Tag Archives: Charing Cross Theatre

MARIE CURIE – THE MUSICAL

★★★

Charing Cross Theatre

MARIE CURIE – THE MUSICAL at Charing Cross Theatre

★★★

“The music is the highlight, even though it often feels it belongs to another story.”

Marie Curie, née Maria Salomea Sklodowska, is remembered for her discovery of radium and polonium (the latter named after her native Poland); and for her huge contribution to finding treatments for cancer. The latter is what she is generally celebrated for, along with the hospital and charity that bear her name. Less is probably known about her years of obsessive scientific research and the opposition and misogyny she faced while trying to get her name onto the periodic table. The science goes over most people’s heads, whereas the enduring image is of Marie, buttoned up to the neck in black, gazing unsmiling into the camera.

An unlikely subject for a musical. But composer Jongyoon Choi and librettist Seeun Choun obviously decided to give it a go. After making the finals of the ‘Glocal Musical Live’ competition in Korea it secured funding and eventually premiered in Seoul in 2018. Apparently, Tom Ramsay’s English adaptation (with lyrics translated by Emma Fraser) marks the first time a Korean musical is staged in English.

There are elements to this musical that would have many a physicist scratching their head. Its essence is not instantly discoverable despite condensing Marie’s story into a one act musical. It concentrates on her relocation to Paris, charting her struggle to fit into a man’s world. The narrative follows her research and discoveries, the adverse and tragic effects of these discoveries and the subsequent battles against corporate baddies. The love interest is supplied by fellow scientist and husband, Pierre Curie, although it is a bit of a cold fusion. The passion is reserved for the chemical elements, with love songs titled ‘Radium Paradise’ (parts one and two no less). In fact, the show could have been called ‘Radium: The Musical’.

 

 

It opens at the end with Marie’s daughter, Irène (Lucy Young), reading her mother’s memoirs while Ailsa Davidson’s spectral, black-clad Marie watches. Davidson’s fine, pure voice sits well on the lush strings of the prologue as she guides the story back to the start. Rose Montgomery’s changeable set is with her every step of the way, from the train carriage as it pulls into Paris, to the laboratories and the factories. On the journey, Marie meets fellow Pole, Anne Kowalska (Chrissie Bhima), a lowly factory worker who later becomes the voice of justice and moral reasoning. It takes a while to get there, though, with the bulk of the show comprising a song cycle leading up to Marie’s discovery of radium.

The tone darkens when the destructive side of radium manifests itself. Initially used as luminous paint for watches and clock dials, the painters were instructed to lick their brushes to give them a fine point. It didn’t take long for this practice to lead to a sharp peak in the death rate among the workers. Covered up as a syphilis outbreak (did they really think they could get away with that?), the factory boss (Richard Meek) finds himself at loggerheads with Marie.

It is refreshing to see the story focus on a relatively short time span rather than attempting to create an epic chronicle of the woman’s life. It lends a human touch, steering the piece away from docudrama. Marie’s later years and achievements are glossed over during the finale. We might not learn a great deal that we already didn’t know but instead we are joyously swept along by Jongyoon Choi’s sumptuous score, rich in violins, cellos and clarinet. The music is the highlight, even though it often feels it belongs to another story. Choi’s compositions are indeed stirring, yet the lyrics and subject matter don’t always echo the passion.

The passion, however, is undeniable in the performances, and we also come away with some pertinent reminders of the historical struggle of women with a society against them. But despite the beauty of the score, and Emma Fraser’s arrangements, there is a sense that this story belongs more to the spoken word.

 


MARIE CURIE – THE MUSICAL at Charing Cross Theatre

Reviewed on 7th June 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

BRONCO BILLY – THE MUSICAL | ★★★ | January 2024
SLEEPING BEAUTY TAKES A PRICK! | ★★★★ | November 2023
REBECCA | ★★★★ | September 2023
GEORGE TAKEI’S ALLEGIANCE | ★★★★ | January 2023
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY | ★★★★ | November 2022
THE MILK TRAIN DOESN’T STOP HERE ANYMORE | ★★★ | October 2022
RIDE | ★★★★★ | August 2022
VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE | ★★★ | November 2021

MARIE CURIE

MARIE CURIE

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

 

BRONCO BILLY – THE MUSICAL

★★★

Charing Cross Theatre

BRONCO BILLY – THE MUSICAL at Charing Cross Theatre

★★★

“it has the thrill of a fairground ride that plants an irresistible smile on our faces as we bravely hang on”

Welcome to the Wild West. It’s not a place on the map, but a place in your heart – or rather Bronco Billy’s heart. A world that tells you that you don’t belong, you ‘gotta’ be strong, and never give up on your dreams. You can be anything you want. Or so it seems. But just in case you missed the greeting card message, it is repeated in verse, prose, rhythm and rhyme many a time over the next couple of hours.

Billy (Tarinn Callender) is a Brooklyn born go-getter, reinvented as a gun-slinging, gun-toting, gun-firing cowboy. A damaged Vietnam veteran he conceals his purple heart, but wears his real one on his sleeve. And it turns out his heart is as big as his personality. Callender is immensely likeable and engaging as the leader of his rag-taggle travelling troupe, performing their Wild West show across America. Part vaudeville, part circus, and wholly chaotic, these cowboys are as ramshackle as the tour bus that is their home.

It is difficult to place them in time. We could be on the frontier in the seventeenth century, or in the depression era of the 1920s, but a casual reference to Margaret Thatcher’s rise to power across the pond places us firmly in 1979. Likewise, Chip Rosenbloom and John Torres’ score wanders the wheat fields and Hillbilly highways in search of a hook; visiting the Grand Ole Opry before rocking up in the disco hostels of the Village People. And we’re back in the seventies. It’s a bumpy ride for sure; coherence hanging by a thread and plausibility in tatters. Yet it has the thrill of a fairground ride that plants an irresistible smile on our faces as we bravely hang on.

Based on the 1980 Clint Eastwood comedy-drama, original scriptwriter Dennis Hackman has adapted and updated the story for the stage, enlisting Rosenbloom and Torres, with additional lyrics courtesy of Michele Brourman. Billy and his company are en route to Hollywood chasing their dream opportunity. But back in New York chocolate heiress Antoinette Lily (Emily Benjamin) is running for her life from her family who have thirty days to make sure she is dead and buried so they can commandeer her inheritance. The two meet by chance at a gas station. Antoinette changes her name to Lily Rose and joins the travelling show and they embark on a will-they-won’t-they romance. The pantomime villains are in hot pursuit led by the wicked stepmother Constance (Victoria Hamilton-Barritt) and hired hitman Sinclair St Clair (Alexander McMorran).

“What draws the most attention are the vocal performances, which is where the principals shine”

Hunter Bird’s upbeat production is as pacey as they get, but somehow feels laboured, not quite sure in which direction it is heading. Stumbling on slapstick and tripping up on clichés that roll like tumbleweed across the dusty terrain towards its predictable finale. Overacting is the keyword, with Hamilton-Barritt, surprisingly, the main culprit. The sideshow players are more nuanced, most notably Karen Mavundukure’s powerhouse ringmaster Doc Blue, and triple threat Helen K Wint as Lorraine who keeps one step ahead of the rest.

What draws the most attention are the vocal performances, which is where the principals shine. Benjamin and Callender – both in fine voice throughout – have the range and refinement to carry the show, culminating in some magical duetting. Hamilton-Barritt delights with some villainous crooning. It is clear that the performers are all having a ball and eventually the audience are infected with the tongue-in-cheek glee that springs from the stage. The second act cranks up the gears, aided throughout by Amy Jane Cook’s revolve set design, centring on the tour bus: a life size box of tricks, ever changing and opening up to reveal the many locations; from the fields of Kansas to the plush New York interiors to the Hollywood film lots.

As ramshackle as Bronco Billy’s Wild West Show, the musical shares Billy’s dreams and ambitions. Like the journey he leads us on, it is a bit of a tough ride, but let’s hope the show doesn’t give up on those dreams. It will get there eventually.


BRONCO BILLY – THE MUSICAL at Charing Cross Theatre

Reviewed on 31st January 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by The Other Richard

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SLEEPING BEAUTY TAKES A PRICK! | ★★★★ | November 2023
REBECCA | ★★★★ | September 2023
GEORGE TAKEI’S ALLEGIANCE | ★★★★ | January 2023
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY | ★★★★ | November 2022
THE MILK TRAIN DOESN’T STOP HERE ANYMORE | ★★★ | October 2022
RIDE | ★★★★★ | August 2022
VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE | ★★★ | November 2021
PIPPIN | ★★★★ | July 2021

BRONCO BILLY

BRONCO BILLY

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page