Bugsy Malone

Review by: Paul Towers, 24 August 2016

Bugsy Malone by Alan Parker and Paul Williams

A Curve Community Production

Curve 19 – 28 August

“wondrously fun night out”

Where to begin? This has to be one of the funniest, energetic, feel good shows on any stage any time.

With a cast that is only aged 12 to 17, with the exception of  9yr old Amica Kuroda, the talent is unbelievable. Every single one of them sings, dances and acts their socks off.

Bugsy Malone is inspired by the antics of one Al Capone and Bugs Moran, notorious gangsters of 1920’s New York. Written in 1976 by Alan Parker, who went on to carve out a very successful career as a director of such seminal films as Midnight Cowboy, Fame and The Commitments, this proves that early on in his career that he could do musicals as well as heavy dramatic stories. His collaboration with renowned songwriter Paul Williams produced a hugely enjoyable show which still fills theatres after 40 years.

As he wanted specifically to cast teenagers for all the roles, thus adding a surreal element to the ‘blood and gore’, he had to find a way to sanitise the violence. This was achieved by the invention of ‘splurge guns’ which fired lethal doses of custard alongside the obligatory standard custard pies in lieu of bullets.

Under the direction of Curve’s Nick Winston we have a large cast of hugely talented local young performers filling a cleverly designed set by David Woodhead with the two gangs of old school villains vying for power in the city.

A slight storyline never gets in the way of great dance routines, hilarious one liners and an ultimately beautiful  love story between Bugsy and dancer Blousey.

If you manage to get a ticket before Sunday be warned that copious amounts of ‘custard’ end up on audience members throughout the stalls and you may even end up as part of the finale on stage in Fat Sam’s Grand Slam club

14 year old Joel Fossard-Jones is superb as Bugsy, while 15 year old Maeve Wood as Blousey  torch sings her way through the story.

The set is a series of gantries and stairs which, thanks to lighting designer Ben Cracknell, provides every backdrop the story needs. A huge  Japanese style framework provides a proscenium arch and front cloth upon which is projected all sorts of locations and animations. The onstage band, ranged round the back of the set, gives a depth to the sound which would be hard to replicate if it were in a pit.

All in all this is a wondrously fun night out that will leave you humming the songs as you walk home.

First published in Western Gazette

Curve's Autumn/Winter 2016 Launch

Review by: Paul Towers, 24/8/2015

Curve Season Launch Autumn/Winter 2016

Curve Monday 22 August 2016

“Curve is a resounding sucess.”

With great fanfare and squatting on the Bugsy Malone set, Chris Stafford and Nikolai Foster were introduced onstage by local radio DJ Jim Davis (no, not THAT one!) who compered the event. With a huge TV screen above them showing promotional videos of some of the shows we can enjoy the two driving forces of Curve outlined their vision for the coming season and introduced us to all of the shows for this autumn and winter.

The proceedings opened with a number from Grease, this year’s big Christmas musical, sung by Cassie Compton who will be starring in next year’s first big musical, The Wedding Singer. Grease runs from 26 November to 14^th January.

Next up was a discussion about the in house production of The Importance of Being Earnest running from 6^th October to 29^th October. This co-production with regular collaborators Birmingham Rep stars the awesome Cathy Tyson who was last in Leicester for She Called Me Mother at Upstairs at the Western in October last year. Ms Tyson came on stage for what was supposed to be an interview about her portrayal of Lady Bracknell but actually turned into a monologue master class on finding a character through rehearsal.

The next production to be discussed was the rock ‘n’ roll story of how four of the genre’s giants turned up at a studio by accident and spent a day making historic music. Million Dollar Quartet, narrated by Jason Donovan, runs from 14 to 24^th September.

After the outstanding success of last year’s Roald Dahl’s The Witches, Curve is flicking through his canon again and serving up his The Twits for this years Christmas offering for all those who are young or at least young at heart. The Twits, again adapted by David Wood, runs from 10 December to 15 January.

Stopping off on its nationwide tour is perennial favourite Footloose which is on from 29 August til 3 September. Starring Gareth Gates and Maureen Nolan this an especial favourite for girls’ nights out.

Another touring production which will be well worth seeing is The Shawshank Redemption running from 3 to 8 October.

If you are in a romantic mood Pride and Prejudice runs from 18 – 22 October starring Mathew Kelly (yes, him off the telly) and Felicity Montague (yes, also off the telly) in a contemporary take on a classic but still of the period.

In between all these shows that run for more than a couple of days there is a myriad of one nighters from visiting artistes including stand ups, singers and, patriotically, a celebration of Her Majesty’s 90^th birthday called Happy and Glorious on Sunday 2^nd October

And of course we mustn’t forget the current Curve Community production Bugsy Malone running from 19 – 28 August in the main theatre.

We also had the pleasure of a performance of one of the stand out songs from Footloose by Luke Baker who plays Ren in the show

Chris Stafford, Chief Executive of Curve, proudly informed us that the theatre runs at an average of 80% capacity. That means that, on average, only 20% of seats remain unsold. A very creditable boast in the current economic climate. The other thing well worth boasting about is that in 2015 Curve touring productions played to an additional 250,000 people out on the road.

Curve has always prided itself on premiering shows like Breakfast at Tiffaney’s, Finding Neverland and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. This autumn it has been chosen to launch Burning Doors, an expose of Belarus’s appalling suppression of artistic freedom. Burning Doors is on from 23 – 27 August and we were treated to an interview with its director.

All in all Messrs Stafford and Foster can justifiably pat themselves on the back for not only attracting world class touring shows to Leicester but also for putting on so many productions that actually put bums on seats. Their first year in charge has proved a resounding success and long may their creative partnership continue.

Tickets for all shows can be found at http://www.curveonline.co.uk/whats-on/shows/

First published in Western Gazette

Spring Awakening

Review by: Paul Towers, 17 August 2016

Spring Awakening by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik

Curve and National Youth Music Theatre production

Curve – 17–20 August 2016

“classy production”

Spring Awakening is based on the original 1891 book of the same name by Frank Wedekind. Set in late 19^th century Germany this musical version by Sater & Sheik had a long and troubled gestation from the late 90’s until it finally burst onto Broadway in 2006 in full Tony-winning form and also won an Olivier in London’s West in 2009.

The show highlights many of the pitfalls of adolescence that are still valid to this day. Along the way it points the finger at a lack of parental instruction leading to unwanted pregnancies and wild misconceptions about the biological workings of teenage bodies.

There are two basic storylines running through the show; Melchior and Wendla’s blossoming romance leading to an unwanted pregnancy and Melchior’s incarceration in a reform school, unaware that he has a child coming with Wendla who dies after a botched abortion. Parallel to this is Melchior’s best friend, Moritz, whose vivid wet dreams are keeping him up all night and impacting on his school work. Failing his exams and feeling rejected by his family Moritz allows his depression to swamp him and shoots himself.

On a more positive note there are also a couple of nice little relationships that develop and blossom almost incidentally.

Once again Curve has teamed up with the National Youth Music Theatre to bring us a hugely talented bunch of young performers in a far from average production. With our very own Nikolai Foster directing, Takis designing and Lee Proud choreographing this was always going to be a classy production.

A quirky, sloped stage is reverse mirrored above by an offset gantry which is used to great effect to give the impression of various roofs and skies. A back wall of graffiti emphasises the impression given by the subliminal background noises of children playing out of social housing.

While the entire cast is spot on especial mention has to be made of  Toby Turpin as Moritz Stiefel and Nathanael Landskroner as Melchior Gabor. Both of these performers are to be watched and will, I guarantee, turn up on a West End stage very soon.

The songs, which invariably move the story along, are not the ‘hard’ rock I was expecting, many of the ballads reminding me of Boy George’s Taboo soundtrack, melodic and poignant. The singing was accompanied by a lively band of six up on the mezzanine of Curve’s Studio, augmented by another six of the onstage actors who also played instruments, a multi-talent that seems to be becoming a requisite in musicals these days.

It is so gratifying to see that there is a wealth of talent emerging from the various drama schools, colleges and universities around the country. Long may it continue

Spring Awakening is on at Curve until Saturday 20^th August
First published on Western Gazette

Sister Act - The Tour

Review by: Paul Towers, 11/08/16

Sister Act by Alan Menken, Glenn Slater and Cheri & Bill Steinkellner

A Curve and Jamie Wilson Co-production, directed by Craig Revel Horwood

Curve 30^th July to 13 August 2016

“hosanna your way to a hugely enjoyable evening’s entertainment”

Once again Curve has cemented its growing reputation for producing great touring shows that premier here in Leicester.

Of course this is not a brand new show, it was premiered in 2006 in America, having been inspired by the 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg who also produced the London production in 2009.

Broadly following the plot of the film Deloris Van Cartier, a Vegas saloon singer with aspirations beyond her talent, witnesses a gangland killing by her abusive boyfriend and goes into a Police Protection programme. This entails her being secreted in a convent, much to the chagrin of the Mother Superior. Bored out her mind and causing havoc Deloris is put in charge of the abysmal church choir which she whips into nationally acclaimed shape. Thus bringing her to the attention of her erstwhile boyfriend who comes looking for her to silence her. Of course it all works out in the end; Deloris ends up with her dependable childhood sweetheart, the church is restored and the congregation swells to breaking point.

This show is almost fool-proof and virtually unbreakable so long as the cast can sing. Craig Revel Horwood, he of Strictly fame, has assembled a very talented cast who, mostly, sing, dance, act, do comedy and play instruments. Horwood signature is having instrumentalists on stage as part of the ensemble. In this case most of the main cast can play as well.

The set is a vast cloistered reception room that easily portrays the church and convent as well as various rooms.

All this would be for nothing, aesthetic as it is, if the main characters weren’t  strong enough and in Alexandra Burke as Deloris and Karen Mann as Mother Superior Revel Horwood has two very capable performers who match each other for comedy, pathos and great singing. Burke especially has a voice that will raise any church roof and propel it well up to its maker.

Sometimes when a comedy film is adapted for the stage the laughs are watered down but this production has every comedy line and moment from the beloved film and a whole lot more. Much is also made of the fact that the story is set in 1977. This allows some nice digs at the awful haircuts and fashions of the era as well as the dances. Poor John Travolta’s Saturday Night Fever is a particular target.

In the unlikely event that you can get a ticket before it moves on, grab it and hosanna your way to a hugely enjoyable evening’s entertainment in the arms of our Lord.

Failing that make a special trip to see it on tour. Details at www.sisteractuktour.co.uk/

First published on Western Gazette

9 to 5 The Musical

Review by: Paul Towers, 13 June 2016

9 to 5 by Dolly Parton & Patricia Resnick

Leicester Amateur Operatic Society

Curve Studio 13 – 19 June 2016

“Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5.”

Based on the film starring Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, 9 to 5 is the story of 3 office girls in a 1980’s humdrum corporation headed up by a ‘sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical, bigot’ Franklin Hart Jnr.  The three girls, Violet, Judy and Doralee are pushed to the limit and fantasise about doing away with their boorish boss only to find that circumstances conspire to make his demise a real possibility. That leads, as they say, to hilarious consequences. Only in this show they don’t.

The leads, Debbie Longley as Violet, Lisa Heath as Judy, Mia Dobney as Doralee and Nick Cox as Hart do their best but the show is beset by a very uneven pace as the tempo constantly changes to facilitate the insertion of yet another song as the storyline veers from comedy to love story without doing either genre justice.

The ensemble perform perfectly adequately with a couple of nice dance routines but so much of the humour present in the film seems to have been lost in the translation to the stage.

As always LAOS, in conjunction with Curve, have got production values way beyond the average amateur show’s dreams; the costumes are varied and the cast change characters rapidly; there are huge revolving scenery blocks that become offices, bedrooms and studies.  A live band hidden behind the backdrop sometimes drowns out parts of some of the solo numbers but I think that has much to do with unbalanced head microphones. However, a new innovation, small speakers across the front of the footlights, does make the sound much clearer from the audience.

Despite Ms Dolly Parton herself making a guest appearance on film at the beginning and end of the show it didn’t really work for me. Maybe the old school chauvinism rankled a bit with this reviewer but the audience on the first night didn’t seem as enthusiastic as I would have expected.

It’s a shame as LAOS has a fine reputation, as last year’s Sister Act proved. But somehow 9 to 5 doesn’t cut the mustard for me.

First published on Western Gazette

The Diary of a Hounslow girl

Review by: Paul Towers, 09 June 2016

The Diary of a Hounslow Girl by Ambreen Razia

Ambreen Razia & Black Theatre Live co-production

Upstairs @ The Western, 9 June 2016 and touring

“bold and funny”

Every teenager struggles through a rising tide of angst as they battle raging hormones and peer pressures in their journey to adulthood. But add into that maelstrom the complication of being a first generation Pakistani girl stuck in a small town in west London and you have some idea of the confusion and chaos that sixteen year old Shaheeda feels in the lead up to her sisters over the top traditional wedding.

Written and performed by the author this is Ambreen Razla’s first play and is both funny and bold in tackling the challenges in trying to balance being a good Muslim woman in the Western world. While exploring many of the trials and tribulations that all daughters face when conflicting with their mothers, this piece is also not afraid to tackle age old problems like not living up to a parent’s expectation, first love and broken dreams. Told in a mixture of teenage text-speak, Arabic and good old English this perfectly illustrates how Shaheeda is trying to juggle all her cultural influences.

While the last third could maybe be accused of tying up loose ends a bit too cleanly the laughs and tears are very well balanced. The writing is clever enough that not everything has to be spelled out too clearly and the audience has to work a little bit in places to put the pieces of the jigsaw together. This is no bad thing when often playwrights assume their audiences are too thick to work it out for themselves.

While the writing is masterful the acting is sublime and there was even one part when I caught a tear rolling down Razia’s face in a particularly emotional moment.

Full details of the tour can be found at www.ambreenrazia.com/www.ambreenrazia.com/

First published on Western Gazette

and on London Pub Theatre Blog

The 39 Steps

Review by: Paul Towers, 07 June 2016

Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps adapted by Patrick Barlow

Fiery Angel & Tricycle London production

Curve 7 – 11 June 2016

“great, great, great theatre!”

John Buchan’s novel The 39 Steps was first published in 1915 as a cerebral thriller told from the hero, John Hannay’s, perspective as he traversed the awesome majesty of the Scottish Highlands. Not great film or theatre fodder. However the three resulting films transformed the basic story into the entertainment that has become adaptor Patrick Barlow’s masterpiece of comic theatre.

The story is fairly simple, a bored, intelligent young man stumbles into a plot to smuggle military secrets out of the country. He is framed for a murder he didn’t commit and travels the length of the country in an effort to find and stop the spymaster truly responsible.

Given that the story famously involves car chases, airplane chases, train chases, escape across the Forth Bridge and even more car chases you would think this was not a natural story for theatre. But the designers, Peter McKintosh, Ian Scott and Mic Pool, along with movement director Toby Sedgwick have come up with a phenomenal production that not only tells the story with just four actors but manages to convey a myriad of locations with just a few props, a single set and some remarkable sound & light.

The tiny company of just four actors provide a cast of dozens.

Richard Ede as John Hannay is all Boy’s Own hero with a smile that you expect to ping with brightness underneath a ‘surprisingly sexy pencil moustache’. Clad in an expensive tweed suit he strides around the stage striking heroic poses as he gestures with his pipe.

Olivia Greene, a local girl who studied in  Harborough Academy of Performing Arts, plays the three female characters in the show, including the initial murder victim that sets the ensuing drama in progress.

Andrew Hodges, another local alumni, plays Man 2, a somewhat unassuming name for the huge number of roles he plays. Along with Rob Witcomb as Man 1, this pair of hugely gifted actors people the stage with an astounding number of characters which appear at an astonishing rate with quick costume changes that defy logic at times. Add to this the accents they need to master, sometimes in the blink of an eye, and you have great, great, great theatre. At times their patter is reminiscent of ITMA’s Claude & Cecil while at other times you feel you are watching a Two Ronnies weekly serial.

As if this isn’t hilarious enough in itself you have the bonus of  things like the train running across the front of the stage, deliberately mistimed sound effects and the spectacularly funny sight of a giant shadow puppet show depicting the escape across the Scottish Highlands complete with an obligatory Alfred Hitchcock cameo overseeing the getaway.

This is theatre at its very best. Grab a ticket if you can and find out why this show played to packed out houses in London’s West End for nine long years.

First published on Western Gazette