REVIEW: RENT @ Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

 

When Jonathan Larson began working on an update of the opera La Boheme in the 1980s, he could not have forseen what a phenomenon it would become. Sadly, he was never able to appreciate the masterpiece he had created.  He died suddenly aged just 35 on the afternoon of Rent’s first off-Bropadway preview performance. Posthumously it would go on to become a Broadway phenomenon, picking up numerous Tony awards and the Pulitzer Prize among many honours.

Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre is perhaps the ideal space to stage Rent. It’s converted cotton mill setting perfect for the run down apartment block setting which Rent’s alumni inhabit. The action focuses on a disparate array of people. Struggling songwriter Roger who has HIV, aspiring film maker Mark, erotic dancer Mimi, drag queen Angel, avant garde cabaret artist Maureen... the list goes on. They are drawn together in a commune struggling to keep away the property developers who want the squatters evicted to build a new cyber space arts project. So begins a tale of love, longing, loss and hope for a better tomorrow.

Although never producing any hits as such, the main theme ‘Seasons Of Love’ has become a bone fide theatre classic. Jonathan Larson’s rock score is rich in colour – employing rap, gospel, tango and techno. His dialogue is sometimes a little clunky but the tunes certainly make up for that.

Given the limitations of such a small performance space, director Luke Shepherd (of & Juliet fame) has worked wonders along with set and costume designer David Woodhead. The ambience is just shabby enough to suggest the run down nature of the modest environment inhabited by the Renters. Luke Bayer brings a powerful voice to Roger, particularly effective in ‘One Song Glory’. Tom Francis’ Mark still has camp shades of his former role in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, but manages to win us over with an energetic performance and fine dancing. Maiya Quansah Breed has just the right amount of desperation as Mimi, searching for love and a way out of her twilight prison. Millie O’Connell and Jocasta Almgill are on the nail as eccentric Maureen and lawyer Joanne, complete opposites but attracting each other. Their duet argument ‘Take Me Or Leave Me’ is a highlight of the score.  Alex Thomas-Smith as saintly drag queen Angel and Dom Hartley-Harris as Collins offer another relationship perspective. Hartley-Harris’ ‘I’ll Cover You’ at Angel’s funeral is heart wrenching. A special mention too for Michael Ahomka-Lindsay in his first professional role as Benjamin Coffin III, nicely done and a name to watch out for in the future.  The seven piece band, by the way, play the hell out of Larson’s score and are worth the entry price alone.

The show was streamed online last year when a Covid lockdown put paid to the 2020 production after just one performance, the piece seems to have grown since that time. Shepherd’s direction able to flesh out the piece with less restrictions, creating a deeper bond between the characters. As much as I enjoyed the online version, this re-mount has raised Hope Mill’s Rent to the next level.   Rent remains a vital piece of musical theatre and the Hope Mill cast do its impressive legacy proud.   

 

Rob Cope for Doctor Theatre 

JACOB'S JOURNEY - Joseph's forgotten prequel

 

One of the great curiosities of the Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat success story is the short-lived prequel show which survived a few months into the original West End run at the Albery Theatre in 1973 before being cut, never to be seen again. Jacob’s Journey told the story of Jacob right up until the events of the Dreamcoat section.  Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote a series of songs for the piece, but David Land and Robert Stigwood (the producers) were less enthused about Tim’s light hearted script. They opted to bring in celebrated writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson who had created Hancock’s Half Hour and Steptoe & Son, huge television comedy hits. Thus although featuring a number of songs by Tim and Andrew, Jacob’s Journey also had quite a bit of spoken dialogue as Jacob’s complex story was unravelled for a West End audience. The production opened on 9^th February 1973 at the Albery Theatre, having played both the Young Vic and the Roundhouse in previous months for short runs.   At these earlier try-outs,  the first half had been the performing of Medieval Mystery plays but now  Joseph officially had a bespoke prequel, thus Jacob’s Journey opened in the West End as the first act to the main event.

 

Both Tim and Andrew have always said this prequel story never really worked, which was why they were quite happy to jettison the whole of the first half and expand Joseph still further ('Pharaoh’s Story', 'Those Caanan Days' and 'Benjamin Calypso' were written to help flesh out the meagre running time of the 40 minute show). Thus in late June 1973, Jacob’s Journey took its final bow as Joseph and his coat of many colours finally took centre stage having been expanded for the final time.  Not that this decision mattered much, as the entire production closed in September as box office receipts dwindled.

One of the songs from Jacob’s Journey made it into the expanded Joseph for a while.  ‘I Don’t Think I’m Wanted Back At Home’ became a song for Joseph directly after the ‘Joseph’s Dreams’ section of the show.  Reportedly Andrew never liked this number and after a while it was quietly dropped from Joseph,  but was still being performed right up until the late 1980s in Bill Kenwright’s UK touring version.  Until Andrew found out (ho hum!).   The melody had already been used in the very first (unproduced) Rice / Lloyd Webber musical in the late 1960s The Likes Of Us when it had been called ‘You Won’t Care About Him Anymore’, and then later a song cut from the original 1975 Ayckbourn / Lloyd Webber Jeeves production, this time as ‘Never Again’. 

Rob_Cope · I Don't Think I'm Wanted Back At Home - Chris Corcoran

A song for Rachel,  Jacob’s favourite wife,  entitled ‘And Did He Notice Me’ had first been recorded in 1968 with another Rice lyric attached and released as ‘Believe Me I Will’ by the great French crooner Sacha Distel.

Rob_Cope · Believe Me I Will - Sacha Distel

The song ‘Seven Years’ (seemingly a favourite with the composers) got a new lease of life as a single for the original stage Joseph,  Gary Bond,  in 1973.  Again with new Rice lyrics. ‘Disillusion Me’ (backed with ‘Any Dream Will Do’) came and went pretty much un-noticed by the record buying public. 

 

 

The theatre brochure reproduced many of the lyrics written for Jacob’s Journey and can be seen here.  

 

 

Little more is remembered of Jacob’s Journey by all those involved.  It lasted just short of six months.  Perhaps one day this curiosity in the canon of Rice and Lloyd Webber will be revisited,  if only to preserve for posterity the journey not only by Jacob but of Joseph,  the school cantata which went on to become one of the most popular musicals ever written.  So endeth the lesson.

REVIEW: JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT @ LONDON PALLADIUM

I’d wager that ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ has a unique problem amongst the current crop of West End musicals. Where the likes of ‘Les Miz’, ‘Prince of Egypt’ and reportedly ‘Cinderella’ have all made cuts in the name of a manageable runtime, Joseph has the opposite problem…it’s pretty darn short. The peculiar journey of this show has oft been recounted (on this very blog in-fact) but with Joseph’s origins as a fifteen minute pop cantata, it’s unsurprising that some additions have been made along the way to make it a viable night at the theatre. The production playing at the Palladium is a return engagement of Laurence Connor’s 2019 staging and while a massively enjoyable evening, it definitely boasts some added girth.

Though I’d be surprised if any readers weren’t familiar with the story of Joseph, the musical recounts the Biblical tale from the book of Genesis. Joseph is a Canaanite, one of Jacob’s twelve sons and gifted with the ability to interpret dreams. Jacob shows obvious favour towards Joseph by buying him a multi-coloured coat. This in-turn angers his brothers who conspire to sell him into slavery; Joseph is taken to Egypt in chains, will he ever be reunited with his father?

Often a handsome star has been cast in the titular role of Joseph, a canny move by producers to lure new audiences in but the 2019 production eschewed this approach and instead retooled the role of the Narrator for Sheridan Smith and these changes remain in 2021. Some of these changes are very successful; The Narrator is far more interactive with the main action and begins the show sitting round a campfire, storytelling to the child ensemble that sits rapt. Less successful is the decision to have her play Jacob and Mrs Potiphar, reducing the age range of the ensemble, perhaps I’m alone but I always used to enjoy the opportunity those roles offered older actors.

Despite these quibbles, Alexandra Burke is a fabulous Narrator, boasting adorable interactions with the young children in the cast and some humorous “business” when she’s not the main focus. One of the reasons she endeared herself to X-Factor audiences was her dance ability accompanying her powerhouse vocals and here Burke proves herself more than capable at mastering Joann M. Hunter’s choreography – a tap routine in ‘Joseph’s Dreams’ and hoedown in ‘One More Angel in Heaven’ particularly stand out. Burke soars when she is allowed to unleash vocally in ‘A Pharaoh's Story’, showing great restraint with just the right amount of riffing. A word on the arrangements; the keys were lowered in 2019 to accommodate Sheridan Smith, these versions remain today, which is a pity as having seen Alexandra Burke in ‘Sister Act’ she’d easily be able to sing it in the higher key.

Returning as Joseph is 23 year old Jac Yarrow, who brings a youthful exuberance to the role. Usually Josephs are easily categorised; some lean into the comedy, others give it the wide-eyed innocence and naiveté, Yarrow manages to touch on all aspects. ‘Close Every Door’ a theatre standard, still manages to wring emotion from the audience.  Jason Donovan is on hand as Pharaoh, doubtless to stir feelings of nostalgia in audience members of a certain age. He is always funny but he is off the scale with the camp, less Vegas Elvis and more Vegas excess, nevertheless the crowd ate it up!  

Director Laurence Connor, having wrangled scores of children for ‘School of Rock’, again shows fearlessness in giving the roles of the Butler, Baker and Potiphar to the child actors. Where the show struggles occasionally, is the aforementioned desire to pad out the runtime. While the choreography is excellent, not every dance break works, a can-can sequence in ‘Those Canaan Days’ feels excessive. That said, the ensemble are uniformly excellent movers.   

‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ at The Palladium is like visiting an old friend. I do tire of referencing the pandemic in every review but this is exactly the tonic for these theatre-starved times. The ultimate feel-good show on the largest possible canvas. It almost felt like a dream!

 Phillip Beamon on behalf of Doctor Theatre 

For more information check out the official JOSEPH WEBSITE