Tag Archives: Sev Keoshgerian

I WISH MY LIFE WERE LIKE A MUSICAL

I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical

★★★★★

Wilton’s Music Hall

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I WISH MY LIFE WERE LIKE A MUSICAL at Wilton’s Music Hall

★★★★★

I WISH MY LIFE WERE LIKE A MUSICAL

“plenty of humour is accessible to the most casual West End attendee”

I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical takes you on a whistlestop musical tour behind the scenes of the West End. Written by Alexander S. Bermange, who also performs the piano accompaniments live on stage, it is catharsis for every (wannabe) performer.

Wilton’s Music Hall is one of my favourite venues in London for its dilapidated glamour, and it is the perfect location for I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical. Even traipsing up the Victorian staircases puts a spring in your box step.

The audience enters the performance hall with the curtain up, a black baby grand piano to stage right, three large be-glittered stars across centre stage, and a curtain rail hung with sequinned jackets. Even before the lights went down I was expecting a strong dose of camp. This is delivered in delightful abundance.

The musical opens with a pitch-perfect prologue ‘The Opening Number’ that stays just the right side of copyright law. It introduces the audience to the format of the show which could be summarised as a ‘How-to Guide’ to surviving in musical theatre – but as the show makes clear, probably not thriving.

There are plenty of references in Bermange’s lyrics that are like easter eggs for the most avid musical lover, from the deification of the now mononymous Idina to referencing the poor cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella who were (allegedly) dismissed with a tweet. However, plenty of humour is accessible to the most casual West End attendee, with excellent direction from Matthew Parker. I have never seen anyone get quite as intimate with a steamer, as did Sev Keoshgerian in a particularly hilarious number.

Songs make fun of key milestones within a musical performer’s career, as well as the characters met along the way. Once agent showcases were sent up, I sank into my seat, fully expecting critics to get eviscerated. When that moment inevitably came, I was barely prepared for its deadly accuracy.

(Top) hats off go to designer Sorcha Corcoran, who cleverly uses costumes and props to add to the production. The cast don hats in a song about musical superfans, and this simple addition immediately places them as characters from four well known musicals. This headgear is paired with primary coloured raincoats which fondly emphasises the trainspotter-like zeal of the most enthusiastic obsessives.

The stellar cast of Jennifer Caldwell, Sev Keoshgerian, Rhidian Marc and Julie Yammanee do the excellent songs justice. Highlights include Yammanee delivering I Love to Sing that has shades of Glenn Close for all the right reasons. Each song is enunciated perfectly, and every actor hits their vocal jokes. Choreography is on the simple side, but remains high energy throughout, even through the inevitable encore. Of course there is an encore!

In an era where audiences at the largest musicals are hitting the press with notoriously bad behaviour and performance rates insulate even less against a cost of living crisis, I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical serves as an especially pertinent reminder to humanise the triple threats amongst us. However, it never gets too glum. I leave humming the tunes, and tapping my feet in the toilet queue. To bastardise Oklahoma! Oh, what a beautiful evening.

 

 


I WISH MY LIFE WERE LIKE A MUSICAL at Wilton’s Music Hall

Reviewed on 30th August 2023

by Rosie Thomas

Photography by Rod Penn


Wilton's Music Hall thespyinthestalls

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

 

Express G&S | ★★★★ | August 2023
The Mikado | ★★★★ | June 2023
Ruddigore | ★★★ | March 2023
Charlie and Stan | ★★★★★ | January 2023
A Dead Body In Taos | ★★★ | October 2022
Patience | ★★★★ | August 2022
Starcrossed | ★★★★ | June 2022
The Ballad of Maria Marten | ★★★½ | February 2022
The Child in the Snow | ★★★ | December 2021
Roots | ★★★★★ | October 2021

I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical

I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical

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Little Women

Little Women

★★★★

Park Theatre

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Little Women

Little Women

Park Theatre

Reviewed – 17th November 2021

 

★★★★

 

“The full cast of eleven are in fine voice, supported by the rich string arrangements of the music”

 

Louisa May Alcott’s novel “Little Women”, originally published in two separate volumes in the 1860s, was said to be one of the first visions of the ‘All-American Girl’. It was hailed as being ahead of its time, and as such has stood the test of time. Continuously in print, with many film and television adaptations under its belt, it finally made it into musical form at the beginning of this century, opening on Broadway in 2005. Today’s audiences might not find the scenario unduly innovative, but it is its charm and endearing representation of the multi-layered personalities that draw you into the story. And Bronagh Lagan’s staging at the Park Theatre has charm in abundance.

The ’Little Women’ are the four March sisters: Amy, Beth, Meg – and Jo steering them through the treacherous subplots of growing up. The rites of passage are brilliantly navigated here by the strong cast that give a passionate portrayal of the inevitable loss of innocence when childhood and womanhood overlap. This is also one of its only snags, though, particularly in the first half when the characters’ young ages jar slightly with the on-stage physicality. But that minor moan is swiftly swept away as we get caught in the current of song and story.

The story focuses on the sisters’ differences. Amy is the baby, yearning for sophistication that’s out of reach. Selfless Beth is timid and musical. Meg, the eldest, is the most traditional, while Jo burns with a determined passion, struggling to find her place in the world. Allan Knee’s book pushes Jo centre stage, whose fiery energy Lydia White captures marvellously, while her theatrical generosity allows the others to shine too. Mary Moore is a bundle of joy as the young Amy, Anastasia Martin is ultimately heart-breaking as the tragic Beth and Hana Ichijo deftly mixes romanticism and pragmatism of the oldest sister Meg in probably the most difficult personality to portray. Savannah Stevenson’s charisma rules the roost as the matriarchal Marmee; a compellingly watchable performance that comes into its own during her two solo numbers.

The full cast of eleven are in fine voice, supported by the rich string arrangements of the music. Whilst Jason Howland’s score never takes your breath away, the sumptuous melodies and Mindi Dickstein’s plot driving lyrics add stirring layers to the narrative. A story that is intercut with vignettes from Jo March’s mostly unpublished attempts at writing. We long for everything to work out for these far from little women, we feel the joy when it does, and our senses are tugged when it doesn’t.

The humour and the pathos are captured in equal measure. You want to laugh, and you sometimes want to cry. It doesn’t rock you to the core but on a cold evening as winter fast approaches it will certainly warm you with the glow of its captivating charm.

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

 


Little Women

Park Theatre until 19th December

 

Previously reviewed at this venue this year:
When Darkness Falls | ★★★ | August 2021
Flushed | ★★★★ | October 2021
Abigail’s Party | ★★★★ | November 2021

 

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