(seen at the afternoon performance on 16th April 2022)
According to the always reliable “Not Since Carrie” by Ken Mandelbaum, this Stephen Sondheim / Arthur Laurents 1964 show was seen by more people over its 9 Broadway performances than could possibly have been accommodated by the theatre.
A near full house at Southwark Playhouse this afternoon proves that Sondheim fans are always ready to give his work another chance and are, like the monkey, completists who walk in already in love with both the title number and “Everybody Says Don’t” – anchor fixtures in any Sondheim compilation recording or stage revue.
Eager to discover from whence these magical songs come (not from inside a plumbed rock, it turns out) the answer turns out to be, well, something of a curiosity.
Musicals about mental illness seem too downbeat to succeed. “Flowers for Algenon” and “Next To Normal” spring to mind – the latter an incredible score still denied a professional UK outing. This slight and both group A and group 1 insane tale is lighter than either but lacking a strong book or “form from which content can be determined” to reverse Sondheim’s own words.
Baby Joan (Marisha Morgan) saves Mayor Cora Hoover Hooper’s (Alex Young) town by discovering a miracle rock pouring water (an accident of town drainage). Nurse Fay Apple (Chrystine Symone) brings patients from the only functioning civic institution, the asylum or “Cookie Jar” to be cured, but is turned away by Hooper’s incompetent Hench people Comptroller Schub (Danny Lane), Treasurer Cooley (Samuel Clifford) and Renan Teodoro (Chief of Police Magrueder).
Nurse Apple then encounters a new doctor J Bowden Hapgood (Jordan Broatch), greeted with enthusiasm by Cookie Jar owner Dr Detmold (Nathan Taylor). Hapgood and Apple begin a romance, Apple only able to function by pretending to be French Hapgood turning out to be not all he seems.
Cory Shipp gives the show a traverse setting, a nod to the theme of two meaningless groups. She also comes up with some colourful outfits and an ingenious hidden bed, as well as more confetti than a Beckham wedding. Alex Musgrave does wonders with the lighting, the latest technology allowing multiple colours to give the stage a dreamlike quality along its whole length.
Georgie Rancom and Alex Condor direct at an uneven pace, unsure whether to stress the farcical aspect or seek some deeper meaning. Trying to find the humour in a sometimes contrived and over-long book ultimately defeats them, the second act petering out as storyline and score fail simultaneously.
The performances are the saving grace. If luck goes his way, then just like the show he is currently in, an impossible number of people will claim to have seen Jordan Broatch’s professional debut. They won’t have. This very young man has musical theatre potential with him, a touch of Michaels Ball and Crawford allowing him instinctively to make even the weakest material sound strong.
His best moment, devised by choreographer Lisa Stevens, is shared with the experienced Alex Young. An insane kangaroo bounce had the audience delighted. Later, Young’s act two exercise routine (and unfortunate encounter with a recalcitrant Dorito) lead into her filling effortlessly some far deeper background with just gestures. That she brought her own Martini glass (allegedly) can be overlooked on this form.
Chrystine Symone makes the most of her big number, the best in the show. He moments with Broatch seem real, and her professionalism dealing with a sabotaging negligee was impressive. Oh, and the monkey loved the uniform buttons, lovely touch.
In smaller roles, Samuel Clifford as Treasurer Cooley should be seen for Charles J. Guiteau when Sondheim's masterpiece "Assasins" is revived, as he has the right touch of drama and comedy. A note too for Kathryn Akin as Mrs Schroeder for maximum impact in a sketched in role.
As a means of recognising the existence of the show, this production is a brave attempt to create something original and find meaning within confusion. That this idea should be what the piece itself is about is probably the contradiction to delight Hapgood and the Mayor.
As a way of completing a collection for Sondheim enthusiasts, even if the material is weak, the performers and director do their best with what they have, and it is a rare attempt which should be seen before it likely vanishes for a very long time.
3 stars.
Photo credit: Danny With A Camera. Used by kind permission.