Can Can
Lillian
Baylis Studio Theatre, Sadler’s Wells, Sunday 15 April 2006
Review
by Emma Shane
© 21
April 2007
Sometimes the Discovering Lost Musicals
productions are of long forgotten
shows, others are shows that became successful films but lost their original
script along the way, Can Can (like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,
and
On A Clear Day You Can See Forever) is one of the latter. At one time
the Lost
Musicals didn’t do any Cole
Porter for over two whole years, but both this year’s shows are Porter, and
like most Lost Musicals with a Porter score, there are a number of famous
songs in this one. Songs we might well recognise, without necessarily knowing
where the come from or the context in which they were originally sung
(especially as these are songs very often sung completely out of context).
As with the film the show opens in the courtroom on Judge Aristide
Forestier’s first day on the bench. James
Vaughan does one of his usual bit jobs, providing a supposedly off-stage
voice over of the Court President, in a booming baritone. Three girls, playing
defendants stand in front of him. The trio include Selina Chilton as Claudine and two out of: Sarah Applewood, Joanna Fell,
and, Lara Denning (one of the latter
three was absent, and I’m not sure which one). This trio proclaim that they are
Maidens
Typical Of
In a street in Montmatre, a major subplot, not included in the film, is
introduced, that of the dancer Claudine and her Bulgarian sculptor boyfriend
Boris Adzinidzinaze played by that stalwart Lost Musicals comic actor James Vaughan (just about the only actor
in the production who actually had to pronounce his character’s full name
correctly). It’s clear that Claudine is the breadwinner; to the bewilderment of
some characters; especially given how jealous Boris gets if Claudine so much as
speaks to other men.
Inside the dance hall, Bal Du
Paradis, we finally meet the leading lade, La Mome Pistache (there’s
another difference from the film – where she was called Simone Pishache). Right
away Valerie Cutko displays a warmer
personality than she did in Silk Stockings, but nevertheless
Pistache is a hard business woman, Never Give Anything Away, which she
sings with sincerity. Aristide’s arrival on the scene presents a problem, but
Pistache seems confident she can find a way round him, seduction perhaps, in her
office, C’est Magnifique. Back
out front at Bal Du Paradis it
becomes clear that might not work. however, Hilaire Jussac, played by another
stalwart Lost Musicals comic actor, Stewart
Permutt, has some good news for Pistache, Bal Du Paradis has been chosen to
host the next Quatz’ Arts Ball.
Meanwhile in a Sidewalk Cafe,
Claudine encounters Jussac, who tries to well get a date with her, Come
Along With Me. This number gives Stewart
Permutt a super opportunity to exercise his singing, dancing and all round
comedy talents. It’s rather good to find such a funny risque number given to a
comedy singer-actor to do. And boy does he do it well. I could have easily
envisaged Sam Kelly doing this
number brilliantly, but Stewart Permutt
is something of a surprise; for one might say he proves himself as good at Sam Kelly at this kind of a number
(mind you I don’t know what Sam Kelly
would really do with this number if he ever did it). Just when we think this
number can’t possibly get any better, once Boris has turned up, and Jussac
explains he wants Selina to tell him about Boris’s work, the number gets a
reprise, in the form of Boris singing to Selina “Go along with him”, and Stewart adding “Woof Woof”.
The next scene finds Pistache and the other two dancers in prison, after Aristide had the Bal Du
Paradis raided. The policeman releasing them, tells Pistache that Aristide
wants to see her. She decides to try and play on his possible feelings for her.
When this fails to work, she urges him to Live And Let Live. This is a song
that was given to Maurice Chevalier
as one of the judges to sing in the film, where it came across as saying “If you want a quiet life, live and let
live”. Now restored to its original place in the show, we see this song for
what it really is. And importantly Valerie
Cutko does her best to do it justice as an actress. It comes across as a
song with an altogether much more powerful message of tolerance. The girls in
the Bal Du Paradis are not being exploited, as Pistache mentions they are happy
to dance. Could Cole Porter have intended this song to make a statement about
sexual tolerance. After all this was a man who five years earlier managed to
slip a reference to The Kinsey Report
into the lyrics of Too Darn Hot. A powerful business women though Pistache is, she
still cannot win Aristide round, but that makes her determined to have her
revenge. Yet after she has gone he admits I Am In Love, which gives Christopher Dickens an fine opportunity
to exercise his singing-acting talents. Though in terms of actually being
noticed, he was fortunate in having Valerie
Cutko as his leading lady, because although she did a jolly fine job with Live
And Let Live, she did not stop the show with it (and there are some
great singers of vitriolic numbers in whose hands it might have done so).
In The Artists Studio, Boris
is busy arranging his sculptures for a visit by Jussac. In the middle of this a
model, played by versatile Myra Sands
enters, complaining about the stairs. She proceeds to do a great job of miming undressing.
Claudine enters with the other two girls, and says that Jussac is just coming.
Besides writing delightful love songs, and some quite naughty dirty ditties, he
is well known for his comedy duets. These have been performed to great effect
by such Lost Musicals pairings as: Janie
Dee & Tim Flavin, Thelma Ruby & Peter Gale, Lauren Ward
& Gavin Lee, Danielle Carson & Mark Frederick, Issy Van Randwyck & Joshua
Dallas; and not forgetting Louise
Gold pairing up with: Barry Cryer,
Neil McCaul, Teddy Kempner, Jessica
Martin, Michael Fitzpatrick, Lucy Page, and, Desmond Barrit at least. This afternoon it is Selina Chilton and James
Vaughan’s turn to follow the footsteps of some very tough acts to follow.
Nevertheless they rise gamely to the challenge, and acquit themselves jolly
well with If You Loved Me Truly. In this they are joined by Boris’s
fellow artists: Theopile, Hercule, and Etienne played by Chris Stanton, Ahmet Ahmet,
and, David Phipps-Davis, as well as
Selina’s fellow dancers, plus the waitress (at this point a model) played by Myra Sands. Nevertheless it is very
much their number, their little triumph.
Jussac enters, and
presently Claudine and the girls leave, with Claudine warning Jussac “I hope you like everything you see”,
unfortunately it soon becomes obvious he doesn’t really “get” Boris’s sculptors. Nevertheless the audience got a lot of
laughs out of it. Even though we had to use our imaginations, by the time
you’ve got such a good comedy actor as James
Vaughan leading the other three artistes at miming pushing those statues
around (Mr Vaughan mimes this with his left-hand, the other three do it with
their right hands) one can’t help but be amused.
Out in the street, Aristide realises
something is going on at Bal du Paradis. It doesn’t take him long to find out
it is the Quatz’ Arts Ball.
At the Quatz’ Arts Ball,
represented by the company singing Monmatre, Aristide is surprised to
find himself guest of honour. Someone takes his photograph, he is embracing
Pistache, the photograph is her revenge, it is hurried off to a developers and
printers. Yet, perhaps Pistache made a mistake this time, would Aristide care
so little for her as to have the ball raided? She lamets Allez-Vous-En. And so
closes the first act.
Act 2 opens in The Artists Studio. Aristide wakes up
with little memory of what has occurred, he is informed by the artists they
only just dragged him out alive once the crowd at the Quatz’ Arts Ball
recognised him. The artists lend him clothing and advise him to lie low for a
while, as a civilian. I can’t remember exact order of this scene’s events. Did
the song come first or the dialog? Anyway, the dialog part involves Jussac’s
review of Boris’s work, when it turns out Jussac really slated Boris, the
others insist Boris must fight a duel with Jussac over both the review and
Claudine; he is rather reluctant. When Jussac turns up the other three egg them
on until Jussac challenges Boris to a duel; Jussac has fought quite a number of
duels (usually leaving his opponents dead – after all dead artists are a better
commercial bet). Elsewhere in the scene, the quartet of artists, plus their
model sing Never, Be An Artist. This is one of those great Cole Porter ensemble comedy numbers, of
the sort that James Vaughan actually
has a certain amount of experience of doing (well: he was part of the quartet
who sang You Said It and the trio that sang God Bless The Women both
in Panama
Hattie, as well as the trio that performed Siberia to great effect
in Silk
Stockings). This afternoon James and Myra bring all their wealth of
experience of Lost Musicals to this number; Watching carefully one might also
notice Mr Vaughan’s funny little trick of wriggling his eyebrows for greater
comic effect (on a line about marriage – which kind of reminded me of a certain
cabaret artiste’s performance of The Girlfriend Of The Whirling Dervish).
Overall it’s a great ensemble effort, and a super number, sung with a lot of
feeling by all five artistes.
In The Cafe, Aristide, dressed
as a civilian, and clearly missing Pistache, tries to chat up a girl, It’s
Alright With Me; Which he does perfectly well, and more or less like it
was done by Frank Sinatra in the
film. Nevertheless it is great to see it presented in context, although it
works very well out of context, and is perhaps the most widely sung number from
the score. It has certainly been sung by quite a variety of performers, on
records, in revues, concerts and cabarets, including a notable Muppet puppeteer sprawled on the grand
piano at Lauderdale House!
As Aristide comes
to the end of his song, this is a variant from the film, Pistache enters and,
surprisingly, drags him away from the girl, pointing out what kind of a girl
that one is (something seedy). They hate each other, and are both in a fix,
she’s lost her licence to run a cafe for good and has no money to start over.
She suggests they should go into business. She could get a license to run a
laundry. Aristide doesn’t seem interested, he’s more concerned about his legal
career. He exits and Pistache sings bitterly Every Man Is A Stupid Man;
which Valerie Cutko puts over to the
best of her abilities, plus a noticeably American accent (well she is
American).
In Monmatre, Aristide
encounters Forestier, and learning he is denied a jury for his hearing, is
determined to get a jury trial, but how to ensure that? By breaking the law. He borrows money from Forestier to go into
business with Pistache. She is delighted and agrees to his terms, it will be an
equal business. Aristide arranges for Forestier to raid the venture, in order
that he and Pistache will stand trial for a test case, though he decides not to
tell Pistache about that until later.
On the Rooftop of Pistache’s
new venture La Blanchisserie, the
Waitress comes up for a smoke, and expresses her surprise at how kind her
mistress has been to her recently. Pistache, entering, says it because the
waitress hasn’t been stealing. Once the Waitress goes back to work, Pistache
sings I Love Paris. This is another well known number, often done out
of context; and although I can never quite forget Kim Criswell’s recording of it (well we all have our favourites),
nevertheless Valerie Cutko does it
perfectly well. The Artists enter for their duel, and advise Piastache to
leave, she is surprised to learn that duels still take place. A Doctor, played
by Alex Browne will referee the
duel, and presently Jussac arrives. It’s quite obvious Boris has no desire to
fight, especially not with swords. At this point James Vaughan shifts his script book from his left hand (he usually
holds it in his right), to mime the sword fighting with his right hand. This
only serves to make Boris look even more uncomfortable. Presently Boris falls
down in a faint, so his second (one of the other artists)takes his sword, but
he too falls down in a faint. At this point Aristide enters, and asks what is
going on, just as Jussac is getting impatient. Aristide’s sense of justice is
appalled at Jussac trying to duel with such a coward as Boris, and takes up the
sword himself; and beats Jussac, at which the other two come out of their
faint, and Jussac offers to make it up to Boris by writing another review,
saying he was mistake and that Boris is actually a great artiste. Jussac exits.
Aristide thanks the artistes for reminding him of his true values. The exit,
and Pistache enters, she and Aristide duet a reprise of C’est Manifique. Then
Aristide makes the mistake of telling her about his plans to get arrested, to
contrive a test case. They quarrel, and he storms off with the intention of
facing his tribunal instead.
In Prison Aristide is visited
by Forestier, who points out that it was what he requested, and takes him to
his trial.
In the Court Of Assizes, once
again James Vaughan is playing the
Court President (and partially hidden from view by the girls). Aristide takes
the stand, and tries to claim full responsibility for La Blanchisserie, but is
informed they have a witness to the contrary. “Who?” he asks. “Me”
says Pistache entering. She proceeds to defend them both, explaining that her girls are happy when they dance; until
Aristide interrupts her saying “Don’t
teach them about the law, just teach them the Can Can”; at which she
launches into the song Can Can, and presently the entire
company join in. Of course being a Concert Staging there was no actual dancing,
nevertheless it is a fun, rather risqué song, and it’s great to see this
classic in its original context. Of course being a classic it has been sung
quite a lot, and therein lies a problem, many of us will have recollections of
other people’s interpretations of the song, some of which (such as the likes of
Louise Gold or Darlene Johnson singing
The Discovering Lost Musicals have been going for eighteen years,
and during that time there have been some amazing highs (especially with Cole Porter musicals). The trouble is
if one saw some of those highlights, almost any recent production may seem a
little dimmer by comparison, even if they are very good. Wondering if perhaps
one is being nostalgic prompts careful consideration of the past shows. Were
any of them absolutely truly practically
perfect in every way? Well in fact there is one show (and yes a Cole Porter one) that springs to mind.
Over the eighteen years, Discovering Lost Musicals has built
up quite a gang of performers, a good number of whom (such as: Valda Avicks, Sam Kelly, Jessica Martin,
Mandy Moore, Liza Pulman, Thelma Ruby,
and, Matt Zimmerman) have appeared
time and time again. There are however five who really stand out, a quintet of
performers who always turn out a brilliant performance no matter what their
role in the Lost Musicals, they are: Louise
Gold, Neil McCaul, Stewart Permutt, Myra Sands, and, James
Vaughan. Most of the Lost Musicals shows have included at
least one of these five (Myra Sands,
followed by James Vaughan have
probably been in the most), but the best productions have usually featured two
or three of them; And indeed this afternoon is certainly among that elite
group, since it features three of them, all in good roles. I don’t think there
is any Lost Musical that has had even four of that magic quintet
together (they are all busy professional performers, with busy lives). But
once, just once, in 1996, Ian
Marshall-Fisher managed to field all five in a show together, and that show
was Panama
Hattie. So if I am overly
critical of any Lost Musical in my reviews, maybe it’s sometimes a bit unfair,
but honestly Panama Hattie set a golden standard. So many of the Lost
Musicals shows are good, but they always have the impossible problem of
living up to that one.
As a Lost Musicals concert staging, Can Can is very much an
ensemble effort. The whole cast (including: Ahmet Ahmet, Alex Browne,
David Phipps-Davis, Chris Stanton, Fabio Tassone, and the two chorus girls) all contribute. Mark Etherington gives a perfectly
decent piano accompaniment too. The principals, if indeed they can be called
such also play their part as members of a good ensemble.
Selina
Chilton, in only her second Lost Musical,
proves, as she did with Nymph Errant, what a good find she
is. She acts convincingly, makes her character engaging, wins the audience
over, and sings decently. Let’s hope she continues to play a part in the Lost
Musicals, she’s a welcome addition to the gang.
Newcomer Christopher Dickens also proves to be yet another of those decent
male actors that Ian Marshall-Fisher
seems to have a gift for finding. His singing is lovely, and that’s important
when you’ve got a role that Frank
Sinatra sang on film. Although the Lost Musicals’ focus is on the
books, one of their strengths is their use of singers who can make classic
songs their own, with a passing nod to whoever originated them or whoever they
are associated with. Amazingly, for the second time in a Lost Musical (the other was Frank Lazarus being a composer in Silk
Stockings) we have an actor playing a role where he does actually know
something about his character’s job. It turns out that Christopher Dickens actually studied Law at Cambridge. Well how
often does something like that occur on the stage? But there is one other
really surprising thing about his training; Last summer I was pleasantly
surprised by how engaging Sion Lloyd
managed to be in Avenue Q, then I was even more surprised by what a decent
performance Hal Fowler turned out in
Bad
Girls The Musical. But Christopher
Dickens, well! that really is a surprise.
Stewart
Permutt, a stalwart, back again, and this time with his surname back to how it’s
usually been. He always gives a good performance. But this afternoons was
definitely one of his best. He just connected to totally with the script, and
gave it everything. I’m sure Sam Kelly
could’ve done this role brilliantly too, but Stewart Permutt certainly did it proud. Over the years he’s played
many great comedy roles for Lost Musicals, but rarely has he
played a character that actually had such depth. The role really gave him something
to get his teeth into
Myra
Sands is also one of the great stalwarts of the gang, she has been in more Lost
Musicals than anyone else. It’s always good to see her back, especially
if she has a decent part. And this was a fairly decent part; which being the
excellent steady reliable performer she is, she made the most of; and did to
her usual high standards.
One person who
seems to be on the verge of rivalling
Valerie Cutko’s performance, in only
her second Lost Musical, is very definitely an improvement on her performance
in Silk
Stockings. For a start, she seems to have got more into the character
she is playing, given it more thought, or perhaps she connects better with the
role. She’s also much less stiff, making an effort to win the audience over
from the start. Pistache does appear a somewhat mixed up character, we can never
quite be sure what she is thinking. But that is entirely in keeping with the
character, and it ensures our sympathies are with Aristide. There may be other
ways to play this role, but Valerie
Cutko’s interpretation of it a perfectly satisfactory and convincing one.
As far as the singing goes. If I’m going to be really honest and critical, I
could say there are talented singers who could probably do more with some of
these songs, and indeed do them better (In fact I can think of two straight off
– one of whom is currently playing a villain in a big West End show, and the
other is currently, also a villain, on tour in Bristol). However Valerie Cutko is by no means bad. She
does the songs perfectly satisfactorily, and puts them simply back into their
original context. In fact her simple handling of them is probably very
sensible. Yes there are singers who can and would do amazing things to some of
those songs. But firstly, in a concert staging where the emphasis is on the
writing and the original context, one has to ask if extraordinary renditions
are actually what is wanted? (to which the answer might depend on what the
singing talents of the performers who originally sang them were actually like);
and secondly, unless a singer has genuine comic flair for doing extraordinary
renditions, then it’s preferable to keep it simple. It is far better that a
singer sticks to what they can do well, rather than trying and failing to do
something which they cannot do well. Another great improvement on her
appearance in Silk Stockings, was in her choice of costume. In the Lost
Musicals the men are always in a simple suit and bow tie, the women,
however, have more freedom of choice, as long as they are wearing mainly black
evening dresses, and leading ladies are usually allowed a little more colour
flexibility. Even the best looking of ladies can make mistakes with
unflattering costume choices (for example: very curvy singers probably
shouldn’t wear pencil skirts, and well endowed performers should probably watch
that the cut of their garment doesn’t hang of their endowment). And Ms Cutko
does look a lot better with her shoulders covered. One might also add, that for
this afternoon’s performance she had on terrific skirt, one that, was only
right for the character she was playing but, that really really suited her. So
well done there. Finally, how does she
fair as being Leading Lady. Well thanks to her improved acting, this time she
comes across as more of a Leading Lady than she did in Silk Stockings. She is
certainly at least as good as Nicola
Fuljames in this respect. However, she was lucky that none of her co-stars
had too much presence to be over-dominating. I think there was only one who
(judging by previous Lost Musicals performances) had the
skill and potential to steal the show from her, but fortunately for her he did
not do so.
All in all a good afternoons entertainment. With a great Cole Porter score, three of the magic
five around the show can count as one of
the Lost
Musicals better productions (although not a truly spectacular one). It
certainly has some splendid moments, including, Stewart Permutt’s bizarre Come Along With Me; James Vaughan and Selina Chilton’s terrific little duet If You Loved Me Truly,
not to mention the four artistes plus Myra
Sands with the heartfelt Never Be An Artist. And finally,
this is a musical about censorship so hearing Live And Let Live,
restored to its original glory is one of the best highlights of this show.
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