Tag Archives: Stage Door Theatre

THE STORY OF MY LIFE

★★★★

Stage Door Theatre

THE STORY OF MY LIFE at the Stage Door Theatre

★★★★

Hill’s dialogue and Bartram’s lyrics are full of eccentric humour, observations and paradoxes

“The Story of My Life” wears its influences unashamedly on its sleeve, but at the same time has some gorgeous little tricks up those same sleeves. The opening number, ‘Write What You Know’, has more than a nod towards Stephen Sondheim, yet as the song list unfolds, Neil Bartram’s own individuality as a composer shines through. The musical numbers are the perfect accompaniment to Brian Hill’s book, that is intelligently and wittily crafted into an emotional tribute to friendship. The musical’s spirit is lifted straight from Frank Capra’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, and it soars just as high. Truly, it’s a wonderful show.

Alvin (Tim Edwards) and Thomas (Markus Sodergren) are childhood friends. They became best friends in first grade, bonding over their respective Halloween costumes – Thomas as the Angel Clarence from Capra’s film and Alvin as the ghost of his mum. An indeterminate number of years later, Thomas – now a bestselling author – is trying unsuccessfully to write the eulogy for Alvin’s funeral. The ghost of Alvin appears, more of a distraction than a helping hand, but between them they pull books from the shelves behind them, picking out stories from their past and moulding them into the songs that beautifully evoke their friendship, and the forces that drew them together, then apart, and eventually together again posthumously.

Alvin is a bubble of energy, fascinated by the infinite quirks of the universe while remaining trapped within his own small world. Edwards brilliantly captures Alvin’s sheer ingenuous joy of life, that beats like a fragile wing unable to withstand the winds of fear and insecurity that push him over the edge. His is a complicated mix of neediness and loyalty that Edwards makes irresistibly endearing. Sodergren’s Thomas is more calculated but no less complicated. Breaking bonds and breaking away, his success as a writer throws him into denial. Not just for his true feelings, but also the fact that his literary triumphs are, in fact, literally stolen from his friend’s imagination. Sodergren perceptively chips away at his hard mantle, eventually acknowledging the debt he owes. Whether it is too late or not doesn’t matter; he melts our hearts anyway.

In fact, they both do. We laugh and we cry with them. Hill’s dialogue and Bartram’s lyrics are full of eccentric humour, observations and paradoxes. Occasionally verging on platitude, they are pulled back by the performances. Each song is seamlessly crafted into the text, drawing us in with a smile or a tear as we are swept from the underscore into the waves of emotion of each melody. Sometimes the line between leitmotif and repetition is blurred, but there are some stand out moments. ‘This Is It’ echoes the multiple meanings of the title phrase; its harmonies bringing the couple together. A rich counterpoint to ‘Saying Goodbye’ – parts one to four seen through different eyes. ‘The Butterfly’ is another stand-alone moment, quiet but strong and magnificently delivered. ‘1876’ adopts a lilting folksiness that conjures a young Tom Waits. Minus the gravelly voice, of course. Both Edwards and Sodergren have the vocal purity that can carry the emotive weight of the songs. Musical Director, Aaron Clingham, skilfully and sensitively guides them through the repertoire. They are often tricky numbers, but Clingham’s effortless piano – accompanied by Pippa Mason on cello and Becky Hughes on Clarinet and oboe – lift them into a floating and haunting score.

Designer David Shields’ setting is stark, simple and spot on. White books stacked on white bookcases feed the narrative as the actors plunder the shelves for their backstories. Robert McWhir’s intuitive direction allows the action to wander through the audience, drawing us further in still. Eventually we don’t mind that the ending is unresolved. We never get the full answers to the questions that this musical poses, yet we are filled with a sense of peace. It is quite a unique experience to be moved by something that isn’t being shouted from the rooftops.

Alvin talks about the ‘Butterfly Effect’ – the idea that the world is deeply interconnected, and that a small butterfly flapping its wings could, hypothetically, cause a typhoon somewhere else in the world. “The Story of My Life” is seemingly small-scale, yet it has a huge effect. And an even bigger heart. A real gem that needs no Guardian Angel to ensure its success.


THE STORY OF MY LIFE at the Stage Door Theatre

Reviewed on 13th September 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Peter Davies

 

 


 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE TAILOR-MADE MAN | ★★★★ | May 2024
MARRY ME A LITTLE | ★★★ | March 2024

THE STORY OF MY LIFE

THE STORY OF MY LIFE

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

 

THE TAILOR-MADE MAN

★★★★

Stage Door Theatre

THE TAILOR-MADE MAN at the Stage Door Theatre

★★★★

“Pilcher magnificently captures Haines’ free spirit and rebelliousness”

In 1930, William Haines was listed as the top box-office attraction in Hollywood. Just three years later, however, having made the successful transition to ‘talkies’, Haines’ contract was torn up by studio chief at MGM – Louis B. Mayer – and he was thrown out of the studio. Haines had lived the Bohemian lifestyle of Tinseltown, relying on the studio ‘fixers’ and his PR men to buy the silence of the press. When that eventually failed, the studio bosses sought to silence Haines instead. Almost overnight his name was removed from history and all his movies were withdrawn and locked in a vault where they stayed, unseen, for over sixty years. Why?

Claudio Macor’s play, “The Tailor-Made Man”, charts his story. In today’s society it is unthinkable that Haines was treated the way he was, although there are sadly still remnants of the hypocrisy and double standards that litter the cutting room floors of Hollywood. Haines was openly gay (a dangerous thing to be one hundred years ago) and living with his lifelong partner Jimmie Shields. He refused to bow to the demands of Louis B. Mayer and give Shields up to marry the silent screen vamp Pola Negri, and he paid for it with his career.

Although that is the focus of the story, Macor places it within the wider context of Hollywood in the late twenties and early thirties, throwing light too on some of the more colourful characters that populated that world. In rose-tinted hindsight it is seen as a Golden Age, but Macor’s astute observations unveil the cruel mechanics beneath its glossy, silver-screened veneer. We first see Haines introduced to MGM having been spotted in a talent contest. A mannequin in the eyes of Mayer, naked, blank and ripe to be tailor-made into the next matinee idol. Hugo Pilcher, however, plays him as no dummy. Although initially wide eyed, Pilcher magnificently captures Haines’ free spirit and rebelliousness. Uninhibited and frank, he fearlessly does what he pleases, which is a blessing and a curse. Not always a sympathetic character, his circumstances and Pilcher’s portrayal ensure that we root for him to the end.

 

 

With him to the end is Jimmie Shields. Gwithian Evans successfully conveys the bond that keep them together. It is often stretched to breaking point, but Shields always manages to prevent it snapping. Evans shows us the deep frustration but also the devotion and loyalty that is strong enough to bear the Californian heat. Intermittently breaking out of character, Evans uses the transitions to narrate key elements of the story. Split into distinct chapters, the locations and context are beamed onto the back wall like silent movie captions. With Robert McWhir’s uncluttered direction, the story is as clear cut as the finest crystal champagne glass.

Dereck Walker’s depiction of a monstrous, homophobic Louis B. Mayer verges on caricature until we are struck by the frightening realisation that Walker’s interpretation might not be far from the truth at all. An imposing stage presence, that is matched by Peter Rae’s jittery PR guy – Howard Strickling. Sympathetic but obsequious his thankless task is to please everybody. And you know what happens when you do that. Rae, without any need for a physical makeover or visible costume change, brilliantly doubles as Hollywood hack, Victor Darrow, who yearns for the rain-drenched culture of English theatre, but cannot tear himself from the sun, and the sweaty sexuality of Haines and Shields that he likes to bathe in just as much.

The performances, and the writing, draw us into the fascinating story, made more poignant by the fact that this is a true story. But Macor never lets it get too serious. Shelley Rivers is a sunny delight as Marion Davies, even though probably the least researched character, but then again there isn’t the time or space to delve into Davies’ colourful and multi-faceted life. Olivia Ruggiero displays great versatility, as Mayer’s flirtatious secretary, but more significantly lampooning the great Pola Negri, yet still managing to inject a sadness into the character while she draws laughs from the audience.

This is a concise telling of an important slice of movie history. It focuses on some severe injustices, but the lens pans out to reveal a panorama. Evans slips back into narrator mode to deliver an epilogue that reinstates a sense of hope and survival. That to be yourself is, ultimately, a triumph. Similarly, this revival, in the recently opened Stage Door Theatre, above a Covent Garden pub, is also a triumph.


THE TAILOR-MADE MAN at the Stage Door Theatre

Reviewed on 16th May 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Peter Davies

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MARRY ME A LITTLE | ★★★ | March 2024

THE TAILOR-MADE MAN

THE TAILOR-MADE MAN

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page