Tag Archives: Scarlett Strallen

“She Loves Me” at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Here’s a real treat for loyal fans of David Babani’s London Bridge venue. The ‘musical lovers’ musical’, by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, is perfect fare for the Menier, ticking every box with gorgeous songs and great lyrics. And this fine production does the musical masterpiece full justice.

Joe Masteroff’s book is one of many adaptations of Miklós László’s play about two lonely-heart letter writers, Georg and Amalia, who are in love while unaware that they work together in a posh perfumery. It’s a delicious, fun-filled scenario, given weight by the performances of Mark Umbers and Scarlett Strallen. The couple’s delivery of each song is spot on. And each song is wonderful.

Katherine Kingsley and Dominic Tighe
Katherine Kingsley and Dominic Tighe

There’s a second love story, too: the romantic adventures of Ilona, betrayed by her colleague, the womanising Kodaly. What could be a sub plot stands proudly alongside the leads because of Katherine Kingsley and Dominic Tighe’s performances. And a third affair: the melancholy discovery of the shop’s owner, played by Les Dennis, that his wife is betraying him.

For every sentimental element in this musical, the trials of the characters make you feel this is a grown-up affair. The careful age distribution adds to the effect – Umbers does well to show us George as a middle-aged man. As with Amalia’s letters, everyone becomes a ‘dear friend’, their lives, loves and ambitions so perfectly encapsulated in the songs.

Director Matthew White does an impeccable job. Superb cameos from shop clerk Sipos (Alastair Brookshaw) and Cory English’s maître d’ show his level of attention and care. His decision to have strong British accents seems an unnecessary complication. There’s no reason for Georg and Amalia to sound like something from Brief Encounter. The only role that benefits is Ilona – turned into a northern blonde bombshell that makes Kingsley irresistible. A minor quibble for a production that deserves applause even for the set – brilliant work from Paul Farnsworth. And if some scenes seem cramped, it’s only more proof that the production deserves a bigger venue. She Loves Me is increasingly recognised as a major work. What a present a transfer of this great show would be.

Until 4 March 2017

www.menierchocolatefactory.com

Photos by Alastair Muir

Norman Pace will take over from Cory English between 10 January – 6 February.

“Passion” at the Donmar Warehouse

Given the background of the Donmar’s history of brilliantly staged Sondheim musicals, the  production of Passion to celebrate the composers’ 80th birthday should be something of an event. Working once more with James Lapine, the 1994 musical tells the story of a Risorgimento soldier in a particularly 19th-century love triangle.

Passion is very much a chamber piece, well suited to intimacy of the Donmar. Director Jamie Lloyd handles the space superbly, translating the epistolary structure of Lapine’s book. With Scott Ambler’s choreography, the small cast creates the claustrophobia of a military environment and brings out the gothic overtones of Iginio Ugo Tarchetti’s original source material.

The superb Elena Roger plays the invalid Fosca, portraying insanity while skillfully avoiding the comedic. Frightening and manipulative (in Giorgio’s dreams she appears vampiric), her intensity convinces him that his happy affair with the radiant Clara (Scarlett Strallen) isn’t the real deal.

David Thaxton handles Giorgio’s initial repulsion of Fosca with sensitivity, and portrays his subsequent decision to abandon Clara with a degree of mania inherited from his new lover. Thaxton’s voice is a revelation, deeply commanding yet retaining the romance of Sondheim’s sweet score.

For, despite the morbid overtones of disease, Passion is a romantic musical. The explorations of two different kinds of love interweave with a satisfying symmetry, though while Sondheim avoids sentimentality, he also loses his sense of humour.

It seems perverse to criticise a composer known for innovation when he changes his style, but in abandoning his usual wry touch in favour of something more heartfelt, the fun is missing and that seems a shame. For all its sincerity, and the quality of this production, it is difficult to get passionate about Passion.

Until 27 November 2010

www.donmarwarehouse.com

Photo by Johan Persson

Written 21 September 2010 for The London Magazine