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Starting Here, Starting Now

Waterloo East Theatre

Reviewed – 1st July 2021

★★★★★

“that good, old-fashioned thing—an entertaining, relaxing evening in the theatre”

Waterloo East’s latest production is a delightful revival of Maltby and Shire’s Starting Here, Starting Now. This musical revue, first produced in 1976 in New York, is an economically staged three hander that has lost none of its relevance in the past forty five years. Not surprisingly, its subject is that perennial favorite — love. But it’s not a loose collection of songs about love, or even a story about a star crossed pair of lovers. Instead, Maltby and Shire group their songs by theme. The evening starts off with a collection of songs about the joys (and frustrations) of looking for love in the city; moves on to the sorrows of those unlucky in love, and concludes with eternally hopeful lovers looking for a fresh start. The revue opens and ends where it began — with a spritely rendition of the title song, “Starting Here, Starting Now”. Even without an overarching story to this revue, however, audiences will still relish the dramas that unfold in each song. They range from the ironic to the tragic; from triumph to loss as the seasons turn. There’s even a song about more mundane matters, such as the way in which crossword puzzles can drive a couple apart.

But what makes Waterloo East’s revival of Starting Here, Starting Now worth seventy five minutes of your time is its powerhouse performers. Director Gerald Armin is to be congratulated for putting Nikki Bentley, Noel Sullivan and Gina Murray on stage together. Their combined experience, together with that of musical director Inga Davis-Rutter, means the audience can sit back and relax, knowing that they are in very good hands. Nikki Bentley, last seen as Alphaba in Wicked, is particularly good at the torch song numbers, but she can also be sly and funny, such as the makeover song where she promises to make Gina Murray “beautiful like me.” Gina Murray’s acting chops, in addition to her lovely voice, are seen to great advantage in this show. Good examples are her comic foil to Noel Sullivan’s overconfident suitor in “We Can Talk To Each Other”, and the way in which she packs the small stage with energy in “Watching the Big Parade Go By.” Sullivan, by contrast, doesn’t have quite the range of his fellow performers, but we’re talking about a seriously talented cast here. All three work well together as an ensemble, and together with Inga Davis-Rutter on the keyboards, move effortlessly through the evening.

Starting Here, Starting Now is that good, old-fashioned thing—an entertaining, relaxing evening in the theatre. Perfect for date night, and as an added bonus, you are getting a West End experience at Fringe prices. I call that a very good deal.

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Gareth McCleod

Starting Here, Starting Now

Waterloo East Theatre

Five star shows this year:

Shook | ★★★★★ | Online | February 2021

Bklyn The Musical | ★★★★★ | Online | March 2021

Preludes in Concert | ★★★★★ | Online | May 2021

Reunion | ★★★★★ | Sadler’s Wells Theatre | May 2021

Overflow | ★★★★★ | Sadler’s Wells Theatre | May 2021

Cruise | ★★★★★ | Duchess Theatre | May 2021

In My Own Footsteps | ★★★★★ | Book Review | June 2021

The Hooley | ★★★★★ | Chiswick House & Gardens | June 2021

Bad Days And Odd Nights | ★★★★★ | Greenwich Theatre | June 2021

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★★½

“the energy peters out as the story, which is somewhat predictable, unfolds”

‘Afterglow’ first appeared at the Davenport Theater in New York and boasted the longest run the theatre had seen. Its UK premiere was at Southwark Playhouse, and now it is being reborn, here at the Waterloo East Theatre. It is a play about the possibilities of consensual non-monogamy, and the complication of love that stretches in too many directions.

The central characters are three men, but it avoids gay stereotypes – a purposeful decision by the writer not to talk about the AIDS crisis, coming out, homophobia and so on. In this way the story is a very universal one, a married couple, a younger lover, a decision to be made. We know this narrative well.

S. Asher Gelman certainly has a lovely knack for creating conversational dialogue, that feels based in reality. There is certainly a fascinating discussion to be had here, and the stage is a wonderful place for it, about the possibilities and challenges of non-monogamy. This play offers the beginnings of that, it just doesn’t quite get there. The play begins with an explosive start, in the midst of our characters’ first threesome together, but the energy peters out as the story, which is somewhat predictable, unfolds.

Peter McPherson plays Alex, the accommodating and then jealous husband left out of this new love. He is the strongest and most believable of a cast that is overall too weak to carry the production. In defence of the actors, the characters are predominantly one dimensional, but with the exception of McPherson’s performance, there is little to emotionally engage with onstage. The relationship between Darius (Benjamin Aluwihare) and Josh (Adi Chugh) lacks chemistry, and the accents of both these actors are off which is a constant distraction.

The versatile set (Libby Todd) which moves from bed to massage parlour to roof garden is clever in its possibility. The onstage shower is the jewel in its crown, a fantastic visual, filling the space with steam and water. Overlaying this is light (designed by David Howe) pouring through the shape of blinds or window panes, heavily evocative of so much cinema set in New York and so immediately transportive. As the set is changed, heavy beats punctuate, something that initially works really well but as the scene changes gets longer becomes a monotonous thud.

This is a subject matter that could create a really engaging drama onstage, but the production and its script, fail to meet this latent potential.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Darren Bell

Waterloo East Theatre

Reviewed – 1st July 2021

★★★★★

“that good, old-fashioned thing—an entertaining, relaxing evening in the theatre”

Starting Here, Starting Now is that good, old-fashioned thing—an entertaining, relaxing evening in the theatre. Perfect for date night, and as an added bonus, you are getting a West End experience at Fringe prices. I call that a very good deal.

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Gareth McCleod

Starting Here, Starting Now

Waterloo East Theatre

Five star shows this year:

Waterloo East Theatre

Reviewed – 22nd October 2019

★★½

“the energy peters out as the story, which is somewhat predictable, unfolds”

This is a subject matter that could create a really engaging drama onstage, but the production and its script, fail to meet this latent potential.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Darren Bell

Afterglow

Waterloo East Theatre until 24th November

Previously reviewed at this venue: