This morality tale in words and music performed as part of B RIGHT ON LGBT Community Festival first saw the light of day as a concert item and it has grown and developed since its premiere in 2016. Further development and bulking out could make it a first class piece of musical theatre.
I offer one cautionary lesson to award winning poet John McCullogh. If you want to show us how homophobic bullying can lead to crime, imprisonment, reluctant drug dealing and eventual redemption, don’t put a stunning drag queen in it.
Seven different actors from child to ageing man shuffling towards death, portray the Seven Ages of Man in Shakespeare’s famous soliloquy through the life of Danny the central character. Each is only given a few minutes of dialogue and song to get their changing character across and it clearly isn’t enough.
The most impressive characterisation is however not a Danny but the evil racketeer drag diva Tequila Heels played with delightful venom by Kara Van Park aka Wain Douglas.
She shimmies across the stage like a red glittery vamp and has a great show stopping song Suck It Up.
There is a great gem of theatre trying to survive the very episodic nature of the piece, and it certainly benefits from the wonderful sound of the University of Sussex Symphony Orchestra and the Actually Gay Men’s Chorus.
Ricky Horscraft conducts his own score with enthusiasm and there are great tunes albeit occasionally submerged in the inevitable rapping which modern musicals seem to pay homage to.
The best of the Dannies for me was Number 3 played by the very talented Tom Kohler as the reluctant burglar and Number 4 , the nightclub bouncer cum drug salesman played touchingly by Frankie Davison with his terrific song of anger Jobbing for the Devil.
Two things are certain – there’s a full length musical/opera waiting to escape here; and secondly someone should write a full-length piece for the great personality Kara Van Park – the evil diva shown here would be a good starting point.
Brian Butler
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