Curtains

‘Curtains’ is one of the lesser known Kander and Ebb creations and yet undoubtedly requires the same level of commitment in performance and energy as the better known ‘Cabaret ‘ and ‘Chicago’. Wymsical Theatre did not fail in fulfilling this commitment, demonstrated by the obvious hard work that had been invested in the production. 

Set in 1959 Boston, Massachusetts the show is a send-up of backstage murder, mystery plots and follows the fallout when the leading lady, the supremely untalented star of Rob' Hood of the Old West is murdered during her opening night curtain call. It is up to Lt. Frank Cioffi, a police detective who moonlights as a musical theatre fan to solve the case, save the show, and maybe even find love before the show reopens.

‘Lt. Frank Cioffi’ is central to the unwinding plot and this is convincingly played and sang by Eddie Thomas. He believes that the leading lady is murdered by one of the company and so enforces a ‘lock-down’ whilst a new leading lady is found and rehearsals restart. ‘Georgia’ the company lyricist is selected and played by Ella Sutton with great presence and a strong voice.  Both are supported by a long list of talented youngsters including Morgan Wolseley-Charles (‘Bobby Pepper’), Rachel Tudor (‘Jenny Harmon’), Will McCrea (‘Harv’), Beth Bullas (‘Bambi’), Matthew Street (‘Oscar’), Lizzie Jones (‘Nicki’). So too is Laurie Standish Hayes (‘Aaron Fox’) who sang ‘I Miss the Music’ with great feeling and Adam Blakemore as the theatre critic ‘Daryl Grady’ captured the typical essence of the press to either make or break a show, not without some amusing moments.

There were some great ensemble numbers including ‘Thataway’ at the end of Act 1, ‘He Did it’ and ‘In the Same Boat ‘(1 & 2) sang by Ella, Lizzie and Beth / Morgan, Sam Nield & Will, respectively. A great range of choreography and some superb costumes provided some other memorable highlights.

In support of the youngsters, the production team of the ‘show within the show’ added depth to the overall result with the feisty ‘Carmen Bernstein’ played with great strength by Pamela Watkins, ‘Sidney Bernstein’ (the producer you love to hate) played by Richard Taylor, with Kingsley Roberts (‘Christopher Belling’) and Stephen Watkins (MD & Sasha Iljinsky) in support.

The set was simple but effective and the orchestra played with great pace adding atmosphere to the era in which the show was set. The whole cast and crew should be pleased with the result and I look forward to other productions by this talented group.

 

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