A TALE OF TWO CITIES. To 2 November.
London.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
based on the novel by Charles Dickens book by Steven David Horwich & David Soames music by David Pomeranz lyrics by Steven David Horwich.
Upstairs At The Gatehouse, Highgate Village N6 4BD To 2 November 2008.
Tue–Sat 7:30pm Sun 4pm.
Runs 2hr 25min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 8340 3488.
www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com
Review: Geoff Ambler 30 September 2008.
It was the best of evenings.
Adapting a serious musical from Dickens’ novel, set in Paris and London before and during the French Revolution, while not eliciting comparisons with another French musical still in the West End, was going to be tough. Admittedly they are set in slightly different periods, but revolutionary French peasants are the same whether they are waving red flags on a barricade or, in this case brandishing red knitting. When it is Susan Raasay doing the brandishing, as a magnificently unhinged Madame Defarge with wild-staring, evil eyes and grasping wicked needles, you get the message that these are serious revolutionaries.
The Tale follows once-aristocrat Charles Darnay’s flight from his evil Uncle, the Marquis D’Evremonde’s, assassination attempt into the arms and Sunday afternoon teas of the utterly English and epically beautiful Jennifer Hepburn as Lucie Manette. Tim Benton as Sidney Carton, dishevelled and slightly roguish solicitor who saves Darnay’s life and becomes a friend to the young lovers, is the classic yet unconventional literary English hero. As the excessively bad baddy, the mercenary Barsad, Paddy Crawley embraces the pantomimic, stopping short of encouraging boos.
A Tale of Two Cities is an epic musical, with a score to match and songs that pleasingly lodge themselves in your head and leave you humming “The Best Of Times” all the way back down to the Tube. Both Jennifer Hepburn’s and Tim Benton’s songs of love and love unrequited thrill and lighten the gloom of Mike Lees’ dark wood panelled set.
Horwich and Soames’ book thankfully précises Dickens for the stage but brings more humour than I remember and with Paul Nicholas’s tight direction it retains the drama and darkness of the piece, yet keeps it a compelling tale throughout.
A Tale of Two Cities feels every part the epic classic musical, which keeps the pulses racing with stirring, impassioned music and characters to care about. A larger than usual cast for the Gatehouse fills the stage during the chorus pieces and builds on the theatre’s reputation for attracting seriously fine performers who deliver seriously fine performances. Another musical triumph well worth the walk up the hill.
Seamstress: Amy Coombes.
Sidney Carton: Tim Benton.
Jarvis Lorry: Richard Stirling.
Lucie Manette: Jennifer Hepburn.
Miss Pross: Sarah Dearlove.
Gaspard: Timothy Wright.
Monsieur Defarge: Tim English.
Madame Defarge: Susan Raasay.
Dr Manette: John Fleming.
Gabelle: Tom Murphy.
Charles Darnay: Michael Stacey.
Marquis D’Evremonde: Rufus Graham.
Barsad: Paddy Crawley.
Stryver: Adam Booth.
Katherine: Amber Byrd, Annabel Grace, Tabitha Taylor.
Director: Paul Nicholas.
Designer: Mike Lees.
Lighting: Howard Hudson.
Musical Arranger: John Cameron.
Musical Director: Dom Carter.
Choreographer/Assistant director: Racky Plews.
2008-10-05 22:04:24