...For turning a practically perfect production of one of the greatest musicals ever written into something boring, lifeless and second-rate at The Bristol Hippodrome.
The show was incredible at the Barbican back in the summer. Paulo Szot, Samantha Womack, Loretta Ables Sayre, Daniel Koek and everyone in the cast gave brilliant performances, that really were perfect.
Fast forward three months, and Emile is being played by Jason Howard - more wooden than a shed. No, scratch that. He's not just wooden, he simply just can not act. He just does not have the ability to act. There was no emotion in the lines, superficial understanding of the text, and he treated the songs as if he was in concert. Some of the best songs ever written for the stage had become boring, pointless and out of place. Every single time he spoke, it was as if he was saying "I'M AN OPERA SINGER." His singing was not even that impressive. Quite nice, yes, but gone are the exquisite legato lines and the incredible dynamic and emotional range brought to the role by Mr. Szot. "This Nearly Was Mine" was nowhere near to bringing down the house. Gone too was the incredible chemistry between Emile and Nellie (played by Samantha Womack). Samantha looked like she was as annoyed with him as I was.
Also a shame, is that Samantha Womack has gone from a brilliantly fresh, daring and edgy interpretation of her character to simply phoning her performance in. She went through the motions, and gave an OK performance, but the poignant acting was now no better than found in a soap opera, and the singing (though never as good as Kelli O'Hara's) was now annoyingly nasal. Her main high point was "Honey Bun", where she did seem to come alive (thankfully).
"This Nearly Was Mine"...The incredible Paulo Szot.
The performances of Loretta Ables Sayre, Daniel Koek and the rest of the ensemble (especially the sailors, who performed an amazing "There Is Nothin' Like A Dame) were still as amazing and as energetic as they were in London. It really is a treat to watch those actors perform. Unfortunately, however, when your leading man and leading lady aren't up to par, the entire show begins to fall flat.
Adding to this, was the loss of 7 members of the orchestra as the show has moved to tour. It was inevitable that this would happen, but a shame, as this score really deserves a full orchestra. Fortunately though, there's not too much of an impact on the overall sound, though the other players would have been a much-needed luxury to sweeten the hard bargain we were receiving on-stage.
Bitterly disappointed with this. I can only hope the show picks itself up when it comes to Cardiff next year, and brings with it Matthew Cammelle as Emile.
3*
3*
(On a side note, the Bristol Hippodrome was a really poor place to be last night. They were severely understaffed, and the staff that were there seemed to be more concerned with selling ice-cream. The (many) disabled and elderly members of the audience were not receiving a good enough service, and it's not acceptable from an important a theatre as the Hippodrome, where front of house is normally so good. Annoying too, was the horrible audience who talked/coughed/ate sweets to the EXTREME for the entire show).
