WALKING IN A WEST END WONDERLAND - PART 6

WALKING IN A WEST END WONDERLAND

PART 6

Bob and I took a quick trip to London late last month.  Spring is a lovely time to visit London: the weather is usually agreeable, the summer crowds have yet to come, and great theatre is on display. Here are five shows from earlier trips to this fabulous city.

Let's have a cuppa and begin.

VIRGINIA – Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London

The actual program was inserted in this folder-like cover. Quite classy.

February, 1981.  The origins of the Theatre Royal, Haymarket date back to 1720, making it the third oldest London playhouse still in operation. It's been at its current location since 1821, which by any standards makes it an old theatre. And sitting in the very high and very steep Gallery, one almost felt as though one were back in 1821. If memory serves, the seating up in the cheap seats (a mere two pounds!) was of the bench variety, hard and pretty uncomfortable. But, one willingly sacrifices comfort in order to witness the legend known as Maggie Smith, now Dame Maggie Smith. And so it was with Virginia, Edna O'Brien's play about Virginia and, to a small degree, Leonard Woolf, and Virginia's lover, poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West. Virginia Woolf was a complicated woman, and for me, came most vividly alive in her diaries. Maggie Smith was interesting as Virginia Woolf, but there was more than a whiff of academia and research about the whole thing. I remember the play being very talky, a bit pedantic, and, yes, I'll say it, a bit dull. The three actors onstage weren't dull, but I didn't get a sense of who they were. It was as though Ms. O'Brien was afraid to make her characters human, with the human foibles that make them interesting. I wasn't bored, though. It just wasn't as good as I had hoped. – at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London

EPITAPH FOR GEORGE DILLON – Comedy Theatre, London

Mr. Fiennes looks especially hot here.

October, 2005.  There are three things you should know about Joseph Fiennes: 1) He's tall. Not extraordinarily tall, but tall enough to tower over the rest of his cast. 2) He's very handsome. As in very. 3) He's one talented dude. The last two are important because Mr. Osborne's and Mr. Creighton's play sometimes didn't seem to go anywhere and Mr. Fiennes' grand good looks and his abundance of talent kept one from getting restless. This was written before Look Back in Anger, but was produced a year after Anger. It's a 50s British kitchen-sink drama, sometimes compelling, sometimes not and with an undercurrent of sleazy opportunism and fluid morals. Tidily directed and designed, it featured solid, competent British ensemble acting, with standout performances by Anne Reid (Last Tango in Halifax), Geoffrey Hutchings and Francesca Annis.  But it was Joseph Fiennes the audience came to see and he did not disappoint. Charming, charismatic and amoral, he made for a compelling anti-hero. – at the Comedy Theatre, London

Six Degrees of Separation Moment: In May, 2015, we saw our friend, Rob, in the world premiere of a new play called As Good a Time As Any, at a small theatre in Notting Hill. Prior to the performance we had lunch at a terrific Italian place a few steps from the theatre. We were the only patrons there except for an elderly man who also was enjoying his lunch. After the play, we saw the same elderly man in the lobby and Rob introduced him to us. He smiled and said, "Oh, yes, I remember you both. You were at the restaurant earlier." He was the play's author, Peter Gill, a well-known playwright and director, who was, and here's the six degrees moment, the director for George Dillon. Cue "Small World" underscoring.

JOURNEY'S END – New Ambassadors Theatre, London

October, 2005.  Haunting. Devastating. The horrors and anguish of war were brought vividly to life in this stunning return engagement of a hugely successful revival of R.C. Sherriff's 1928 anti-war drama. Taking place over four days in March, 1918, during the First World War, the action of the piece takes place in a dreary, yet, strangely, somewhat homey British bunker in the trenches in NE France. Staging-wise, it wasn't flashy, but director David Grindley, recreated for this cast by Tim Roseman, gave the production an immediacy that put the audience side-by-side with the soldiers in the bunker. The New Ambassadors (it has since reverted back to its original name, the Ambassadors Theatre) is a very intimate theatre, even by London standards. This gave the superbly-designed and lit production a claustrophobic feel, similar to what, I'm sure. soldiers in the actual trenches felt. The interplay between the soldiers and officers, the distinction and behavior of different social classes, even in war, the stiff-upper-lippedness of many of the men were poignant as the men tried to carry on as best they could. Even in war, tea will be served. We in the audience got to know these very human characters and we grew to care about them, so when the final mortar hit the bunker and the cacophony of shelling continued after the final blackout, we, as a whole, were rattled and unsettled. And then the lights came dimly up and our cast stood in a line. Complete silence. And then the men took off their helmets, indicating to us it was safe to applaud. And applaud we did! I still get chills thinking about this play.  – at the New Ambassadors Theatre, London

GUYS AND DOLLS – Piccadilly Theatre, London

October, 2005. We stood on the cancellation line for this and were rewarded with terrific seats in the Stalls. Well, look at those four above-the-title actors. You'd stand on line, too! Jane Krakowski, while very funny, was, strangely, not as good an Adelaide as I had hoped. It wasn't bad performance by any means, but it lacked…something.  Ewan McGregor was not only stunningly handsome in person, but also sang well, oozed charm and gave a solid performance. Jenna Russell was a treat for the ears and a sassy Sarah Brown, which I liked…a lot. Gave a blast of life into a part that can be a bit drab. Douglas Hodge was a quietly scene-stealing Nathan. West End veteran Martyn Ellis as Nicely Nicely Johnson gave a standout rendition of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat," and marked the first time I actually liked  the song. (I know I am in the minority, but that song has always annoyed me for some reason.) A transfer from the acclaimed Donmar Warehouse, this was nicely designed, with solid direction by Michael Grandage and crisp choreography by Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford. I know it’s a classic and all, but Guys and Dolls has never been a favorite. It still isn't, but this was delightful and fun. Very glad we saw it. – at the Piccadilly Theatre, London.

ABSOLUTE HELL – Lyttelton Theatre, London

August, 1995. Picture The Hot L Baltimore  with British accents and in a seedy, run-down pub instead of a seedy, run-down hotel lobby and you have the basic thrust of Absolute Hell, only more interesting than The Hot L Baltimore, which I find deadly dull, because, well, pretty much anything is more interesting with a British accent. Set right after the end of World War II in a disreputable West End club called La Vie en Rose (Piaf would probably have approved!), nothing much happens during the three-hour play. Oh, people talk…and talk and talk…and old grievances are aired, sexual liaisons, both hetero and homosexual, are arranged, and much alcohol is consumed, but it's more slice-of-life than anything else. I found it interesting at times, dull at others, and I found my attention wandering occasionally throughout the evening. The large cast was competent and did their jobs, but even star Judi Dench couldn't quite hold it together. But, like I indicated with Maggie Smith, one simply does not forgo an opportunity to see a living legend at work. And Dame Judi definitely qualifies as one. She commanded the stage and made a memorable character as the proprietress of the club, but the unevenness of the script couldn't be overcome. I went with friends, both established London actors, and they admired the play more than they liked it. I think that's an accurate appraisal of it. – at the Lyttelton Theatre, London.

Sidebar: Although quite prolific, playwright and screenwriter Rodney Ackland, despite the success of Absolute Hell, remains little more than a footnote in the annuls of British drama. Never a critics' darling, his work was criticized for being too realistic, and when the original version of Absolute Hell, entitled, rather cheekily,The Pink Room, opened in 1952, it was critically panned. Reviewers  found him "vile and witless," with the play populated with so-called degenerates, as defined by 1950s mores. Critic Rhonda Koenig, in her review of Absolute Hell in London's The Independent, suggests that Ackland's work was rejected because people found his realism unpalatable in the naïve and hypocritical 50s. Ironic considering John Osborne would burst onto the scene in 1956 and herald in kitchen-sink realism in the theatre and be praised for it. While homosexuality was vaguely portrayed in the 1952 original, with the abolition of censorship, Ackland revisited his script and made the homosexuality more explicit. A 1991 BBC version of the play, also starring Judi Dench, can be viewed on YouTube.

That wraps things up for today. More later.

© 2016 Jeffrey Geddes

WALKING IN A WEST END WONDERLAND PART 5

WALKING IN A WEST END WONDERLAND

PART 5

It's been a long time since we've crossed the Pond. Let's fix that. Five shows from London's fabulous West End make up today's post.  And to start us off… What could be more quintessentially British than royalty?

I guess this is one way to avoid the scrum at the bars during the interval.

Coffee or, rather, tea ready? Let's begin.

ROSE – Duke of York's Theatre – London

6.50 pounds today is $9.82. No matter how you slice it, in 1980, theatre was still quite the bargain in London.

The Duke of York's Theatre opened in September, 1892.

May, 1980.  A typically British domestic comedy about marriage and life, it enjoyed a successful run in London primarily because of the sensational Glenda Jackson. (It had a limited run a year later in New York, playing to marginal houses after middling reviews.)  It had something to do with an unfulfilled, feminist school teacher in the Midlands and if the plot sounds dodgy, it had enough humor to carry it along and keep the audiences happy. Make no mistake, however. Everyone, and I mean everyone, in the Duke of York's that Thursday evening was there to see two-time Academy Award and Emmy Award winner Glenda Jackson up close and personal. I know I was. A word here about Ms. Jackson...I am a huge fan. Full stop. The woman is so talented and can do comedy and drama with equal ease.  (Witness Oscars for a drama, "Women in Love" and a comedy, "A Touch of Class," one of my favorite films. And let's not forget her Emmy-winning television mini-series "Elizabeth R," still a marvelous bit of television.) To see one of my idols in a play a few scant feet away from me was, and remains, something to treasure. "Rose" also is the source of one of my favorite expressions, uttered to hysterical perfection by Ms. Jackson: "Find 'em, feel 'em, fuck 'em, forget 'em!"  I think it's a jolly little phrase, appropriate for many occasions! Ta, Glenda!

Sidebar: From the early 90s until March, 2015 Glenda Jackson was a MP (Member of Parliament) and, during that time, retired from acting. She's 79 now, but returned to acting this November in a radio "mash-up" of novels by French writer Emile Zola. Lucky Radio 4.

A DELICATE BALANCE – Theatre Royal Haymarket – London

the elegant Theatre Royal Haymarket

March, 1998. A Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Edward Albee. A cast that included Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins and John Standing. Excellent reviews, especially for the two leading ladies, one already a Dame and one a future Dame. Now imagine you are Ellenor Wilkinson, a working actress with West End credits, cast as the cover for the parts of Claire (Dame Maggie) and Julia (the young, abrasive daughter). Dame Maggie never misses a performance. But then, sadly, Beverely Cross, Dame Maggie's husband, dies and you are now going to go on in the place of two-time Academy Award-winner and top-billed Maggie Smith. The line at the box office requesting refunds/rebookings wasn't as long as you'd have thought, and Bob and I wanted to see the play, so we stayed. Those who did would not be disappointed. Ms. Wilkinson started out a bit tentative, but then, as the play progressed, she got stronger and stronger, mining the laughs in the role of Claire, the alcoholic sister, for all that they were worth and giving co-star Eileen Atkins a run for her money. She was rewarded with cheers and heavy applause when she took her bow. The audience acclaim was well-deserved. Maggie Smith's part was in good hands until her return. In the arguably more difficult role of Agnes, Claire's sister and the less "fun" of the two, Eileen Atkins gave a master class in understated, yet powerful, acting. Like her terrific performance three years earlier in Broadway's Indiscretions, it was a privilege to watch her work. We thought the entire cast did a fine job and, for me, it was a kick to see Annette Crosbie, the fairy godmother in the underrated film musical The Slipper and the Rose, in a serious and somewhat creepy part. This is not a happy play, but one that will get you thinking.

KAFKA'S DICK – Piccadilly Theatre – London

 The interior of the beautiful Piccadilly Theatre.

January, 1999. Who could resist a play with a title like Kafka's Dick? I mean, seriously. And most especially when it stars Julia McKenzie? I know I couldn't and didn't.  Written by a pre-The History Boys Alan Bennett, this silly and terribly British "literary" farce concerned itself with fame and biography, implying that, as far as the public is concerned, the more libidinous, the better, with the supposedly modest size of Mr. Kafka's titular dick being the plot driver. Having read The Metamorphosis in the original German in high school in Mr. Oglesby's fourth year German class, I was fascinated by Gregor Samsa and his story. I never once, however, thought about Mr. Kafka's private parts. See how the theatre expands one's mind?  Positively gave a whole new spin on Kafka. Julia McKenzie took the acting honors with her signature comic timing, solidly delivering the laughs, yet keeping the character grounded in reality. A daffy reality, to be sure, but an endearing, human one. Bob had heard me praise McKenzie for years. This was the first time he'd seen her, and, like me, he was enchanted with her. Often very, very funny and staged at appropriately farcical speed, this is B-drawer Alan Bennett that will give you two hours of pleasure, but will not leave you with much of an impression afterwards other than that you'd had a quite funny evening at the theatre.

AMY'S VIEW – Aldwych Theatre – London

The beautiful Aldwych Theatre. It opened in 1905.

We like to think our granddaughter Esme was named after Dame Judi's character. 

March, 1998. David Hare's dense, talky, yet rewarding play is a veritable feast for the two actresses playing the leading roles. It's also a veritable feast for the audience if the two actresses playing the leading roles are Dame Judi Dench and Samantha Bond, both probably best known to the general public for their portrayals of "M" and Miss Moneypenny in later James Bond films. Under Richard Eyre's skillful direction and greatly enhanced by a terrific design by Bob Crowley and Mark Henderson, Dame Judi and Ms. Bond made this financial (!!), political, anti-Thatcher, new media versus traditional theatre, mother/daughter dynamics, love and loss-themed play more than the sum of its various parts. These were two richly-nuanced and very human women on that stage and that was crucial, because the play sometimes became mired in what it wanted to say. At close to three hours, it was a tad too long, but as long as either Dench or Bond were onstage, either separately or, especially, together, the theatre crackled with electricity. This wasn't a two-hander, however, and solid jobs were turned in by Donald Pickup, Eoin McCarthy, Christopher Staines, in a small role at the very end of the play, and especially Joyce Redman as Dench's feisty mother. Samantha Bond was a revelation. To see Dame Judi Dench in anything is a privilege. To see Dame Judi Dench at her finest in a rich and complex role is something you never forget. Bob and I were in awe. A truly unforgettable and thrilling afternoon at the theatre.

LA CAVA – Piccadilly Theatre – London

 

The ever-ubiquitous marketing. Even for unsuccessful shows.

The publicists must have worked overtime to get those quotes.

January, 2001. When this show opened on the West End, it received dismissive reviews. We knew about them, so I'm not quite sure why we saw this. We saw it at a matinee, so maybe it was the only thing on the boards that we hadn't seen.  (God forbid Bob and I should actually see a … gasp … tourist attraction or museum on a matinee day!)  Or maybe we just wanted to see what qualified as a disaster on the West End.  Bottom line? It was far from being the worst thing I'd seen. In fact, while it wasn't especially good, it really wasn't awful, either. It was professional, slick and entertaining. Epic in scope, very epic, in the fashion of Les Miserables with a big, all-encompassing, if forgettable, score, La Cava had a convoluted plot that involved Florinda, a governor's daughter in Spanish North Africa, sent to mainland Spain to learn tapestry and other at-the-time girl things. But, while there,  the Moors threaten to invade and she becomes the mistress of the Spanish king after she first claims he raped her, which causes her father to start a war to avenge her lost honor. In the ensuing melee, her Moorish boyfriend is killed, Florinda discovers she's preggers with the King's kid, but now is madly in love with him, but it's all too late and an onstage bloodbath closes the show. Confused?  Yeah, frankly, so were we.  But it had a superlative physical production, was well-sung, and featured an outstanding performance by Paul Keating as the Spanish queen's conniving page.  Originally we were close to the stage, but moved back in the stalls during the interval because it was just visually and aurally too much.  It closed shortly afterwards. I doubt this musical will ever burn up the Am-Dram circuit. Glad we saw it, though, if only as a curiosity piece.

Sidebar: La Cava originally opened at the off-West End West End Victoria Palace Theatre (no, I really didn't repeat myself), more or less across from Victoria Station. It did dismal business there, but the producers, for whatever inexplicable producer reasons they may have had, claimed the location of the theatre prevented the crowds from coming, so they packed their bags six weeks later and moved to the much more centrally located Piccadilly Theatre. It ran longer there, but still didn't make any money. Curiously, Billy Elliot has been at the Victoria Palace since it opened in 2005. The location hasn't seemed to hurt that show's financial bottom line. Just saying….

And that's it for now. Stay warm!

© 2015 Jeffrey Geddes