Once again, as several times before in my theatre-going, I find myself resorting to the image of a cook whipping up a souffle -- light, airy, fluffy, and tasty as can be. But if anything goes wrong, the souffle will collapse and come out of the oven with all the fluff of a solid lump of dough.
Me and My Girl, the featured musical show on the Shaw Festival's largest stage, is a souffle. It contains no deep moral lessons to speak of. It's a show in which the book serves only as a framework to get us from one song and dance to the next, albeit the book does so very entertainingly. And it's the kind of show that will land with the dull thud of a flop if it's taken too seriously.
That fate -- the collapse of the souffle -- certainly doesn't overtake this production!
The show, as we now see it, is actually a multi-layered hybrid. The original London production of 1937, with music by Noel Gay and book and lyrics by Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber became a hit after the BBC broadcast a segment of the show which included a catchy dance tune, The Lambeth Walk. In no time, dance steps were invented to go with the song and the craze swept London and all the rest of the country too. Throughout its original London run the show kept getting adjusted, with songs added and dropped here and there.
In the early 1980s, Stephen Fry wrote a new and stronger book to go with the original music, keeping the original formula of the cockney who unexpectedly inherits a peerage and adding some more songs by Noel Gay from other shows (most notably Leaning on a Lamp Post). This new version opened in London in 1985 and ran there for eight years, plus a three-year run on Broadway and a touring company around North America which starred Tim Curry.
This tells you something really important about the show. It's a thoroughly British entertainment, and experts often state that such material doesn't travel well. But Me and My Girl is very much the exception to that particular "rule."
I saw that London production, and was thoroughly captivated by it. The score has a number of songs that are all first-class earworms, with The Lambeth Walk foremost among them. I heard the song during that one performance, and then didn't hear it again for over a quarter of a century -- but I was humming the catchy tune to myself as I walked into the theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake the other night! (All my further comments are now related to the current version and production.)
The key challenge in presenting this musical is the requirement for not one, not even the conventional two, but three leading couples. And this is where the strong ensemble of the Shaw Festival really pays off. There's not a single weak link among the six leads, and around them is gathered a supporting cast of first-rate singer-dancer-actors.
As Bill Snibson, the cockney who unexpectedly gets elevated to the peerage as the Earl of Hareford (sic), Michael Therriault gave a gymnastically athletic performance. The numerous complex stunts and pratfalls gave plenty of energy to his scenes. Vocally, both his singing and speaking voice stuck firmly to the cockney accent at all times.
Sally Smith, his equally cockney girlfriend, was played with plenty of fire and go by Kristi Frank. Her accent didn't stick quite as firmly as one would like in her singing, but she definitely has a way with a slow ballad, and a beautiful singing voice to boot.
The young aristocrats of the story, the Honourable Gerald Bolingbroke and Lady Jacqueline Carstone, were played by Kyle Blair and Elodie Gillett as two sides of the same coin. As so often in stories dating from this period, these children of a thousand earls were shallow and self-centred. It was particularly intriguing to watch as Gillett, who I've seen playing romantic heroines before, turned into a self-assured spoiled brat of an anti-heroine. With both of these actors, you can take the quality of both singing and dancing as a given, but even they excelled themselves in the vigorous tap-dance that opens Act II.
Last and by no means least, Sharry Flett as the Duchess of Dene and Ric Reid as Sir John Tremayne. At the outset, these two appear to be in contention over the body and soul of Bill Snibson, with the Duchess determined to bring him up to standard as a nobleman and Sir John equally determined to push him out the door.
In a series of beautifully nuanced scenes, these two gradually moved towards each other's point of view, at the same time as they gradually let us see that they had been secretly in love for a long time. Both also did splendid vocal work in their singing numbers. Flett in particular brought down the house with hilarious backup from the men of the ensemble in the stately march-like anthem of Song of Hareford. I'm not going to say how it was done -- this number all by itself makes the show a total must-see!
Aside from the three leading couples, Jay Turvey gave a fussy, preening performance (and several encores) of his song about The Family Solicitor -- one of the many running gags in the show.
Jeremiah Sparks generated laughs as the elderly Sir Jasper Tring, complete with antique ear-trumpet to supplement his hearing. He also did a lovely job of his unexpected little dance number.
Neil Barclay was properly pompous and dignified as the butler, Hethersett. He has few lines in the show, but every one of them was a perfectly timed comic payoff.
Although there are a number of other named characters, they're all basically interchangeable and might just as well be considered ensemble. Every one, big and small, was presented with care.
Choreographer Parker Esse's ensemble dance numbers, and there are many, were all executed with verve and energy to spare, effectively creating much of the feeling of a joyful romp which leaves the theatre with everyone at the show's conclusion.
Stage director Ashlie Corcoran made effective use of the entire stage in the Festival Theatre, while Drew Facey's minimalist revolving set provided all kinds of useful acting areas without overwhelming the performance.
If I had a bone to pick anywhere (and it's only a small one), it would be with the musical direction. Paul Sportelli undoubtedly prepared and led a high-energy, musically accomplished performance throughout the show. What got a bit tedious, for me, was how many of the songs (all similar in musical structure) were done at what seemed to be the exact identical tempo. I don't think that happened in the London production of 30 years ago, and this performance would be well served by building in a little more variety of the musical pacing.
But that's a detail. The sum total of this show is far greater than the individual parts would suggest, excellent as they are. It's one of the most lively, entertaining musicals I've seen on stage in many a year. Don't hesitate. Go! See it! I think I can guarantee that you, too, will walk out of the theatre singing The Lambeth Walk at the end of the evening. Me and My Girl continues at the Shaw Festival until October 15.
In the early 1980s, Stephen Fry wrote a new and stronger book to go with the original music, keeping the original formula of the cockney who unexpectedly inherits a peerage and adding some more songs by Noel Gay from other shows (most notably Leaning on a Lamp Post). This new version opened in London in 1985 and ran there for eight years, plus a three-year run on Broadway and a touring company around North America which starred Tim Curry.
This tells you something really important about the show. It's a thoroughly British entertainment, and experts often state that such material doesn't travel well. But Me and My Girl is very much the exception to that particular "rule."
I saw that London production, and was thoroughly captivated by it. The score has a number of songs that are all first-class earworms, with The Lambeth Walk foremost among them. I heard the song during that one performance, and then didn't hear it again for over a quarter of a century -- but I was humming the catchy tune to myself as I walked into the theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake the other night! (All my further comments are now related to the current version and production.)
The key challenge in presenting this musical is the requirement for not one, not even the conventional two, but three leading couples. And this is where the strong ensemble of the Shaw Festival really pays off. There's not a single weak link among the six leads, and around them is gathered a supporting cast of first-rate singer-dancer-actors.
As Bill Snibson, the cockney who unexpectedly gets elevated to the peerage as the Earl of Hareford (sic), Michael Therriault gave a gymnastically athletic performance. The numerous complex stunts and pratfalls gave plenty of energy to his scenes. Vocally, both his singing and speaking voice stuck firmly to the cockney accent at all times.
Sally Smith, his equally cockney girlfriend, was played with plenty of fire and go by Kristi Frank. Her accent didn't stick quite as firmly as one would like in her singing, but she definitely has a way with a slow ballad, and a beautiful singing voice to boot.
The young aristocrats of the story, the Honourable Gerald Bolingbroke and Lady Jacqueline Carstone, were played by Kyle Blair and Elodie Gillett as two sides of the same coin. As so often in stories dating from this period, these children of a thousand earls were shallow and self-centred. It was particularly intriguing to watch as Gillett, who I've seen playing romantic heroines before, turned into a self-assured spoiled brat of an anti-heroine. With both of these actors, you can take the quality of both singing and dancing as a given, but even they excelled themselves in the vigorous tap-dance that opens Act II.
Last and by no means least, Sharry Flett as the Duchess of Dene and Ric Reid as Sir John Tremayne. At the outset, these two appear to be in contention over the body and soul of Bill Snibson, with the Duchess determined to bring him up to standard as a nobleman and Sir John equally determined to push him out the door.
In a series of beautifully nuanced scenes, these two gradually moved towards each other's point of view, at the same time as they gradually let us see that they had been secretly in love for a long time. Both also did splendid vocal work in their singing numbers. Flett in particular brought down the house with hilarious backup from the men of the ensemble in the stately march-like anthem of Song of Hareford. I'm not going to say how it was done -- this number all by itself makes the show a total must-see!
Aside from the three leading couples, Jay Turvey gave a fussy, preening performance (and several encores) of his song about The Family Solicitor -- one of the many running gags in the show.
Jeremiah Sparks generated laughs as the elderly Sir Jasper Tring, complete with antique ear-trumpet to supplement his hearing. He also did a lovely job of his unexpected little dance number.
Neil Barclay was properly pompous and dignified as the butler, Hethersett. He has few lines in the show, but every one of them was a perfectly timed comic payoff.
Although there are a number of other named characters, they're all basically interchangeable and might just as well be considered ensemble. Every one, big and small, was presented with care.
Choreographer Parker Esse's ensemble dance numbers, and there are many, were all executed with verve and energy to spare, effectively creating much of the feeling of a joyful romp which leaves the theatre with everyone at the show's conclusion.
Stage director Ashlie Corcoran made effective use of the entire stage in the Festival Theatre, while Drew Facey's minimalist revolving set provided all kinds of useful acting areas without overwhelming the performance.
If I had a bone to pick anywhere (and it's only a small one), it would be with the musical direction. Paul Sportelli undoubtedly prepared and led a high-energy, musically accomplished performance throughout the show. What got a bit tedious, for me, was how many of the songs (all similar in musical structure) were done at what seemed to be the exact identical tempo. I don't think that happened in the London production of 30 years ago, and this performance would be well served by building in a little more variety of the musical pacing.
But that's a detail. The sum total of this show is far greater than the individual parts would suggest, excellent as they are. It's one of the most lively, entertaining musicals I've seen on stage in many a year. Don't hesitate. Go! See it! I think I can guarantee that you, too, will walk out of the theatre singing The Lambeth Walk at the end of the evening. Me and My Girl continues at the Shaw Festival until October 15.
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