Tom Tom Crew

Tom Tom Crew
E4 Udderbelly
19th June – 17th July 2009

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

It’s difficult to describe the indescribable. I shall do my best but have to insist that you go down to the big, upside-down, purple cow on Southbank and catch the Tom Tom Crew for yourself as this is an act that must be experienced first hand. Yes, you did read right, I did say a big, upside-down, purple cow, otherwise know as the E4 Udderbelly; a temporary venue which has been erected as part of the Summer season down on Southbank.

The Udderbelly is due to present a wide variety of shows but for now it has opened its udder? To the Tom Tom Crew, direct from Broadway, after sell out shows in Sydney and Edinburgh. This is a circus for the clubbing generation. This youthful, vibrant group of boys from Australia combine their talents to make music and show off their acrobatic prowess in the most imaginative and unbelievable of ways.

On the decks you have Sampology who has turned spinning records into an art form as he combines sound and vision to create a multi media sensation. DJ Dizz1 is on the drums; but why keep things simple? Of course drums are fine but it’s far more exciting to do something different, like play blue plastic barrels for instance. DJ Dizz1 creates as much energy and buzz as if he were playing an electronic drum kit as his arms move at such a speed, his drum sticks become a blur, while all the while ensuring that the audience are pumped and there’s a “vibe” in the house. Generating music in the most inspired of ways, DJ Dizz1 is also spectacular on the omnichord; but you’ll have to see the show for yourself to learn more about this instrument.

Tom Thumb’s beatboxing is like a magic trick as he produces the most bizarre spectrum of sounds, often making three of four sounds simultaneously. He is the mixing deck, the drum kit, saxophone, bass guitar and even the female vocals as he becomes a jazz quartet or a DJ scratching his records. It really is something that has to be seen to be believed.

As if this wasn’t enough, you then have four acrobats flipping their way about the space, hanging from the ceiling, executing the most fantastic displays of agility and throwing themselves from a teeter board (imagine a terrifying see-saw) which leaves you with your heart in your mouth.

Separately these acts are impressive but combined they are a spectacle. Tom Thumb hooks his microphone to the decks and lays down his catalogue of sounds for Sampology to scratch, filter and reverse (yeah, I know the lingo; I’m down with the kids!) Meanwhile DJ Dizz1 is beating his drums like a maniac whilst the acrobats bounce, somersault and fly across the space as if dancing in a club.

I’ve already given too much away, so let me just finish by saying the Tom Tom Crew are an example of pure, raw talent at its best. These boys are clearly having the time of their lives on this stage and what’s great is that they are determined the audience will share this experience with them.

Kerry Ellis Celebrates the Great British Song Book

Kerry Ellis Celebrates the Great British Song Book
Musical director Steve Sidwell
Shaw Theatre
Playing until 26th June

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

Kerry Ellis really is the rock star of the musical theatre world. Her adoring fans from We Will Rock You and Wicked have been eagerly awaiting her next move and now she’s at the Shaw Theatre as the second part of the Great British Song Book installation. Kerry Ellis takes off where Maria Friedman finished, leading a new generation of musical theatre fans.

Whilst Friedman strolled through the traditional chapters of our Great British Song Book, Ellis shakes things up a bit and bounds through the final chapters. A far more extravagant affair than Friedman’s simple, elegant set; Ellis has a band of six, a backing singer, four dancers and even a surprise guest. Where as Friedman enjoyed the effortless banter with the audience, Ellis says of herself that she is a girl of few words and prefers to let the music do the talking and boy does it talk! This is where the comparisons between the two performers end as Kerry Ellis really has emerged from behind the green make up as a star in her own right.

Mixing musical theatre with pop music this celebration feels more like a rock concert as Ellis sashays her way across the stage and struts her stuff. Musical theatre has a reputation for being camp and cheesy but there is nothing cheesy about Kerry Ellis (ok, the four the male dancers are a bit camp) but that’s it. Ellis is as sexy as any other female pop star out there today and she sings like a true diva.

Clearly enjoying the opportunity to sing about something other than “Defying Gravity”, Ellis rocks her way through her eclectic set. Her distinctive vocals are velvety rich with a gorgeous break to her voice and a belt that just won’t quit. It is no surprise that a few Queen songs make an appearance but other stand out moments include a Lloyd Webber medley, featuring songs from Song & Dance, Tell Me on a Sunday, Evita and the rockiest version you’ve ever heard of “Memory” from Cats. Ellis also seduces the audience with an intoxicating Bond medley and gives a taste of the music she likes to listen to by singing songs by Snow Patrol, Goldfrapp and James Morrison.

The audience may not have any voice left after a night of shrieking and whooping but the same can’t be said of Ellis, which is just as well as this limited run has been extended by two days due to popular demand. With a standing ovation before she’d even started, Kerry Ellis was never going to disappoint her dedicated fans. She may have left Oz for good but there is no place like home and for Kerry Ellis that home is most definitely the stage.

The King and I

The King and I
By Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Royal Albert Hall
Directed by Jeremy Sams
Musical Direction by Gareth Valentine
Presented by Raymond Gubbay

12th – 28th June, 2009

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

In the Royal Albert Hall’s 138 year history The King and I is only the second musical to be fully staged here and stage it they have. The decadent Albert Hall is the perfect venue to stage a musical where the majority of the scenes take place in an opulent palace. Performed in the round, Robert Jones’s set design is vast and impressive. Taking up the entire floor of the arena, a dirty shipping yard, surrounded by water, strewn with barrels and cases and with ropes and chains hanging from above is transformed into an opulent palace with magnificent silks draping from every corner, stunning pillars and even a small firework display.

Despite the imposing scenery, the story of The King and I is a simple tale of East meets West. Based on the novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon, Rogers and Hammerstein’s score tells the story of Anna (an English school teacher) and her son who go to Siam to teach the King’s children. As an educated (scientific) woman from the western world, Anna has difficulty adapting to the customs and lowly position women must take in Siam. Despite their many differences, Anna grows close to the King and when news reaches the palace that the British diplomats are to be visiting the palace she wants to help him convince the western world that he and his people are not barbarians. However contradicting this theory is one of the King’s many wives, Tumtim who feels she is being held captive by the King and wants nothing more than to escape with her true love Lun Tha. Her feelings threaten to reveal the true nature of oppression and slavery in Siam and have a heavy impact on Anna’s relationship with the King.

Whilst certainly an impressive spectacle to watch this cast of 70, the intimacy of the story is completely lost by the fanfare that surrounds it. By staging it in the round there is an obvious concern that the audience on all sides of the venue see the faces of the performers and therefore there is constant, needless blocking as the actors continuously walk around the stage with little motivation.

As always Maria Friedman, as Anna captures the stories of the songs she is singing beautifully and gives an emotional performance as the frustrated school teacher but even she falls victim to this incessant movement. Starring opposite Friedman as the King is Daniel Dae Kim of Lost fame and whilst a great coup for the Albert Hall to land a Hollywood star, he unfortunately can’t sing a note. His pompous ignorance is often amusing but he lacks the charisma of Yul Brynner who made the role famous and with whom you can’t help but compare. The highlight of the show actually arrives in the form of the ill fated lovers, Tumtim (Yanle Zhong) and Lun Tha (Ethan Le Phong) whose sexual tension is palatable even in this vast space.

With the exception of classics such as “Getting to Know You”, “Shall We Dance” and Friedman’s fiery rendition of “”Shall I Tell You What I Think” this is not one of Rogers and Hammerstein’s most memorable scores and so it is essential that the story itself make an impact. It is an old fashioned tale and rather than create a feeling of nostalgia this production remains old fashioned, stuffy almost.

A flourish of drums, a cast in vibrant and exotic costumes entering the space from here there and everywhere and an actual firework display and yet this production still fails to ignite. Unfortunately it is a case of being a spectacle with very little soul.

Who Will Carry the Word

Who Will Carry the Word
The Courtyard Theatre
Based on the writings of Charlotte Delbo
Directed by Natasha Pryce
Produced by Roberts Pryce & Co
9th June – 5th July 2008


Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

No matter how many books you read or plays and films you watch about the atrocities that occurred in Auschwitz and the other prisoner of war camps during World War II, it never ceases to shock. On the one hand it depicts mankind at its absolute weakest and depraved and simultaneously demonstrates the strength and kindness of the human spirit.

Whilst the barbarity of World War II is far behind us, across the world similar, senseless acts of violence against mankind continue to take place. This is the reasoning behind plays such as Who Will Carry the World; by making the personal the political, these issues are brought to the forefront of our minds and cannot be ignored.

Based on the true account of Charlotte Delbo who was part of the French Résistance and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942, Who Will Carry the Word tells the story of a group of female prisoners who befriend each other and struggle to survive in horrific circumstances.

The truth is brutal and painful to hear and a script such as this could only be based on the writings of someone who has experienced such torture first hand. This stripped back performance under the superb direction of Natasha Pryce allows the stories; the words, to literally speak for themselves.

The all female, multi cultural cast are vulnerable, raw and exposed in their sensitive handling of the subject matter. Avoiding the temptation to completely breakdown on stage, they portray the strength, courage and solidarity of these women who often didn’t even know each others names. As they deal with starvation, humiliation, family dying, babies being dowsed in petrol and then set alight and watching as rats chew at body parts of their friends who are too crippled with illness to move; they miraculously soldier on. Of course we know these stories already from previous memoirs of other courageous survivors but as I said; it never ceases to shock.

The excellent Esin Harvey as Francoise steps out to address the audience, explaining that what we cannot see and will probably (hopefully) never fully understand. The cast move as a whole, as they shiver and shudder, rub themselves and each other to keep warm and shield themselves from attack. However, Who Will Carry the Word is not just a story of tragic despair; it is a story of bravery and sacrifice. The women individually share their hopes and dreams as a way of escaping from the horror that is their life and it is these acts of courage that are the most painful to watch.

Delbo felt a moral obligation to raise the “past from its ashes to carry the world”, in order to prevent the world from letting this happen again. This production is a testament to her will and whilst often painful to watch we owe it to these women to listen to the stories that many of them never got the chance to tell.

Jim Bailey as Judy Garland

Jim Bailey as Judy Garland
Leicester Square Theatre
David Shepherd & Brian Daniels for D&B Productions
9th-14th June 2009

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

Judy Garland, a self proclaimed legend, the original diva. There is only one Judy Garland; or is there? Those that have seen Jim Bailey over the last five decades in which he has been paying tribute to Ms Garland may disagree.

I wouldn’t have believed it without seeing it for myself. How can anyone become Judy Garland, let alone a man and yet sure enough, no more than one song into this performance you are no longer seeing a man in drag but Judy Garland herself. Bailey is not just a one trick pony either, in fact he portrays many great stars; Barbara Streisand, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Mae West to name but a few. However for now, whilst in London for this limited run he is paying tribute to that girl who just wanted to fly over the rainbow.

With The Wizard of Oz on TV every Christmas and Easter Parade every Easter it’s hard to believe that it’s actually forty years since Judy Garland died. This year she would have been 87 years old and whilst sadly she can’t be with us, Jim Bailey really is the next best thing. From the moment he steps foot on that stage with the erratic, nervous energy that Garland was known for; you are transported back to the days of her performances at the London Palladium. He kicks off his uncomfortable shoes, struggles with the stool on stage and anxiously tugs at his hair. Garland wasn’t perfect, she wasn’t always the polished performer and this is what made her so popular with the audience, despite her many career set backs. She exposed her flaws for the entire world to see and Bailey captures this perfectly. Of course what she was most famous for was her voice; that rich, vibrant, husky sound, filled with heart ache. Again, apart from the odd crack (and lets face it if Judy Garland was still around today she’d have the odd crack too) it’s as if Garland is up on that stage as he belts out classics such as “Get Happy”, “Zing Went My Heart Strings”, “The Man That Got Away” and of course “Somewhere over the Rainbow”.

The night’s music is punctuated by conversation as Bailey talks effortlessly with the audience, telling stories, having the occasional bitch and going off on random tangents as he forgets what he is talking about (a quality Liza Minnelli has inherited from her mother). The slightly slurred speech and breathless quality to his voice is spot on in his camp but honest portrayal of this fabulous woman.

You don’t have to be an expert on Judy Garland to marvel at this astonishing act, a simple appreciation for the stars of yester year will suffice. For the majority of us who never had the chance to see Garland herself when she was last in London, this is a great opportunity to see her songs performed the way she would have performed them.

Liza Minnelli once said to Bailey that if he stopped performing Judy Garland, how would she ever see her mother again? If it’s good enough for her then it’s most definitely good enough for us.

Naked Boys Singing 2009

Naked Boys Singing 2009
King’s Head Theatre
Directed by Phil Willmott
Conceived by Robert Schrock
26th May – 5th July 2009

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

Soon there will be nobody left in Soho if the King’s Head has anything to do with it. F**king Men continues to extend its run and is now sharing it’s outrageously camp stage with Naked Boys Singing 2009 (which is pretty much just what it says it is – naked boys singing).

Naked Boys Singing is one of Off Broadways’ longest (no pun intended) running shows and it looks set to continue its success. With a title such as this it leads you in little doubt as to what you are about to see; in fact the opening number “Gratuitous Nudity”, lets the audience know that the performers know exactly why they have come to see this show. It also won’t shock you to know that with the exception of a few dedicated fag hags (myself included) the audience for this production is largely same sex orientated, which is a shame actually as this show is about more than penises.

Camper than A Chorus Line, Naked Boys Singing follows seven men as they audition to be in a show which requires nudity. They sing about other jobs they have had which required nudity, about admiring the naked boy in the apartment across the street, about being a “perky little porn star” and about Hollywood stars whose nude appearances did their careers wonders. Of course, I know what you’re all thinking; this is all very well and good but when do they stop singing about being naked and actually get naked themselves!

There is a great deal of teasing, or what you might call theatrical foreplay before the big reveal and boy do they reveal it. These boys don’t let the fact they have no clothes on deter them from their energetic dance routines, complete with high-kicks. In fact, before they get to this moment you may feel that they have played it safe by keeping their clothes on for so long. However by forcing us to wait, the impact is that much stronger and in all honesty once they are naked it is, as you can imagine rather distracting.

The star of this show may be the nudity but it is supported by a fantastic cast. Their performances are funny, moving, and bizarre (and this is even with their clothes on!) There are moments when it all gets a little bit too Queer as Folk with a rap about checking out the other men in the gym, accompanied by full on pumping disco lights. However aside from that (and of course the fact that they are naked for half of it) Naked Boys Singing really isn’t that different from any other musical.

There is no reason why Naked Boys Singing shouldn’t replicate its American success in London with its great songs, great performances oh and of course I mustn’t forget to pay tribute to their co-stars.

Cirxus

Cirxus

Arcola Theatre

Written & Directed by John Harrigan

May 2th - June 13th 2009

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for whatsonstage.com

The title of this piece, a mutilation of the word ‘circus’, is representative of the bizarre and distorted world you enter into at the Arcola’s new industrial space, which officially opens in July as Studio K. For now it is home to Seascale Atomic Village, which isn’t exactly your typical seaside resort.

Taking us back to 1957 writer and director John Harrigan explores the effects of the Calder Hall nuclear power station and Windscale reactors. In the surrounding areas various farm produce had to be destroyed as a result of these places; as for the people, well, take a wander round and you’ll see for yourself.

The stark and industrial setting for this piece of promenade theatre is instantly eerie and unnerving. There are posters of atomic bombs and mushroom clouds, a ghost-like woman wandering around with an accompanying rattle of radioactivity and a classroom dedicated to the study of all things nuclear; all reminds us why we find ourselves in this warped environment.

The lighting is dim, the space echoes and bizarre characters creep up on you. These characters are all part of a circus group and yet rather than perform to hundreds of excited tourists they inhabit this space which time seems to have forgotten. Amongst them is a fortune-teller lurking in the corner, a ringmaster who no longer seems to know who is he is, a girl in a stripy leotard causing mischief and an equestrienne called Athalia searching for her clown boyfriend.

Harrigan completely smashes down the fourth wall as the audience, walking around the space, become entangled in the piece. The performers speak softly to one another; drawing you in closer as you strive to hear them. They may ignore your presence or they may engage you in their bizarre conversation. The experience is simultaneously funny and disconcerting. Whilst involved in one situation there are many other scenarios happening around the space which you are not witnessing, adding to the idea of the unknown and therefore making every audience member’s experience completely unique.

For the benefit of those audience members who do not arrive in time for the 8.30pm entry and instead join this weird and wonderful world at 9pm the earlier scenes are repeated, helping to fill in some of the gaps.

Much of the excitement of this piece comes from its mystery, so I am loath to give anything else away. Cirxus is a place of the unknown and should remain so for those of you yet to enter this demented playground.