification, but there’s not a doubt that the music echoes long into the night. Nor that Phantom will remain a constant of worldwide musical theatre for years to come.
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- The Phantom of the Opera was reviewed at Plymouth Theatre Royal. It is touring until February 2013 to: Plymouth, Manchester, Bristol, Dublin, Leeds, Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Southampton. Thanks to Plymouth Theatre Royal and Raw PR for review tickets.
Fleeshman Duo Does Broadway!
While Richard Fleeshman celebrates his Best Actor success in the whatsonstage.com awards and prepares to head to Broadway, his father David is about to star in an iconic musical about the famed New York street.
Actor David Fleeshman is playing Herb in Gypsy at Leicester’s Curve theatre, alongside Caroline O’Connor and under the direction of Paul Kerryson.
It’s a return to the city for David, who previously played lead roles in Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge and Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird at the former Leicester Haymarket Theatre, also under Kerryson’s artistic directorship.
Richard, who also made his name in Coronation Street (as Craig Harris), plays Sam – the role made famous by Patrick Swayze on screen, and is the only British member of the Broadway cast.
“I couldn’t be more proud,” says David. “Our press night for Gypsy is his first preview but I think his nerves will be on a larger scale than mine, facing the New York critics and being the only Brit in the company.
“He’s had a phenomenal, meteoric rise to fame since joining Coronation Street at 13. Of course we’ve supported him, I do his accounts and Sue gives him a lot of support, but whatever talent Sue and I have, his is elevated far beyond it.
“So now we’re just waiting for him to make it in New York, then in Hollywood, and he can buy us a nice pad in LA!
“To be fair, he’s very grounded and knows that even though he’s contracted until April 2013, the critics and audiences may not like the show and it may close.’’
It’s not just Richard following in the parental footsteps either – youngest daughter Rosie is just completing her first year at Rose Bruford theatre school, and eldest daughter Emily is working with Sue on The Fleeshman Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, which launched last year in Manchester (www.theactorslab.co. uk).
Meanwhile, David joins Caroline O’Connor on stage in Leicester. It’s the third time he has worked in Leicester, having played Eddie Carbone in A View From The Bridge, and Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbid.
“I’ve known Gypsy since I was a kid, but being a musical I’m way out of my comfort zone,” he said.
“It’s not heavy drama or Shakespeare, and although in my career I’ve done a few musicals it’s not something I’m known for. So when a chance like this came up I grabbed it with both hands.
“Yes it would be daunting if I had six or seven big numbers, but if that were the case I wouldn’t have been offered the part.
“And Caroline is wonderful to be around, her singing, acting and her background as a dancer makes her the real triple threat – her talents are of equal quality and I’m loving working with her.”
Caroline plays Mama Rose, a monster of a showbiz mother, while David ’s Herbie becomes her agent and friend.
“He loves her, he believes there is a heart underneath the monster and is always there for her. I’ve worked with a lot of kids over the years and met a lot of mothers who want their kids to be on the stage, but she really is top of the pyramid.
“But I’m having a ball. It’s great to work with Paul Kerryson again, I love the theatre, it’s a fantastic company and a great musical and I’m enjoyingevery minute of it.”
Caroline’s Turn to play iconic Mama Rose
Caroline O’Connor will be making her childhood imagining reality when she returns to the UK stage this spring.
She’s taking on Mama Rose in Gypsy, directed by Paul Kerryson at Curve in Leicester, and admits that her return combines a peculiar mix of excitement and terror.
No stranger to the city, she won scores of fans at the former Leicester Haymarket Theatre with leading roles in shows including Chicago and Mack and Mabel, again under the direction of Kerryson.
Caroline O'Connor as Mama Rose
“He was such a mentor to me, I love working with him and it’s been way too long. He taught me so much in the early years and I’m really looking forward to being in the same rehearsal room again,” she says. “He gave me my first leading role, so to be coming back to work at the new theatre is fantastic and we might create something a bit special!”
Since those early days Caroline’s career has gone from strength to strength – with credits as diverse as Nini in Baz Luhrmann’s smash hit film Moulin Rouge, singing with a 106-piece orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, performing at Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday concert in London and she has just been nominated for a Best Actress in a Musical Award for her role in Sondheim’s Follies in Chicago.
And now she takes on the role considered to be the Hamlet of musical theatre, Mama Rose in Gypsy, created on Broadway by the legendary Ethel Merman.
“I remember singing along to Ethel Merman when I was a young girl. I never went to acting or singing school, I just used to sing along to recordings of other singers,” says Caroline.
“I wanted to sing like Ethel, I wanted to sound like Broadway, when I was a kid I didn’t get to see those shows so I had to imagine what they looked like and what was going on. Gypsy was the first one I ever heard. I learned every single word and loved it, and when I heard Rose’s Turn, even though I was a child I understood what was going on. But Gypsy was always a favourite. The overture is the best one ever written and on opening night it will be unbelievable to hear the orchestra playing it live.”
So what is it about Gypsy that appeals? “It’s a great story about a showbiz mother trying to do the best for her daughters, but it’s so much more than that. She’s a single Mum who works hard, she’s very vain and has a deep-seated desire that she failed to fulfil, so wants her children to have what she didn’t have, yet by the end of the show I don’t think you should dislike her. But because I’m so familiar with the score I’m able to spend more time getting to know the character, she can’t be one-dimensional and you have to get to know her or no-one will care at the end.
“But what’s so fantastic is that this show hasn’t had a major professional production in England for years so many it’s like a new musical! They can enjoy getting to know it just like I did.”