Top 10 Theatre of 2022

Following two years of disruption due to the pandemic, we seemed to get our theatre-going mojo back in 2022. We finally saw Sara Bareilles’ musical Waitress, a musical which was at ease with putting together the heartfelt and quirky as it was with putting together bacon and blueberry in a pie. Frantic Assembly demonstrated once again why they’re one of the most exciting theatre companies today with their stripped-back, contemporary take on Othello. Jodie Comer had an unstoppable energy in Suzie Miller’s one-woman play Prima Facie. And there was a brilliant revival of Beautiful –The Carole King Musical at Leicester’s Curve, featuring the late Douglas McGrath’s first-class book, perfectly capturing the New York vibe like a Neil Simon comedy.

So, for what it’s worth, here’s our Top 10 list in alphabetical order:

1. A Strange Loop – Lyceum, New York

Audacious in its form, style and subject matter, A Strange Loop is a mighty meta musical which balances its self-irreverence and emotional intensity superbly. Like Hamilton, it’s the sort of show you want to plonk in front of detractors of musicals to show them the possibility of the form. This is a semi-autobiographical musical by a black, gay man about a black, gay man writing a musical, about a black, gay man writing a musical, and so on. Our leading man is an Usher at a popular Disney Broadway show, and Jackson scatters many gags about audiences, show business and generalised opinions on musical theatre (‘Have you seen Hamilton?’ generates eyerolls from Usher and his parents’ insistence that he ask Scott Rudin to produce A Strange Loop garners titters from a knowing audience). The show pulls no punches, and addresses uncomfortable issues with humour and pathos.

2. Billy Elliot – Curve, Leicester

This summer, Curve created a production which afforded Billy Elliot both the immense spectacle and touching intimacy it deserves. Nikolai Foster’s vision beautifully evoked a sense of community against a delicately balanced backdrop of political and emotional turmoil. The image of Billy dancing alone, dwarfed by the vast metallic tangle of the stage, was unexpectedly moving while the group numbers were rousing yet prophetic in their ominousness. The revival came at a time in history where Britain faces a similar state of economic and political crisis. It admirably demonstrated the capacity of the arts to truthfully reflect the cultural climate while transcending social, physical, and linguistic boundaries to express both individual and collective anger, grief and joy.

3. Cabaret – Kit Kat Klub at the Playhouse, London

This version of Cabaret brought to light new aspects of the musical. Rebecca Frecknall’s vision is relentless: we revel in decadence while being cowed by the undercurrent of menace. The performances were pitch-perfect and I anticipate this production will shape portrayals of these characters for some time to come. In all, one of the greatest pieces of praise I can offer is that I could see this production again and again and always find something new to enjoy or think about.

4.  Jerusalem – Apollo, London

I was 19 when I first saw Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem at the Apollo in 2011. For me, it was the play that sparked a love for going to see plays. I was lucky to get a £10 ticket that day but it didn’t surprise me to hear that people were queuing around the block and camping overnight to get tickets. Jerusalem captured a sense of urgency I hadn’t seen reflected elsewhere and hadn’t been able to articulate myself until that point. It struck a chord for me and a generation of other young audience members hungry to see it. Ian Rickson’s production returned to the Apollo this year with all the vitality and urgency it had first time round. It’s testament to the greatness of the play, so full of cultural and literary allusions, that it brought about other reference points and gained new meanings since it was first produced. By the end, the play has the audience believing in giants too.

5. Kimberly Akimbo – Booth, New York

David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori’s Kimberly Akimbo is a heart-warming, nourishing musical and a first-rate example of book and score complementing each other beautifully. Like with his play Good People (2011), Lindsay-Abaire is interested in the promises and rhetoric of the American Dream not being fully realised; characters with imperfections and major flaws but with hopes, fears and good intentions buried somewhere beneath the surface. And in the centre of the storm is Kimberly, played with such authenticity by Tony Award-winning soprano Victoria Clark. Kimberly is no ordinary teenager. Born with a disease that ages her body abnormally quickly, we hear that most people with her condition only have a life expectancy of about 17 years. We not only believe she’s 16 but her optimistic outlook and bright spark in her eyes is endearing without ever being overly sentimental. It’s destined to be the musical of the season and I’ll be rooting for it at next year’s Tony’s.

6. Life of Pi – Wyndham’s, London

Lolita Chakrabarti adapted Yann Martel’s ‘unadaptable’ novel Life of Pi for Sheffield Theatres which we saw in the West End earlier this year. Telling the story of Piscine Patel who survives a storm which capsizes the ship that his family and their zoo were on, Life of Pi is a remarkable achievement in epic storytelling. Its utter brilliance comes from how it highlights that theatre is a truly collaborative artform: from Tim Hatley’s set design to Nick Barnes & Finn Caldwell’s driftwood-style puppets to Andrzej Goulding’s video design to the seven Olivier Award-winning actors who played the tiger, all helmed by Max Webster’s production. Hatley’s design cleverly reconfigures the Wyndham’s stage into more of a thrust similar to Sheffield’s Crucible. The effect is that you find yourself moving in your seat with the motion of the lifeboat. Also clever is how, just like theatre, imagination and reality sit side by side, the sterile walls of the hospital existing in the same moment as the deep blue of the ocean. It may be closing in January but a UK tour and Broadway run start in 2023.

7. Rock/Paper/Scissors – Crucible/Lyceum/Studio, Sheffield

All three plays in Chris Bush’s Rock/Paper/Scissors triptych ran in Sheffield Theatres’ three spaces simultaneously with one cast. The overall piece was a logistical coup-de-théâtre. It was also a perfect coming together of space and place in three funny, achingly profound and heartful plays about a city and its people on the cusp of change. Set in present-day Sheffield across three locations of a former scissor factory, the plays explored the various stakeholders who all have a claim on what they’d like the space to be. From a nightclub or industrial chic making hub, to flats, to carrying on as a working factory, Rock/Paper/Scissors delved into the spaces and lives that make up the past, present and future of Sheffield.

8. Spring Awakening – Almeida, London

Rupert Goold rejected much of the whimsy of the original Broadway and London productions of Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s musical in favour of a starker exploration of the purgatory of adolescence, in which the characters are trapped within a childhood dictated by unfeeling adults. Spring Awakening may seem to be full of despair – and, to be fair, in our current political and social climate it’s difficult not to agree with such nihilistic sentiments – but the musical is not bereft of hope. In one of musical theatre’s most beautiful finales we were reminded that life continues, generations will grow, learn and prosper, and the pains endured in the pursuit of maturity are all threads in the rich tapestry of life. Yes, the plot is hard-hitting and damning, but we can all learn a thing or two about hope, change and empathy by looking to the past in remembrance of the future. This was a stunning production of a timely musical.

9. Tammy Faye – Almeida, London

Theatre lovers have whispered rumours for years about Elton John’s long-awaited Tammy Faye musical. Following the success of the recent Oscar-winning film based on the Televangelist’s life, audiences’ appetites had been well and truly whetted. The world of Tammy Faye Bakker is a marvel, and we’re encouraged to gawp and titter at the bizarre fantasy land on display, but the jokes are never mean and the action is peppered with a pathos that reminds us that these are real people and real events. John and Shears have written some cracking torch songs for their heroine, namely the Act One finale ‘Empty Hands’ and the empowering ballad ‘If You Came to See Me Cry’. Katie Brayben excelled during these moments, pouring her heart out and giving her all in a performance that is bound to garner many nominations come awards season.

10. The Piano Lesson – Ethel Barrymore, New York

One of the classiest revivals we saw this year was LaTanya Richardson Jackson’s production of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning The Piano Lesson (1987). One of Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycle of ten plays which chart the African American experience throughout the twentieth century, The Piano Lesson is set in 1936. Like in Two Trains Running which we saw in Northampton in 2019, Wilson’s dense text interweaves strands of prosaic gossip, banter, song and urban myth. But this family drama is also haunted by a spectral presence symbolic of America’s past as much as the Charles family’s. Beowulf Boritt’s set fills the stage with the Charles’ house, several floors and wooden beams go up to the roof, and an ornately carved piano dominates the living room. What makes Richardson Jackson’s production rich with texture are the superlative performances. Samuel L. Jackson as former railroad worker Doaker has an earthy quality and jovial bond with the others, but the standout performances belong to John David Washington as Doaker’s nephew Boy Willie and Michael Potts as Doaker’s brother. There’s an ease and authenticity among the cast which really sets the play alight. It concludes its limited run on 29^th January, 2023 but there are rumours of a London transfer.

From Left to Right:

Billy Elliot: Jaden Shentall-Lee. Credit: Marc Brenner

A Strange Loop: Jaquel Spivey. Credit: Marc J. Franklin

Jerusalem: Mark Rylance. Credit: Simon Annand

The Piano Lesson: Samuel L. Jackson. Credit: Julieta Cervantes

Life of Pi: The Tiger and Nuwan Hugh Perera. Credit: Ellie Kurttz

A Strange Loop

 Lyceum, New York

11^th October, 2022

“Big, black and queer-ass American Broadway show!”

Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer and Tony-award winning musical fits a lot into its 100 minutes. Audacious in its form, style and subject matter, A Strange Loop is a mighty meta musical which balances its self-irreverence and emotional intensity superbly. Like Hamilton, it’s the sort of show you want to plonk in front of detractors of musicals to show them the possibility of the form.

This is a semi-autobiographical musical by a black, gay man about a black, gay man writing a musical, about a black, gay man writing a musical, and so on. Our leading man (at this performance played by Kyle Ramar Freeman) is an Usher at a popular Disney Broadway show, and Jackson scatters many gags about audiences, show business and generalised opinions on musical theatre (‘Have you seen Hamilton?’ generates eyerolls from Usher and his parents’ insistence that he ask Scott Rudin to produce A Strange Loop garners titters from a knowing audience). Jackson also plays with expectation, stereotype and internalised racism, homophobia and cultural guilt; Usher continually pokes fun at himself for his fondness for ‘white girl music’, while simultaneously bemoaning his family’s preferred ‘Gospel Plays’ which perpetuate racial and religious cliches. Central to this derision is millionaire entertainer, Tyler Perry. A figure perhaps less well known outside the USA, Perry is known for writing, acting and directing works based on average African-American families, often resorting to racial stereotypes – the downtrodden husband; the sassy matriarch (often played by Perry himself – think Mrs Brown’s Boys for American audiences) – and Jackson doesn’t hold back in lacerating and inverting the expectations of what modern ‘Black’ entertainment should look like. Similarly, Usher’s sexuality is constantly under scrutiny, with taboo subjects regularly intruding his thoughts (eg. his father repeatedly asks if Usher wants to have sex with him, or whether he has HIV). Jackson also inspects the ways that the gay community are not immune from prejudice and propagating issues such as the fetishization of cultural identities and body-shaming - as seen in Usher’s internalized self-loathing concerning his appearance. The show pulls no punches, and addresses uncomfortable issues with humour and pathos.

Jackson is able to package an array of conflicting emotions all in one song, one of them which shows the breadth of his genius being ‘Periodically’. It starts off as a phone call from Usher’s mother to wish him a happy birthday and to say she loves him, before the gates then open to a relentless homophobic tirade. Lyrics such as “All of these Hollywood homosexuals” are sung to an upbeat, jaunty melody, before the song then pulls back to a slower piano melody. The song is uncannily brought to life by John-Andrew Morrison as Usher’s God-fearing mother. His performance (which was nominated for a Tony) shows their love and pain alongside their prejudice. And at the end of the show, Usher writes the gospel play his mother has always wanted him to write. Thrillingly realised by Stephen Brackett’s production and Arnulfo Maldonado’s design, the stage opens up to reveal his family home in a scene reminiscent of ‘Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue’ from Fun Home, or perhaps even the contrived sitcom bonhomie of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview. This scene culminates in the gob-smacking and epic satirical ‘Precious Little Dream / AIDS is God's Punishment’. Much of the show's emotional heft comes from Usher’s fractious relationship with his parents. The line between autobiography and fiction is blurred, Jackson once again playing with the idea of multiple versions of self.

We saw A Strange Loop on the day its closure was announced. Despite its fairly short Broadway run, the show has made its mark on musical theatre history. I hope it’s not the last we see of it or Jackson’s musical writing talents.

A Strange Loop plays at the Lyceum Theatre, New York until 15^th January, 2023

The company of A Strange Loop. Credit: Marc J. Franklin

Almost Famous

 Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, New York

15^th October, 2022 (Preview)

“It’s over. All over”

There’s been a string of screen-to-stage adaptations on Broadway in recent years. From indie films that have made it big on The Great White Way (The Band’s Visit, Waitress) to Hollywood favourites which hope to appeal to a broader tourist market (Beetlejuice, Moulin Rouge!). It’s now the turn of Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical movie Almost Famous (2000) to receive the Broadway treatment. The result is an entertaining and very watchable new musical which is let down by a feeling that it’s being constantly pulled in different directions.

It’s 1973 and rock critic Lester Bangs (Rob Colletti) has proclaimed Rock ‘n’ Roll is dead. Cynical of its commerciality, self-importance and lack of soul, it’s a bold statement from Rolling Stones magazine’s most influential writer. He then meets 15-year-old superfan William Miller: he’s learnt every riff, listened to every album, and memorised every guitar solo. Eager to please, he lies about his age and bags a task interviewing the band Stillwater (think Ozzy Osbourne-esque hair and British accents).  Miller’s naïve persistency gives him a backstage pass to follow Stillwater on tour. The life of a groupie – sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, or rather planes, veins and automobiles – provides Miller with a moment of exhilaration which quickly fades. Though the idea of ‘no attachments and no boundaries’ may sound worry-free it also leaves Miller directionless. The one rule he's given, ‘don’t make friends with the band’, is one he can’t resist and he soon finds himself falling for fellow groupie Penny Lane.

There’s a lot to enjoy in Almost Famous. Crowe’s book has a sense of drive which moves the story along with purpose. There’s also a clear sense of conflict between the teenager’s instinct to be unruly and his mother’s (Anika Larsen) inclination to be sensible which, although basic, is entertaining enough. There’s also a large cast of supporting characters who create some memorable moments, keen on selling a crowd-pleasing show for a wide Broadway audience, which they largely pull off. There’s a lot to enjoy about Derek McLane’s set design too from a lit-up map of the US which marks the band’s journey from state to state, to the more grounded setting of Miller’s home.

I agree with other critics that making the protagonist an on-looker is a flaw. Casey Likes as Miller has a great voice but it’s a shame we don’t get to hear it much. But the main issue with Almost Famous is that the score lacks any cohesion. Tom Kitt’s new songs are a hodgepodge of 70s rock pastiche for the band’s onstage numbers and more traditional musical theatre numbers which advance character. The best of these is ‘The Night Time Sky’s Got Nothing on You’, a duet between Penny Lane and band member Russell Hammond. Beautifully performed by Solea Pfeiffer and Chris Wood, the song gets to the core what the groupie and the rock star desire about the other’s lives: “The way you turn a hotel into a home… the way the notes you play make a play for my heart”. And for those audience members who haven’t seen the movie (like myself), jukebox numbers like the rousing Act One closing number (Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer’) come as a pleasant surprise but don’t make much dramaturgical sense.

Jeremy Herrin’s production is busy. From our vantage point on the front row of the stalls, we could even see the organised chaos in the wings where stage managers’ tracks are choreographed down to a tee. Tables and chairs are hoisted into the rafters to be stored, and a stadium fire exit (part of the set) has to be used as an actual door for actors to reach the stage. The on-stage business is just as lively. From rock stars jumping from rooftops in slow-motion to tour bus singalongs and planes nose-diving in a storm. And in one fast-paced sequence, the cast crash through a series of moving doors as if to depict the nightly slog of navigating backstage corridors on an arena tour. If the effect of this is that, like all good road movies, the show is constantly moving, the downside is that it’s frenetic (although I’m sure this tightened up later in previews).

It’s a pity the show hasn’t found its audience as it’s just announced it’s due to close in January. But for rock fans and musical theatre fans, Almost Famous will provide a few hours of escapism over the festive period.

Almost Famous is playing at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York until 8^th January, 2023.

 

Casey Likes and the cast of Almost Famous. Credit:  Krista Schlueter

Tammy Faye

 Almeida, London

16^th November 2023, matinee

“He’s inside Tammy and he’s inside Jim”

Theatre lovers have whispered rumours for years about Elton John’s long-awaited Tammy Faye musical. Following the success of the recent Oscar-winning film based on the Televangelist’s life, audiences’ appetites had been well and truly whetted. You could say it’s been a varied year for Elton – the first newly staged revival of Billy Elliot opened at Curve to rave reviews back in July, while the songwriter’s recent adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada was by all accounts underwhelming. So, where does Tammy Faye sit on the 2022 success scale? While not quite as emotionally engaging or instantly lovable as Billy, the musical is polished, witty and has enough catchy tunes to warrant further life.

James Graham’s book frames the piece as a memory play. We begin with an ailing Tammy (Katie Brayben) being given a bleak prognosis by her doctor, although Tammy, the eternal optimist, can’t help but use the opportunity to crack jokes at her own expense. We subsequently travel back through the years as Tammy remembers the ups and downs of her extraordinary career. For a British audience the world of televangelism seems utterly alien – a mix of religious fanaticism and cloyingly American cheeriness, earnestness and bravura. Yet the human stories beneath in this madcap veneer of zealousness are engaging and intriguing.

Together with her husband, Jim Bakker (Andrew Rannells), Tammy Faye creates her own PTL (Praise The Lord) tv chat show – think This Morning with added piety (and puppets!) – and soon climbs the ladder of success to prove her doubters wrong. Chief among these doubters is Zubin Varla’s old-school Jerry Falwell, who thinks that religion is a strictly serious business, and believes the word of God should be preached by a series of grey men in grey suits. And while Tammy may seem the very antithesis of ‘serious’, we never doubt her faith and she doesn’t shy away from broaching taboo subjects – as seen in her famous interview with AIDS patient Steve Pieters. While the musical perhaps sentimentalises this moment (Tammy hugs Steve, when in reality the interview was conducted via video link), the evident bias towards Bakker fits with the memory play structure; we are seeing Tammy as she sees herself – a selfless beacon of virtue. Bakker is very much the victim according to this version of events. She is clueless when it comes to the financial scam orchestrated by her husband, wherein viewers are persuaded to part with their cash in order to reserve their place in the PTL ‘home’ and promised theme park as laid out in the high kitsch number ‘God’s House/Heritage USA’. Yes, it’s difficult to believe that someone shrewd enough to climb the fame ladder can be so naïve, but this can be forgiven thanks to the nostalgic perspective of our protagonist. Even Bakker’s famed over-the-top aesthetic is toned down here in comparison with other portrayals.

The creative team do a great job of bringing to life these outlandish characters without turning them into caricatures. We sympathise with Tammy when Jim is found to have sexually assaulted a fan (although it would have been nice to see a little more from victim, Jessica Hahn’s perspective here), and her optimism and strength are wondrous. As expected, John and Shears have written some cracking torch songs for their heroine, namely the Act One finale ‘Empty Hands’ and the empowering ballad ‘If You Came To See Me Cry’. Katie Brayben excels during these moments, pouring her heart out and giving her all in a performance that is bound to garner many nominations come awards season. Other musical highlights include ‘Satellite of God’, a ‘Stars’-esque number sung by a stoic Jerry Falwell, and the cutesy duet ‘Light of Love’, sung by the young Jim and Tammy when the world was their oyster and both their love and piety seemed most sincere.

Goold’s direction is solid, making the most of the kitsch subject matter without becoming too gaudy. While the show fits nicely on the intimate Almeida stage, I can’t help but think this has been designed and directed with bigger spaces in mind. Bunny Christie sets events against a large television gameshow-like backdrop, complete with sliding windows through which characters pop up and offer commentary. The show also has a large roster of characters populating the stage, which helps in creating the sweeping feel to the saga. The cast are generally excellent, with Brayben, Rannells and Varla particularly well cast in their roles.

The world of Tammy Faye Bakker is a marvel, and we’re encouraged to gawp and titter at the bizarre fantasy land on display, but the jokes are never mean and the action is peppered with a pathos that reminds us that these are real people and real events. While it may not be to everyone’s taste I loved Graham’s ending to the play. I won’t say much more so as not to spoil it, but it is both a surprising and touchingly fitting finale to the Tammy Faye story. This show will get a further life. When, who knows. But I have faith…

Tammy Faye played at the Almeida until 3^rd December.

 

Andrew Rannells and Katie Brayben in Tammy Faye. Credit: Marc Brenner