The Jermyn Street Theatre certainly knows how to suck up to the Whingers. Rolling them on their backs and tickling their tummies (sorry, that’s a rather unpleasant image – we do hope you’re not eating) could have produced no greater wagging of tails than took place on Sunday afternoon.
With practised insouciance, the Whingers waltzed (literally, since you ask) into the venue at one minute before the 3pm start time for Stephen Sondheim‘s early musical Saturday Night, yet the Whingers were able to take their second row seats without the hassle of a pre-show scrummage for a decent position.
For there they were: three empty seats (one each for the Whingers, one for Andrew’s “manbag”) at this tiny but perfectly formed fringe theatre. No detestable unreserved seating policy here. The Jermyn Street Theatre proves it can be done: it is possible for a fringe theatre to put numbers on the seats and on the tickets. Three cheers to them!
Of course, their moods were also helped by the fact that the seats were free-of-charge for the Whingers were there at the invitation of the producers and, boy, were they feeling grand. Hence all the insouciance and the waltzing.
Easily bought, they were in very relaxed and generous frames of mind and already on the side of the show before the lights went down.
But the problem was not the venue, it was the piece.
Sondheim was but a callow youth (well, 24) when he penned Saturday Night in 1954 and boy does it show. Well, that’s not quite fair. It’s better than anything the Whingers could put together if they had all their lifetimes over again and no theatrical or alcoholic distractions to keep them from the task of writing a musical.
Even so, the knowledge that Saturday Night didn’t receive a première until 1997 should have set the Whingers’ internal alarm bells ringing. The whole sorry story is here.
The plot is that of an unreconstructed 1920s musical comedy:
In 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, middle-class bachelor friends [NB: that’s not meant euphemistically] are restless on several Saturday nights because they have no dates. Gene, who works in a menial position in a Wall Street brokerage, has dreams of the exciting society life to be found in Manhattan, while his friends are content to stay in the neighborhood. Gene meets Helen, who is crashing a party (as is Gene). He schemes to “get rich quick”, but his plan backfires and he barely escapes jail.
Now, we have to confess that we spent the first half in an utter state of confusion as to where – and why – these men and women were sitting around until we read in the interval that the book was based on a play called Front Porch in Flatbush and the penny dropped that the entire cast wasn’t casually walking through someone’s bedroom which seemed very risqué for 1954 let alone for 1929 (ask Phil, he remembers).
Anyway, possibly because it would simply be impossible to house an orchestra and a cast and an audience in the Jermyn Street Theatre, this production from Primavera is performed in the John (Sweeney Todd, Mack and Mabel) Doyle style with actors doubling up as the orchestra (or possibly vice versa).
The young cast are clearly multi-talented and they attack their various roles with all the gusto they can muster so sometimes the instruments are too loud (especially if you are sitting by the piano) and drown out the singing. It was sometimes hard to catch the lyrics but some nascent Sondheim word-play was in evidence.
Let’s face it, Stevie boy had to start somewhere and he was only 24, an age long lost in the mists of wine for the Whingers. But to be honest it wasn’t like looking at an early Picasso and seeing signs of genius.
There’s a rather charming song “I Remember That” where a couple reminisce with different memories about their first meeting which pre-dates Lerner and Lowes‘ far superior “I Remember it Well” from Gigi by about four years. and “One Wonderful Day” was still buzzing through the Whingers’ “brains” the next day.
“Packed with dazzling choreography”, claims the blurb. On that stage? Not quite. It is arranged over two levels which works against the cast of 12 being able to quite achieve any kind of coherent choreography at all. Despite this, director Tom Littler and choreographer Tim Jackson make the best of things, particularly in the “That Kind of a Neighbourhood” number managing some pleasing formations.
Helena Blackman (runner-up in the BBC’s How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?) plays Helen/Helene (surely Sondheim could do some witty word play with that) and makes a delightful ingénue. Indeed, without wishing to lay a curse on her, she is someone the Whingers would like to see going on to bigger and better things.
Indeed, there were lots of enjoyable performances including David Ricardo-Pearce as romantic lead Gene but Phil was particularly taken with ensemble members Harry Waller and the percussionist/Artie’s (Lloyd Gorman) enthusiastic expressions as he interacts with other members of the cast in the background.
However, Saturday Night was probably best left on whatever dusty shelf it was discovered. This is strictly for the most anal of Sondheim completists.
Tuesday 17 February 2009 at 3:27 pm
I saw Saturday Night on, well, Saturday night, and to be honest, I found it an extremely enjoyable show. I normally baulk at the actor musician thing that seems to be so “in vogue” at the moment, but I felt that this was the ideal way to solve the problems created by the size of the venue. I have to admit that I did not feel so keenly the balance problems that happened with you all – but then, I wasn’t sitting with my back to the piano. I felt that the actors blended beautifully between singing, acting and playing and was wowed with their ability to pull it all off so naturally. The sense of humour that this gave the piece (a trombone sliding comically over the head of a fellow actor, a swanee whistle trilling cheekily from the side) gave it meaning and justified the choice of piece for this company and this venue. I agree that it was the piece that was at fault here, but from Primavera’s previous work, they are clearly dedicated to reviving “lost works”, and I feel that they did the piece justice, and it was intriguing to catch glimpses of the Sondheim of later years. All in all, I thought the young ensemble cast was charming and talented and I felt it was a strong evening of good quality fringe theatre – good on ’em!
Suffice it to say, I would NOT call myself an “anal Sondheim completist” and yet I managed to sit through it without too much pain, in fact quite the opposite. So I implore all to take the Whingers comments with a slight pinch of salt… see it for yourselves!
Tuesday 17 February 2009 at 4:08 pm
Front Porch in Flatbush
is that a tonsorial euphemism too?
Tuesday 17 February 2009 at 4:12 pm
Hmm. I’m not too convinced by Sondheim completism at any rate, but how does this forgotten Cole Porter musical strike you?
Tuesday 17 February 2009 at 5:28 pm
yeah well what can i say. love your blog
stephen
Wednesday 18 February 2009 at 11:05 am
@ stephen – Lost your email addy. I’m looking for a lyricist. You may well fit the bill. Are you available?
Wednesday 4 March 2009 at 12:14 am
Your seating experience was much better than mine. Booked via SeeTickets (the Lloyd Webber booking ‘engine’ I believe) we were given UN-numbered seats whereas much of the rest of the audience who had booked with the venue were given numbered ones, so we got the Ryanair seats (back row, no legroom, no recline) AND a minute before curtain asked to stand and move one place to the right by a harridan from the management so that someone sitting on the end could get a better view (even though he had three empty seats in front of him to which he could easily have moved).
Clearly Elly from the Tricycle has got a new job.
As to the show, concur with your points. Moderately interesting to see the seeds of Sondheim’s later bitterness about love, marriage and speculative share-trading … but one revival in ten years is about enough. The one at the Bridewell ten years ago was superior.
Blackman is capable, although her hair looks as if it was done by the Council, and Ricardo-Pierce cute as a button as he was also as Anthony in Sweeney Todd (John Doyle/Sarah Travis) at the Trafalgar Studios. Two to watch.
Apart from that, much amusement at the astonishing collection of NOSES on the boys in the band … everything from Jimmy Durante to a minuscule tip-tilted button on the blond pianist – but all deserving of surgery.
Tuesday 17 March 2009 at 3:45 pm
thought it was nice. nice costumes, nice voices and nice movement – just nothing special at all.