REVIEW: Grindr the Opera at the Union Theatre

  

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s the infamous orange mask recognised by queers around the world! Friend to some, foe to others, whether you have downloaded it or not, the app never goes away! And this time, it returns to one of London’s beloved fringe theatre venues for another run of ‘Grindr the Opera: An Unauthorised Parody’, currently playing at The Union Theatre. 

With the Book, Music and Lyrics by Erik Ransom, Grindr the Opera introduces us first-hand to the mythical siren themselves, Grindr, who has awoken from their millennial slumber by technology. Their mission? To entice and entrap as many men as possible online, engaging erotically, whether it’s no strings attached, or fulfilling fantasies. Throughout the story, we meet Devon, Tom, Don and Jack, four individuals each with their own story as to what led them to the notorious hook-up app, and ultimately, to intertwining with each other’s tales. 

REVIEW: Betty Blue Eyes at the Union Theatre

Craving a slice of Northern charm? Then look no further than the borough of Southwark, and to the cast of Betty Blue Eyes, currently appearing at the Union Theatre! 

The show, created by George Styles and Anthony Drewe first appeared in London’s West End at the Novello Theatre back in 2011, starring Sarah Lancashire and Reece Shearsmith. Now, the wholesome tale returns to one of London’s most beloved fringe theatre venues with this small-scale revival directed by Sasha Regan.

With shortages of food, financial troubles and burdens, and a Royal occasion on the horizon, you’d almost think that this tale is set in April 2023! The difference? In this tale, the only thing people will be pigging out on is spam! Oh, and did I mention? At the story's heart is an adorable pig with sapphire blue eyes called Betty... and no, I’m not telling porkies!

REVIEW: Falling Stars (Online) at the Union Theatre

Falling Stars opens with Peter Polycarpou musing down the camera about an antique shop he wandered into a couple years back. I could tell immediately we were going to be friends. He haggles for the songbook that will eventually score the show, and glimmers of the wit, talent and passion that will define Falling Stars begin to show themselves when the shop owner makes him sing for the best price. As his partner in crime, Sally Ann Triplett, makes her unmissable entrance, these glimmers burst forth into a dazzling song cycle of bygone melodies, that traverse the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Irving Berlin and Meredith Wilson. 

Cosy, is what I felt watching this show. There is something comforting about simply watching talented people be talented, especially when they are equally grateful for being watched. The enthusiasm and expertise the pair have for the music they sing through is infectious, and, you are warmly invited to revel in that excitement with them. Although boasting hugely impressive careers, there is no pretension from Polycarpou or Triplett, which leaves space for a connection that I was amazed to feel through my tv screen. I can only imagine the atmosphere there would be if I had a drink in my hand, under the warmth of the Union Theatre stage lights, with the pair talking to me in person. 

REVIEW: The Green Fairy at the Union Theatre

The Green Fairy is a new musical playing at the Union Theatre. It follows Jo and along the course of the show we discover all about Jo, her past and all those issues she’s faced which now have affected her relationship with her daughter. The show uses ‘The Green Fairy’ as a conscious for Jo, although the show has no relation to or doesn’t feature absinthe in any way this is an interesting way for us to follow Jo’s story. 

This piece has a lot of themes; child abandonment, alcoholism, friendship, homosexuality and marriage to name a few. My struggle with the show was that I didn’t really understand which one of these were most important, they were just all thrown in there to add drama but to me the focus wasn’t clear enough. 

Sold on the poster as a ‘Queer Pub Musical’, this isn’t correct. Yes, the piece does feature a lesbian relationship however this is not the centre of the show. And actually, credit to the writer for this, this never comes up as an issue or problem in the story. It is merely falling in love with someone else, rather than realising that the character is gay. But having seen the show, this is not the marketing route to go down as it sets an expectation that it will not fulfil, not in any bad way at all, just in the way that this is not what this show is about. 

REVIEW: Showtune at the Union Theatre

Showtune celebrates the words and music of Jerry Herman. For musical theatre fans his work is legendary. But the whole world knows his work. If nothing else that’s thanks to Hello Dolly – both the title song and, for a younger generation, from the Disney film Wall-E, Put On Your Sunday Clothes. There’s also I Am What I Am from La Cage aux Folles and the title song from Mame.

Showtune is a musical revue with no dialogue. The songs and lyrics are allowed to do all the work. They are grouped together thematically so some extra sense of structure is added to what would otherwise be effectively a concert. That it is so much more than this is thanks in large part to the brilliance of Herman’s songs. As the show progresses you find yourself increasingly in awe of the talent that can produce so much high quality material, writing both music and lyrics.

REVIEW: Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens at the Union Theatre

Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens tells the story of lots of different characters who have lived with HIV and have passed away from AIDS. Each character has a quilt square to contribute to the ‘Names Project AIDs Memorial Quilt’ and along the way we get an insight into the characters lives.

This is not a musical, it is not a play, it is not poetry, it is not a song cycle. Its none of these things but all of them at the same time. What every LGTBQ+ piece of theatre has tried to achieve in the past 10 years, this play does with no problems. 

What is stunning and so important about this story is that it is not strictly a LGBTQ+ story, of course there are those elements to it and it is important for this community to have a piece like this, but this particular story calls out to every single person on this earth.

There is a sense of unity within the cast and creatives, everything just slots together like a jigsaw puzzle. The cast have a passion and need to tell this story which means they’re pouring everything they have into this piece. This show is seamless, I’m not sure where everybody’s jobs started or finished which to me says that this was a perfectly assembled team.

REVIEW: Can-Can at the Union Theatre

“I used to be a Tour de Force – Now I’m forced to tour!”

In the latest production of The Phil Willmott Company, we flash back to the “naughty nineties” (1890s) in Paris where the Orpheus Theatre Troupe lives through ups and downs as company members join and quit, and the bankers have the power to ban performances in the whole city. Indeed, after the rich Monsieur Bontoux decides to close down the Orpheus, the troupe goes to the provinces to continue their art. In the meantime, Jane, the star of the show, leaves the troupe to marry Bontoux’s son, only to find out that a life outside the theatre is not worth living.

“Can-Can” is a joyful and comedic musical with music by Jacques Offenbach and his contemporaries and loosely based on a plot by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, adapted by Phil Willmott. I have to admit this wasn’t really my style: while the dancing was beautiful, the show lacked depth and true provocation. Then again, we are asked to transpose ourselves in a time when what was shocking really isn’t now: the decision to live a life of uncertainty through the arts, homosexuality, and revealing corsets. 

REVIEW: Striking 12 at the Union Theatre

Bronte Barbe is a fine performer and recently toured as Carole King in the wonderful Beautiful and appeared in the excellent Girlfriends concert at the Bishopgate Institute. It is rather surprising and quiet pleasing to find her in this small scale off Broadway musical at the Union Theatre and she is definitely the best thing about the show.

She plays The Match Girl in this modern version of the Hans Christian Anderson melancholy short story about the little girl on a cold New Year’s Eve, here set in modern day New York City. She is a seller of lights to brighten the lives of those with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and finds herself like the original Danish namesake on the streets alone without buyers for her product. Her despair is summed up in one of the most engaging and emotional songs of the show, “Can’t go home” as she fears going home without sales but can’t stay out in the freezing night. When she knocks on the door of Brendan (Declan Bennett) and he rejects her sixty second sales pitch, she is cast back into the cold. 

REVIEW: With One Look at the Union Theatre

With One Look’ is Gregory Hazels one man show as his drag character, Vivienne De Vil. The show is set in her living room and as the evening goes on we hear all her stories about her friends (some of the most famous Broadway divas) and Vivienne takes us on a journey to look back at some of the greatest female musical theatre numbers and greats of our time. 

This show is truly a celebration of these fabulous women who have shaped and moulded what it is to be a Broadway star. From Judy Garland to Lea Salonga, we go through a huge repertoire of songs filled with interesting stories about each and every superstar. 

This is every stageys dream, a glamorous drag queen and some of the campest and best musical theatre numbers? You’ve certainly sold me!

As Vivienne De Vil, Gregory Hazel provides stunning vocals and has a presence that would make any Broadway Diva shiver in her stilettos. He knows his character inside out and from the moment Vivienne walks on stage you know you’re in safe hands for the evening.

REVIEW: It’s Only Life at the Union Theatre

We all deal with heartache/heartbreak in our own ways. Some stuff their faces with choc or ice cream, others turn to yoga or other ‘spiritual’ activities, often people will reinvent themselves to some degree with a new haircut or a new wardrobe, and some people seek refuge in the note that Stephen Sondheim once wrote them which they carefully place on their bedside table. (That’s not me by the way..) John Bucchino wrote songs - and thank goodness that he did. 30 years worth of ‘life’ and 30 years spent skilfully and articulately encapsulating his experiences of love, for no specific purpose and certainly not with a musical in mind. In 2004 however, “It’s Only Life” came to life and its currently being revived at the Union Theatre.

The beauty of this piece is that it allows each production to interpret the show as they wish, and maybe that’s testament to the strength of the songs themselves and how they seem to speak to everyone. So universal are the words and the music that accompany that anything layered on top, serves to contextualise the particular story that is being told this time round.

REVIEW: Twang!! at the Union Theatre

If you know anything about musical theatre history, you’ll know that Twang!! is remembered as one of the most expensive and dramatic West End flops to grace the London stage. Having premiered in London in 1965 it has been updated and tweaked by Julian Woolford and its now a stagey hit that speaks to the 2018 audiences. 

Playing at the pocket-sized Union Theatre, this production has a charm and involvement element to it that no other show has. The constant stagey references may be exhausting to some, but we lapped it up! 

Bryan Hodgson is one of the most exciting upcoming directors at the moment, his work on this show brings it into our century and gives a new life to this Lionel Bart flop, but hopefully it’ll have the opposite affect at the Union as it deserves a successful run.

REVIEW: The Cherry Orchard at the Union Theatre

Anton Chekov's last play The Cherry Orchard was first performed in 1904 and has become a classic of world theatre. I last saw it at the National Theatre in 2011 in a version starring Zoe Wanamaker as Ranyevskya in which the emotional and touching loss of her home and beloved Cherry Orchard was beautifully played . In this fresh adaption the running time has been cut to less than two hours and the setting moved forward to the spring and autumn of 1917 as the Tsar is overthrown and murdered. In doing so Phil Willmott as adapter and director has given the play more focus on the social turmoil created by the rise to power of Stalin and the Bolsheviks and the changes the new order brings . He draws parallels with the Russia of today and its threat to world order. It is a chilling and dramatic reworking which keeps the essence of the story but creates a fresh feeling production.

The simple set design by Justin Williams and Jonny Rust sets the scene of the dilapidated interior of the aristocrat's house, gardens and the local railway platform. The steps down into the room create different acting levels which are very effectively used in the cast groupings. In the early scenes the student Bolshevik Trofimov enters from the garden , but in the second act he enters through the front door and dominates the room from the higher level. The setting is enhanced by an atmospheric lighting design by Sam Waddington. There is a continuous musical and noise underscore to the production which emphasises the change taking place in the world offstage.

REVIEW: Carmen at the Union Theatre

As part of the Union’s Theatre ESSENTIAL CLASSICS 2018 season comprising of Shaw’s HEARTBREAK HOUSE and Chekhov’s THE CHERRY ORCHARD, we are transported to Seville with CARMEN, a re-conceived musical theatre evening based of course on Bizet’s popular opera. The classic melodies bring warmth and memories to mind in this fun, sensual and funny show filled with talent.

Carmen takes place in 1808 at a time of civil unrest and political uncertainty, when Spain was occupied by the French. Down in Seville, it is hot and the cigarette factory workers, men and women alike, are resisting the occupation as much as they can. A local gypsy, Carmen, acts as a spy to try to get information from the Spanish collaborators. When a love story ensues between her and young Captain Velarde, who was previously very dutiful, love becomes blinding and leads to tragedy.