The sold out show was organised by Danny Dwyer from Bear Patrol, directed and staged by Carole Todd and Miss Hope Springs donated her services for the evening.
To read a review of the evening, click here:
Nabucco
October 5
Theatre Royal
Ellen Kent Company
Verdi’s haunting and melodic chorus of the Hebrew slaves follows the plight of the Hebrews as they are forced from their homeland into exile by the Babylonian King Nabucco is the best known part of this powerful tale which is laced with revenge, destruction and jealousy.
Verdi wrote Nabucco as his liberation opera, Italy was struggling with liberation at the time and the ever timely Ellen Kent has brought us this classic tale of a people, enslaved by a foreign power and god, wrestling themselves free and bringing the wrath of god down on their oppressors. It’s an opera all about identity, exile and change with some heavy romance thrown in to lighten the story and Kent brings it to the stage with a lively bounce, focusing attention on the drama and allowing the sometimes pedestrian music to support the action on stage. It crossed my mind that it’s the opera for the Brexit voter…..
It’s always lovely to have a live orchestra in the Theatre Royal, and without them being sunk in the pit; it gives a real intimacy to the performance. The spry orchestra conducted by Nicolae Dohotaru with a verve and passion which kept the music just right, not too sweet and avoiding the plodding demands of Verdi.
Iurie Gisca as Nabucco wove his lyrical spell across us and dealt with the blows and madness of the part well, supported by Liza Kadelnik as his daughter Fenena who was as pretty as her voice, all charm and sweetness. Olga Perrier’s Abigail, however was a perfect foil to this honey she was wickedly delicious, all power crazed and glamorously lethal, like a glittery viper and appeared as a sweetly dangerous raven headed Joanna Lumley. Her voice reached and dropped with equal vigour and Perrier kept the audiences attention and the narrative tension throughout.
For me, by far the best voice was Vadym Chernihovskyi his supremely deep bass and complex voice filling the theatre with grace and, for one so young, showed a seriously accomplished reach of emotive shading.
With some charming walk ons by local young people and children from The Theatre Workshop this was a lovely engaging opera presented in Ms Kent’s trademark way, lot’s of drama, quality singing and an intimate feeling of seeing good opera done in a straight foreword way.
Ellen Kent has been producing Nabucco since her very first show and she knows what her knowing audience want. The classics served up with no mucking about with, as the composers first commanded and with the melodies as rich and familiar as a roast Sunday lunch, and with all the trimming of the theatre on the side. It’s a spectacular traditionally staged production featuring magnificent sets and costumes with some clever lighting and stage effects.
This was my first Nabucco, regular readers will know I’m no fan of Mr Verdi, but Kent’s animated version kept my attention from the off and I enjoyed this authentic production and a very cozy evening in the Theatre Royal
For more information about the tour, click here:
The Nightingale Room above Grand Central opposite Brighton Station proved the perfect venue to showcase the talents of this unique performer. Its salon surroundings successfully recreated the atmosphere of a small Las Vegas lounge bar for the evening.
Ex-Las Vegas nightclub chanteuse Hope Springs chatted and sang her way through a unique repertoire of original material ranging from the powerful torch songs She’s his world and Carnival to the jazzy The devil made me do it, from the comic Bagels and Please don’t desert us at dessert to the hauntingly beautiful and my personal favourite number of the evening All the fun of the fair.
Composer, lyricist, pianist and comic actor Ty Jeffries (son of the late British screen character actor Lionel Jeffries) is the man behind the character. However, Miss Hope Springs is much more than a drag act and fits smoothly into the ground created by the great American gender illusionist Jim Bailey; she inhabits the role she has created.
Every movement of the lips, every raised eyebrow, every sideways glance and sneer is executed with precision to accentuate the lyric or melody while at times her eyes take control of the performance pulling you further into the storyline. It was mesmerising.
Often in small rooms it can feel uncomfortable to be close up to the artist. No such problem here; sitting close to the performer ensured you did not miss a single nuance of this very sophisticated performance.
Despite Hope’s hard luck story, she is a survivor and has the unique ability to convey pathos and joy in her music which at times is remarkably uplifting. A fine, accomplished pianist, Hope played the piano side-saddle for most of the night.
The quality of her voice is ravishing, gravelly at the bottom, gin and tonic in her chest and open and round at the top.
If she has not experienced it she will have an anecdote about someone who has. The Pink Pelican Casino’s loss was our gain!
Miss Hope Springs was accompanied on bass by Nigel Thomas and Sam Glasson on drums. The evening was directed and staged by Carole Todd whose classic lighting of the performer added that extra touch of class to the evening which was organised by Danny Dwyer and Bear-Patrol and raised £900 for the Sussex Cancer Fund.
For more information about Miss Hope Springs, click here:
You can catch Hope in her Christmas Show at the Nightingale Room on December 14.
To book tickets online, click here:
Best known for performing with her cabaret partner Dame Hilda Bracket (now sadly deceased), Dr Hinge is dusting off the old tiara and giving it one last whirl in Louis Mander’s rip-roaring Carry-On of a “kiss-me-quick whodunit” comic opera, which had a first outing at the Arcola Theatre earlier this year.
Cynthia and her aged mother, the Dowager, are holidaying on the French island of Oleron. Cynthia’s fiancé can’t join them – he’s on his own journey of discovery with a secret gay lover in Morocco. But when Cynthia and Dowager bump into old friends, gossip abounds and confusion ensues. It isn’t long before events are spiralling out of all control…
Hinge and Bracket, in their heyday, were the darlings of the London cabaret circuit, but it was their 1974 Edinburgh Fringe show that took them from the likes of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern into the glittering West End. This was followed by national tours; radio and TV performances; as well as their own BBC2 show, Dear Ladies.
Composer Louis Mander studied at The Royal College of Music and The University of Birmingham. His inaugural double-bill The Mariner and The Clown of God was well reviewed at its premiere in Islington in 2011. Scenes from his full-length opera The Life to Come, to a libretto by actor and writer Stephen Fry based on an EM Forster short story, were performed to considerable acclaim at the Britten Theatre, London in July 2013. Mander provided the soundtrack for the film My Beautiful White Skin, by award-winning director Stuart Gatt, for 6th International Films in Summer 2014.
The Dowager’s Oyster premiered at the Grimeborn Festival at the Arcola Theatre this August.
Event: Dr Evadne Hinge returns in The Dowager’s Oyster
Where: The So & So Arts Club, 6 Frederick’s Pl, London EC2R 8AB
When: November 22-26
Time: 7.30pm daily
Cost: Tickets £25
To book online, click here:
This is a spirited version of Stephen Sondheim’s musical of murder, revenge and madness. It has some very good performances, it’s well paced, finely costumed and designed, and, apart from problems with the acoustics – words are often drowned out by the band which is a shame as Sondheim is such a superb lyricist – there’s little to complain about. However, for me the production never quite reaches the heights it should. I have to point out here that I love Tim Burton’s film adaptation and, perhaps wrongly, couldn’t help comparing each performance and song with the way it was presented in the movie – with the movie scoring more wins than losses.
Hugh Wheeler’s book takes the barnstorming melodrama and fleshes out the protagonists. It also has a distinctly political edge to it showing how those with money and power exploit the lower classes in a society where ‘those below serve those up above’. Although this is a penny dreadful come to life, it has a depth which belies is sensationalist origins.
Callum McArdle certainly has the brooding, saturnine air of a man who has been the victim of men’s cruelty and decides to repay humanity back in spades. His descent from wounded victim into depravity is absolutely convincing. He has a fine voice, a commanding presence, and is an excellent Todd. Alice Redmond is wonderful as Mrs Lovett, Todd’s venal partner in crime. She manages the not inconsiderable feat of making the audience feel some sympathy for her unrequited love of Todd despite the fact that it’s at her suggestion many innocent Londoners end up as filling for her meat pies. Alistair Higgins gives one of the stand-out performances as Tobias Ragg, the urchin who unwittingly ends working up in the human pie business. His rendition of Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir is a mischievous highlight; and his final descent into madness is unnervingly impressive.
This is an enjoyable evening of gothic horror which is a fine introduction to one of Sondheim’s masterpieces. My companion for the evening, who hadn’t seen it before, enjoyed it thoroughly. So if you’re new to it – or have the strength of will I lack and can resist comparing it to the film – I’d warmly recommend it.
Continues until October 29.
For tickets and more information click here.
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