Sondheim's "Company"

I went to see "Company" at the Chichester College last night.

It was a student production and turned out to be excellent. I enjoyed the acting although they were all too young to have had any of the real life experiences being depicted in the show. The singing was good and in places very good. The keyboard work by the musical director (and head of Musical Theatre), Daf Hughes, was outstanding, and in itself was well worth the visit.

I love "Company" and wonder at those people who say Sondheim can't write tunes as there are several stonking numbers in this one show alone.

If I was ever fortunate enough to meet Mr Sondheim, I would like to thank him for enriching my life with his music. My pal David is so right, as he usually is in such matters and much else besides, when he says Sondheim is at his ease here writing and composing about a city and a scene he knows so well and inside out. The story of the 35 year old bachelor Bobby who is desperate to get married to somebody/ anybody comparing upon his own state with that of his married friends allows Sondheim to mix a heady cocktail of humour, wicked insight, poignancy and marvellous music. I was trying to isolate which tune was my favourite but the trouble is as each song arrives it replaces the one I thought was my favourite up until then. (Just one grumble about last night's performance at Chichester college. There was a programme which gave those cast biographies but no list of songs or any background information about the composer. All the people sat in the audience can't be afficiniados so an educational opportunity was missed, it seems to me, by an educational establishment.)

The best production so far of "Company" must be the 1995 Sam Mendes' show at the Donmar with Adrian Lester mesmerising in the lead role surrounded by a fantastic cast among whom Clive Rowe(Harry), Teddy Kempner(David), Sheila Gish(Joanne) and the incomparable Amy of Sophie Thompson. To my chagrin, I never saw the stage production but had to be satisfied by viewing a video recording of the actual show.

Sondheim quotes Chekhov: "If you're afraid of loneliness, don't marry". I think this is the motif that Sam Mendes adopted for his production and is a better explanation for Robert than emotional indifference or complacency with which the part could be played.

The show is choc a bloc with showstoppers.

"Sorry Grateful" is when Robert the bachelor asks his married friend Harry if he was sorry that he got married. The reply is wonderfully ambiguous: "You're always sorry, you're always grateful"; "You are what you were, which has nothing to do with - all to do with- her" The tune is heart string tuggingly beautiful and wistful. The other two married friends, Peter and David (I always get a buzz at that combination of names), join in.

"Someone is Waiting" is the song where Robert runs through the qualities of the wives of his three friends, and crazy Amy who is marrying his Jewish friend Paul, and his three girlfriends (who all fancy him) trying to pinpoint the person for himself. He seems unsure whether the person is out there waiting for him," Wait for me now, I'll find you if I can", or whether he should go out and do the searching. He ends up as usual unresolved:" Hurry - Wait for me".

"Another Hundred People" is an anthem to the city of New York sung by Marta, the hippy amongst his girlfriends. A" city of strangers" is reinforced every day by hundreds pouring of the buses, trains and planes.

"Getting Married Today" is sung by crazy Amy on her wedding day. It is an extraordinary recitative song delivered at astonishing speed ("all bridal babble and radiantly curdling hymn" Michael Ratcliffe), which is incredibly difficult to do, makes the audience roar with laughter and is a show stopper in the hands of a Sophie Thompson. Amy refuses to marry Paul on the actual day of the wedding.

"Marry Me a Little" is Robert's request to Amy on learning that she is not marrying Paul: "Marry me and everyone will leave us alone"; "Marry me a little, love me just enough"; "Make a few demands that I will be able to fulfil"; "We'll stay who we are"; "Passionate as hell but always in control";"But first and foremost keep me company"; "I'm ready" is the oft repeated reprise before the song ends on "I'm...I'm...I'm..."

God, Sondheim is brilliant!

The Golden Pathway Annual

I saw The Golden Pathway Annual last night at the Havant Arts Centre. The John Harding and John Burrows play is being presented by the Bench Theatre this week and next. As a Bench member I was doing my front of house usher bit in my Bench Theatre sweatshirt accompanied by Ingrid - she was House Manager for this production.

I knew nothing of the play but had voted for it at the play selection sometime last year. The Bench Theatre, a non-professional theatre (whose link can be found opposite/some photographs can be found on my website at www.frostymarsh.co.uk/gallery/) has an unusual form of play selection. Prospective directors have to bring a proposal for the play they want to do before the gathered membership and "pitch" their idea so it wins sufficient support and votes to be considered for production. It sounds haphazard but has thrown up some interesting seasons and sometimes ones with strong thematic links - unintentional at the time but still there all the same!

This play won my vote because of the director, Sally Hartley. Sally hadn't put forward a play before but is a very experienced and talented actress. Her work off the text in providing a subtextual quality and depth to her performances is wonderful to behold and exemplary for other actors. I looked forward to seeing the final product.
Some bias must now be made clear. During casting Sally chose my son in law, Nathan, as the leading character, Michael Peters, my firstborn, Zoe, as the only woman in the cast of four(and Nathan's wife), and Mark Wakeman, their best man. The fourth member of the cast was Darryl Wakelin who I have had the privilege to work with on "The Weir" and as part of the improvisation workshop team that produces "Dude, Where is my script?" (led by the multi talented Nathan).

I approached last night's performance then with anticipation and was rewarded with an evening of enormous humour and fun. I roared with laughter and yet identified with the characters on stage. Only rarely was I reminded by a mannerism or a hiccup that makes live theatre the unique spectacle that it is that I actually knew the actors behind the people being portrayed. There is an excellent review of the show in the Portsmouth News by James George which I think captures the show very well. (The review is somewhat marred by one of those headlines probably stuck on by a sub-editor which bears little resemblance to the content of the review.)
James George is impressed by Sally's decision to work with only four actors but questions the use of only one actress (the overworked but always effective Zoe Chapman). He was impressed by the simplicity of the staging and set. I love the minimalist approach which allows and requires the actors to act!

I also take a little proprietorial interest and pride in the production photos by young photographer, Katie Anderson. I had suggested Katie to the production team because of her experience working as a photographer on rock band gigs and concerts. Her collection of production stills taken during a dress rehearsal capture the essence of a theatrical endeavour and some of the photographs are just stunning. Katie took on the assignment because she wants to widen her portfolio. If this debut collection is any indication, Katie has real talent ( Some of her work can be seen on www.rock-shots.co.uk/index.php and I hope she will soon upload some of her photos from this production)

If you live in the Havant area, I would heartily recommend this show for a lively, thoroughly entertaining night out. It appeals to the baby boomers like me but the youngsters in last night's audience laughed just as loudly as us oldtimers!

St George's Day 2006

With the Bank Holiday Monday, this has been a four day week at work. I like four day weeks! I enjoyed a singaround at the Chichester Folk Song Club on Tuesday night. For the last couple of Tuesdays I have been accompanied by Ingrid and Alice. Both of them are blessed with lovely singing voices and Alice is looking for a new band to join having recently parted with a trio she formed with two friends. She has a beautiful voice, even excelling her mother's. On the other hand, I have no singing voice especially if singing solo and unaccompanied. I can't hold a tune in my head and can just about manage to sing along with other voices (preferably in the same range as me).

Anyway on this Tuesday night I went alone to the Club and as usual was knocked out by the range and exuberance of the music. Folk music tells the history of our country and people in a magical way. One song told of the nineteen year wait for promotion of a football club but the song makes no reference to football and will stand the test of time as a beautiful creation in its own right.

As my contribution to the evening I read two speeches from Shakespeare: Henry V's speech before the battle of Agincourt and John of Gaunt's speech from Richard II. The readings had a dual purpose because the folk club was also a way of preparing for St George's Day itself. On Sunday the local pub, the Gold Lion, is holding a day of celebration in honour of the patron saint and I have been asked to come up with a fifteen minute slot for a midday and an evening performance.

It took me half a day to come up with a rough running order which includes ruminations (humourous I hope) on England and its patron saint and bringing in Shakespeare as the great playwright was born on the day itself (and rather amazingly died on St George's Day). I chose two speeches from Henry V (rousing ones) and one from Richard II which can be perceived as a commentary on the less noble state our country currently finds itself in. An unknown audience in an unknown venue and with my own untried material makes this an ususual venture for me!

"Blackbird" at the Albery

The play opens in one of those sparse rooms in a factory where the staff eat their packed lunches and take breaks drinking from styrofoam cups. There is litter and detritus everywhere. Into this room burst a man and a young woman. He is dressed conservatively in shirt and tie - she provocatively. For the next two enthralling hours (without interval) the two circle each other physically and metaphorically sorting through the litter of the room and the litter in their lives. We learn that he had sex with her when she was only twelve. The accusations and recriminations fly backwards and forwards at an emotional intensity that draw the audience in despite any reservations that may be held. At first we are like the other workers in the factory who peer in through the window lined corridor that forms the back wall of the set. Occasionally a worker will enter the room to use the locker emanating silent disapproval but not wishing to be involved personally. The audience finds itself doing the same but the play, the production and the performances do not allow such luxury. Your loyalty, sympathy and antipathy swing between the two characters as the play progresses and we are shown what a tangled web is woven from a simple act such as attending a neighbour's barbecue. Peter Stein is an acknowledged director and the naturalistic treatment of a taboo subject is tempered with an expert knowledge of theatricality. Not once during the performance are you aware of the director's hand - you are only interested in the characters- but at the curtain call and afterwards you begin to appreciate the artistry that brought the play to such vibrant life. The casting of Roger Allam and Jodhi May is inspired and a union made in heaven; although their characters occupy a hell of their own making. Roger Allam is undoubtedly one of the great English classical actors with a marvellous voice. Here he creates an utterly believable man whose speech patterns, demeanour and thinking reveal and conceal a complex character. We want to loathe this man but the journey of discovery is much rougher than that both for the character, actor and audience. This is a magnificent performance by Mr Allam! Jodhi May's character began theatrically with deep thrilling notes generated from a slim and shapely frame. I was distracted both by the voice, the costume and the figure. I thought the theatricality was that of the actress but as the evening progressed learned that it came from the character. What a complex and disturbing performance Miss May provides that turns our perceptions upside down and inside out. David Harrower has created an insight into two people and their lives that defies the mob's unthinking reaction, the pulpit bashing and the moral tut-tutting. "Blackbird" reminds us of the dangers of judging people from a distance and there but for the grace of God...

Debut

I am not quite sure what prompted me to begin writing a blog. I have enjoyed reading other blogs of family and friends. Admittedly these are much younger people than yours truly but I liked the idea of a public diary, or rather the commitment to writing encouraged by having a public diary.
There is no real plan of approach to this blog, other than a casual commitment to write at least weekly in the form of an evaluation of what has happened to and around me. My son in law uses his blog to write reviews of productions he has seen and my daughter writes reviews of films. Both these are options I would like to use as well. I was really privileged to see "Blackbird" at the Albery on Wednesday and hope to write a review as my second posting. I belong to a dvd rental outlet, which allows me to indulge in French films in particular. We have the Harbour Lights cinema at Southampton and New Park Place Cinema at Chichester which provide a richer diet of cinemagoing than is generally on offer at the multiplexes such as Gunwharf or Port Solent. The cinema is the only place to see films though and I would never advocate watching "King Kong", for example, on a TV screen in preference to a cinema experience - no matter how big the TV screen!
Theatre is still my first love. The reason is that you sit in the auditorium and the performance you are about to see will be the one and only time that performance will be seen. It may bear a striking resemblance to the performances that have gone before and to the ones that follow it. However it will be composed of so many factors - rushes of adrenalin, new discovered emotional patches by the actors, mistakes and errors onstage and off, the make up of the audience itself and its unique influence on the performance. In the cinema the distributed copy being shown will be the same if you return for another showing at the same cinema or attend a showing at a different cinema - the film will basically be the same.
Acting as a non professional has provided me with some of the best moments in my life and provided me with some of the best friends a man could ever hope to meet. My current role is as Marc in a Bench Theatre production at the Havant Arts Centre scheduled for July 2006.
One thing that occurs to me is that I need to time myself as I write these "posts" otherwise I can see me recounting my whole life story in one go.