ALFIE. To 18 June.
Watford
ALFIE: a new musical
based on the novel by Bill Naughton Music by John Cameron book and lyrics by Eden Phillips
Palace Theatre To 18 June 2005
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Wed 2.30pm Sat 3pm
Audio-described 18 June 3pm
Captioned 16 June
Runs 2hr 30min One interval
TICKETS: 01923 225671
Review: Timothy Ramsden 8 June
From heart-throb to heartbreak in 22 easy melodies.This adaptation of Bill Naughton's lively lad tearing a swathe through the young women of mid-sixties England rises above the blandness of many new musicals. For all its share of upbeat numbers, the show is forceful in its downbeat message, ending the first act with its anti-hero's hospitalisation, then proceeding via an abortion to the opposite of a wedding-bells and roses resolution.
At first it seems Naughton's story is being used simply as a peg-board on which to hang as much song and dance as possible. It's only just before the half-way mark that Darren Day's smilingly confident Alfie is reduced to seriousness by seeing beneath the attraction of shining skin, being shown shadows on the X-rays of his lungs. But he is someone who learns nothing. No sooner does he discover his life's not threatened than he's back on top form in the show's wittiest production number, a hospital-ward routine featuring bedpans and drip.
A darker side to him develops too, the proneness to bully anyone in his way, a callousness that shocks even the lugubrious abortionist who spells out the criminality of a termination Alfie blithely arranges - till he returns home and sees (offstage) the consequences.
The shock of that sight registers on Alfie's face, knocking his confidence for once. And the women he's exploited are no longer willing victims; they've had enough of the emotional bruises he inflicts. A final routine emphasises how he's left out in the cold among happier couples.
John Cameron's score is melodically inventive, using various styles attractively and avoiding the blandness that so often reaches the musical stage. It's helped by a set of particularly fine female voices, rightly giving the women the upper hand or, as one song has it, the driving seat. Darren Day shows the blinkered protagonist's attraction, and his unattractive aspects. He's surrounded by a strong company in Lawrence Till's production which uses people passing each other to populate Ruari Murchison's aptly sparse set. This makes good use of sliding panels to move between scenes. It all makes for an apt sense of transience in this enjoyable, well-shaped show.
Alfie: Darren Day
Lofty: Samuel Board
George/Old Joe/Elliott: Ian Cunningham
Siddie: Ceri Ann Gregory
Humphrey/Brian: Mark Hilton
Doris/Matron/Nurse/Doctor: Julie Jupp
Gilda: Rebecca Lock
Ruby: Gina Murray
Lily: Corinna Powlesland
Harry/Flower Seller: Michael Remick
Annie: Rebecca Trehearn
Ensemble: Victoria Nalder, Lee Waterworth
Director: Lawrence Till
Designer: Ruari Murchison
Lighting: Matthew Eagland
Musical Arranger: John Cameron
Musical Director: Kelvin Thomson
Choreographer: Nick Winston
Assistant director: Kirstie Davis
2005-06-09 10:56:51