CASANOVA. To 8 March.

London.

CASANOVA
music, lyrics & book by Philip Godfrey additional book material by Taylor Harris.

King’s Head Theatre 115 Upper Street N1 1QN To 8 March 2009.
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sat & Sun 3.30pm.
Runs 2hr 15min One interval.

Box Office: 0844 412 2953 (booking fee).
www.kingsheadtheatre.org
Review: Geoff Ambler 4 February.

Fringe eighteenth century musical bawd at its finest.
Transferring north of the river from the Greenwich Playhouse, where it premiered last year, and landing in Islington at the King's Head Casanova brings with it a load of fun and more innuendo than you’d find in a Carry On box set. Philip Godfrey’s discovery that Casanova was a historical figure set him on a voyage of discovery which has resulted in a musical which quite possibly could occasionally be historically accurate, but most certainly is unerring ribald enjoyment.

Casanova’s romp through life and love and the ladies of the 18th century is catalogued with a succession of affairs, dalliances, songs and a bewitching array of actresses. Anthony Flaum brings a strong spirit of romance to a character who experienced love more times than his coarse, crude, bawdy and frequently tactless demeanour would suggest was possible. While we didn’t see enough of what made him so lovable to so many women in his early days, his reputation clearly explained those drawn to him in later life. A charlatan physician and magician, he seduces his way around Europe, and most of the available (and unavailable) women - with, on occasion, their mothers, daughters and twin sisters as well.

Witty and alluding to rudeness, Casanova’s music delivers entendres of all quantities, with some very high points making up for a few that miss the mark. However some very watchable, entertaining direction from Tim McArthur keeps the humour never more than a quick debauch away.

While all the women play numerous delicious seducees, Michelle Whitney is an absolute delight, time and again, while Christopher Rorke and Shai Matheson deliver comedy and accents to be savoured.

Casanova: Anthony Flaum.
Angela/Caterina/Marcolina: Michelle Whitney.
Marta/Leonilda/Nurse: Emma Fenney.
Nanetta/Mother Maria/Genoveffa: Libby Christensen.
Grimani/de Bernis/Surgeon: Shai Matheson.
Lucrezia’s Maid/Henriette/Fragoletta: Julia G Addison.
Lucrezia/Catherine the Great: Gemma Morsley.
Husband/Bragadin/Antonio/Voltaire: Daniel Sherman.
Cardinal/Passano/Frederick the Great: Stuart Simons.
Bellino/Madame d’Urfe: Meshell Dillon.
Demetrio/Pierre: Christopher Rorke.

Director: Tim McArthur.
Designer/Costume: Sally Ferguson.
Lighting: Howard Hudson.
Musical Director: Michael Steel.

2009-02-09 01:05:39