Tag Archives: Harvey Fierstein

REVIEW: Kinky Boots – King’s Theatre, Glasgow

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In 1999, the BBC’s documentary series Trouble at the Top featured Steve Pateman and his century old, struggling shoe manufacturing business in the village of Earls Barton in Northamptonshire. Pateman’s way out of trouble (unfortunately only temporarily) was to create a line of fetish shoes, Divine Footwear. His story inspired the 2005 Geoff Deane and Tim Firth film Kinky Boots and in turn the 2012 Tony and Olivier Award-winning musical from Cyndi Lauper, Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Mitchell. Like his inspiration, Charlie Price inherits his father’s failing shoe factory, when a chance meeting with drag queen Lola, leads him down a path to survival, producing a line of high-heeled boots for men. Largely following the movie storyline, albeit with a considerable number of Americanisms removed from the Broadway version, the musical preaches a largely predictable message of tolerance and acceptance all festooned in sparkling sequins.

Essential as it is in building the narrative and developing character, the production takes a little while to hit its stride, and it takes Lola and The Angels’ arrival to breathe life into the show and so it remains throughout: there are lulls in the action which are thankfully alleviated when the sequin-clad lovelies appear. Performance wise, as much as Joel Harper-Jackson (Charlie) is vocally excellent, he’s a little hard to warm to, and his vehement outburst at Lola and her lifestyle is a bit too quickly and easily forgiven as we hurtle towards the feel-good ending. Kayi Ushe as Lola, is a star – tough and sassy but equally damaged and vulnerable, it’s a fine line to walk, but Ushe does it with class and grace and a beautifully toned singing voice. Paula Lane imbues her performance with life and humour as Lauren, however her vocals are not exactly musical theatre standard and her diction is tremendously lacking. Collectively the Angels are multi-talented and on-point throughout, as are the entire ensemble.

Cyndi Lauper’s songs for the show include moving ballads, some big ensemble anthems, a few uninspiring fillers, with many having a whiff of the 1980s about them, and all sung with an annoying American accent despite the rest of the dialogue being delivered in a strangled Northampton one. To their credit though, most nicely match the emotions of the narrative, and the rousing feel-good numbers serve the production well in getting the audience on-side and up on its feet.

For all its faults, you will be sure to walk out feeling thoroughly entertained and not a little uplifted – well worth watching.

Runs until 18 May 2019 | Image: Helen Maybanks

REVIEW ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR THE REVIEWS HUB

REVIEW: La Cage aux Folles – King’s Theatre, Glasgow

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The much-loved La Cage aux Folles has had a long history: from Jean Poiret’s original 1973 play, then the 1978 French/Italian movie production, it became a stage musical in 1983 before becoming the English language film The Birdcage in 1996. It’s surprising to learn that despite numerous Broadway and West End revivals this is the first professional UK tour.

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Georges (Adrian Zmed) and Albin (John Partridge) run the most glamorous nightclub in St. Tropez, where Albin stars as the glamorous drag artist Zaza. When Georges’ son Jean-Michel (Dougie Carter) announces his plans to marry the daughter of a straight-laced homophobic politician set on closing the nightclub, mayhem ensues.

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It’s astonishing to think that this show is nearly 45 years old and even more astonishing to think how long it has taken for attitudes to change. This story of tolerance and acceptance is wrapped up in a blinding amount of sequins and feathers, and yes, it is awash with every camp cliché, but thankfully, Tony Award-winning Harvey Fierstein’s adaptation does justice to both the original subject matter and the message it conveys. It may sound glib to say it, but La Cage aux Folles is truly heart-warming, and the oohs, aaaahs, whistles and boos it elicits from its audience and the absolute warmth with which the whole production is received is enough to melt the most frozen of hearts.

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Gary McCann’s design reads well in the auditorium, the full-on glamour of the club contrasting well with the faded glamour of Georges and Albin’s apartment and the costumes are universally on-point.

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Partridge is an oustanding Albin/Zaza, it is a role tailor-made to showcase his acting, dancing and singing skills and US TV favourite Adrian Zmed is a fine Georges, there’s a deftness of touch in his portrayal of a character that could easily have been rendered a caricature, he is also in possession of a fine singing voice. Dougie Carter as son Jean-Michel is also a stand-out, a fine actor, his classic, musical-theatre tenor voice is a joy. Unusually, and wonderfully, there isn’t a single weak-link in the entire production.

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This is a production that will put a spring in the step and a song in the heart of even the most jaded theatre-goer. In a theatre scene brimful of repeated revivals and lacklustre works, this is a breath of fresh air – a genuine must-see.

Runs at Glasgow, King’s Theatre until Saturday 29 July 2017

All images: Pamela Raith

 

 

 

 

REVIEW: Funny Girl – King’s Theatre, Glasgow

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It needs a glittering and glorious central performance to elevate the thin story of early Broadway star Fanny Brice to something spectacular, and that is precisely what Natasha J Barnes delivers in Michael Mayer’s stunning revival of Jule Styne and Bob Merrill’s classic Funny Girl.

From a 15-year-old at Keeney’s Theater in Brooklyn, through the Ziegfeld Follies to super stardom, Brice’s beaming Broadway smile disguises a world of personal pain, mostly at the hands of her devastatingly handsome, inveterate gambler of a husband, Nick Arnstein (Darius Campbell). Ultimately, Brice’s success is her downfall. After landing the man of her dreams, her generosity, and disbelief at her luck in doing so, leads to Arnstein’s emasculation and his departure.

With the 1968 film performance of a certain Barbra Streisand indelibly etched in the memory, Barnes has a big job to make the role her own. It requires an actress that can take Fanny from the big Broadway belters to nuanced comedy, to searing heartbreak and back to slapstick, and boy does Barnes deliver in spades. A natural comedienne, Barnes handles the laughs with ease, not an easy achievement when the comedy is as broad as this. There’s finesse and there’s charisma, and there’s an impressive set of pipes on display.

As Arnstein, the object of Brice’s desire and devotion, and the cause of her emotional downfall, Darius Campbell, here in his home city, is a commanding presence and ably matches Barnes’ dazzling central performance. His deep, dark baritone and undoubted good looks eliciting oohs and ahhs throughout.

In support, Broadway and West End veteran Rachel Izen is particularly memorable as Fanny’s formidable mother as is Joshua Lay as Brice’s long-time friend and close confidant Eddie Ryan – Lay has impeccable comic timing and is a fine dancer. The ensemble is universally on point, Lynne Page’s beautifully detailed choreography executed with energy and precision. Mention must also be made of the crystal clear diction of the entire cast, something that is woefully lacking in most musical theatre casts today, every word, every lyric landing perfectly on its mark.

Michael Pavelka’s set, framed with an off-kilter proscenium arch, takes us seamlessly from New York’s Lower East Side tenements, to back (and front) stage of the Ziegfeld Follies, a Baltimore train station, and Fanny’s Long Island mansion.

Yes, the story of this woman, a self-proclaimed ‘bagel on a plate of onion rolls’ is a bit thin, but the performances are faultless. This is an unmissable, memorable and long-overdue revival of a musical theatre classic. Pure class from curtain up to curtain down.

Runs until 3 June 2017 | Image: Manuel Harlan

This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub here