Recently, I have had the privilledge of working with Canterbury Christ Church University on their production of a new musical, When Midnight Strikes. This show takes place on New Year's Eve 1999, and examines briefly the lives of individuals at a party.
This is one of the first times this show has been put on in the UK; it will be presented on the West End in September. What's interesting about the show, I feel, is that it plays out very much like a review for the most part. Every single song sounds different to the last right up until the last quarter of the second act, when events in the plot begin to get serious. There's very much an influence of Sondheim in there, as well as perhaps some older classics.
Whether it works or not is a different matter. The main characters are surrounded by stereotypes: the gay, the nymphomaniac, the geek, the grumpy neighbour. At the very least, these characters are kept in the background until they are needed to help move the story along. Games of charades and "I Never..." help too.
The production is brilliant - I've been surrounded by some of the most talented, wonderful performers I've ever come across, and it's a top-notch amateur show. How well it works in the West End depends on how our audiences react to it. It's a small show so needs to be done in a small theatre, otherwise, like Rent, it just will not work in the UK.
Friday, 29 April 2011
Sunday, 3 April 2011
High Low Art
In recent years, the English National Opera seem to have been on a push to reach out to the majority. Opera today is arguably a minority art form; out of every form of theatre it most likely falls on the lowest rung of interest these days, underneath even ballet. This is not say that there is anything wrong with the art - far from it. It's just the nature of things - opera simply isn't mainstream.
So there has been over the last few seasons an attempt to create new contemporary productions, some of old works, some of original, to try and appeal to this majority that sticks it's nose up at a stereotypically snobbish art form. Anna Nicole is one of these. Based on the tragic true life tale of the former Playboy model and her infamous marriage to an elderly Texas billionaire and told with a very dark sense of humour, the opera explores at heart what it is to be famous and constantly in the attention of the media; in particular, how this lust for fame can corrupt and ultimately destroy.
It is perhaps a perfect story to be told in this form - the history of opera is full of tragic heroines - but in this case the story is sadly a lot more interesting than the score. That's not to say it isn't a good work - it's certainly a very vibrant score from Mark-Anthony Turnage, but sadly there are no tunes within it that you could leave a theatre humming. It's all a little TOO contemporary, almost as if they're trying too hard. Could it be the fault of the libretto, a very wordy affair from Richard Thomas, co-writer of Jerry Springer: The Opera? There are some great moments within it; when the lawyer Stern, viewed generally as the villain by the piece arrives too early in the story, the Chorus, made up as members of the press, scream, "Slayer of Bambi's Mom...Yoko Ono!"
The setting is done very well - at one point in the second half a giant screen comes down revealing years as we travel forward into the future. Both screens involve Anna Nicole in a typical supermodel pose. It flows straight from one scene to the next very nicely, but arguably finishes all too quickly. As soon as Anna's son Daniel dies of an overdose - a particularly chilling scene where the actor playing Daniel, in his only singing part of the show, chants the long list of drugs that were found in his body - the opera seems to want to hurry us along to Anna's own death. Act 1 is certainly better than Act 2; it feels less rushed as we slowly make our way through strip club to boob job to the fatal meeting of stripper and billionaire.
An ambitious project that certainly is admirable in terms of performances, setting and lyrics; but overall the show lacks the tragic bite that you feel it truly needs.
So there has been over the last few seasons an attempt to create new contemporary productions, some of old works, some of original, to try and appeal to this majority that sticks it's nose up at a stereotypically snobbish art form. Anna Nicole is one of these. Based on the tragic true life tale of the former Playboy model and her infamous marriage to an elderly Texas billionaire and told with a very dark sense of humour, the opera explores at heart what it is to be famous and constantly in the attention of the media; in particular, how this lust for fame can corrupt and ultimately destroy.
It is perhaps a perfect story to be told in this form - the history of opera is full of tragic heroines - but in this case the story is sadly a lot more interesting than the score. That's not to say it isn't a good work - it's certainly a very vibrant score from Mark-Anthony Turnage, but sadly there are no tunes within it that you could leave a theatre humming. It's all a little TOO contemporary, almost as if they're trying too hard. Could it be the fault of the libretto, a very wordy affair from Richard Thomas, co-writer of Jerry Springer: The Opera? There are some great moments within it; when the lawyer Stern, viewed generally as the villain by the piece arrives too early in the story, the Chorus, made up as members of the press, scream, "Slayer of Bambi's Mom...Yoko Ono!"
The setting is done very well - at one point in the second half a giant screen comes down revealing years as we travel forward into the future. Both screens involve Anna Nicole in a typical supermodel pose. It flows straight from one scene to the next very nicely, but arguably finishes all too quickly. As soon as Anna's son Daniel dies of an overdose - a particularly chilling scene where the actor playing Daniel, in his only singing part of the show, chants the long list of drugs that were found in his body - the opera seems to want to hurry us along to Anna's own death. Act 1 is certainly better than Act 2; it feels less rushed as we slowly make our way through strip club to boob job to the fatal meeting of stripper and billionaire.
An ambitious project that certainly is admirable in terms of performances, setting and lyrics; but overall the show lacks the tragic bite that you feel it truly needs.