For those who read “The Stage” newspaper, a running theme is answering questions from, and reporting on, young people seeking to train as actors. The audition process is arduous, from selecting material to presenting yourself as not only yourself but as having the ability to be other people, work with other people and simply “fit into” that year’s intake.
It's a wealth of material for any writer – a sort of pre- “A Chorus Line” – and the pre-publicity for this new hour-long song cycle from Olly Novello (no relation, lawyers make the programme state) purports to follow friends Marie (Scarlett Ayers) and Leo (Finlay Mckillop) as they share hopes and fears undertaking an endless stream of musical theatre school auditions.
Annoyingly, this promising conceit proves minimal and tangential to a simple coming of age story over two years from June 2019 through to summer 2021. If you go expecting a humorous stream of nervous auditions, joy and commiserations between friends, you will be very disappointed.
What we get is a simple meeting online of two 16-year-olds. She’s a rebel kicked out of the worst schools in Doncaster. He’s a teenage boy from somewhere unspecified. Their bond is a place on a musical theatre course and both (alas gender-stereotyped by duvet colour) bedrooms are plastered with show posters (none from Broadway’s Golden Era, sadly) to prove it.
For a very short show, this has an exceptionally long set-up.
The opening number is a character sketch of two misfits. Leo then segues into a number about “Janice,” her Jennie Garth-esque photo projected on the back wall. In the show’s first burst of inexplicably peculiar, the 16-year-old flies to meet her... and finds a 73 year old woman. It is a fun song, but absolutely inappropriate for such a young person. Still, an audition number for a slightly older male lead for sure.
One of Novello’s better metaphorical lyrics follows as Marie tells us of the “cogs inside my head,” the fact that teenage girls fight with nails and ridicule. It doesn’t move the action on, but lends credibility to her characterisation.
Finally the “A Chorus Line” moment arrives, literally for a few bars. An over-lengthy comedy patter number – Leo’s second in a row – is manic and repetitive, but at least tips over into “The Instagram Tango,” Leo and Marie’s well-danced first meeting online.
An awkward (in all senses) jump to an IRL situation (that’s “In Real Life,” granddad) and two months later love is in the air – “love this night / moon is bright” forgetting “June” also rhymes.
Autumn 2019 flies by, Marie belting her number, Leo hoping Marie will undo his belt. 2020 and the three months tick down to lockdown with our lovers separated.
Together still, by February 2021 Marie is home-taping her school audition reel, Novello redeeming himself by working the immortal Sarah Kane into the lyric.
Come July, she’s swimming in offers, he has only one – from a musical theatre school requiring maths “A” level. Back to the drawing board, Olly Novello on that one, the logic is totally lacking. It does lead to a near early Tim Rice quality line “life getting better / defined by a letter” come results day, but even so...
Anyway, the pressure takes its toll and a nasty sequence “The Falling Out Tango” contains physical violence which should have no place on stage nor in a relationship.
A fragile truce is broken by photographs of a night out clubbing and the show draws to a close as both contemplate their futures on “the Verge of Forever.”
Making her professional stage debut, Scarlett Ayers takes several numbers to shed her very obvious opening-night nerves. Once relaxed, she gains far more vocal control and demonstrates her abilities with an interesting acapella moment of post-club regret.
Finlay Mckillop (substituting for apologetic ‘Dafydd Ap Llewellyn’ Mr Novello, who usually plays the role as well as doing everything else) has the dance strength and comedic abilities. If not exactly finding his youngest self, by 18 he has a handle on his character and makes the most of immature male inability to deal with adversity in relationships.
Director Gerry Tebutt does well to bring out the differentiation in ages and emotions each character requires and sets a very smart pace against the well-orchestrated recorded backing track. As choreographer he makes the most of the small performing area with well-judged call-back moments linking the themes.
For a second workshop outing of a third musical, Olly Novello clearly has the grain of a future work. There are some strong moments musically and lyrically; presentation, acting and direction doing justice to it.
The problem lies in a failure to explore what he sets himself out to do. We learn very little of what makes either teenager passionate about their careers, nor do we share their individual development during vital formative years.
Setting the tale in a period where nothing could happen for anybody may be culturally significant, but excludes automatically any dramatic potential – or inventively comedic one.
A parallel “what could have been if life were normal” idea may have solved the problem but as it stands a strong idea with decent execution arrives too claustrophobic to deliver overall satisfaction.
2 stars.
Photo credit: Holly Burton.