“there is sometimes a lack of variation to the musical numbers and as a result the show starts to suffer from trying to survive on a diet of power ballads”
“The Broken Wings”, Khalil Gibran’s poetic novel has inspired paintings and pop songs. It has been adapted into a film and now a musical – which is probably the most natural evolution for a novel rich in musical references and rhythmical text.
The tale follows Khalil Gibran, living in 1923 in New York, as he reflects on his life and his experiences in the Middle East as an eighteen-year-old who has returned to turn-of-the-century Beirut, after five years living in America, to complete his education and retrace his heritage. He falls in love with Selma Karamy, the daughter of a family friend. However, Selma is betrothed to another man; the nephew of the powerful Bishop whose eye is on the Karamy family fortune.
‘Broken Wings’ has sometimes been described as the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ of the Middle East, so it is fair to say that the young couple’s romance is doomed, as they fight to reconcile their love for one another in the face of the rules, traditions and expectations that their society lays on them.
Written by Nadim Naaman and Dana Al Fardan it is faithfully adapted from Khalil Gibran’s novel. Gibran’s views on love, marriage, children, joy, pain, death and loss are today all too familiar. They hang on the walls of homes and sit on bedside tables and are preached at weddings and funerals. Yet when it was first published in 1912 it was met with hostility in the eastern Mediterranean for its treatment of religious corruption, the rights of women and the pursuit of wealth over personal happiness. The musical successfully highlights the key social issues of the time, reminding us too that they are just as relevant today, over a century later.
Naaman guides us through the story with a speaking voice, rich and assured, while effortlessly sliding into song. His younger counterpart (Rob Houchen) shares the same quality but with an added purity that no doubt reflects the wide-eyed hope and stoicism of the teenage Gibran as the first waves of suffering lap around his ankles before the tide threatens to pull him under. Houchen is well matched by Nikita Johal’s Selma, whose versatility allows her to breathe tender notes before riding the crest of a crescendo with an ease that belies her slight physicality. The harmonies are strong, especially so when the full ensemble take to the stage.
Yet the real star is orchestrator and conductor, Joe Davison, who leads the nine strong band through the evening. A masterful musical director his baton is on the pulse throughout. The musical arrangements are haunting and quite beautiful. However, there is sometimes a lack of variation to the musical numbers and as a result the show starts to suffer from trying to survive on a diet of power ballads. The highlights, for me, occur when the melodic modes and influences of the East shine through. I was expecting more of this within the score.
This is a beautiful and well-crafted show; rich in atmosphere that is heightened further by Nic Farman’s sumptuous lighting. It is evocative and true to Gibran’s themes, yet like a postcard platitude that many of his words have become, it triggers the mind without really gripping the heart. Full of Eastern promise yet veiled by oversweet Western appropriation.
The Rat Pack – Live From Las Vegas Celebrating Ella Fitzgerald
Theatre Royal Haymarket
Reviewed – 12th January 2018
★★★½
“Nicola Emmanuelle is a treat. Her voice is electrifying, and her power is more than equal to that of the ‘lads’”
The show has been doing the rounds for quite a while, and this revival is a lot of fun with a lot of excellent singing, and some rather uncomfortable moments. Its origins go back to 1996 when Mitch Sebastian was commissioned to devise and stage a concert tour celebrating the music of the Rat Pack. In 2002 the show was redesigned and took on, in essence, its current form. This is a show that is “all true but it never actually happened.” It is Sebastian’s vision of “a concert we wish we could have attended.” In these last weeks of its run it has been given a new zest with Ella Fitzgerald joining the Rat Pack of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Junior and Dean Martin.
The set, props, lighting, costumes and music whisk the audience back to the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in the late 1950s. This is quite a feat in the baroque splendour of the Theatre Royal Haymarket! Designer Sean Cavanagh deserves credit for the authentic feel of the staging. Sinatra owned a share in the Sands Casino and a nod is paid to his putative mafia connections at the opening of the show with an announcement that it has not been paid for for by the proceeds of organised crime. Each of the three main roles is triple cast, and this evening we had Garrett Phillips as Sinatra, David Hayes as Sammy Davis Junior and Nigel Casey as Dean Martin. All three are superb singers and successfully bring to life the three great showmen. Casey’s Martin is a drunk and a womaniser, appearing first of all with a rose between his teeth and presenting it to a woman in the front row. Some of the jokes fall flat as we are, perhaps, a little less inclined to laugh at blatant sexism, but some are very funny. It feels uncomfortable to be amused by this type of humour but it is a show set in a time and place where it was the norm, as were the ‘gay jokes’. The most uncomfortable sensation however was Sammy Davis Junior’s deprecation of himself and the attitude of the other two to him.
The real Davis was continually subject to racism and gave considerable donations to the Civil Rights movement. He was also the butt of jokes when on stage with Sinatra and Martin. He introduces himself as a ‘coloured Puerto Rican Jew’ and quips that when he says that people flee in all four directions. He is sometimes sidelined by the other two and says to Martin ‘you want to dance with me, but you wouldn’t go to school with me.’ Throughout all this Sinatra is the smooth one, the charming boss. The fact that the realities of the time and this aspect of the relationship between the men was not glossed over made me like the show more. It would have been easy to make it all comfortable and nostalgic. It was better with the occasional jarring note to our twenty first century sensibilities.
There are three women, dressed mostly in corsets and figure hugging dresses. They are a fictitious act, The Borelli Sisters. Sebastian invented them to bring some female energy to the macho atmosphere. And, no doubt, some glamour too. Played by Amelia Adams-Pearce, Rebecca Parker and Joanna Walters, they also bring excellent singing and colour to the scene. They are, of course, objects of desire for the men, and frequently drape themselves around them and flirt outrageously. They are very good indeed.
Ella Fitzgerald, played by the wonderful Nicola Emmanuelle is a treat. Her voice is electrifying, and her power is more than equal to that of the ‘lads,’ all of whom treat her like a queen. The final number brings the whole cast together, and also brought the audience to its feet.
All this was made possible by the Rat Pack Big Band and their musical supervisor Matthew Freeman. They are superb. There were no jarring notes from the orchestra, but Garrett Phillips sounded a little tired towards the end of the show, and it would have been nice if David Hayes could dance like Sammy Davis Junior. Overall though this is an enjoyable show with some truly great moments. Definitely worth going to see.
Reviewed by Katre
Photography by Betty Zapata
The Rat Pack – Live From Vegas Celebrating Ella Fitzgerald
