Original
URL: http://www.whatsonstage.co.uk
The Witches
of Eastwick
at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
By
Mark Shenton What's On Stage
LONDON - The
Phantom of the Opera has its plummeting chandelier; Miss Saigon
had the levitating helicopter. At the spectacular end of Act One, The
Witches of Eastwick take flight - literally. But the musical that contains
this scene is also, happily, airborne in other respects, too, rather than
stillborn, as far too many recent shows have been. It stands out as something
original yet familiar, contemporary yet old-fashioned. And, I almost forgot
to add, both fun and entertaining.
In an age
when musicals have become increasingly joyless, its refreshing, indeed,
to be reminded by this show of what they used to be like. Not for nothing
did they used to get called musical comedies; and not for nothing is this
show being billed one.
In fact,
it's as if Adler and Ross's 1955 Broadway classic Damn Yankees has
been dusted down for a contemporary sensibility. The heady brew of baseball
glory that the devil (Mr Applegate in that show) uses as bait is re-stirred
by the same satanic force (re-labelled Darryl van Horne here) with the
promise delivered, first and foremost, of great sex to its three frustrated
heroines.
It's a winning
formula, and also refreshingly adult. John Dempsey's literate and witty
script and lyrics travel a grown-up path that actually takes its characters,
as well as the audience, on a journey that goes somewhere. Based on John
Updike's 1984 novel, best known for the film version made of it a few years
later, it tells of the strange effects that the arrival of that stranger,
van Horne, has on a small New England town, and in particular to the trio
of longtime female friends.
And Dana
P Rowe's musically alert and pleasingly tuneful score also performs a rare
task in musical theatre nowadays: to charm and disarm in equal measures.
It's instantly accessible yet full of insistent character motifs and dissonant
chords that are actually properly motivated. There's none of the standard
generic writing that occurs today where songs could be completely interchangeable
between characters, scenes and situations.
Eric Schaeffer's
smart production is full of visual delight and imagination, courtesy of
designer Bob Crowley and a cast and chorus that are attractive in all the
right ways. They also give some terrific performances. Though Ian McShane's
Darryl van Horne is vocally a little challenged by the score's demands
on him, he has the right charismatic appeal: at once insinuatingly attractive
yet also oddly repellent. Joanna Riding confirms the promise she has long
demonstrated in such National musicals as Carousel and Guys and
Dolls to effortlessly steal the show from her rivals, Broadway's Lucie
Arnaz (in a nicely understated performance) and Maria Friedman (in an overstated
one that seems to take its cue from the show's final number, "Look at Me").
Rosemary Ashe also does a typically funny and terrifically scene-stealing
turn as the town's sour gossip.
But, and
this is the true test of a musical that works, the show turns out to be
more than the sum of its parts, rather than the usual less. It provides
a satisfyingly robust evening of musical storytelling. |
