Tag Archives: Bill Deamer

“42nd Street” at Sadler’s Wells

Here is a revival that is happy with its source material. First seen in 1980, based on the 1933 film, and using the hits of Harry Warren (with lyrics from Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer), 42nd Street has always been an exercise in nostalgia. That doesn’t make it better or worse than current productions such as Guys & Dolls or Oklahoma! ,which feature memorable innovations. The show is a comfortable one and hugely entertaining. You know what to expect and director Jonathan Church delivers.

The simple plot and corny jokes in Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble’s book are embraced. If it feels like you already know the story of ingénue Peggy Sawyer, catapulted to fame from her place in the chorus line, it’s still a giggle to watch. The performance here, from the hugely talented Nicole-Lily Baisden is superb. From audition, rehearsals and then taking the lead in the show within a show – Peggy’s is a triumph the whole audience gets behind.

Nicole-Lily-Baisden-in-42nd-Street-Photo-Johan-Persson
Nicole Lily Baisden

The backstage shenanigans, the imperious star Dorothy Brock (Ruthie Henshall) and tyrannical director Julian Marsh (Adam Garcia), are all three guilty pleasures. And there’s a lovely romance for Peggy – why wouldn’t there be? – with tenor Billy Lawlor (Sam Lips). The performances have a justified confidence. And, a personal favourite, there’s Josephina Gabrielle (as writer/producer Maggie Jones), who always manages to make a comic song that little bit funnier.

The songs are fantastic. It’s amazing how so many, written so long ago, are still recognised. The singing is, appropriately, old fashioned (the men often come close to crooning). Any opportunity to belt out a zinger is taken – as it should be. And the orchestra does it all proud. The show sounds great – fulsome and full of wit. There’s a lighthearted humour in the sound of the songs themselves that matches the silly goings-on.

Innovation does come, with the choreography from Bill Deamer and Rob Jones, which makes the show, originally from The Curve in Leicester, at home in Sadler’s Wells. The tap dancing is top notch. And alongside plenty of easy assurance, there are rigid movements that evoke exercise or even military precision. It’s a neat way to bring out the show’s preoccupation with effort behind the scenes. And a nice nudge that relaxed smiles belie huge effort – a good old-fashioned showbiz touch – to remind you that you really should applaud loudly.

Until 2July 2023

www.sadlerswells.com

Photo by Johan Persson

"The Boy Friend" at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Sandy Wilson’s light-as-a-feather-boa musical was a legendary hit in the 1950s. Superb work from Matthew White, assisted with direction by his choreographer Bill Deamer, show us why.

It’s hard to imagine a show more fantastically escapist. Inspired by work from the 1920s, please remember The Boy Friend was nostalgic nonsense from its inception. The romantic adventures of rich kids and their elders on the French Riviera are deliberately low stakes. White appreciates the piece needs to appear effortless and banishes worries from the stage.

Tiffany Graves in 'The Boyfriend' at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Tiffany Graves as Hortense

The characters are flat-as-cardboard cut-outs and a marvellous cast understand the humour this can generate. There’s a wonderful sweetness to our leading lovers, Polly and Tony, given a fresh feel by Amara Okereke and Dylan Mason, who both sound fantastic. A star-turn from Janie Dee, as a head teacher with a past, is just as delightful. Dee allows you to laugh at the character while believing she’s sophisticated (and that’s hard). Meanwhile her maid, Hortense, is a brilliant vehicle for Tiffany Graves, who embodies the comedic tone. Within a minute of coming on stage she’s given us an accent Vicki Michelle would be proud of and crossed her legs like Cupid Stunt. It’s clear, very quickly, you need to relax and enjoy yourself.

Jack Butterworth and Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson in 'The Boyfriend' at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Jack Butterworth and Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson

Talking of legs, there’s plenty of them in The Boy Friend. Deamer’s work as choreographer foregrounds the piece’s potential as a dance show and the limbs of the cast deliver. There’s the Charleston, tap, tango and the show’s very own ‘Riviera’. Winning the high-kicking competition is Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson as “mad-cap Maisie” whose dances with her beau Bobby (Jack Butterworth) are a dream. On a relatively small stage, there are moments when the show feels cramped – transfer anyone? – but the dancing consistently impresses with its wit and sense of ease, just the qualities needed here.

Wilson’s cynicism is of the gentlest kind – which White is strict in preserving – and the result is frothy from first to last. But don’t be fooled; this easy fun has work behind it. The score is a perfect combination of comedy numbers, catchy tunes and sentimental ballads. The lyrics are consistently smart and very funny. This is a show constructed to make you clap – nearly every number has a reprise – it is literally built to please.

Rejoicing in pink lighting from designer Paul Anderson for that vie en rose touch and gorgeous costumes from Paul Farnsworth that got a round of applause the night I attended (I can’t remember the last time that happened in the theatre), White and his team create a bubble of happiness. It’s all smiles, romance and charm, with every performer seeming to enjoy themselves. Why not, when there’s so much love in the air? The Boy Friend is a show to simply adore.

Until 7 March 2020

www.menierchocolatefactory.com

Photos by Manuel Harlan

“Miss Atomic Bomb” at the St James Theatre

The critics have not been kind to this new musical from Adam Long, Alex Jackson-Long and Gabriel Vick. With the action framed by the 50s enthusiasm for nuclear testing in the Nevada desert, including beauty pageants to entertain tourists coming to see the mushroom clouds, this show feels like an unfinished canvas. Not sharp enough to be a satire, nor energetic enough to be an extravaganza, the romance is too funny and the comedy too lame.

The shame is that the talent on stage is fantastic, with some of my favourite performers. Dean John Wilson and Florence Andrews are the young leads, playing an army deserter and a sheep farmer who fall in love – and they both sound great. The same can’t be said about the songs. Too generic and forgettable, there are maybe three fun tunes. Furthermore, poor pacing stubbornly deflates the show’s momentum.

Dean John-Wilson and Simon Lipkin
Dean John-Wilson and Simon Lipkin

Then there’s Simon Lipkin and Catherine Tate, playing a hotel manager threatened by the mob and a wannabe fashion designer. What these talented comedians manage to salvage out of so little is astonishing. Lipkin can command a stage and Tate have them rolling in the aisles by sheer force of personality. Which is what they have to rely on here. The laughs they generate come mostly from adlibbing.

Florence Andrews, Daniel Boys and Catherine Tate
Florence Andrews, Daniel Boys and Catherine Tate

There’s an excellent performance from Daniel Boys as well, as a banking villain, but why some of the incidental numbers weren’t sacrificed to give him another song is a mystery. The ensemble are committed (if thin on the ground) but over amplified, making listening hard work. The convoluted lyrics are sometimes clever but mostly not worth the effort.

Nearly every line, let alone most of the numbers here, is just that little bit too long. There’s a plot about a Soviet spy and a character or two that could be cut. A harsher hand is needed from co-directors Long and Bill Deamer. But the bigger problem remains the question of what Miss Atomic Bomb really wants to say. There’s an anarchic streak – a song crazily connecting sheep and hope and a good second act opener about the Cold War – that point out potential. Unfortunately there isn’t enough oddity. Inspired moments fail to detonate anything big.

Until 9 April 2016

www.stjamestheatre.co.uk

Photos by Tristram Kenton