STREET SCENE To 22 July.
London.
STREET SCENE
music by Kurt Weill book by Elmer Rice lyrics by Langston Hughes.
Young Vic Theatre, The Cut , London, SE1.
Thu 17th July to Tue 22nd July 7:30pm – no performance Sunday.
Runs 2hr 40mins One interval.
TICKETS: 020 7922 2923.
hwww.youngvic.org
Review: Geoff Ambler 17 July 2008.
Kurt Weill’s masterpiece makes a rare London appearance and delights.
One of America's landmark musicals, Street Scene returns to London for the first time in more than two decades. Described by Kurt Weill as his first American opera, Street Scene (1946) is a tale of the ordinary lives of ordinary people cast together in a single tenement building over the course of a couple of days one hot summer; inconsequential sounding but magnificent in result.
A collaboration between Weill, poet Langston Hughes and adapted from Elmer Rice’s play, Street Scene deals with love, lust, jealousy and tragedy all set to opera, jazz and Broadway show tunes. John Fulljames uses Dick Bird's simple design to full effect and the Young Vic’s thrust stage places a lot of the action right in the midst of the audience. Together with the sublime score, they paint the lives of these families in vivid cxolours.
Street Scene centres on the Maurrants; father Frank a hardworking angry man, worn down by life and torn apart by his wife Anne’s “secret” infidelity with the milk collector, something all the neighbours gossip about, revelling in their discussions. Their daughter Rose dreams of getting away from the city, her family and the advances of her boss. However, Rose’s aspirations take a tragedy to finally become realised.
The Young Vic always delivers a cast of exceptional quality and Street Scene is no different. Ruby Hughes, beautiful as Rose, charms and delights with a magnificent voice, and when she with Adrian Dwyer’s Sam Kaplan introduces innocent love into their tenement-sized world. Kate Nelson, as the Joneses wild daughter Mae, partners John Moabi to glorious, sensual effect in 'Moon Faced, Starry Eyed'. Andrew Slater's brute of a husband, Frank, glowers while Elena Ferrari delights in the affection of an affair with someone who cares for her. Surrounding it all is an ensemble and a choir, supplemented with a number of local performers, from Lambeth and Southwark.
While rarely performed, Street Scene is every bit as inspirational as any of the other American musicals that are regularly revived, and the Young Vic’s fine production is one to cherish and hope to see revived soon.
Frank Maurrant: Andrew Slater.
Anna Maurrant: Elena Ferrari.
Rose Maurrant/Mrs Hildebrand: Ruby Hughes.
Willie Maurrant: George Longworth.
Abraham Kaplan/Steve Sankey: Paul Featherstone.
Shirley Kaplan/Mae Jones/Jennie Hildebrand: Kate Nelson.
Sam Kaplan: Adrian Dwyer.
Lippo Fiorentino/Dr Wilson: Joseph Shovelton.
Greta Fiorentino: Simone Sauphanor.
George Jones/Vincent Jones/Harry Easter: Simon Lobelson.
Emma Jones/Nursemaid: Charlotte Page.
Queenie: Bailey the Dog.
Carl Olsen: Paul Reeves.
Olga Olsen/Nursemaid: Harriet Williams.
Charlie Hildebrand: Cameron Shields.
Henry Davis/.Dick McGann: John Moabi.
Daniel Buchanan: Darren Abrahams.
Director: John Fulljames.
Designer: Dick Bird.
Lighting Designer: Jon Clark.
Sound: Fergus O’Hare.
Musical Director: Patrick Bailey.
Projections: Andrzej Goulding
Choreographer: Arthur Pita.
2008-07-20 23:48:48