It’s so horribly trying too hard. Badly directed and despite the A list cast, badly acted. I made it through episode two and the freebie stuff but it’s unrelentlesly boring. Seriously, it just goes on and on and on with nothing that engages the listener.
The concept is that a space ship is passing the sun and a solar flare takes out much of the ship’s support system so that the characters that are on the ship end up in different parts of the vehicle and have to communicate by audio channels.
It’s so unengaging though that I couldn’t bear to go to episode 3.
And I’m Scottish, so Alan Cumming should have been an attraction. He’s not.
Notwithstanding ATG’s outrageous refund policy (we thought we were booking to see Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley but they, and two other Olivier winners, are no longer in the show, but ATG basically just said “tough you booked the show not the performers“) this is a remarkable night’s entertainment albeit at an eye-watering price.
You arrive at the club early (in our case admittance was 7pm) and walk through a golden archway into the lobby of the old Playhouse Theatre that is swarming with performers in gauche attire. You take your free drinks (shots or beer, so don’t get too excited especially when you later find out that wine is £12 a glass) and take in the surroundings. It’s epically risqué and evocative of the pre war libertarian Berlin where Naziism hasn’t yet aired its ugly head.
Next to the theatre itself which has been physically transformed from a traditional Victorian Proscenium arch into an intimate theatre-in-the-round using the full stage and back stage area to create both a seated cabaret section and a 5 or 6 row Grand Circle. Every seat in the house is close to the circular stage which is clearly tiered, although at the beginning it is flat.
The cast and band continue their pre-show entertainment, occasionally inviting an audience member or two onto the stage to dance (this is repeated at the interval) and finally the proceedings begin.
It’s a long Act 1 at nearly two hours, but it flies by as Kander and Ebb’s familiar story unfolds. What makes it so much more thrilling than Liza Minnelli’s splendid movie performance is its darkness. The threat of Naziism hangs in the air menacingly throughout and is considerably ramped up in act two. If Act One showcases the playful side of Berlin nightlife Act Two represents its seedy underbelly with a beautiful evocation of Kristallnacht using a glass wrapped in a dish towel.
Of course, the ensemble is breathtakingly good. Just big enough to fill the stage but not so big that they trip over one another (14 I think).
Five main characters own the show: The Em Cee played by Fra Fee is deliciously decadent, darkly discombobulating and dreadfully Deutsch with his rolling of consonants that could only come from the Fatherland.
Amy Lennox’s Sally Bowles was “even better than Jessie Buckley” our neighbour told us after the show (he’d seen both) and she’s terrific. Her performance of Cabaret at the finale which you can see here had me in tears. In fact it has had the same effect watching again as I write.
Omar Bradshaw as Cliff is as sappy as you could hope for, and proves a perfect foil for the larger than life others.
Vivienne Bradley makes a beautiful and elegant Fraulein Schneider more driven by the “Money that makes the world go around” than her love for the brilliant Elliot Levey as the delightfully old Jew, Herr Schultz. (You know I thought he was 70 but in writing up this review and looking at his mugshot he ‘s actually a young looking 48. So top prize to the make up and costume team.)
As you’d expect, the costumes are magnificent. The band is also superb and look like they are having a ball, proudly sat in the Royal Boxes either side of the stage.
All in all it’s a night of theatrical perfection. Funny, exhilarating and ultimately moving. It’s a must see.
Well, I first met Hayley when she was about 10 or 11 at Forth Children’s Theatre (fresh from taking part in, and maybe even winning, Junior Mastermind). She was spikey enough then, but as she grew older she became one of my all time favourite FCT kids because she was funny, articulate, scathing and just great fun.
Still spikey.
She’s now an adult and a highly adept one at that, so now I can properly call her my pal. You’ll see from her list just how well read she is (Two of my favourite things feature on her list. Geek Love and Every Brilliant Thing that my wife and I were privileged to see in the Edinburgh Fringe).
She’s carving out a career in theatre. Think at Bristol Old Vic just now (after a spell at Leith Theatre) and that makes me very, very proud.
I’m proud to call Hayley my pal and I look forward to the next time we meet. No doubt in a theatre.
My favourite author or book
Carmen Maria Machado. I just think she’s absolutely incredible and I recommend her stuff at every opportunity. She has a short story collection called Her Body and Other Parties which is the first thing of hers I’ve read and it totally blew me away. Moving, unsettling and funny in equal parts. Her memoir In the Dream House is even better.
The book I’m reading
The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting. I’ve only just started it but I’ve got a good feeling. My mum and brother both read it this summer and loved it. It’s set in Norway (at the moment anyway). An old family mystery being uncovered. It’s got me guessing already which I like and I’m certain my guesses are going to be completely wrong, which I love.
The book I wish I had written
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. We read it in our second year of uni and everyone loved it. It asks questions and makes you think, especially about what we consider ‘normal’. But the story itself is so superbly crafted. I’m in awe of writers who can tell stories of that scale.
The book I couldn’t finish
Dubliners by James Joyce.
The book I’m ashamed I haven’t read
Dubliners, ha! Or any Joyce for that matter. There are quite a few classics missing from my list. Each as shameful as the last.
My favourite film
Funny Girl. I was the biggest musical theatre geek growing up (and still am a bit at heart) and this film is the cream of the crop in my humble opinion. Barbara Streisand could punch me in the face and I’d say thank you. Absolute legend.
My favourite play
I recently read Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan and I think that’s clinched the top spot. I’ve got a real soft spot for Twelfth Night as well. (Saw that at the Fringe doll. It’s awesome.)
My favourite podcast
‘All Killa No Filla’. It’s two comedians (Rachel Fairburn and Kiri Pritchard-Mclean) and each episode they talk about a different serial killer.
The box set I’m hooked on
I loved Mindhunter on Netflix. I have a horrible feeling they’re not making another season of it but I’m still waiting, patiently and hopefully!
My favourite TV series
Not to sound like a 12 year old boy, but probably The Simpsons. Or Law & Order: SVU. That’s my mum and I’s thing.
My favourite piece of music
Anything Scottish trad, but I can’t pick a favourite. So for this it’s a three-way tie between Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Ferma Zitella by Einaudi and Linus and Lucy (The Peanuts’ Theme Tune).
My favourite dance performance
Sasha Velour and Shea Coulee – So Emotional. Ru Paul’s Drag Race Season 9 finale.
The Last film/music/book that made me cry
This is slightly embarrassing because it was when I was on TikTok, but a song called ‘Je te laisserai des mots’ by Patrick Watson. There’s a particular moment in it with piano and strings and the other day it made me tear up. It’s always used on videos with captions like ‘You have to start romanticising your life’ or ‘You haven’t yet met everyone who will love you’. Cheesy as hell, but the music got me!
The lyric I wish I’d written
‘I can’t make you love me if you don’t’. So simple, absolutely gut-wrenching. (It’s by Bonnie Raitt . Ed. But I can’t find a sharable YouTube link.)
The song that saved me
Baby I’m Burnin’ by Dolly Parton. It came on shuffle on my phone one day in the midst of a pretty rough period and I remember thinking ‘fuck me this song is amazing.’ It was one of those moments of mental clarity you get when you’ve been really bogged down in your own head and then suddenly feel good, even if only for a couple of minutes. Reminds you that you’re not gonna feel how you’re feeling forever.
My brother and I now have a mantra, ‘Baby I’m Burnin’ and a yoghurt and you’ll feel better’.
The yoghurt is obviously optional.
The instrument I play
Guitar. Probably not to the level I should be given how long I’ve played, mind you.
The instrument I wish I’d learned
Drums. So sick. And I’d enjoy having the toned arms!
If I could own one painting it would be
This bad boy. ‘The Birth of Venus’ by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. I’m really not very knowledgeable about art so I always thought this was the birth of venus. The Botticelli one. I had it as my lock screen on my phone for years. I think it’s lush. This or anything by René Magritte.
The music that cheers me up
Northern Soul. Anything that gets you boogying really, but when in doubt, Northern Soul.
The place I feel happiest
I really love being in water. The sea, a loch, a pool. It’s all good.
My guiltiest cultural pleasure
Guilty is subjective, but I have seen The 1975 live twice and would go again.
I’m having a fantasy dinner party, I’ll invite these artists and authors
Florence Pugh, Robin Williams, Bimini Bon Boulash, Rihanna, Little Simz and Edward Carey.
Two years past January I stepped down from the Chair of FCT after 11 years in the hot seat. Little was I to know at the time that the show we were rehearsing ‘Oliver!’ would not see the light of day for a further 27 months and that theatre, amateur and professional alike, would be about to face its greatest challenge ever.
So the sense of anticipation as I approached the Tabernacle in Inverleith at 7.15 tonight was palpable.
The setting is familiar and many of the faces are as friendly and welcoming as ever. One of the first I bumped into was new Chair Angelo Deponio, looking pleased as Punch (as he was at the conclusion of the evening’s proceedings).
By contrast, the cast was unfamiliar to me – only a few names I recognised, so FCT has done incredibly well to bring an entirely new set of enthusiastic children to the stage and to afford an amazing life privilege and experience to them.
The set, swung 180 degrees from its proscenium arch home, beckoned me in to a night of gusto – full throated chorus numbers abound in Lionel Bart’s fantastic musical, but it’s also a challenging theatrical piece that takes real skill to deliver.
The chorus is great. Young mind you, very young, and that makes the challenge all the greater but FCT pulls it off with an engaging and high tempo production that makes the wait worth it.
Amongst the principales three stood out for me. Martha Broderick makes a delightful and vulnerable Oliver. By contrast Mhairi Smith puts in a rumbustious shift as Nancy with several show stealing numbers and Emma Swain was a delight in a small part as Bet.
The band is great, as always, and technically the show delivers.
A huge congratulations to FCT for getting the tanker back on the road in very trying circumstances.
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