Tag Archives: Lauren Ward

“Stalled” at the King’s Head Theatre

Setting a musical in a bathroom is quirky but actually turns out to be sensible in this new musical from Liesl Wilke and Andy Marsh. The location provides a mix of women’s lives to explore – different ages and stages – with strong themes of motherhood and mortality. The talented cast are enjoyable and, although the results are mixed, Stalled is worth seeing. 

It is a shame that the inclusive strength of the idea becomes a weakness – this is a crowded powder room with too many characters for its 90-minute run. Maybe giving us glimpses, outlines, might have been better than trying to develop stories? True, the extensive ground covered – from teenage pregnancies to the problems of parenting and coming out as gay – means there’s something for everyone. But there’s also such a quantity of trauma, big and small, that the piece comes close to being a tough watch. And with so many issues of various import, some characters come dangerously close to just moaning.

It’s not that any of these stories is bad; more that putting them together is a lot. The cast provides highlights. Regina Co does a good job with her lesbian character, aided by her hipster crush played by Isabella Gervais. Grace Venus adds charm as a troubled pre-teen, while her struggling mother is played by Josie Benson, whose fantastic voice makes her numbers soar. The songs from March (with additional work from Kyle Puccia) are competent, middle-of-the road affairs. An effort is made to introduce variety, but I fear there isn’t anything memorable enough here (I admit my personal taste might cloud my judgement). The lyrics are better (some spoken word performed by Evita Khrime is a bold effort) but hampered by too much self-help therapy speak.

Director Vikki Stone complicates the show unnecessarily. There are moments of whimsy in the staging, choreography and lighting that seem ill-judged. There is little humour in Stalled and any efforts at jokes are poor. Why not just go with being serious? The show’s best moments are its rawest… which is where its central character comes in.

Maggie is the bathroom’s cleaner with a back story. Fans of musicals will probably guess what’s going on quickly. The character seems normal next to her customers, friendly and helpful, but is clearly haunted by something. It makes an excellent role for Lauren Ward, who is so good that she holds the show together… almost. That this ends up too much to ask is down to Wilke’s book rather than Ward’s performance, which is tear-filled for much of the time and has a startling sincerity. But you can see the problem coming a long way off. With so many stories, any resolution is going to be tricky. And with that streak of therapy speak, a lot of the last half hour ends up pat. The conclusion is full of fake smiles but if you don’t mind sentimentality that won’t bother you. I can see Stalled having fans and I sincerely hope it finds them.

Until 23 March 2025

www.kingsheadtheatre.com

Photo by Johan Persson 

“Heathers – The Musical” at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

Like the 1989 film on which it is based, Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe’s musical aims for cult status. Given a brief West End run that is well worth catching, the show can make a claim for that status: the production, directed by Andy Fickman, keeps popping up and fans are as enthusiastic as the energetic performances on offer. 

Heathers has its quirks – not all of them work – but there’s a striving for originality that is admirable. The show enjoys a twisted sensibility that, in truth, has limited shock value. And you can question how the topics of teenage suicide and mass killing are handled. What, no trigger warning? Nonetheless, the show is well above average.

Twists on high-school dramas are as predictable as high-school dramas themselves. But the titular characters here, popular girls who share the same first name, are impressively repulsive. Led by Jodie Steele, who makes her role fool-proof with its brashness, the trio are fun. Our actual heroes are the real psychopaths, with roles that aren’t much more convincing, even if Christina Bennington and Jordan Luke Gage give their very best.

The music is good. This is a fine collection of rock/pop songs on the right side of late 1980s pastiche. If there aren’t enough stand-out numbers, collectively the score and lyrics are impressive. And all the numbers demand powerful vocals provided by everyone on stage. It’s rousing stuff, often funny and occasionally original. The choreography, from Gary Lloyd (also associate director), with mirroring moves to show the Heathers’ influence on others, is also strong. The production is almost entertaining enough to ignore what is actually going on.

Lauren Ward Heathers The Musical credit Pamela Raith
Lauren Ward

In common with lots of teen dramas, the adults in the piece are awful (even with the excellent Lauren Ward putting in a star turn as a hippy teacher). It might be better to excise them altogether. And while strong female characters are welcome, might balance help? I think every named male character is either a potential rapist, a closeted homosexual or a serial killer!

Following the movie closely makes the plot cumbersome on stage. Murphy and O’Keefe’s tweaks are good – especially having victims appear as ghosts, not least because we get to see more of Steele – but they only add to a plot that starts to become unwieldy. And we do have to address the very serious subject matter. Not because musicals can’t tackle such subjects, or that humour shouldn’t be used to examine them, but because Heathers doesn’t deal with violence well. In a long show, questions of motive and morality are shoehorned in or glossed over. A too speedy resolution and homespun wisdom tacked on don’t do the subject – or the show – justice.

Until 11 September 2021

www.heathermusical.com

Photos by Pamela Raith

“Dear Evan Hansen” at the Noël Coward Theatre

Theatrical responses to young adult mental health hit the big time with this highly anticipated tear-jerking transfer from Broadway. Teen suicide and all manner of problems for millennials make the target audience sometimes painfully clear. But there’s an intelligence behind Steven Levenson’s excellent book that raises Dear Evan Hansen well above many coming-of-age dramas.

The action revolves around social media (these kids are more online than at school). Tension mounts as Evan’s deceit, about his friendship with deceased class mate Connor, entangles him in the world wide web. A campaign, including Kickstarter, and the inevitable empowering vocabulary that follows, is treated with a mature, sometimes sceptical, touch. 

Doug Colling and Sam Tutty in the London production of "Dear Evan Hansen"
Doug Colling and Sam Tutty

Connor’s death is the best thing that’s happened to Evan; he finally has a profile at school. But the friendship it engenders is an imaginary one with the dead boy. Meanwhile, contact with Connor’s sister results in a clever twist on Cyrano de Bergerac that’s heartbreaking. Along the way, the roles provide strong parts for Doug Colling and Lucy Anderson, who contribute to the uneasy atmosphere that Michael Greif’s direction explicates. As Evan promises his lost and lonely cohorts “You Will Be Found” – becoming an internet hit himself – the drama that he will be found out is considerable.

Sam Tutty and Rebecca McKinnis in the London production of 'Dear Evan Hansen'
Sam Tutty and Rebecca McKinnis

The story may be simple, even predictable, but it broadens gracefully. Becoming a show that concerns mourning and parenthood, there are well-drawn roles for the adults in the piece. Unashamedly, rather than learning from themselves or their peers, they are the characters for their children to learn from. Rebecca McKinnis is superb as Evan’s struggling mum, while Lauren Ward and Rupert Young play Connor’s grieving parents with believable intensity. All three are included in scenes of psychological complexity that ensure depth.

Scenes of extended dialogue mean that Dear Evan Hansen is – almost – as much a play with songs as a musical. The show has its own pace, handled boldly by Greif, that is distinctive. The numbers by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are already hits, so whatever formula they have for bringing on the tears is clearly effective. The music is good, although more of it, as well as more variety, would be welcome. And the lyrics are superb – not a word jars. 

These numbers are not easy to perform. As well as demanding considerable acting skills, the score acts symbiotically with the performances to make the show increasingly impressive. The same pressure makes the title role especially exciting, as you need a superb singer and a strong actor. Ticking both boxes, the part of Evan is sure to make a star of Sam Tutty. While the show is more of an ensemble piece than you might expect, the role of Evan is crucial. Again, Levenson allows a considerable complexity that Tutty can develop: this isn’t your average hero, or even your everyday misfit. The balance to retain sympathy for Evan proves fascinating.

If the conclusion of Dear Evan Hansen is a little pat, it is also impressively understated; any positivity isn’t cloying. Hope for the future is the best that can be offered, maintaining a distinctly melancholy air. Seclusion is the prevailing theme; which is especially sad as you never forget this is a show for young people. Thankfully, support and a sense of perspective are present – they give the piece an underlying wisdom. And the show’s success provides inspiration; the audience response, amidst much sniffling, is contagious. Deservedly, lonely Evan Hansen should prove to be a long runner.

Until 30 May 2020

www.dearevanhansen.com

Photos by Matthew Murphy

“Bat Boy” at the Southwark Playhouse

This cultish musical, which ran for a few months at the Shaftesbury Theatre back in 2004, has been revived by Morphic Graffiti’s director Luke Fredericks and designer Stewart Charlesworth. Its camp, fringe feel has an appeal, taking a tabloid fantasy of a boy who is partly a bat and having fun trying to make such an outlandish premise fly.

Bat Boy is really a standard misunderstood monster story. Our sympathies lie with the young orphan, renamed Edgar and taught to speak RP, while fun is made of the small town hicks our vampiric hero seeks approval from. It’s a strong role for the titular character, played with athleticism by Rob Compton, who earns the distinction of sounding good with fangs.

Matthew White and the excellent Lauren Ward perform well as the local vet and his wife, the Parkers, who give Bat Boy a home. It gives away too much plot to detail their relationships but a lot goes on and it’s interesting enough. Touches of schlock horror and tastelessness abound and the show revels in these, injecting enough comic book touches to get away with being so crass.

But the show isn’t as funny as it could be. There’s a brilliant use of stuffed toys, but overall Charlesworth’s B-movie aesthetic relies too heavily on impressive projections, which becomes tiresome. Some performances are the wrong side of overblown, with the notable exception of Georgina Hagen, who excels as the young Shelley Parker, the show’s most sympathetic character.

The book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming is bravely outspoken in its contempt of ‘Christian charity’. The show is full of the cynicism so popular in musicals right now (think Book of Morman and Urinetown) and not much to my taste. Still, though religion and prejudice make easy targets, the aim here is sure and the bull’s-eye hit.

The music is pure pastiche, but damn clever. Composer and lyricist Laurence O’Keefe knows how a musical works, with particularly rousing numbers around the interval. The lyrics are impressive too – fast, funny and polemical. The sheer cheek of the plot carries Bat Boy a long way, to a positively Jacobean finale, so it is easy to imagine many will, you’ve guess it, be batty for this show.

Until 31 January 2015

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk