Silk
Stockings
Lillian Bayliss Studio
Theatre, Sadlers Wells, Sunday 22 May 2005
Review by Emma Shane © May 2005
This is one of those musicals, or at least stories that most people have
heard of, without necessarily actually having heard or seen dramatised. The story
was the subject of a talkie starring Grete Garbo, Ninotchka;
While the 1950s Broadway musical was turned into an MGM film with Fred
Astaire as Steven Canfield, Cyd Charisse as Ninotchka, and Janis
Paige as Hollywood star Janice Dayton. So far I’ve only seen clips of the
film, but it is more than likely the script would have been altered to suit Hollywood’s taste, these
things generally are. (Certainly the number Stereophonic Sound
was turned into a big dance duet, rather than a solo). It’s not the first time Ian
Marshall-Fisher has presented the original stage version of a plot that may
be better known from some film version, he has previously staged the original
versions of: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, On A Clear Day You
Can See Forever, and Gay Divorce. Funnily enough at least
one veteran from his productions of each of those shows is among this
afternoon’s cast.
This is one of those Lost Musicals with just a simple
piano accompaniment, and although sometimes a big orchestra can be fun, and
lend something extra to the piece (as it did with two other Cole Porter musicals
Gay Divorce and Du Barry Was A Lady) by and large I
think the style of these shows (with their focus on the book writers work - in
this case George S Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, and, Abe Burrows)
works best with just a piano; as long as you have a decent pianist on good
form. And with his execution of the overture, Simon Beck quickly proves
that he is up there with the best of the Lost Musicals pianists.
Opening scene in a busy Paris
hotel, performed enthusiastically by the chorus. First principal on stage,
Peter Ilyitch Boroff a Russian composer, played by Frank Lazarus, learns
he can’t ignore the summons to return to Moscow,
Too Bad the chorus sing this catchy Cole Porter number. By telephone his agent, Steven Canfield
played by Martin Turner reassures him. Presently a trio of comical
comrades Ivanov, Brankov and Bibinski, excellently played by experienced Lost
Musicals comedians James Vaughan and Neil McCaul, along
with newcomer Nigel Anthony. Canfield claims that Boroff is a French
Citizen because his father was French, which is news to all of them, but he can
produce an affidavit supposedly signed by Boroff’s father. However, it will
take weeks to go through the French courts; meanwhile he’s arranged for
Boroff’s music to be used in a new independent picture starring another of his
clients Janice Dayton. So the comic trio will have to remain in Paris also, and they join
in a reprise of Too Bad.
Now we know this show has a good chance of being well up to Ian
Marshall-Fisher’s usual excellent standard.
Back in Russia the old Commissar
Of Art, voiced by versatile James Vaughan (how many parts is he
going to play this time? - he often plays 3 or 4 in these shows, once he
managed 5! but this time he’s only listed in the programme to play one) is
being replaced by a new Commissar Of Art, Commissar Markovitch, played
by Matt Zimmerman. There is a pleasant comedy interlude between him and
his mistress, Vera, a ballet dancer, played with engaging charm by Samantha
Giffard, unfortunately she wants his wife’s job. But that is a minor matter
compared to the Boroff problem, the composer must be brought back, as must the
three men sent to bring him back. Enter Ninotchka played Valerie Cutko;
Markovitch is surprised to find it is a woman, who has been ordered to carry
out the job. She seems rather mechanical, somewhat reminiscent of Jeri Ryan’s
Borg drone (in Star Trek Voyager), but not nearly as good
looking. Back in Paris
the comic trio have been enjoying the decadent imperialistic life, currently
they are waiting in their hotel room to share champagne with some girlfriends
they have made. There’s a knock at the door, Ivanov is sure it is his Susanna,
and decides to hide behind the door. They are thrown into comic confusion when
their orthodox comrade enters: Trying to offer her champagne and kisses instead
of paperwork. Presently Canfield turns up and takes charge of the situation, by
attempting to seduce Ninotchka into the delights of Paris,
Paris
Loves Lovers. Not that this seems to have much effect on the drone.
Meanwhile Boroff has been sent to meet Janice Dayton. Upon arrival at the hotel
she is immediately surrounded by reporters wanting a story, why is she in Paris? She is here to
make her first serious feature film; it will of course be shot with all the mod
cons, such as Stereophonic Sound. Jessica Martin gives us
the first well-known Porter number of the evening, and a superb
performance at that. She really is in her element. If you are going to have a caricature of a
film star in a musical such as this, extolling the kind of film they are going
to be making, then it really makes sense to use such a talented performer, who loves
a film cliché as much as Jessica clearly does. This is one of those
wonderful moments we sometimes get in the Lost Musicals shows,
when performer takes a song that has become a standard and makes it very much
their own, completely irrespective of who has sung it before or since. The only
problem is, such things are hard to follow. In his hotel room, Canfield is
still trying to seduce Ninotchka, they have been walking around Paris for hours, could
they fall in love? She insists Its A Chemical Reaction That’s All,
but her persists (with another Porter classic) I Want All Of You.
Martin Turner sings well and proves to be an excellent actor, really
very convincing, but I still fail to see what he finds in Ninotchka that makes
her worth trying to seduce. Back in Russia Markovitch is threatened by several
other Commissar’s (voiced by James Vaughan and Neil McCaul) over
his failure to resolve the Boroff case, if Boroff and co are not back in Moscow
within two days he will be held personally responsible. He promptly telephone’s
Ninotchka to threaten her similarly. Meanwhile Boroff is somewhat unwillingly
decadently occupied in meeting Janice at a Boutique, where she is trying on a
new dress, but its what’s underneath the dress that matters, Satin And Silk.
This is one of those deliciously naughty Cole Porter songs, just the
kind of thing you want a good earthy belter for; and luckily for us Jessica
Martin fits the bill admirably. Because the Lost Musicals are
generally unmiked they provide a first rate singer with a great opportunity to
play on a venue’s acoustics. Barbican Cinema 1 was a brilliant venue in
this respect, and now at last we find that The Lillian Byliss Studio Theatre’s
acoustics are comparable. Something that had not been apparent until Jessica
took centre stage. There are few singers, even amongst the Lost Musicals
talented gang who truly know how to play on a venue’s acoustics to the extent
that Jessica does (and I’ve only come across one singer in the Lost
Musicals Gang who can seriously rival Jessica in this respect). Boroff is
not the only uneasy visitor to the Boutique, Ninochtka also drops in, but soon
leaves in a huff. Back at the hotel at night, the comic trio are snooping
around Ninotchka’s room, it seems none of them could sleep. Brankov has been
having his nails manicured. “At four in the morning?” queries Ivanov. “I
can’t sleep with long nails,” retorts Brankov. At which point I was
momentarily reminded of the first time I saw Neil McCaul on stage in a
Lost Musical, Cole Porter’s Red Hot & Blue (there was
one scene in which his character has his nails manicured by the leading lady,
who had said “I can’t let you get married with your nails looking like that”).
Meanwhile, back to the plot of Silk Stockings, the trio are
disturbed by the arrival of Canfield and Ninotchka, who has allowed herself to
fall in love with Canfield, and he has got her drunk. I’m not always too keen
on drunk acts in musicals, sometimes I’ve even found them unnecessary (for
example in Two’s A Crowd), but on this occasion, given the way Valerie Cutkio is portraying her at
least, it seems like Cranfield certainly had to do something to break through
to Ninotchka. Drunk, but not so far gone as to loose all sense of propriety,
Ninotchka soon begins to wonder nightmarishly Without Love. But Canfield, ever the agent, reassuringly
reprises All Of You.
Act 2 opens with the comic trio, clearly they’ve been enjoying
themselves in decadent imperialistic Paris,
when to their surprise they chance upon a very CP oriented book-stall. The
proprietor is thrilled to meet some real Russians, immediately goes and calls
her comrades to meet them too, and they all Hail Bibinski. The
number was performed with great gusto by all the chorus, and our excellent
comics, and contrasts sharply with the next two, set at the movie studios.
Boroff’s music is being filmed, and all five Russians insist on being there.
Canfield is delighted to see Ninotchka and, after admitting that the affidavit
from Boroff’s “father” is a fake, tries to persuade her to behave for
once like an American girlfriend, while he proposes to her, As On Through
The Seasons We Sail. She seems to be on the verge of accepting him, but
then, in the studio Janice and the chorus perform Josephine. This
is another wickedly dirty Porter song, in a similar tradition to
Kate The Great (the song about Katherine Of Russia that was cut from
Anything Goes after Ethel Merman refused to sing it because it
was too dirty). Boroff, and Ninotchka are both appalled by the way Boroff’s
music has been mistreated, and Boroff agrees to return to Moscow immediately. So there is nothing to
keep the five Russians any longer, they will catch the train tonight says
Ninotchka. However, Babinski, Brankov and Ivanov are apprehensive, what will
happen to them? They won’t be heroes; they might well be transported to Siberia. This number is a real Lost
Musicals treat. I’d actually heard it last summer in an Around
The World With Cole concert that Jason
Carr captained at Chichester,
and while it was done pretty well then, its performance this afternoon in its
original context is so superior. The comic trio really come into their
own with this number. All three are excellent, but one of them really stands
out, and it is Ivanov played by James Vaughan. Not only does he lead the
other two vocally, but his body language adds to the hilarity of the song, he
has a funny trick (also used to liven up Through A Keyhole in As
Thousands Cheer) of wriggling his eyebrows, this to this he adds a
interesting jerk of his right ankle. His rather good at giving his Lost
Musicals characters individual little traits like that.
Back at the hotel, Canfield is disappointed that Ninotchka has departed,
and just when a package he had ordered especially for her had arrived 365
pairs of Silk Stockings.
Back in Russia,
evidently some months later, we learn what has happened to the quintet. In
Ninotchka’s apartment, her three flatmates, all of whom seem to have some
artistic leanings are busy preparing their evening stew, when Ninotchka enters,
having just left a march she was on (once it reached her street), she’s never
done that before. We learn that she was demoted from her Commissary job,
and now manages an apartment block. Her flatmates say it’s hard on her but good
for them; everyone in the artistic underground is talking about how
free-thinking she is in allowing the residents to express themselves. It’s her
turn to have their shared table for a party. A newcomer to their block enters,
Boroff. Presently the comic trio turn up, they too have been demoted, to refuse
collectors, Babinski is the dustcart driver. However they are trying to be
cheery, at least they weren’t sent to prison camp. Boroff announces he will
play his new work for them, its a Lost Musicals surprise, the
cast suddenly push the piano, into the centre of the stage, Frank Lazarus
sits down at it, and begins to play, Red Blues. Until this moment I had actually forgotten
that Frank Lazarus is in fact a composer himself, the musical A
Day In Hollywood A Night In The Ukraine is listed in his credits as
such. His performance at the piano is
excellent, and presently Simon Beck joins him for a duet. The party is
interrupted first by the arrival of Canfield, who has come to get Ninotchka and
take her back to America
with him, and then by Markovitch who’s decided the time is right to arrest
Ninotchka, and make her and Canfield sign confessions for their sins. But he is
thwarted, for the others have plenty of dirt on him, which they can reveal, the
heat is soon to be on him, especially when Ninotchka calls Vera in. Markovitch is trapped, Camfield suggests he
flees to the US,
if he can get them a plane, he can (the stuff he’s got on the Air Commissar),
Boroff naturally will come too, and the trio ask if they can come as well. And
so the show ends with the kind of happy ending one might expect in an American
musical.
Overall this was one of those excellent shows by and large pretty well
up to Ian Marshall-Fisher’s usual high standards. All the chorus and bit
players: Lisa Baird, Andrew Beavis, Alison Bennie, Samantha
Giffard, David O’Brien, David Phipps-Davis, Benjamin
Stirling, Vicki Stone, and Mark Torrance did a good job. Out
of these I was particularly impressed by Samantha Giffard, who makes a
good distinctive little supporting player (was it her red ringlets or
her personality or could you have sworn it might have been both?). And
what of our feature players? Well having about five regular member of the Lost
Musicals Gang probably helped a lot. For a start Matt Zimmerman
though his part was a bit on the small side performed it well, as one would
expect. Another fairly reliable Lost Musicals regular (at least I
think we must regard him as a regular) is Frank Lazarus. On the whole
his performance was one of his best, and then towards the end a real surprise,
when he took his place at the piano and gave a stunning performance of Red
Blues. Perhaps the fact that besides being an actor he is also a
composer himself gave his characterisation a little something extra. How often,
I wonder, does it happen in a musical (or indeed anywhere) that an actor has to
play a part where they have that kind of a connection with their character? The
bulk of the comedy was in a trio of capable hands. It is very apparent that James
Vaughan and Neil McCaul have been doing this sort of thing in the Lost
Musicals for about a dozen years, and know exactly what they are doing
with it, while Nigel Anthony does a fine job of keeping up with them.
Another newcomer to these types of shows who did wonderfully well was Martin
Turner. He is a very accomplished actor, as his extensive credits rather
bear out, and in this afternoon’s show he acquitted himself extremely well, I
certainly hope we’ll see him in the Lost Musicals again. The
focus in the Lost Musicals is on the script writing not the
acting, however, no matter how well written a line is, when performed even in a
concert staging it only comes across as being as good as the actor who delivers
it. Unfortunately, given that she was playing the title role Valerie Cutko
was the least effective of the principals. Her performance was not bad, it just
wasn’t quite as good as one would expect from a principal. She would have been
fine in a supporting role. Initially she appeared to lack stage presonce
(despite her height), her costume didn’t become her too well either. Her
performance was very stiff, perhaps too stiff, as one couldn’t quite understand
what Canfield saw in her. However, her performance improved, notably from the
drunk scene at the end of Act 1 onwards. During Act 2 her performance was more convincing.
Perhaps Ninotchka is a rather complicated character for any actress to portray.
Characters who have to be outwardly harsh but underneath not really so
unyielding, probably are difficult to portray well, very much like superbitches
who aren’t really bitches (and I’ve only come across very few actresses who can
do those sort of roles really well). Like I said, while Ms Cutko’s performance
was not so good, it was not actually bad. The leading lady was rather eclipsed
by the Second Woman, Jessica Martin, proving firstly that you don’t
necessarily need height to have stage presonce, and secondly that there is more
than one strong-voiced singer-actress amongst the Lost Musicals
Gang, who has the ability to outshine whoever is supposed to be Leading Lady
(who remembers Louise Gold’s irrepressible performance nine years ago in
OTIS?). Of course in previous Lost Musicals when playing Second
Woman to rather stronger Leading Ladies Jessica has also shown that she is more
than capable of holding her own, and not getting overshadowed by them. In this
show Jessica certainly delivers a stellar turn, very much up to the high
standards we have come to expect in the Lost Musicals. Thanks
largely to regulars such as Jessica Martin, Frank Lazarus, James
Vaughan and Neil McCaul, along with Martin Turner and Nigel
Anthony, this was one of Ian Marshall-Fisher’s better productions,
the sort of show that reminds one: How well written those old American musicals
are, what a great songwriter Cole Porter was, and just how good these Discovering
Lost Musicals productions can be.
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