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 Theatre reviews, Guys & Dolls + Gone with the Wind |
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 Jul 20 2007, 08:07 AM
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#21
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 BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 15 March 2006
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thanks, BT - makes me so proud of him!
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Jul 20 2007, 08:16 AM
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#22
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 8 March 2006
Posts: 25,367 User: 111
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It's good seeing them all together.
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Jul 20 2007, 10:03 AM
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#23
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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If we can keep this thread solely for reviews, I will lock it and add new reviews here so they arent lost as people post them on the main forum threads.
This post has been edited by prettyinpink: Jul 20 2007, 10:15 AM |
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Apr 8 2008, 07:19 PM
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#24
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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a chicago review, only just found, thanks to Baytree and .net
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Apr 23 2008, 08:48 AM
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#25
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 15 March 2006
Posts: 4,844 User: 225
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review all together, post in the other gwtw and they will be added here, the thread is for reviews only, so will be kept closed unless adding more reviews.
Independant first night review This is an great review for Darius!! First Night: Gone With The Wind, New London Theatre, London Winds of change resurrect some Southern comforts By Paul Taylor Wednesday, 23 April 2008 You don't have to wait long for the line "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" in this new stage musical version of Gone With The Wind. You can read it, as you enter, emblazoned on the T-shirts and mugs at the merchandise stall. There are also aprons for sale that assert that "I'll never be hungry again". It's an index of the huge popularity of the 1939 film adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's novel that these phrases are etched on the collective consciousness and it's also a measure of what this musical has to live up to in attempting to tell the story in a different way. Trevor Nunn's production is the most anticipated tuner of the season but the word from the previews was worrying, with rumours of excessive length. Now trimmed to a not exactly terse three hours 40 minutes, the show is neither as bad as one feared nor as good as one has a right to expect. In opening out this saga of cross-purpose love, set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, the most prominent innovation is the treatment of the black community who are here granted what they were there denied: a dignified, independent voice. The racism of the South is fully acknowledged. One great benefit is that the score is enriched with spirituals, blues and gospel music, spine-tinglingly well-sung by such cast members as Natasha Yvette Williams's loveably sassy Mammy and Jina Burrows' Prissy. But the drawback is that the well-intentioned liberal revisionism too often feels grafted-on apologetically. Once freed, the hapless Prissy has a sudden, unconvincing personality rethink and belts out her determination to learn to read and become a teacher. A dispute about responses to post-bellum whites is evasively resolved in a great whoosh of uplift in the anthem declaring that "if we close our hearts to hatred/And we open them to love/Hope will follow on the wings of a dove". The rest of the score ranges from soppy, forgettable love songs to would-be witty, forgettable patter numbers to forgettable Irish airs about the Importance of the Land to... I forget. The story, perforce often rattled-through and perfunctory, has to rely heavily on spoken narration from figures stationed on the picket fence balcony that surrounds the curved wooden acting arena in John Napier's "environmental" design. I never thought that I'd pine for projections in a stage show but the far from awe-inspiring flash-bangs and set-collapses that evoke the burning of Atlanta; the distinctly under-populated spectacle of the Confederate dead; and the excitement-free rotating-wagon escape to Tara leave the hackneyed theatrical language of mimed horses and props looking in need of further support to register the requisite texture, tension and atmosphere. The diabolically dashing Darius Danesh (of Pop Idol fame) brings a seductively insolent charm, a dark velvet voice and a genuine, fugitive pathos to the cynical blockade runner. If Jill Paice hasn't quite nailed the comic, outrageously feline wiliness of Scarlett, she boasts the bright, soaring vocal quality to convey the heroine's indomitable survivor's drive. The two performers are at their moving best when towards the end, each lost in their separate loneliness, they engage in an unconscious duet of marriage misery. All the same, I was left wondering whether, on the whole, this quixotic enterprise takes us any deeper into the inner life of Gone With The Wind. The irony is that it's Max Steiner's superb score for the movie version, with its character motifs and achingly interwoven period tunes, that offers the true object lesson in how to use music dramatically. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC News review of opening night BBC review BBC News Ovation for Darius's Rhett Butler Darius Danesh gained a standing ovation for playing Rhett Butler on the opening of Gone With The Wind in the West End - but the show suffered mixed reviews. The musical adaptation of the legendary 1939 movie ran to three-and-half hours despite cuts, but Danesh remarked it was "still shorter than the film". Despite a warm reception from a star-studded audience, critics called the show "dreary and unspectacular". Danesh gave a "stilted impersonation" of Clark Gable, said The Telegraph. Critic Charles Spencer said Jill Paice, in the role of Scarlett O'Hara, was "pert, pretty and full of pep" but she lacked "the viciousness and eroticism the role also demands". Paul Taylor of The Independent was more convinced by Danesh's performance. He said: "The diabolically dashing Darius Danesh brings a seductively insolent charm, a dark velvet voice and a genuine fugitive pathos to the cynical blockade runner." Paul Callan of the Daily Express also heaped praise on the former Pop Idol contestant, saying "only his performance saves this show from crumbling into utter mediocrity". But Trevor Nunn's show, he went on to say, was "frequently dire". Other cast members, including Yvette Williams as Mammy and Jina Burrows as Prissy, were widely applauded by the critics. Danesh said after his performance: "I had a blast, it was my first opening night and it was great to cut my teeth with the inimitable Trevor Nunn." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daily Mail 23/04/08 Natasha Henstridge lends Hollywood glamour to Darius Danesh's Gone With The Wind debut As critics blow in chilly reviews Last updated at 10:54am on 23rd April 2008 American actress Natasha Henstridge bought a touch of Hollywood glamour to the West End last night as her Pop Idol boyfriend Darius Danesh made his debut in the new production of Gone With The Wind. Dressed in a chic black frock, the Species star cheered on the 27-year-old Glasgow-born singer, who starred opposite US performer Jill Paice in the Trevor Nunn show. A star-studded audience, including model Twiggy, turned out to watch Danesh take on the role made famous by Clark Gable in the 1939 film. Actresses Joan Collins and Barbara Windsor, broadcaster David Frost, comic and writer Ben Elton, model Twiggy, ex-Blue singer Duncan James and Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Philips turned out to watch the musical adaptation, which cost a reported 4.5m to stage. The first preview of the adaptation of the 1936 Margaret Mitchell novel ran to a mammoth four hours. By the US civil war epic had been cut down to three-and-a-half-hours, including the interval, in time for opening night. Danesh said afterwards: "I had a blast, it was my first opening night and it was great to cut my teeth with the inimitable Trevor Nunn." The audience gave Danesh a standing ovation but critics have offered a distinctly lukewarm reception to the musical version of Gone With The Wind. Charles Spencer, in the Daily Telegraph, said most of the songs were "lacklustre", the show was "dreary and unspectacular" and the two leads lacked sexual chemistry. "Jill Paice is pert, pretty and full of pep, but she misses the viciousness and eroticism the role also demands. Darius Danesh, meanwhile, seems to be giving a stilted impersonation of Clark Gable rather than supplying anything original of his own," he said. Benedict Nightingale, writing in The Times, gave the show two stars out of a possible five. Of Danesh he said "he has the sauntering suavity that Gable brought to the role of Rhett, but not enough dash and danger" while Jill Paice's Scarlett O'Hara "doesn't have enough fire burning within". Many the early reviews seemed to agree that something was missing from Paice's performance but Danesh fared better. Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail was charmed by Danesh, despite comparing his appearance to a Victorian Villain from a Monty Python sketch. Paul Taylor, of the Independent, gave the show three stars and said: "The diabolically dashing Darius Danesh brings a seductively insolent charm, a dark velvet voice and a genuine fugitive pathos to the cynical blockade runner." Paice "hasn't quite nailed the comic, outrageously feline wiliness of Scarlett" but conveyed the heroine's survival instinct through her vocal quality, he added. Daily Express critic Paul Callan said the show was "frequently dire" although he gave it three stars. He praised Danesh, saying: "He is clearly a talented performer and, basically, only his performance saves this show from crumbling into utter mediocrity." He said Paice's performance "lacks that extra element of cunning". Michael Billington, in the Guardian, gave the show only two stars but praised both leads. "Jill Paice does an excellent job of reconciling us to one of literature's least beguiling protagonists," he wrote. "Darius Danesh also endows the morally dubious Rhett Butler with a graceful virility and residual guilt." Natasha Yvette Williams, as Mammy, and Jina Burrows as Prissy, received warm praise from several critics. This post has been edited by prettyinpink: Apr 23 2008, 11:25 AM |
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Apr 23 2008, 08:54 AM
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#26
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 15 March 2006
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Press association first night review
Standing ovation for Darius' Rhett 6 hours ago Pop Idol star Darius Danesh received a standing ovation for his performance as Rhett Butler in the new production of Gone With The Wind. The 27-year-old Glasgow-born singer stars opposite US performer Jill Paice in the Trevor Nunn show. A star-studded audience turned out to watch Danesh take on the role made famous by Clark Gable in the 1939 film. The first preview of the adaptation of the 1936 Margaret Mitchell novel ran to a mammoth four hours. By the US civil war epic had been cut down to three-and-a-half-hours, including the interval, in time for opening night. Actresses Joan Collins and Barbara Windsor, broadcaster David Frost, comic and writer Ben Elton, model Twiggy, ex-Blue singer Duncan James and Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Philips turned out to watch the musical adaptation, which cost a reported 4.5m to stage. Danesh said afterwards: "I had a blast, it was my first opening night and it was great to cut my teeth with the inimitable Trevor Nunn." Of the length of the production, he said: "We are still shorter than the film." The production is the first play written by US mother-of-three Margaret Martin, who took the idea to director Nunn after gaining the rights to the story. Danesh previously played Sky Masterson in Michael Grandage's production of Guys and Dolls and was the youngest actor to play Billy Flynn in Chicago. --------------------------------------------- Reuters first night review Darius Danesh, who won fame on the U.K. television show "Pop Idol," does a much better job of channeling Clark Gable as Butler. He's a fine singer and not a bad actor. The rest of the cast have the burden of delivering a series of musical numbers that, unusually for a musical, are not listed in the program. --------------------------------------------------- From The Times 2/5 April 23, 2008 Gone with the Wind at New London Benedict Nightingale times review Frankly, my dears, I did give a damn but not as big a damn as I had hoped. To put it another way: fiddlededee to some but not all the things that are occurring in a piece I wasnt always sure should exist. Margaret Martins book for her musical version of Gone with the Wind is almost too faithful to Margaret Mitchells novel and, at 190 minutes, certainly too long. Trevor Nunns cast sometimes left me hankering for Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, who breezed and dazzled their way through the film. Sadly, I often found myself wishing the musical just wasnt a musical. But thats partly because Nunn has drawn on his experience with Nicholas Nickleby in 1980, giving us a production in which cast members inject pieces of narrative into the proceedings. This means that the story of Harlot Mascara sorry, Scarlett OHara doesnt need songs in order to hold the attention. There are confusing bits (how does Rhett Butler escape that Yankee hangman?) and there are longueurs, especially in the second act. But the first half often has that brisk, energetic yet epic feel that one associates with Nunns work. So Jill Paices Scarlett mournfully eyes Edward Baker-Dulys Ashley Wilkes, the gentlemanly drip she adores, as he marries the virtuous Melanie Hamilton, while she is resisting that glamorous maverick, Darius Daneshs Rhett. Meanwhile, war threatens those Southern belles and the Confederate flags that half-circle the audience. War duly arrives with the explosions, red light and mini-collapse of John Napiers timbered set that signal the burning of Atlanta. Add plenty of hobbling soldiers and graphic description of Scarlett stepping over the dead, and the defeat of the South is adequately evoked. As for Danesh, he has the sauntering suavity that Gable brought to the role of Rhett, but not enough dash and danger. Those qualities are also lacking in Paice, who is warmer than Leigh in the film but still doesnt have much fire burning within. She gives us a bit of a feminist reading of Scarlett, which means you believe in her when shes doughtily battling to save her beloved Tara, but you dont fully do so when fury or passion are needed. And for a woman surely meant to embody the hard South thats about to emerge as well as the genteel South thats dying well, shes too nice. Have Martin and Nunn tried to bring political correctness to Margaret Mitchell? Just a bit, notably when theyre treating black characters, and especially Jina Burrowss Prissy, who is no ditsy airhead but a young woman who will use her freedom to become a teacher. Indeed, a gospel-style song in which the ex-slaves celebrate their liberty was received more warmly than any other, and a solo by Natasha Yvette Williamss excellent Mammy almost equally so, even though neither was that relevant to the plot. But then the rest of the music is rather so-so and the rhymed lyrics pretty flat. Did I really hear Scarletts dad boast in Irish ballad style that from Kerry to Connemara you wont find land as fine as Tara? Or Scarlett sing that the life she used to know, the world she knew so well, why did it have to turn into a living hell? Compare that with the eloquent simplicity that marked every aspect of Nunns revival of Oklahoma!. It just doesnt have the variety, the quirkiness or the moral power. And it doesnt need the tunes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whatsonstage review WOS first night review This post has been edited by prettyinpink: Apr 23 2008, 09:42 AM |
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Apr 23 2008, 09:52 AM
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#27
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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Whatsonstage TV was at GWTW last night-
whatsonstage video review of first night video footage from WOS TV, clips from the show, talking to cast, celebs etc about last nights show! and what they thought about it ---------------------------------------------------- Daily Star daily Star review ----------------------------------------------- Daily Mail- although this one seems as if he didnt wait till opening night - Frankly my dear, its not up to much By QUENTIN LETTS - Last updated at 10:04am on 23rd April 2008 Pre-launch rumours suggested that this was going to be a disaster. Not so much Gone With The Wind as Gone For A Burton, went the whispers. Well, it is not quite the catastrophic shipwreck suggested. But frankly my dears, its a close shave. The show has been written (words and soupy music) by a Californian health worker, Margaret Martin, and is just about recognisable as the Margaret Mitchell novel which was turned into the 1939 film with Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. Never having been completely convinced by the film, I was prepared to be won over by Jill Paice and Darius Danesh, who here play Scarlett OHara and Rhett Butler. And I was, to an extent. Mr Danesh has a husky bass voice and is dashing, even if, with his mutton chop whiskers and long legs, he resembles a Victorian villain from a Monty Python sketch. Miss Paice, blessed with a tiny waist, has a wildness and independence of spirit. She certainly needs the latter to survive Sir Trevor Nunn's B-grade direction. What a mess of exposition the first half hour is. Gangs of actors wander on and off, then back on as different characters, then back off, as the scene is set, re-set, then switches yet again as the audience is told that this is north Georgia in 1861. Americas civil war is about to occur. The O'Hara's are of Irish descent cue the penny whistle and some appalling Oirish from old man OHara who asks raven-haired Scarlett: 'Is it crying you are?' Shed have been justified in replying: 'Yes. Because I cant take this script and your hamming any more!' Things pick up when Mr Danesh arrives on stage and there is a spark of love interest and humour. But where is the danger? When Rhett and Scarlett finally kissed there was a wolf whistle from one theatregoer and giggles from others. Where is the storys raw allure? There are so many people milling about on stage, some of them in ludicrously bad fake beards, that it is hard to concentrate on the lead actors. You cant do a camera close-up on stage as you can in a film. After 32 minutes an unfortunate torpedo struck Mondays show. An unexplained clanking noise started from the wings and continued for five minutes while the poor cast tried to press on with proceedings. Scarlett's first fianc arrived, did his courting, was accepted, impregnated her and then died all before the clanking abated. Oh well. Setbacks are like buses. There's always another hurtling down the road, as Scarlett O'Hara finds to her pretty cost. The music feels a bit off-the-peg. One of Rhett's early songs could be a reject from Fiddler On The Roof. Apart from the routine allotment of ballads we are given a hoe-down, a black gospel number, a deathbed warble from Scarlett's friend Melanie (sweetly done by Madeleine Worrall) and a bedtime story from Rhett to his beloved child. After such a cynically sugary moment it is obvious the little darling is doomed. Sir Trevor has reportedly been chopping away at the script like a Chindit wielding his panga on jungle vegetation but it remains well over three and a half hours long. Rather than trying to fillet scenes he should maybe just dump several altogether. Some feel farcically condensed. Wet-as-a-sponge Ashley Wilkes (Edward Baker-Duly) arrives home from the front for some leave, walks in one door of his house, strolls through the scenery, and vacates by the back door. Seems like you just got here, says his slave, wishing him goodbye. Exit, leave finished. Later, a narrator intones: And so, 1866 became 1867. Just like that! Would that life were so easy, eh, Sir Trevor? This post has been edited by prettyinpink: Apr 23 2008, 10:13 AM |
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Apr 23 2008, 11:51 AM
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#28
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 15 March 2006
Posts: 4,844 User: 225
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Official London Theatre review
Offical London Theatre review The First Night Feature: Gone With The Wind First published 23 Apr 2008 It was one of the most anticipated musicals of the year: a new stage adaptation of Margaret Mitchells famous Civil War-era novel Gone With The Wind, adapted for the stage by first-time stage writer Margaret Martin and directed by Trevor Nunn. Throw in American actress Jill Paice and former reality star Darius Danesh as leads Scarlett OHara and Rhett Butler, and it makes for a very intriguing project indeed. Caroline Bishop went to the New London for the first night. Designer John Napier has transformed the sometimes awkward and characterless New London auditorium into a surprisingly intimate space, using the whole theatre to conjure 1860s Georgia. A wooden fence runs round the circle, dusty 19th century signs hang on the wall and the wooden stage segues into walkways which run through the audience to the back of the stalls, allowing the action to spill off the stage. In the centre is a revolving structure which functions first as Tara, the home of our heroine Scarlett OHara, then becoming many other locations within her 10-year journey. The story begins at Tara, the plantation run successfully by owner Gerald OHara, whose three daughters live a life of luxury, attended to by a household of black slaves. The eldest daughter, spirited and fiery Scarlett, is 16 when we first meet her, and in love with unobtainable neighbour Ashley. As the years go by, Civil War tears apart the region and forces Scarlett to use all her canny means and womanly ways to save Tara and keep her head above water. Mitchells novel is a doorstopper, the hugely successful 1939 film was a four-hour whopper, so it was always going to be a challenge to fit the action into a stage production manageable for fidgeting audiences. Despite cuts during previews, the show is still longer than most, yet the storyline whips along at such a pace that the length is not overly noticeable. However, this does mean that some months, even years in the story are covered briskly by the narration that runs throughout, and some characters have few scenes within which to make an impact. This is not the case for Jill Paice, who has plenty of time to develop the character of Scarlett in fact, she has the mammoth job of being on stage the entire time. Her tiny waist and delicate features suit the crinolines of a Southern belle, while she ably displays the array of character traits that make up the passionate, determined, selfish and spiteful Scarlett. As for her Rhett, the man whose love Scarlett misguidedly spurns in favour of Ashley, Darius Danesh cuts an imposing figure. His dark looks, deep voice and stature are apt for this roguish romantic hero, and he does a fine job of sweeping the diminutive Paice into his arms. Martins musical score is less about traditional crowd-pleasing musical theatre numbers and more about an extension of the narrative, though it provides some memorable moments when leaning on gospel music, notably in On The Wings Of A Dove. A vocally talented cast includes Natasha Yvette Williams as Mammy and Jina Burrows as Prissy, who both capitalise on their time in the spotlight. Covering the Civil War, the abolition of slavery, the post-war money-grabbing resurrection of the South and, of course, Mitchells great love story, writer Martin and director Nunn are packing a lot into an evening. Over three and a half hours later, it is all Gone With The Wind This post has been edited by prettyinpink: Apr 23 2008, 11:53 AM |
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Apr 23 2008, 01:41 PM
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#29
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 15 March 2006
Posts: 4,844 User: 225
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Hello Magazine
link to hello review Darius seduces famous fans with Southern charms in stage role 23 APRIL 2008 Darius Danesh got a resounding thumbs up from spectators when he reprised one of the most famous roles in movie history on the West End stage. The former Pop Idol contestant received a standing ovation from the celebrity-packed audience watching him play Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind. And the A-listers who turned out to see him tackle the part made famous by Clark Gable know a thing or two about charismatic performances. Showbiz veterans Joan Collins and Barbara Windsor were joined by model Twiggy in toasting the 27-year-old's success at a party after the show. The man of the moment - who was also warmly congratulated by his Canadian actress partner Natasha Henstridge and boy band McFly - described his three-and-a-half-hours on the stage as a "blast". Darius will be even more delighted when he reads reviews describing him as "diabolically dashing" and "bringing a seductively insolent charm" to his portrayal of the Southern hero. This post has been edited by prettyinpink: Apr 23 2008, 01:45 PM |
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Apr 23 2008, 04:44 PM
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#30
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Take me as I am....
Joined: 31 March 2006
Posts: 9,947 User: 321
 
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Stars upbeat about Wind musical By Neil Smith Entertainment reporter, BBC News A new musical version of Gone with the Wind starring former Pop Idol contestant Darius Danesh has left the critics unimpressed. "Director Trevor Nunn has delivered a long-winded show with rushed scenes, dull music and banal lyrics," said Ray Bennett of the Hollywood Reporter. The Guardian's critic Michael Billington, meanwhile, said there was "something extravagantly pointless about the whole enterprise." Speaking after Tuesday's first night performance, however, the celebrity guests were happy to sing the show's praises. "I think it will run for a year, possibly two," was the confident prediction of Duncan James, formerly of boy band Blue. "Darius really commanded the stage and I loved the way they used the space." "They did a brilliant job," said veteran actress Joan Collins, adding she had had "a thoroughly enjoyable evening". Her sentiments were echoed by I'm a Celebrity... winner Christopher Biggins, who said he had been "moved to tears" by the end. McFly singer Tom Fletcher was also impressed. "Darius was a real surprise," he told the BBC News website. Dashing "I've never seen him on stage before and I thought he suited the role perfectly." Adapted from Margaret Mitchell's epic novel about the American Civil War, the musical sees Danesh play the dashing Rhett Butler to Jill Paice's impetuous Scarlett O'Hara. First published in 1936, the book was famously filmed three years later with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in the lead roles. Adapted for the stage by US writer Margaret Martin, a specialist in maternal, child and family health, the show clocks in at three hours and 40 minutes. That was at least half an hour too long for some of the first night audience - among them former Pop Idol judge Nicki Chapman. "I know they've cut it down but I still think it could be trimmed," she told the BBC News website. Biggins, meanwhile, said he "would have loved it to have been two-and-a-half hours." "It's difficult to adapt a classic for the stage and I did think the first act dragged," agreed James, who also had reservations about the show's songs. Swagger "There was nothing very memorable in the score," admitted the singer, who appeared last year in West End musical Chicago. Fans of the film version will be pleased to hear the musical replicates most of its key scenes and dialogue. The latter includes Butler's legendary "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" - a line Collins said Danesh delivered "brilliantly". Some theatregoers, however, may be unsettled to hear the black slave characters refer to themselves as "darkies". Fire regulations, meanwhile, mean the burning of Atlanta has to be symbolically represented by a single flaming flag that is speedily extinguished. Danesh has Gable's swagger, and his moustache. His above-average height also means he literally towers over his co-stars. American theatre star Paice does well too to make a character so indelibly associated with another actress at least partially her own. It remains to be seen, though, whether the musical will prove enough of a draw to prove the critics wrong. Gone with the Wind continues at the New London Theatre. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/ente...ent/7362760.stm Published: 2008/04/23 13:08:52 GMT BBC MMVIII |
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Apr 24 2008, 07:24 AM
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#31
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 15 March 2006
Posts: 4,844 User: 225
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Variety
link to variety review If only this show made us give a damn. Forty minutes were hewed off the running time of "Gone With the Wind" during previews, but first-time theater scribe Margaret Martin's musicalization of one of the world's most famous romantic epics remains a lumbering, stolid affair. It's not for a lack of talent among the cast and A-list design and musical teams, but neither the material nor the production offers persuasive evidence as to why this well-known story needed transposing into a new form. The abiding mystery is: What made a helmer as accomplished as Trevor Nunn believe he could make the project work? Los Angeles-based health professional and entrepreneur Martin was drawn to "Gone With the Wind" because she felt there were elements of Margaret Mitchell's novel that could be developed beyond Victor Fleming's 1939 film version. Nunn is credited as adaptor of the book and lyrics, but Martin alone remains responsible for the music, which seldom rises above the generic despite William David Brohn's lush orchestrations. The setting is striking: A circular stage and curved, raked seating create an unusual intimacy between auds (in the orchestra seats, at least) and performance areas. John Napier's set features an open playing area of dark wooden floorboards, with a narrow runway platform above. The orchestra is partly visible sitting in wooden shacks on either side of the stage, with Confederate flags and old-fashioned signs festooned on the walls. The overall effect is like being part of a "GWTW" interactive experience -- an impression furthered by the production's reliance on passages of narrative direct address, which slow the evening down and give it an overly literary feel. They are also a strong indication of the creatives' uncertainty about how best to tell this complex and episodic story. After a brief passage of narration as the show begins, for example, we are thrown into the middle of the first crisis for Scarlett (Jill Paice): "Ashley to be married?" she cries. She then gives a blast of monologue about her unrequited love for the virtuous Mr. Wilkes (Edward Baker-Duly); meets centerstage with her father (Julian Forsyth) to expound in song about the virtues of the land (it "helps you understand why life's worth living," apparently); then grabs hold of the bedpost as Mammy (NaTasha Yvette Williams) tightens up her corset. The action continues in this vein, refusing to leave out any famous bits, but as a result barreling through episode after episode at high speed. So little differentiation is made among the events to indicate their relative importance that the overall tone is one of relentlessness and, soon, monotony. The bare stage facilitates the movement of the action but also allows for little distinction between locations: Tara looks and feels the same as Atlanta. There's a literal-mindedness to the storytelling, with characters frequently walking in circles to indicate going from place to place, and awkward use of mime, as when the O'Haras simulate riding in their carriage by prancing in unison across the stage. The songs could, in more experienced hands, have been opportunities to bring auds closer to the characters' emotions, but they are hampered by Martin and Nunn's cringingly simplistic lyrics ("The war seemed like a game/Our lives will never be the same"). The first act's final moment -- Scarlett crumples to her knees and the image of a Confederate flag is projected around her as she sings, "The life I know is gone with the wind" -- is an unintended masterpiece of high camp. The show only takes off musically in a second-act gospel number sung by the freed slaves. The superb performers raise the roof, but this reliance on black soulfulness to create emotional connection smacks of tokenism. Petite and powerfully voiced, Paice (recently of Broadway's "Curtains") is physically right for the Herculean role of Scarlett but lacks the charisma and emotional variety to fully engage and convince. Though he's obviously been styled in Clark Gable's image, Darius Danesh as Rhett Butler has more star power and several decent chances to show off his resonant bass voice. Madeleine Worrell is admirably sympathetic as Melanie but falls victim to several of the production's dodgy wigs. Overall, Martin and Nunn seem in thrall to, and eventually overwhelmed by, the scope of Mitchell and Fleming's originals. As such they offer now politically questionable material (the film romanticizes the Old South and seems sympathetic to slavery) pretty much straight up, swerving away from an obvious opportunity for criticism or updating. The audience they appear to be cultivating is one that seeks the pleasure and reassurance of recognition: The opening-night crowd initially laughed, then applauded, as Danesh delivered the show's most famous line ("Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"), an unsettling indication of their detachment from what Rhett's rejection of Scarlett actually means. This is "Gone With the Wind" as a greatest hits show -- but with no real hits. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The London Paper review thelondonpaper review link Going, going, Gone With the Wind Poor old Gone With the Wind today got a first night savaging which left many punters wishing they didn't give a damn... Read on for our review... Well, fiddle de dee. After all the rumours and the hype, Trevor Nunns mammoth musical staging of the American civil war novel whumps into life, all four hours of it. Gone with the Long Winded, more like. Reportedly, there were last-minute cuts to make the show shorter, with some audience members even walking out of previews. And shrinking Margaret Mitchell's 1,000 word epic was always going to be a tough call - not to mention following in the footsteps of the 1939 film classic.But not even a work of unparalleled genius merits this much stage time. Cuts or no cuts, there's still far too much incidental plotting, coupled with an irritating narrative that at one point tells us Scarlett OHara (Jill Paice) is looking into a mirror when she is.looking into a mirror. And the music isn' t all that great , either, without a single memorable tune to be had, not helped by Paices often weak and nasal voice. Still, it's nothing if not lavishly staged and at times beautifully atmospheric. A suitably ironic eye is kept on the ethical problems of a story which condones a way of life propped up by slavery, but some of the jolly slave singing (at one point the lyric has it that children are our future) grates. Yet, as the rakish Rhett Butler, Darius Danesh is something of a revelation. The former Pop Idol sings marvellously, even if much of the time he is doing an (admittedly pretty good) impersonation of a dashing Clark Gable in a production that is so long you could fly to the States in the time it takes to finish. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This post has been edited by prettyinpink: Apr 24 2008, 07:30 AM |
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Apr 24 2008, 07:40 AM
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#32
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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link to the cliffege review by ray bennet
By Ray Bennett LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) - Tomorrow is another day for Scarlett OHara but how long that will remain true for the new musical Gone With the Wind is another question. Three-time Tony-winning director Trevor Nunn has delivered a long-winded show with rushed scenes, dull music and lyrics so banal that Rhett Butler is unlikely to be the only one who doesnt give a damn. All the familiar characters are there, but without the book or the film in mind, they would not add up to much. Jill Paice, Broadway star of Curtains and The Woman in White, works hard as Scarlett, but the songs put too much strain on her pleasing but delicate voice. Darius Danesh, who won fame on television show Pop Idol, does a much better job of channeling Clark Gable as Butler. Hes a fine singer and not a bad actor. The rest of the cast have the burden of delivering a series of musical numbers that, unusually for a musical, are not listed in the program. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Another article Critics agree Gone With The Wind blows (Donald Cooper) Darius Danesh recieved praise for his turn as Rhett Butler but Jill Paice was not as lucky. Veronica Schmidt It is difficult to imagine a more ambitious stage project than turning the epic novel Gone With The Wind into a musical. Today, after the shows West End premiere, director Sir Trevor Nunn and Margaret Martin, who wrote the book, music and lyrics for the production, may be wondering if the idea was too ambitious. Critics have given the musical, starring former Pop Idol contestant Darius Danesh and Broadway actress Jill Paice, a collective thumbs down. Awarding the 190-minute show two stars, The Times critic Benedict Nightingale declared it too faithful to Margaret Mitchells novel and too long. Under the merciless heading Gone With the Wind just blows, Reuters reviewer Ray Bennett said Nunn had delivered a long-winded show with rushed scenes, dull music and lyrics so banal that Rhett Butler is unlikely to be the only one who doesn't give a dam. Related Links Gone with the Wind Does Trevor Nunn give a damn? The Guardian critic Michael Billington wrote that the musical felt like a hectic, strip-cartoon account of a dated pop classic. The Telegraphs Charles Spencer was even less impressed. Explaining he often felt like screaming during the performance, Spencer wrote: When I emerged from the theatre after three hours and 40 minutes, it felt as if I had spent several years watching Gone with the Wind and that I had probably missed not just the Beijing Olympics but the London games planned for 2012 as well. The Independent reviewer Paul Taylor was more forgiving. Awarding the musical three stars, he wrote: The show is neither as bad as one feared nor as good as one has a right to expect. He went onto call the score forgettable but well sung. But the news wasnt all bad. While Paice received mixed reviews, Danesh enjoyed wide-spread praise for his turn as Rhett Butler, being described variously as diabolically dashing and a fine singer. The audience was appreciative too, giving the 27-year-old a standing ovation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This post has been edited by prettyinpink: Apr 24 2008, 10:29 AM |
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Apr 24 2008, 06:07 PM
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#33
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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Link to Paul Callan Daily Express review
HARD TO GIVE A DAMN ABOUT GONE WITH THE WIND TALENTED: Darius Danesh, a swaggering Rhett Butler, with Jill Plaice who plays Scarlett Thursday April 24,2008 By Paul Callan WHEN the American Civil War ended after four years, the survivors staggered from the battlefields, exhausted and thankful it was all over. It feels like that when the cast finally take their bows in this show and, after three-and-a-half hours, you emerge with gratitude into the night. (I almost expected to be greeted outside by volunteer ladies with refreshing tea and buns, so exhausting was it). Based on the original Margaret Mitchell doorstop novel, set in the Civil War and its aftermath, the audience is battered into some form of historic submission as the saga of Rhett Butler and the conniving Scarlett OHara unfolds. The writer and composer of this frequently dire attempt to turn a great novel into a musical is Margaret Martin a maternal and child health expert. We are evidently not talking Rodgers and Hammerstein here. Scarlett and Melanie kneel over the body of a dead Yankee soldier In fact, what we are talking is a bizarre musical mish-mash of styles. There are few songs that linger in the mind longer than a few seconds and Ms Martin flagrantly breaks the golden rule that must be observed of all composers of hit musicals. That is, you must come out with a good tune ringing in your head. The only thing ringing in my head is one of my own called Utter Relief That The Whole Thing Is Over. With its 36 actors playing over 90 parts, the show is often a blur of activity, some of it blundering and clumsy, while at other times it does move with a certain slick pace around the stage. John Napiers clever and adaptable design does help this limping effort and he clearly brings a great deal of colour to his onstage conception. Jill Paice has a sweet enough, carrying voice as Scarlett but her portrayal of the calculating survivor lacks that extra element of cunning. You should really want to leap on the stage, put Scarlett over your knee and give her a good tanning as a punishment for all her vixen-like behaviour. Darius Danesh is a sturdy, manly Rhett, with a good, deep voice and bags of swaggering arrogance. He is clearly talented and, basically, only his performance saves this show from crumbling into utter mediocrity. There are some other notable performances that shine through the repetitive bleakness of this production. I particularly like Natasha Yvette Williams as Mammy. She brings a huge grace to the part, as a powerful and passionate voice and the wardrobe department has wittily provided her with a torpedo-like frontage which shakes every time she hits a high note. And little Jina Burrows, as the squeaky Prissy, brings considerable wit and a neat little singing voice to her part. You wonder why a director as eminent as Trevor Nunn has become involved in a show that could go down in the history of theatrical oddities. He is fond of the big canvas, as in Les Miserables. But, sadly, Gone With The Wind, despite its meaty story, just flaps limply in the breeze. PAUL'S VERDICT: 3/5 Frankly it's hard to give a damn about this wind ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Link to Daily Express Day&NightGWTW verdict Thursday April 24,2008 CELEBRITY guests at the opening night of new West End musical Gone With The Wind were universal in their praise of leading man Darius Danesh, who plays Rhett Butler. Christopher Biggins deemed the performance wonderful, asking, Where did he get that deep voice? Ex-Blue member and former Chicago star Duncan James was not quite so enthusiastic. I thought Darius was fantastic but I thought there were too many songs, he confides. People dont want to sit through a four-hour show. It could have done with some dancing. Pop band McFly, however, were moved to create their own piece of theatre. Id love to write a musical one day. I went to stage school so thats my background, says vocalist and guitarist Tom Fletcher. Our manager is brilliant on the piano which would be a big help. Im not telling you what it would be about though. Maybe were already working on it. Man of the moment Darius, pictured left with leading lady Jill Paice having finally shaken off the image of the Pop Stars wally who forced fellow auditionees to embrace as he implored: Can you feel the love in the room? seemed determined to recreate his most cringeworthy moment. I just want to get the cast into a room so we can have a toast, he said. Can somebody get everyone into a room? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bloomberg.com Scarlett, Rhett Keep Warbling as South Burns Review by Warwick Thompson LINK April 24 (Bloomberg) -- The new London musical ``Gone With the Wind'' runs three hours and 45 minutes and includes all the climactic moments of Margaret Mitchell's long book. The producers don't lack ambition. What they need, however, is a pair of scissors -- and some songs. Healthcare specialist and first-time writer Margaret Martin (book, music and lyrics) doesn't have an ear for a punchy melody or the gift of being able to drive a story through song. Characters repeat in bland tunes the emotions that we've already watched them go through in their scenes. In case we still don't understand, they helpfully tell us as well. ``Ashley returned home,'' says Ashley, returning home. ``Scarlett felt there was death in the air,'' says Scarlett, trying to look like she is feeling death in the air. It's almost as good as having surtitles. Martin dodges the issue of the 1936 novel's distasteful racism, and simply expunges it. Here Scarlett adores all her black slaves, who then become her paid workers. The black characters respond with big gospel numbers full of greeting-card sentiments about hope and struggle. So much has to be crammed in -- the fall of the South, Scarlett's three marriages, the freeing of the slaves, the death of Melanie -- that the bitty scenes whiz by in a superficial rush. The material, though poor, gets a handsome treatment. Trevor Nunn directs with fluid efficiency, and keeps things slick. Designer John Napier creates an attractive antebellum country look with lots of old wooden fences stretching around the theater. On the thrust stage, a large wooden box spins around to create different locations. On one side is a veranda to conjure up Tara, Scarlett's home. With another spin, it serves as Belle Watling's bawdy house in Atlanta. Jill Paice (Scarlett) looks pretty in her tiny-waisted crinoline, and says ``fiddle-dee-dee'' just like a southern belle should. Her voice is sweet but has an acid quality when she pushes it at the top. Darius Danesh, best known for losing the TV talent shows ``Popstars'' and ``Pop Idol,'' has a surprisingly authoritative and charming presence as Rhett and sings well. His performance is not freshly minted, however, and is modeled too closely on Clark Gable's role in the movie version. With that caveat in mind, he still does a fine job. Edward Baker-Duly and Madeleine Worrall fill out the roles of Ashley and Melanie pleasantly enough, and Natasha Yvette Williams is a suitably feisty and long-suffering Mammy. They don't rescue a fundamentally flawed and overlong show. I suspect it will be blown away soon. Rating: * -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This post has been edited by prettyinpink: Apr 24 2008, 06:36 PM |
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Apr 24 2008, 08:16 PM
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#34
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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From France
Catherine Ashmore Darius Danesh as Rhett Butler and Jill Paice as Scarlett O'Hara performing in the musical stage version of "Gone With the Wind." The musical 'Gone With the Wind' rarely comes to life By Matt Wolf Published: April 24, 2008 LONDON: Some musicals leave you with the "wow" factor: that sense of upsurge and release that the stage musical at its best affords. Others leave an audience asking, "Why?" Last year's song-and-aerial-acrobatics West End version of "The Lord of the Rings" comes to mind, pole-vaulting Orcs having to compete with playgoers' memories of Peter Jackson's nine-hour-plus Oscar-winning films. That production closes in July at a huge loss, but fear not. Bemused memories of stage Elvish have now been displaced by this week's opening at the New London Theatre of "Gone With the Wind," in which Civil War Atlanta doesn't so much burn as it does flicker briefly to life and then fade away again. That more or less describes the overall effect of this latest musical from that indefatigable practitioner of the genre, the director Trevor Nunn, who attempted the impossible at this same playhouse over a quarter-century ago with "Cats" - T.S. Eliot felines singing? How insane is that! - only to watch an eccentric idea hit international paydirt. Maybe if "Gone With the Wind" had given Scarlett O'Hara a household pet or two, lightning might have struck twice. Instead, Tuesday night's opening unfolded across 3 hours and 40 minutes like some classroom exercise in adaptation that would have been better left at the starting gate. Are there two more iconic screen lovers than Clark Gable's Rhett Butler and Vivien Leigh's Scarlett, she of the multiple husbands? (Rhett is in fact her third.) It's all well and good when a brand name of the stature of "Gone With the Wind" attempts to make it in a different medium: I actually liked Mel Brooks's Broadway musical of "The Producers" quite a bit better than the film that spawned it. But some ventures, I fear, feel doomed from the get-go, in which case "Gone With the Wind" signals less the title of a show than something close to a prophesy. Nunn is both director and adapter, and his imprint is evident in the story's theater-style of narration that slogs through a decade-plus of 19th-century American war, emancipation and reconstruction, remarks like "the South had lost" clueing in those who presumably don't arrive at the theater primed to repeat the screenplay's most famous lines - "frankly my dear I don't give a damn," most pre-eminently - in unison with the cast. It's not easy telescoping history on stage, though Nunn (and co-director John Caird) managed it to considerable effect in "Les Misrables," carried along by the pop operatics of a score that had its own decisive sweep. "Gone With the Wind," by contrast, is more a musical play than an entirely sung rabble-rouser, which actually leads one to ask whether the material might have been better served without music at all. The American newcomer Margaret Martin's score achieves little beyond annotating a narrative that as it is has to struggle to take hold, the nadir arriving at the end of the first act with Jill Paice's hapless Scarlett bleating that her once easy life is "gone, gone, gone with the wind." Today in Culture The musical 'Gone With the Wind' rarely comes to life Disney cartoons, and the possible rise of the environmental movement Clint Eastwood's 'Changeling' leads Cannes Film Festival To be fair, it's been some while since I've seen the 1939 film, but I don't recall Vivien Leigh being quite as resistible as the Scarlett offered up by the hard-working Paice, the pretty if colorless young American with whom Nunn first collaborated 3 years ago on Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Woman In White" in London and then on Broadway. Indeed, there's more than a trace of that show's decidedly English miasma late in "Gone With the Wind" when Scarlett, buffeted this way and that by fate and by her own romantic singlemindedness, is glimpsed frightened and alone while "the misty night swirled around her." That she would have made life a lot easier for herself - and allowed us to go home several hours earlier - is clear enough had Scarlett only responded initially to the sexually profligate Rhett, instead of saving herself for Ashley Wilkes (Edward Baker-Duly), husband to Melanie (Madeleine Worrall), who for a while is Scarlett's sister-in-law. For all that Scarlett spins from one incident to another, going so far as to turn Yankee killer in the process, she rarely engages our sympathies and seems not to begin to deserve the boundless attention of that bounder, Rhett. At least this show's male lead doesn't have to carry its burdensome weight and gets much of what scant humor exists along the way. Cutting a dashing profile in the part, Darius Danesh makes a likable impression from our first sight of him alone on the balcony of John Napier's dully environmental set, and his height in itself allows for wittier effect than the overearnest book or lyrics generally allow. Co-creators Nunn and Martin have the advantage of a 21st-century perspective unavailable to Margaret Mitchell, author of the 1936 novel on which the subsequent film, not to mention this show, is based. And it's not that surprising that they should have directed their attentions to shoring up the black presence in a piece that encompasses the liberation of the slaves; scarcely has the first act begun before we hear a bluesy number for the black cast members about "all God's children born to be free." Still, one doubts race relations at any point surrounding the Civil War were half as even-tempered as is suggested in a show that saves its one standout performance for the visiting American actress NaTasha Yvette Williams, who inherits Hattie McDaniel's Oscar-winning screen role as the O'Hara family's tirelessly good-hearted Mammy. You return from intermission waiting for Williams to cut loose, and when she does, singing a hymn to the right of children to be cherished, the temperature level in the audience goes up a degree or two. You could argue that the music patronizes its black characters, defining them in essence as nothing but pious. But Williams's solo actually represents one of the few moments when Scarlett leaves the stage and the sodden endeavor that is this "Gone With the Wind" is, however briefly, allowed to sing |
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Apr 25 2008, 10:16 AM
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#35
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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Review: Gone With The Wind
Western Mail review link Apr 25 2008 by Philip Fisher, Western Mail New London Theatre Sir Trevor Nunn's ambitious re-staging of Gone With The Wind is an unconventional musical more a faithful reproduction of the classic movie with songs. In order to capture such a big novel/film on stage, Sir Trevor regresses to the narrative technique that he perfected for the RSC with Nicholas Nickleby, some 20 years ago, with everyone chipping in and completing each other's sentences. This maintains drive throughout three and three quarter hours roughly the same duration as the movie. Commencing in 1861, this stirring tale is one of love among the losers of the old, slaving South during the American Civil War. The director builds his show around American actress, Jill Paice who he has imported from Broadway to play the Vivien Leigh role of Scarlett O'Hara. Miss Paice rises to the occasion a stunning beauty with a sweet voice and sympathetic manner, although she might be a little too nice to really excel in this heartless part. Perhaps the high point of the evening is when she brings the house down (Atlanta having already spectacularly gone that way) with the interval curtain song, Gone With The Wind. Before then, this wilful teen had seduced blond Ashley Wilkes, Edward Baker-Duly, married on the rebound and then found herself widowed at 16. She is then destined to suffer untold tragedies over the next dozen years, which see 600,000 men die in a civil war over slavery. The two figures fated to direct the young woman's future could hardly be more different. Tiny Madeleine Worrall plays pale, modest bluestocking, Melanie Wilkes, the woman who unwittingly stole her cousin Ashley from the heroine. Melanie represents goodness while Rhett Butler is its antithesis. Pop Idol discovery Darius Danesh, is a Clark Gable lookalike, towering over his fellows like some basketball star. Danesh has just enough charm and wit to carry this role off, together with a gravelly voice that calls to mind Nick Cave after a heavy night. Designer, John Napier has done a wonderful job, with a stage thrusting into the audience and a wood-effect set that surrounds them. His budget may have been big but costume designer, Andreane Neofitou was not left short, excelling with the ladies, especially Scarlett who must have around 15 costume changes during the evening. The music by theatrical newcomer Margaret Martin, who does far better with the book and lyrics based on Margaret Mitchell's classic novel, rarely excites and often instantly fades from the memory. Strangely, while on leaving the theatre pretty much every Rhett Butler song has gone, much of the best is left to the slaves led by Broadway star NaTasha Yvette Williams, who gives a fine performance as Mammy, Jina Burrows' Prissy and an ensemble headed by Ray Shell in the stirring Follow on the Wings of a Dove. These stars wowed a first-night audience that had the paparazzi snapping frantically as it was adorned by celebrities including Barbara Windsor, Joan Collins, Vanessa Feltz and Duncan James. Gone With The Wind works best as a re-telling of a classic tale in a fresh style but then, there has already been a film that did that. Whether today's soundbite society can accept such a long play in the guise of a musical, even one of high quality, remains to be seen, especially with top price tickets at 60. One fears that it won't and that will be something of a pity. For details, call the box office on 0870 890 0141 4/5 |
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Apr 26 2008, 08:59 AM
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#36
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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Metro review this morning
'Against the odds, the true star of the show is Darius Danesh, who banishes all memories of his ludicrous Pop Idol buffoonery with a performance of subtlety and roguish charm as Rhett Butler. His deep, velvety voice is ideally suited to Nobody Knows You, one of the rare moments when Gone With The Wind transcends musical cliche'. |
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Apr 27 2008, 04:41 PM
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#37
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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The Mail on Sunday
Frankly, my dear, its dull Gone With The Wind New London Theatre, London 3hrs 40 mins (including interval) Georgina Brown 27 April 2008 Such is the hold the iconic 1939 film of Gone With The Wind has over me that I cant walk past a velvet curtain without wanting to tear it down and find someone to run up a gown. Thats what the spoilt Southern belle Scarlett OHara did when she needed to tart herself up and persuade Rhett Butler to give her the money to pay the Yankee taxes on her beloved home Tara. So, frankly, my dears, I do give a damn when anyone treads on my dreams. Its hard, however, to get worked up about Margaret Martins musicalisation of Margaret Mitchells magnificent romantic epic because it wholly fails to blow one away. Its less Gone With The Wind than Marooned On A Millpond. Not bad, just tedious. Martin frames the tale in the style pioneered by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the Eighties for Nicholas Nickleby, with the narrative shared between several characters. But the story grinds to a halt whenever the music starts. In the handful of spirituals sung by the black characters (The Wings Of The Dove is particularly good), the piece fleetingly develops some soul. Other songs are hampered by gratingly awful lyrics: Im the queen of the county, the belle of the ball. But, like Humpty Dumpty, I had a great fall. Martin gives the slavery issue a romanticised and risible politically correct airing, with the OHaras treating their slaves like family. Beyond that, its not clear why she or director Trevor Nunn pursued this unnecessary exercise. Much of the dialogue is lifted verbatim from the film and none of the characters has been re-examined afresh, unless you count Scarletts Mother Courage moment when her exhausted horse dies and she pulls the cart herself with her friend Melanie and her new baby back to Tara. Another unlikely addition has Prissy, the half-witted maid, learning to read and becoming a teacher. Otherwise, its a cribbed, confined and, above all, pale imitation of the film: the burning of Atlanta is suggested by flames licking the Confederate flag, Bonnie falls off an invisible pony and Scarletts wardrobe (in spite of the looted curtains) is meagre. Vivien Leigh pulled off something remarkable when she made the vain, heartlessly opportunistic little spitfire Scarlett both irresistible and adorable. Jill Paice is pretty and pert, but we neither laugh at her nor cry with her, and she remains stubbornly resistible. Our hearts belong instead to Natasha Yvette Williamss Mammy and to Darius Danesh as the dashing daredevil Rhett Butler, whose voice could charm the birds from the trees. Having said that, Im sure the Rhett I know and love wouldnt have sung, though he might have whistled, but it would have been the theme tune from Max Steiners glorious film score. |
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Apr 27 2008, 05:11 PM
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#38
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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The Independent on Sunday
Gone with the Wind, New London, London Tomorrow is another day, but this musical might not see it: The American civil-war saga has a great set, it's just a shame about the lousy songs, weak leads and inept dramatisation By Kate Bassett Sunday, 27 April 2008 'Give me strength!" cries Scarlett O'Hara. "As God is my witness, they are not gonna to lick me. I'm gonna live through this!" Frankly, enduring Trevor Nunn's big, new, seemingly interminable musical adaptation of Gone with the Wind, I was muttering much the same. Novelist Margaret Mitchell's saga of love and the American Civil War immortalised in the classic Hollywood movie has epic sweep, of course. It may, indeed, be worth revisiting her portrait of over-confident Americans in this case, the white supremacists and wealthy plantation-owners of the Deep South marching to war then seeing their cosseted world go up in smoke. A topical moral lesson may even lurk in Scarlett O'Hara's journey from pampered brat to determined survivor in hard times, striving to retain her family home. To give Nunn's designer, John Napier, his due, the set creates a sense of both panoramic breadth and intimacy. A wide cyclorama-style sky arcs over a wooden verandah of faded grandeur, with weathered picket fences, old Confederacy flags and slave auction signs encircling the auditorium's balcony. However, the dramatisation is inept. With book, lyrics and score by a Dr Margaret Martin who has no musical track record, the storytelling feels, paradoxically, long-winded (at over three-and-a-half hours) and ludicrously rushed. It lurches forward spasmodically, in such a way that military leave for Scarlett's first sweetheart, Ashley, looks more like a mini-assault course: up the verandah steps, about turn, and down again. With more than 70 minor characters, you don't care about any of them either. Nunn possibly thought this show could be another Les Mis or Nicholas Nickleby, but his stylistic use of physical theatre is tired and patchy here a few mimed doors and some extras pretending to be a horse. Worse still is the poor acting in the leading roles. Darius Danesh as Rhett has rakish swagger and a mellifluous singing voice, but when in a passion he becomes ridiculously melodramatic. He kisses Scarlett like a frenzied dental hygienist, trying to scrub her teeth with his moustache. Meanwhile, Jill Paice's Scarlett is pretty yet not engaging, with strident singing and no genuinely fiery sexual magnetism. With folk tunes spoilt by sugary orchestrations, Martin's unmemorable songs wreck any dramatic momentum. They are the theatrical equivalent of speed bumps. You can almost hear the show's chassis grating to a halt. Only the Gospel numbers by the O'Haras' servants especially Natasha Yvette Williams's splendid Mammy and Jina Burrows's Prissy rise above all this as they look forward to emancipation. |
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Apr 27 2008, 05:12 PM
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#39
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BuzzJack Gold Member
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The Observer
Gone With the Wind Susannah Clapp Sunday April 27, 2008 ...Not like the much-feted Scarlett O'Hara, a spoilt Southern belle who, failing to win the man she thinks she loves, and being thrust into the turmoil of the American Civil War, becomes a model of the survivor capitalist - and loves being raped. If you try really hard you can see why Trevor Nunn thought it might be feasible to stage Gone With the Wind. The film charges up its silhouettes and swagger, its simpers and sulks with a hard-hitting score: it might seem to be a musical waiting to happen. But this one looks both spendthrift and threadbare. Margaret Martin, who provides book, lyrics and music, has done a rotten job. Not because she is, as the routine description runs, 'a woman doctor' (Chekhov was 'a man doctor'), but because she has no talent for this task. 'Pallid' is too colourful a description of her lyrics, which flop out like automatic writing ('Make each one whole/ In body and in soul'). The music - an occasional murmur hardly amounting to a song - is so forgettable you can hardly believe it's happened. A super-inept device has actors spelling out the plot as it jerks along: 'The two impregnable citadels of her life had cracked...' (which you don't see); 'She went quickly down the front steps' (which you do). The whole thing lasts for ages, not because of epic roll, but because it's a string of dull little bits, each over in a flash, none leading anywhere. As one of the wiseacre servants says to Ashley, who pops home from the war and then pops back two minutes later: 'Seems like yow jess got here and now yow off again.' On press night, Jill Paice's Scarlett was sweet though reedy; Darius Danesh's Rhett - growly and smugly disdainful - was dominating, if occasionally alarming: instead of snogging Scarlett, he gnawed her. By far the best singing came from the servants, with Natasha Yvette Williams as a massive-voiced matriarch and Jina Burrows as the young maid who improbably announces she's turned bookish. But, despite some anti-KKK tweaking, they were lumbered with a number, 'Born to be Free', which sounds like an advertisement for a game park. You might expect hollowness of heart to be matched by a feast for the eyes. But the most surprising feature of the show is its lack of spectacle. At first, it looks as if John Napier's design might go on the rampage. Perhaps modelled on, God help us, The Lord of the Rings, where the vegetation escaped from the stage, the set spreads itself around the auditorium, with picket fences in the dress circle and twiggy things around the proscenium arch. But when it gets to the famous set pieces, things turn puny: the burning of Atlanta (an incinerated flag and a purple light) might as well take place in a grate; when Scarlett goes among the war-wounded, she picks her way over half a dozen bodies and then picks her way back again. And apart from that, Mrs Lincoln? Well, there's some feeble physical theatre (people turning imaginary keys in invisible doors) which sits ill with the sumptuous crinolines that are forever tipping up like lampshades. And there's no dialogue, unless you count brainbox Ashley declaring that Thackeray is 'a master of his craft'. In the foyer, they're selling aprons with 'I'll never be hungry again' on the pockets. Next, perhaps, will be potties bearing the title of the show. |
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Apr 27 2008, 05:13 PM
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 15 March 2006
Posts: 4,844 User: 225
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Sunday Telegraph - Seven Magazine
27 April 2008 FRANKLY, MY DEAR, ITS DAMNED Tim Walker Gone With the Wind When I was a lot younger and a lot more stupid, I remember saying to Patrick Garland that the commercialism of the West End made it well nigh impossible for a truly great work to be staged. The man who directed My Fair Lady on Broadway put me down gently. Shakespeare, Jonson, Shaw and every other playwright since the beginning of time had to produce work that was commercial, he pointed out. Commercialism was, he told me, a necessary discipline. Can you imagine, he asked me, what sort of self- indulgent nonsense we would have to sit through if people started to put on plays for themselves rather than the public? This conversation occurred to me after an hour of Sir Trevor Nunns musical Gone With the Wind. It occurred to me again many times during the two and three quarter hours that followed. Margaret Mitchells novel turned into a classic film with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh ought in its long- awaited stage incarnation to be the most commercial production in all London, perhaps the whole world. This is, after all, a very strong and much- loved brand that we are talking about. And yet the fact is, it isnt at all commercial. Sir Trevor, as the plays director, has been ridiculously uncommercial or to put it another way, self indulgent and the last people he seemed to have in mind as he constructed this big, ugly unwieldly turkey were the poor devils he expected to part with cash to come to see it. What is more, the legions of people listed in the credits seem to have been unforgivably craven. Not one of them could pluck up the courage to say to Sir Trevor: Enough, already. Whats the point of this scene? Can we not discard this utterly forgettable song? Get out the red pen and cut, cut, cut, Sir Trev, because no one in their right mind is going to sit through all of this. Nobody said that; or if they did, Nunn chose not to listen. Thats the problem with very grand directors. I have an idea that he wanted to make this production look and sound a bit like the Porgy and Bess he directed at the Savoy in 2006 to considerable acclaim. Alas, Margaret Martin, his composer this time round, is no George Gershwin. You would think in all the time this play runs she would come up with at least one hummable song, but alas not. Then there is the former Pop Idol contestant Darius Danesh and Jill Paice in the roles of Rhett Butler and Scarlett OHara. Frankly, my dear, they are all ham. If this was an episode of Dead Ringers Id say they took off Gable and Leigh fairly respectably, but this is theatre and some rather more sensitive playing is required. Also, given the story, a bit of sexual chemistry wouldnt go amiss either. On these counts they both fall flat on their faces. The other principal roles seem perversely cast. Edward Baker- Duly, a young gentleman who looks very much like an Australian surfer with his bottle blond hair, plays Ashley Wilkes, a part that the clipped and quintessentially English Leslie Howard made his own in the film. Julian Forsyth, as Scarletts father, appears to be doing a take- off of the late Welsh actor Hugh Griffith. Poor Madeleine Worrall as Melanie Hamilton, wheeled onto the stage on her death bed, is required to burst into song ( You must have hope, she trills, before expiring). This is becoming painful. You could have more fun over this length of time in Terminal Five. I dont know what it is about the theatres clustered around Aldwych but they seem to breed turkeys down there. After Lord of the Rings and Gone With the Wind is, I fear, the mother of them all. Gone With the Wind, New London Theatre, London WC2 ( 0870 040 0046), to 27 September |
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