Tag Archives: Ramin Karimloo

“A Face in the Crowd” at the Young Vic

This new musical boasts lots of talent – that delivers – but, regrettably, fails to excite. The excellent Kwame Kwei-Armah directs an incredible cast with a book by Sarah Ruhl and music and lyrics by superstar Elvis Costello. Naturally, expectations are high, and everyone does a great job, but the show is effortful rather than inspired.

Having a film in the background might not help, although Ruhl has adapted Budd Schulberg’s book as well as the screenplay that Elia Kazan used. But that was back in 1957, and the story has dated badly. The larger-than-life character of ‘Lonesome Rhodes’, one time down-and-out, then a TV star who tries to get into politics, sounds as if it has potential, but falls flat. Truth has proved stranger than fiction and a plot that should be fantastical feels old hat.

The action is admirably swift. Although Lonesome’s rise and fall is quick, Rhul and Kwei-Armah examine his psychology thoroughly. There’s a sense of outrage as we move from folksy philosophy to sinister popularism. And the character is intriguing, if predictably hypocritical: viewed by his fans as a mix of Jesus Christ and Santa Claus, he’s big on the state of Arkansas and the state of matrimony. But if the jokes don’t make you laugh out loud, I’d suggest the same problem – none of it is as crazy as real life.

Anoushka Lucas and Olly Dobson in 'A Face In The Crowd'
Anoushka Lucas and Olly Dobson

Lonesome is at least a great role for Ramin Karimloo, who sounds fantastic. There’s superb support for him, too. Firstly, from Anoushka Lucas, a radio producer called Marcia who discovers Lonesome and might, almost, steal the show. Marcia gets the best numbers, which Lucas performs beautifully. Her attraction to her protégé might be given more time but a second love interest for her character (played by Olly Dobson) does well – neither character is simply a foil.

The cast could be bigger and the choreography (Lizzi Gee) more ambitious. But Elvis Costello’s music – pure Americana – will please many. Some of the songs are superb, especially the title number, and the mix of country and jazz is intelligent. It’s a shame the ensemble doesn’t sing together more. And that the advertising jingles are such predictable interludes. If the score doesn’t work quite like a musical, it sounds different and I’m sure a soundtrack would sell.

Still, the show is hard to recommend. Even if Lonesome as a kind of early influencer interests you, the piece doesn’t situate itself well in history. It’s never quite clear what year we are in (and the costume design doesn’t help). But the biggest problem is that the satire is just too tame. And although Karimloo has charisma, his character’s popularity doesn’t convince. It is too easy to explain the confluence of politics and entertainment with ignorance. There is a danger the show becomes as contemptuous of the public as Lonesome is… and that suggestion loses my vote.

Until 9 November 2024

www.youngvic.org

Photos by Ellie Kurttz

“Songs for a New World”: a lockdown performance

Jason Robert Brown’s song cycle is presented by Lambert Jackson Productions after the success of its lockdown show, The Last Five Years. The collection showcases Brown’s work as a composer and lyricist – there are some great songs – while affording the cast a chance to impress. The major talent recruited here is stunning and the show enjoyable.

Searching for connections in the cycle can prove off-putting. If the idea is a decisive ‘one moment’, the scenarios are too generic (and cryptic) to become satisfyingly thematic. Instead, there’s a mix of hope and struggle and a touch too much sentimentality. For good or ill, it’s hard not to imagine many of the numbers as part of a bigger show.

Cedric Neal, Rachel John, Ramin Karimloo and Rachel Tucker in “Songs for a New World”: a lockdown performance
Cedric Neal and his lovely staircase

The production contains distractions of its own. Director Séimí Campbell’s decision to cut news footage into the performances is a valiant effort to guide the viewer but tails off as the show goes on. On a lighter note, there’s also the views of the homes of those performing in isolation… what a lovely staircase Cedric Neal has!

Yet the music and performances make Songs for a New World worthwhile. Neal and Rachel John have such gorgeous voices that the whole evening has a sense of power. Both can convey outrage and tenderness with such skill that tears were in my eyes more than once.

Rachel Tucker - Songs For A New World
Rachel Tucker and her sofa

Rachel Tucker’s numbers have a more character behind them. With the funniest songs, Tucker shows what a fine actress she is: making the most of her sofa and the excellent Mrs Claus song (the show’s best pun). It might be noted along the way what a lot of ‘demanding’ women Brown writes about.

Ramin Karimloo is also excellent, although it has to be mentioned that his terrific stage presence is out of place on a screen: in a duet, while John conveys a tête-à-tête, Karimloo makes sure the balcony crowd is getting its money’s worth. Of course, he is still fantastic. And, as a final highlight, there’s a nod to new talent with a debut number for Shem Omari James that he should be proud of.

The singing and musical direction from Josh Winstone is so strong that two (maybe three) numbers that might be less than convincing really shine. With writing as strong as Brown’s, praise doesn’t come higher than that.

Until 25 July 2020

www.lwtheatres.co.uk

“The Phantom of the Opera” from The Shows Must Go On!

Available for only 24 hours, this concert production marking 25 years of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical aimed to raise funds for various charities connected with Covid-19. To celebrate such a hit show, with its potent beauty-and-the-beast love triangle, producer Cameron Macintosh didn’t scrimp. The result is tremendous.

Gorgeous costumes, fantastic video projections and, with the Royal Albert Hall standing in for the Palais Garnier that the Phantom made his home, the atmosphere is impressive throughout. The auditorium is skilfully used in the film and – wait for it – the chandelier has fireworks!

The extravagance continues with a plumped-up ensemble and full corps de ballet, including a guest appearance by Sergei Polunin. Appropriately, there’s a star-studded cast, led by Ramin Karimloo in the title role. Karimloo makes a formidable Phantom, his singing muscular and emotions raw. His is a frightened figure, scared of his love for Christine, with hatred of his rival fuelling his insanity.

'The Phantom of the Opera' anniversary concert
Hadley Fraser and Sierra Boggess

The object of his obsession, played by Sierra Boggess, sounds beautiful and is just as well acted. Boggess is great at bringing out the horror in the story and even shows that Christine herself is a good actress. Also, very few people can make a cape work so well for them. Completing the trio of leads, Raoul Vicomte de Chagny, is a poorer role, but Hadley Fraser does well to inject an edge to the character with a ruthless streak that aids the show’s action.

Both the staging and the cast, directed impeccably by Laurence Connor, are wonderful. But the biggest attraction remains Lloyd Webber’s music. Benefitting from a bigger orchestra than usual, it sounds better than ever; the overture to Act Two is gorgeous and the opera music within the show impressive.

How to end such a fantastic event? I’m pleased I kept watching, after the lengthy applause, for the encore – an appearance by the original ‘angel of music’ Sarah Brightman, backed by four former Phantoms! A very special end to a magnificent event that easily deserves donations.

Available on The Shows Must Go On! YouTube channel until 18 April 2020

“Murder Ballad” at the Arts Theatre

This tale of adultery and death is deliberately downbeat. In the hands of director Sam Yates the realism aimed for casts a spell. With just four characters, who sing throughout, a strong cast creates a greater intimacy than the show really deserves. Distracting from Juliana Nash’s music – efficient with imaginative touches – are too many poor lyrics. Acknowledging truisms doesn’t make them clever. Making stereotypes a theme doesn’t make them interesting.

The cast is superb. Wicked star Kerry Ellis clearly wants to show a serious side and she succeeds, despite nonsensically singing that her character “shouts silently”. Ellis plays Sara, who is in a love triangle with Tom and Michael (Ramin Karimloo and Norman Bowman). The two men in her life sound great, establish their thin characters miraculously – and fans will be pleased that Karimloo takes his shirt off. The latter rises above the fact that he has to sing about the one that got away – literally – moving on to a better number where he gets to be creepy. Shame it occurs so late. Worse, it’s hard to get over Sara and Tom being described as “two cats in a fish bowl”. How big a bowl? How did they get in it? Why don’t they just climb out?

Kerry Ellis and Ramin Karimloo
Kerry Ellis and Ramin Karimloo

The show belongs to a fourth character, played by Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, who acts as a narrator and brings a cooler edge, observing proceedings, with cynical sophistication. She also gets the best song, which compares the tawdry tragedy on stage to the glamour of the movies. Yates takes his cue from this cinematic reference, creating a noirish feel, with admirable use of projections that adds tension and style. It’s the atmosphere Yates crafts that allows us to examine the “roles assigned” – husband, mother, lover – with wit and intelligence. That’s how you work with clichés.

Until 3 December 2016

www.murderballadmusical.com

Photos by Marc Brenner

“Love Never Dies” at the Adelphi Theatre

When a theatre’s bar staff wear waistcoats embroidered with the show’s name, it seems pretty clear that the producers are hoping for a limitless run. No question, then, that Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to the phenomenally successful Phantom of the Opera, represents a major investment. A lot rests on it and the critics know this. More vitally, so does the audience. Before curtain up, there is a palpable sense of expectation in the auditorium, and, perhaps unusually, a wish that all should go well. This is a crowd eager to enjoy itself and, I am pleased to report, it gets what it wants.

Love Never Dies takes place a decade after Phantom and has been 20 years in the making. Maybe the world is more complicated now, certainly this show is more nuanced than its predecessor. The book, by Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton, does not simply replicate the story we already know, although many of the dramatic devices common to musicals are present: a theatrical setting (moved from the Paris Opera to a show on Coney Island), a battle for the love of a beautiful woman and even a prologue that sets the scene for tragedy. Lloyd Webber knows his trade, and these are all highly effective crowd pleasers.

The fairytale romance of Christine and Raoul has turned sour; indeed it was never as perfect as we were led to believe. No longer an isolated genius, the Phantom is now a successful impresario. He blindly relies on the devotion of his followers from Paris, Madame and Meg Giry. These roles demand a great deal from the cast – there are no pantomime villains here or Disney heroics.

The devotion of the Girys may seem inexplicable, but Liz Robertson and Summer Strallen convince. Raoul is now a drunken gambler but Joseph Millson manages to convey the charm his character once had.  Sierra Boggess’s Christine is torn between the commitment she has to her family and the passion for her art and former tutor. Here we have the biggest change. Ramin Karimloo’s portrayal of the lead may be thought too likeable – less phantom, more friendly ghost, but while some tension is sacrificed, it is more than compensated for with an emotional pay off. The Phantom is human and has dreams of being loved.

This is to leave the best until last – Lloyd Webber’s typically strong score. His characteristic eclecticism moves from vaudeville numbers to a haunting child role reminiscent of Britten. The predominant note is a Romantic one, with wonderful strings and bold orchestration. Music and production alike are confident and assured – this is a surprisingly intimate West End musical with a series of close-up scenes.

Cleverly, the anticipation surrounding Love Never Dies is put to good use. As Meg worries about her performance, her colleagues predict that her audience will applaud before her song is through – a prophecy happily fulfilled before Karimloo’s fantastic opening number is completed. The plot hinges on whether Christine, contracted to sing by the Phantom, will perform for him. The result is a grand theatrical moment reminiscent of Sunset Boulevard’s Norma returning to a film set or Evita stepping out onto her balcony. As Boggess performs the title in impressive operatic style, the audience becomes part of the drama – participants in the play itself as her rapturous reception on Coney Island is replicated in London’s Adelphi.

Combine this score with such an accomplished cast and you have a winning formula. Add superb production values and you hit the jackpot.  Jon Driscoll’s video projections are breathtaking. Wonderful art nouveau sets and costumes by Bob Crowley are used with surprising restraint as director Jack O’Brien focuses attention on a story and emotions that are potent enough. This is a production all involved in should be proud of and attendance for Londoners should be compulsory. Let’s hope those waistcoats have plenty of wear in them…

www.loveneverdies.com

Photo by Catherine Ashmore

Written 11 March 2010 for The London Magazine