Curtains The Musical
Sunderland Empire
Tuesday 21 - Saturday 25 January
2020
Jason Manford stars in a comedy musical about a murder in
the opening night of a musical in Boston, USA. Original songs and pacy
direction combine with a good sense of humour to make a wonderful night at the
theatre...even if one of the songs has a go at people who review theatre!
It is 1959. Robin Hood is a western musical with a problem:
a drunk star Jessica Cranshaw (Nia Jermin) that keeps forgetting what she
should be doing. The cast keep supporting her during the opening night but the
show stinks. She collapses after taking her bow and is rushed to hospital.
The shows notices arrive and the reviews are not good at
all. The producer sees the indisposed star as a chance to reboot the show with
the lyricist in the lead. Then the news comes via the arriving detective
Lieutenant Frank Cioffi (Jason Manford): the star was murdered by cyanide
capsule and this is now a murder scene.
Curtains then focuses mainly on the rewriting and rehearsal
for the reopening rather than much of the interrogation. This helped in part by
the policeman 's love of musical theatre- after all he had been to see Robin
Hood in preview.
As is often the case,
many of the characters are caricatures of stage types. The money
grabbing producers Carmen and Sidney Bernstein (Rebecca Lock & understudy
Thomas -Lee Kidd), the egocentric director Christopher Belling (Samuel Holmes),
the ambitious understudy Bambi (Emma Caffrey) and the quarreling writers Georgia Hendricks and Aaron Fox (Carley
Stenson & Ore Oduba). You also have the more naive understudy - and love
interest Niki Harris (Leah Barbara West). Having said that - these larger than
life characters work well in the comedic sense.
The choreography is tight but the set design and changes
are tighter. There are some great big musical numbers with lively dancing, as
befits a 50s musical, but it is the quick set changes which flip the direction of the action on the stage that is a feature
of the show.
There is a live band that not only plays the score for the
musical numbers but also provides some of the sounds of the rehearsals too. The
accompany some great songs: What Kind of Man? And It’s A Business stood out in particular and
in Coffee Shop Nights, Jason Manford shows that he can hold his own when it
comes to singing too. Jason is more than a name on the posters to sell tickets
- he acts and sings well and doesn’t feel out of place on the stage.
No spoilers here of course plenty of incidents occur in the
shows running time of just under 3 hours including interval. The lack of tension in the script is made up
for in punchy songs and comedy. The reveal was a surprise but I never work
these things out.
This is a nice funny
musical show which I liked. In fact, I might just keep my eye out for the cast
recording.
Photos: Richard Davenport
Creatives:
Music - John Kander
Lyrics - Fred Ebb
John Kander (additional lyrics)
Rupert Holmes (additional lyrics)
Book - Rupert Holmes
Based upon - Curtains by Peter Stone
Director - Paul Foster
Choreographer - Alistair David
Musical director - Alex Beetschen
Suitable for ages 12+
Tickets:
Tickets can be obtained from the theatre box office and
online from our affiliates ATG Tickets: https://prf.hn/l/7EODBN6
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Booking fees may apply to telephone and online bookings.
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