The Life by Cy Coleman - Southwark Playhouse

Have just seen that this has 7 producers. Any idea why so many?

This is based on Blakemore's New York production isn't it? Possibly some of the producers relate to that?

Broadway shows tend to have more 'money' producers - I think Kinky Boots has about 30. But this is Southwark?!

It's all about money. Anyone who throws 30k in can call themselves a producer. It's the split cost of the production.

Cancelled tonight due to cast illness - planning to be back tomorrow.

Some very impressive vocal performances SD Clarke and Cornell S John ( both have great vocal control). The music & lyrics work well together but by then Cy Coleman was a seasoned pro. An enjoyable production considering the space constrictions and cast size. Considering the dross that's been milling around lately just the tonic that was needed to right the imbalance. The Girls next but I fear the green Barlow will be in Cy's shadow on the musical level.

Attended today's matinee. Very strange show!

Uneven, confused tone and overly long, but nonetheless ultimately enjoyable. The show deals with a very serious subject matter, but it's very unsure of what it is actually trying to be. "Guys and Dolls" meets "Sweet Charity"? Yes, but those shows both have a much clearer identity as musicals in terms of tone and content. Part of this musical wants to be taken seriously - evidenced in the engaging, dramatic finale - but so much of it is frankly ridiculous it's hard to feel any pathos in the piece.

Solid performances. Sharon D. Clarke plays Sharon D. Clarke with aplomb. Always exactly the same, always great at what she does. In great voice as ever. The standard gospel belting, finger wagging and head wobbling in full force. John Addison I've seen in loads of stuff over the years and he's always a very solid hand. He's suitably smarmy in this. T'Shan Williams as Queenie (not the Blackadder one) who has fantastically comical hair, but struggles vocally a little in places. Very easy on the eye though (despite having a fully grown black poodle growing out her head). Also nice on the eyes is Joanna Woodward as Mary, who is one of the few characters to actually have a "journey". We get to see her semi-nude too which was an unexpected bouncy bonus. Cornell John is imposing and sinister as gangster pimp don Memphis. Weird singing technique, lovely sound though! Much better in this than his Javert back in 2005, where he was over-exposed opposite much better singers. It's very much an ensemble piece and the (small) cast is solid enough throughout.

Two major things struck me; firstly, this production felt cheap, cheap, CHEAP. Even for this venue, with its volunteer ushers et al. The projections on the back wall were out of focus, and appeared to be low resolution stock photos or displayed on very poor equipment. One scene had a rickety coffee trolley at a supposedly luxury locale, but it was visibly broken with one wheel not even touching the floor. No excuses for the fakest plastic strawberries I've ever seen either. The "dance podium" set piece - the bed without the mattress on it I think - was rickety and loudly creaked when stood upon. Why are these things an issue? Well, being merely inches away from the action, these become glaring and distracting issues to a miserly old theatre snob.

Secondly, the sound quality and mixing was abysmal. Everything sounded tinny and the mic balancing left a lot to be desired. I don't know if it's the audio equipment in the venue at fault or what, but it sounded awful acoustically.

Neither of the above issues did I notice at my only other visit for a musical at the venue (the absolutely outstanding Mack & Mabel, a few years back), and I can only judge on what I see and hear.

But for £20 this was well worth a visit. Entertaining, if befuddled and, as I say, too long at nearly 3hrs.

'Ho' ho?

So am I supposed to be laughing and whooping at this? Women degraded into a life of violent dependency and self abuse? Yes, I know that isn't the intent here but isn't that somewhat, you know, horrifying or at least grating? Surely cognitive distance kicks in at some point or is that a luxury for musical theatre?

'Ho' hum.

Yet, when Cy Coleman's score kicks in, with its Isaac Hayes/Quincy Jones blare, its blaxploitation licks and pitch perfect seventies grooves there is a great show in there. Or there is until the book slides back in and someone behind me giggles at a quip that suggests bit of whoring is just an irritation that a of diva belt and sassiness is going to cure.

Sure, a tacked on intro tells us that the bit players mostly die but what of the white girl ? Off to make porn films and that's it? The decade where AIDS moved through, inexorably scything down whole communities and she gets a happy ending?

'Ho' hmm.

The problem is partly an issue with the old white guy view of its authors (yeah, I know, easy target, but a show that would benefit from having at least a little black/female perspective, given its milieu) and their never showing an understanding that writers closer to the material could have mustered. Having said that, good direction could have softened that if the subtext had been foregrounded but the production doesn't help and lets the audience off the hook for the most part. One actor manages this, Cornell S John, and his scenes sizzle. There is life beneath for his Memphis and he mines it to perfection. The others often just indicate and their characterisation is paper thin. As said earlier in the thread, there is little rehearsal time at this venue so that could partly be the reason but there's too much generic musical theatre acting. A song like Easy Money for example is one of self delusion but here they might just have well been singing We're in the Money from another show across the river.

'Ho' no

When someone in the audience nearby goes 'uh-oh' and giggles when a pimp is likely to kill a terrified young woman you have to wonder if there is a bigger issue than script or direction. This could be a good show but it needs the audience's conscience to be pricked rather than their pricks being teased.