Tag Archives: Frances Mayli McCann

“Bonnie & Clyde The Musical” at the Arts Theatre

Frank Wildhorn and Don Black’s score for this 2011 musical sounds exemplary. With consistently strong songs and smart lyrics, this is a show that can hold its head high. While not all the numbers feel as if they belong in a story about criminals – and the sense of time and place for these depression era degenerates isn’t convincing – there is barely a weak number to be heard.

The entire cast enjoys this solid material. The production has fine leads, with Frances Mayli McCann and Jordan Luke Gage taking the title roles. Given the stronger written part, Gage’s acting impresses. Director Nick Winston’s production is a quality affair. Although small, the venue feels appropriate for the show and the design from Philip Witcomb is neat, if far from lavish.

Natalie-McQueen-and-George-Maguire-in-Bonnie-and-Clyde-Photo-Richard-Davenport
Natalie McQueen and George Maguire

Problems arise with Ivan Menchell’s book and the characterisations here. Time spent on Bonnie and Clyde, looking at their motivations and insecurities, is rewarding. But secondary roles – Clyde’s brother and his wife, as well as a law man who holds a torch for Bonnie – are poor. The performers – George Maguire, Natalie McQueen and Cleve September – sound good, but the roles are written either too comic or too sincere. These issues are worse when it comes to the crime couple’s parents.

Such poor parts are an especial shame, since focusing on how others feel and are affected by Bonnie and Clyde is the show’s smart move. Taking criminals as your protagonists in any drama must be handled sensitively. This show generally avoids the danger, as aspirations for fame seem silly and both fall into violence in a convincingly chaotic fashion. If there’s a little too much sympathy for the gangsters, the show never leaves us in any doubt about how destructive they are. And it really does sound great along the way.

Until 10 July 2022

www.bonnieandclydemusical.com

Photos by Richard Davenport

“Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour” at the Duke of York’s Theatre

A big hit on the Edinburgh Fringe and at the National’s Dorfman auditorium last year, this coming-of-age show is now out on the town in the West End. Following the day-long misadventures of convent schoolgirls from Oban, let loose in the Scottish capital for a choir competition, it’s raucous fun, peppered with thought-provoking moments and fantastic singing.

Lee Hall’s adaptation of Alan Warner’s book (The Sopranos) is adventurous and tackled at suitable speed by director Vicky Featherstone. Partly a concert – and the singing deserves a second mention – and then a collection of character studies, the six performers all do a terrific job. Frances Mayli McCann’s voice is particularly strong and supremely versatile, while Dawn Sievewright and Isis Hainsworth do well with the strongest story lines, as a young lesbian and a cancer survivor, respectively. There’s plenty of drama in these teenage lives, but a spirit of humour presides. Caroline Deyga delivers insults with enviable skill while Kirsty MacLaren and Karen Fishwick are especially good when taking on male roles. There’s a pretty shaming view of masculinity here, but I am not going to argue with it – I wouldn’t dare take these girls on.

“Really, really rude” language is the warning all over the theatre foyer. And they aren’t joking. The swearing is enough to make a submariner blush – let alone what else they might have to say about him. The discussions of sex are… frank. Impressively, the drink- and drug-filled binge is fun but not glamorised. For all the crudity, Hall and Featherstone want this to be a play that respects its characters. The girls know they aren’t angels but they aren’t hypocrites either. Telling teenage life as it is, even if it makes some squirm, makes this a mature show about youth.

Until 2 September 2017

www.ourladiestheplay.co.uk

Photo by Manuel Harlan