Apologies to my hordes of readers (ahem...) for my prolonged silence. An unexpected return to the classroom and an even more unexpected stint as Santa at a local Garden Centre left little time or energy for more important matters, but now those commitments are at an end, so here I am.
I have several possible postings in mind, but I thought I'd start with something seasonal. The ever resourceful Charles Court Opera (see my reviews of their 'Barber of Seville' and 'The Sorcerer') have collaborated with The Jermyn Street Theatre to put on a Panto; but this is far from the traditional model as it is based (albeit very loosely) on the Napoleonic wars and the rivalry between Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington ( last year's Panto was based on the Odyssey, so you'll realise the parties involved do not shy away from a challenge...).
The Jermyn Street Theatre is true to its name and is situated on that very smart thoroughfare in the heart of Piccadilly. Arriving early, my wife and I had a chance for some aspirational window-shopping; Jermyn Street's idea of a Sale was quaintly elitist: Church's shoes slashed to half-price (£400.00 a pair), five shirts for £285.00... Happily, tickets for 'Napoleon: Un Petit Pantomime' were a genuine bargain at £35.00 a pop.
This esoteric Panto was created by the Charles Court Opera Artistic Director John Savournin and its Musical Director David Eaton. Knowing their work as I do, I expected something exceptional and I was not disappointed.
The plot is nothing short of bonkers: the England of George III is bankrupt but the army needs to be built up to continue the war against Napoleon and that will be expensive. There is treasure to be had from a locked vault in a Gents Public Lavatory under The Strand but the vault can only be unlocked by Admiral Horatio Nelson's finger print; the problem here is that Nelson is dead... BUT (!) as luck would have it, Napoleon carries round with him Nelson's severed hand, so George III, his daughter Georgina (dressed incognito as a man named George - see below) and the Duke of Wellington travel to Paris to steal the said appendage. To further complicate matters, Napoleon also learns about the vault and after the severed hand is taken to London by George III and his team Buonaparte follows with the ghost of Marie Antoinette (that's right, the ghost: I warned you the plot was bonkers). After some inevitable twists and turns the English win the day and Bonie is defeated for good and all.
The Charles Court production has manifold strengths and delights, too numerous to describe in detail. If I say the whole has the sense of a surreal and sophisticated 'Carry On' film, this might seem to be a contradiction in terms, but is as close to the flavour of the thing as I can manage.
The cast of five perform wonders and are wonderful performers. As George III, Elliot Broadfoot brings star quality and madcap energy to a king pin role (pun intended). He is a charismatic naughty boy adult in the Terry Scott mould with a fine voice, excellent range of accents and great physical energy: his manic thigh slapping quasi Tyrolean folk dance was a high point. As Napoleon, Matthew Kellett gives us a pantomime villain par excellence. To continue the 'Carry On' theme, if Sid James had been rather posher and received operatic training he might have given a similar performance. Kellett's rich bass-baritone was an effective counterbalance to some music-theatre voices. As the ghost of Marie Antoinette, Rosie Strobel robustly channelled her inner Joan Sims in a totally assured and knowing performance, as a queen whose sexual desire had not been at all diminished by death. Jennie Jacobs managed to make the Duke of Wellington rather sweetly gormless in the Charles Hawtrey manner, dreaming of leaving war behind, raising cattle in the Cotswolds and baking endless Beef Wellingtons. Amy J Payne completed the quintet as the more or less sensible Georgina/George, switching effectively between operatic and MT singing styles. As a girl named George she was the inspiration for the more erudite jokes, being in quick succession George Michael, George Orwell, Boy George and George 'R' 'R' Martin...
Impressive though these individual performances were, as so often with Charles Court Opera productions, the whole exceeded the sum of the very impressive parts. Ensemble work throughout was quite superb and the cast maintained an extraordinary level of high octane energy throughout. Predictably, double-entendres and painful puns came thick and fast: 'He'll find a British Bulldog up his French derriere' and 'Go to Pret , eat a baguette, have a nibble on her noisette' being two representative examples. There is also a VERY RUDE rude joke about George Michael and the aforementioned Strand Gents' Convenience.
The direction by John Savournin and Benji Sperring was totally assured and admirably fast-paced and Merry Holden's choreography impressed, particularly given the tiny stage with which she had to work. Musical values were exemplary, with David Eaton conjuring marvels from the keyboard and the virtuoso rock guitar playing of Alex Meneker adding further distiction. The singing, in a range of styles, was universally excellent and it was pleasing that Amy J Payne had the opportunity to sing Cherubino's 'Non so piu cosa son, cosa faccio' from 'Figaro', albeit with newly minted 'panto' words. Eaton crafted an effective and musically complex quintet to close the first half and neatly appropriated material by Abba, Queen, Lady Gaga, Bonnie Tyler, Elton John, Tina Turner et al. Incidental music was wittily chosen and I particularly liked the University Challenge theme tune accompanying the Muppet academic Professor Chumley-Smythe, who attempts to contradict Napoleon's historically inaccurate version of the circumstances surrounding Nelson's death.
All in all, this is a phenominal production that must be seen. (Having said that, I think all remaining performances are sold out but it's worth enquiring for returns.) The performance I saw was the 40th in the run! The cast perform nine shows (including two matinees) seven days a week. To maintain such a high standard so consistently is the epitome of professionalism. Formidable! Tres bien tout le monde!!
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