“Using multi-talented actor musicians, it is in reality a delight to watch throughout”
The premise of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Whistle Down the Wind” is interesting, and quite fun; if not a little implausible. A group of children stumble upon an escaped killer in a barn and through their unwavering belief that he is the Second Coming, they decide to keep his whereabouts a secret from the authorities. Despite being inescapably aware of the townsfolk’s collective hysteria about a murderer being on the loose.
The musical’s book (by Lloyd Webber himself, with Patricia Knop and Gale Edwards) has taken the action Stateside from its humble, English birthplace. The original novel, by Mary Hayley Bell, was set in Sussex while the 1961 film had moved up to Lancashire. We now find ourselves in the heart of the Louisiana Bible Belt. It is the 1950s and religious zeal is as high as the crop in the cornfields. Spearheaded by the adolescent Swallow (Lydia White), the young ones seem to question their elders’ unflinching faith yet refuse to bend from their own fledgling faith. Contradiction seems to be an underlying motif to this story.
The central theme pits the childhood innocence against adult cynicism; young, wide-eyed faith in ‘good’ against the older, blind faith in ‘evil’. Swallow symbolises the former, yet in Tom Jackson Greave’s staging she is too mature to give real credibility to her naive and innocent belief in ‘The Man’ who has unwittingly become Jesus Christ incarnate. White sweeps this worry aside, though, with an energetic and enthralling performance that sees her in customary fine voice.
Musically the show is disjointed, which isn’t necessarily a problem in itself, but in this case it’s hard to understand the shifts in styles. However, there is no denying the quality of music. Each number would pass the Old Grey Whistle test. Lloyd Webber’s theatricality is in full view, framed with influences of gospel, nineties pop, sixties rock, and with reprises and leitmotifs aplenty. And, of course, the mark of the late, great Jim Steinman is stamped indelibly across much of the libretto. “Tire Tracks and Broken Hearts” and “Nature of the Beast” have hot-footed over straight from a Meatloaf gig.
Incongruous to the infectious score is Jackson Greaves’ choreography, much of which feels out of place with the lyrical narrative. The ghost of Swallow’s mother, dancing like a spectral Kate Bush at every conceivable moment is eventually jarring. The intent is clear but unnecessarily overplayed. Similarly overstated is the bible bashing nature of the community. Conversely, the inherent Southern racism of the era is not fully given voice; its mouthpiece confined predominantly to the red neck sheriff – albeit convincingly and masterfully portrayed by the charismatic Toby Webster.
I must confess at this point that I do feel churlish picking at the faults, which are mainly down to the book. For this production is really quite brilliant. Using multi-talented actor musicians, it is in reality a delight to watch throughout. So, hats off to a wonderful cast. ‘The Man’ mistaken for the second coming is indeed a shining star guiding us through the show. Robert Tripolino’s presence and soaring voice fills the auditorium, while his performance remains alluringly intimate. With a twitchy sensitivity that offsets his opportunistic and manipulative pragmatism Tripolino embodies the unpredictability of a man with nothing left to lose. Complemented (rather than supported – this is very much an ensemble piece) by such a strong cast we are steered away from the fault-lines. Lewis Cornay and Chrissie Bhima as the doomed, ‘born-to-run’ teens, Amos and Candy, are an electric duo, while Lloyd Gorman’s fierce yet foibled father figure is a masterful presence.
The musicianship is astounding, led by onstage musical director, Elliot Mackenzie (the manic snake preacher and minister) the ensemble is a dynamic band, shifting from whispering intimacy to orchestral storms while seamlessly swapping instruments with extraordinary sleight of hand. Andrew Exeter’s rich and evocative lighting add to the magic. “Whistle Down the Wind” may have had its fair share of detractors in the past, and it does have its weaknesses, but this revival on the whole highlights its strengths.
Hello, thank you so much for answering our questions today. Why not start by telling us a little bit about yourselves?
Benji: I’m Benji and I’m the Artistic Director of The Bohemians Theatre Company.
Elliot: And I’m Elliot Mackenzie and I’m the Assistant Artistic Director of The Bohemians Theatre Company.
Benji: And we trained at Rose Bruford…
Elliot: We did indeed. We both trained on the Actor Musicianship course at Rose Bruford College…
Why and when did you form The Bohemians?
Elliot: I suppose that’s a bit complicated isn’t it?
Benji: There are so many layers.
Elliot: I suppose we officially launched at The Other Palace with Pardoned in 2018 didn’t we?
Benji: Yes. That was our official launch as a company.
The cast of Pardoned from the company’s launch at The Other Palace
Elliot: So if you were to put a date on it that would be it but the seed had been sown with both of us for some time before that and even longer for you.
Benji: When we were in first year our voice teacher Tess asked us what our dreams were. Mine was to have a theatre company. She asked what it was going to be called and in that moment I came out with ‘The Bohemians’ and it’s stuck ever since.
Elliot: Because we couldn’t think of anything better!
Benji: Yep and because we’re all a bit bonkers. Then throughout our training at Bruford everything fell into place really. We all clicked and liked making theatre together, made our first show Wondertown (main image shows Benji and Elliot in rehearsal) and have gone on to do a couple of other things. It’s been hard since graduating obviously, but we are still ploughing on and still committed to fulfilling our mission to create theatre that puts actor-musicians at the forefront and deals with social issues, and is a bit of fun too…
As actor-musicianship gains more popularity within the industry, more drama schools and universities are offering courses on it. What drew you to the course at Rose Bruford, and how do you feel it’s shaped your careers since?
Elliot: As far as I’m aware it’s sort of one of the founding places to study it – the course director when we were there (Jeremy Harrison) literally wrote the book on it. So that was sort of it from my perspective. Because I came from a musical theatre background, I was always aware that even in the West End there was some sub-par acting, so I wanted to do a course that was more acting-focussed but didn’t lose the connection to music. Yeah, I just like playing instruments…
Benji: I’ve always been someone who wants to try everything so the Actor-Musician course was the perfect thing for me. You not only explore the two disciplines of acting and music and how they relate, but there were many opportunities to compose, musically direct, arrange, write, direct, and produce as part of and alongside the course. When auditioning I realised this was the place for me. The training is very multidisciplinary.
Elliot: With a lot of other courses – in my admittedly limited knowledge of them – it looks like musical theatre with instruments, and where I think Bruford differs is that it teaches actor-musicianship as its own innate craft as a genre of theatre making. It also doesn’t just train actor-musos; it trains writers and composers and theatre makers. Even if you never make another piece of theatre again and you’re only working freelance with other peoples’ ideas, all those skills are massively valuable to you. Though of course it’s the only place I went, and I might have had a great time somewhere else.
Benji: I supposed we are biased. The other courses are quite young so I’m sure as those courses grow, they’ll figure out what actor-musicianship is in their own way as well and it’ll all merge and become a beautiful thing.
Elliot: You also get that heritage when you go to Bruford. You’re part of a thing that’s bigger than you, that’s had years of people doing years of research and trying to work out what the hell it is. You know that from Rose Bruford herself leaving other places and going, ‘I think the voice and the text needs to be valued a lot more’.
Was there ever any concern that studying actor-musicianship would make casting directors turn their noses up at you not studying ‘proper’ acting? Have you experienced any sort of elitism in the industry because of it and how have you dealt with that?
Benji: When I was auditioning for actor-musician courses, someone suggested I might get half of each discipline and not a full experience, but I feel we had a full-blooded experience in both those disciplines packed into three years.
Elliot: I think that’s a misconception about actor-musicianship, that you’re a bit of an actor and a bit of a musician and bit of a musical theatre performer, but that’s the wrong way to look at it. We’re not a bit of any of those, we are a whole of an actor muso.
Benji: And actor-musicians are so in demand. There are so many more shows using actor-musicians at the heart of the creative process. I haven’t experienced any snobbery.
How have the first few years of running a company been? What have been the biggest challenges?
Benji: When you’re at drama school you have the resources of space, time and people at no cost and everyone is there and committed. We left Bruford in a really good place with this company and a portfolio of work, but being in the real world you lose the space, time, and people and you have no money. So it has been challenging, but we have still been able to develop our work and plan things. We are exploring fundraising, funding, and focusing on our business and marketing strategy at the moment.
Elliot: I think the biggest single challenge has been lack of financial support. We’ve produced and directed and devised an entire actor-muso musical and it was a thing. The only thing that stops us from doing that again is money.
Has it been difficult running the company while many of its members are all over the country – and sometimes the world – touring with other shows? What keeps you all together during those times?
Benji: Everyone is still so passionate about the company and the work. Obviously because actor-muso work is so popular, all our company members have been hugely successful and continually working. So it has been a challenge to pin people down, but I still feel so connected to everyone. We did a R&D project in Cornwall last September of Pardoned, our musical about Alan Turing and John Nicholson, and that brought people from all over to work in the Sterts Theatre for a week as one of our company members lives near there. So it’s an advantage having people all over the country as we can go and work where some of our members are.
Elliot: We’ve got members from around the UK and other parts of the world with different backgrounds, and they all go off and travel somewhere for a new gig with a groovy director. That stuff is all experience and ideas and approaches that get fed some way or other back into our work. So while it is a challenge being spread out, it is a great asset to the company. Yes, it’s difficult and makes things harder but it makes the work better as well.
How do you think the use of actor-musicians in a play or musical enhances the theatrical experience?
Benji: There’s the visual aspect and also the visceral connection to seeing instruments being played live. I was listening to an old recording of Ethel Merman, who was in the original Gypsy, singing over an orchestra of maybe 25 with no microphone and you could hear every word. It reminded me of how important the connection between voice and audience is. Sometimes what is being sung and played becomes tinny and artificial with amplified sound, and we lose the connection to the performer. Our shows have mostly been un-amplified and relied on musical directors and arrangers to balance the sound in the room and performance spaces. Actor-musicians definitely add a visual and aural connection that creates a really powerful and truthful experience.
Elliot: There’s a real connection. Nothing is falsified. If you are watching a play with music in it and you’re seeing a guy strumming a chord on a guitar live and in front of you, you have an immediate relationship to that as an audience member. If you hear that same chord played on a speaker, that relationship is lost. It’s bundled up into that idea of ‘Theatre Magic’, that you’re not supposed to see behind the smoke and mirrors. That’s not to say recorded sound doesn’t have its place though.
Do you feel that musical theatre is stigmatised – particularly in the UK? How do you try to tackle those preconceptions with the kind of work that you make?
Benji: I do think it is stigmatised but it’s getting better. I’ve been listening to Adam Lenson’s podcast Dischord which is brilliant. He’s basically a guru in figuring out what musical theatre is. There’s lots of talk about the term musical theatre and how some people use music theatre instead because they want to be taken more seriously. I’m very proud to say we do musicals and actor-musician musicals. I suppose we tackle the preconceptions by creating musicals for and with actor-musicians in mind, as most actor-musician work in musical theatre is revivals with the actor-muso stamp put on them. But I think we are still figuring this out. Adam Lenson has been figuring this out for years and there are lots of layers to it – it’s partly how audiences perceive musicals and how stubborn they can be or how open they can be…
Elliot: I suppose from an artist perspective they do have a reputation for being less real and less serious but from a producer’s standpoint a musical is always going to be far more attractive than a play would. The West End flourishes not because of straight plays but because of musicals. I think if there is a stigma attached to it, it comes from within the theatre making community. I don’t think it comes from audiences.
You’re a very politically-driven company, with Wondertown in particular focusing on the importance of voting. How do you find audiences react to seeing this subject matter in a musical – a form which is often perceived to largely stray away from heavy topics?
A production still from Wondertown
Benji: If you look at Rodgers and Hammerstein’s golden age musicals, they are very politically driven. Showboat, considered one of the first musicals of the modern age, is so politically charged. I don’t think we’re doing anything radical and new with that, but I think it’s important to keep exploring political and social issues through this art form.
Elliot: West Side Story – one of the most famous musicals of all time – is about racism and gang culture and what it means to be a defective young person. But I suppose we’re dealing with perception, aren’t we? With Wondertown we had some praise for discussing political issues but it was not being overt. The point of the piece wasn’t to bash you round the head with politics.
Benji: Yes, it was about making the politics accessible to people who don’t get the jargon and we did partly succeed in that. It was interesting seeing the difference in reaction from older and younger audience members. The younger people were getting excited about engaging with politics and we had a comment from an older woman who didn’t realise younger people were this engaged or cared about certain social issues. So I suppose that’s our mission as a company – to make people aware of certain social issues and make people react and make a change.
What were you up to before the theatre shutdown?
Benji: I was preparing material for a scratch night at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff. I’m writing a musical about Welsh painter Gwen John which might be a gig theatre piece. But that obviously fell through.
Elliot: I was touring the UK and India in a production of Million Dollar Quartet. I was covering some of the roles and it was actor-muso.
Benji: I think a lot of our other company members lost out on a lot of work which is really sad.
How have you been coping with this new existence of social distancing and staying indoors?
Benji: Like everyone, I found it hard in the first couple of weeks but I’m getting into it now and figuring out how to keep creative and productive, and work on stuff for The Bohemians. But it is all mind-boggling.
Elliot: I’m with you on that one. I’ve always struggled to be productive when I’m not being held accountable to other people. I think in many ways being a freelancer is a bit of a head start over people who haven’t freelanced before, because we know what it’s like to be doing a lot of stuff and then absolutely nothing. But I’m playing a lot of music, trying to write music, and I’m now in a couple of online plays and doing musical supervision for a thing which is going to be bonkers.
What’s your top tip for other creatives struggling with quarantine life?
Elliot: My top tip would be don’t feel bad about creating absolutely nothing at all. There’s a lot of pressure on theatre makers and musicians to still be making stuff but actually, a lot of the joy of our craft comes from being together with likeminded people in a room. We’re lacking that at the moment and that makes stuff really really difficult. So my big piece of advice would be don’t feel bad if you want to sit on the sofa and watch Netflix all day.
Benji: I agree. Eat cake and lots of chocolate. That being said, there came a point when I did want to do stuff and be productive so I made a list of what I want to watch, read, and write in the week.
What’s the first thing you’re going to do once the lockdown is lifted and we’re allowed outdoors again?
Both: Go to the pub!
What’s next for The Bohemians?
Benji: We are currently developing small projects. Because everyone is so busy, it’s hard to realise them – especially without funding. We were planning to take something to the Camden Fringe this summer, so we want to put together a small scale fringe piece when this is over, and also have a couple of our crazy open mic cabarets where everyone can come and sing, drink, get merry and live the bohemian life. La vie boheme!
Elliot: We are also looking at a couple of writers’ retreats with our company members and how we can produce work around the country.
New British musicals are notoriously difficult to get developed compared to America. What challenges have you faced in getting your own work produced?
Benji: It’s strange because the new musical writing world in the UK is so small but it’s so big as well – there are a lot of people trying to make new work. So getting noticed by some of the people in the industry working on new musicals is challenging. But you have to keep going to events, keep networking and supporting your fellow peers making new musicals in the hope they will support you back.
What are the big changes that need to happen to help British musicals flourish?
Benji: More producers willing to take risks is one thing.
Elliot: More outsider success stories like Six because that was a musical not based on a film or a play. A British story that clearly had a large public awareness and following. Until more of that happens, not a lot of producers – particularly large scale producers – won’t take risks. They go for things based on the songs of bands or things that have done exceedingly well at the box office. So I think you need more indie British musicals.
Benji: And we need more Welsh stories, Scottish stories, Irish stories – more regional theatres to support writers and companies. We need people to take risks and have faith that the work will be good.
What hidden musical theatre gems do you recommend to readers looking for something new to listen to?
Benji: I would say all of Adam Lenson’s content from Signal which features a lot of new writing. There’s a quirky American musical, Fly By Night, that’s not well-known which is great. And Say My Name, an actor-musician Breaking Bad parody musical which I helped produce, has recently put out its album which you can listen to here: https://open.spotify.com/album/5cYKTvWHdnfxeQDuPrlVD2?si=VI27SGOLSIqGLziBzJKoAg
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions – stay safe and keep washing your hands!
Interviewed by Ryan Mellish
Photography courtesy of Benji and Elliot
Find out more about The Bohemians from the links here:
