- THE AMAZONS
- Theatre Museum, Covent Garden May 26, 28, 29 2002.
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- After thirty years, a delightful British musical at
last reaches London in a dashing production …
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- The early 1970s was a terrible time for the British musical,
and 1971 one of its lowest points. One of the hopeful entries,
aimed at London, was an adaptation of a Pinero comedy with a
score from John Addison (music) and David Heneker (lyrics). Despite
good notices, an extravagant production and a sterling cast,
The Amazons began and ended its life at Nottingham Playhouse.
Even devotees of British musical theatre have known little of
its quality, now revealed in this wholly successful London premiere
production by Stewart Nicholls.
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- And what a rediscovery it is! Nicholls' achievement is to
propel Addison into the front rank of British composers of musicals
(his other main theatre scores were for the revue Cranks and
the flop musical Keep Your Hair On). For Cranks he wrote a most
engaging and original score (Keep Your Hair On didn't get into
the studio), but even Cranks didn't prepare us for this consistently
amusing, ever-tuneful outpouring. It beggars belief that such
a wonderful score has been ignored for so long, and its destiny
has found itself in the hands of a wonderfully committed team.
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- Pinero's plot (reworked for the musical by Michael Stewart),
based on the conceit of three Edwardian girls brought up as boys
by their misguided mother and under the tutelage of a Cicely
Courtneidge-like martinet, Sergeant Shuter, provides endless
laughter and - thirty years after the musical's first airing
- has a resonance that rocks an audience in a way it can't have
in the first incarnation. 'Englishmen kissing Englishmen' cries
the bewildered Lady Castlejordan, 'it's the end of the Empire!'
Nicholls' skill is to fix the playing point at high pastiche,
and the tone doesn't falter throughout the show. His other achievement
is to instil a sense of real caring into the situations, so that
the romantic flowerings are truly moving. Any lover of the British
musical owes a great debt to Nicholls, without whom this little
masterpiece of writing would probably have stayed hidden forever.
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- It is fascinating to hear how Addison confines himself so
effectively to a sense of period and style, with Heneker's lyrics
reminding us how very fine a lyricist he was. I don't think there
is a weak link in the score - in fact, some of the numbers ('The
West End's the best end', 'A nice young fellow', and 'Don't follow
the music'), are as winning as any you will hear in a British
musical. Even in Act Three, when most other musicals would have
wound down to a list of reprises, we have the stunning 'Stag
Party' and the exceedingly silly 'Eurythmics'. Framing it all
is the show's sturdy, foolishly patriotic anthem, 'There's nothing
wrong with England', first heard from Anthony Dawes' caring Bishop.
My only criticism of the score is that it might have been better
to end with a choral outburst of the song, rather than the 'winding-down'
ending that the writers intended. This company makes such a splendid
noise, that it would have brought down the curtain in a blaze
of glory rather than the effect we have here - of the show dying
away. Less subtle, possibly, but perhaps more stirring!
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- This is ensemble playing at its best, with outstandingly
entertaining performances. Elizabeth Counsell's Lady Castlejordan
is a revelation, a beautifully modulated display of comedy playing,
and with such sureness in her numbers that one hangs on every
note. Not a trick is missed, from an Edith Evans-like treatment
of 'aeroplane' to some devastatingly effective recititatives.
Myra Sands - a veteran of so many British musicals - stands out
as the knee-lifting Sergeant: a treasurable role, made absolutely
real as the evening progresses. Her attempt at 'Eurythmics' is
a highlight in a score packed with numbers that hit the mark
again and again. She is a joy to behold.
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- The Amazons themselves are completely captivating. Lucy Montgomery's
Noeline makes the most appealing of heroines, struggling against
manliness until love breaks all resistance, and her boy sisters,
Chevaun Marsh and Alice Battersby, make a marvellous trio. Their
admirers are equally fine. Stuart Pendred is exactly the right
sort of British hero, with a style and sense of absurdity that
melts easily into the serious feelings he has to display. At
his side are Ellis Kirkhoven as Tweenwayes and Jamie Beamish
as Andre de Grival, who make a perfect pair.
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- Rowland Lee's musical direction of this complicated score
- one of the most adventurous of any British musical - ensures
that the numbers come up bright as a penny, with the ensemble
making the most brilliant sound. This is a very fine moment for
the old British musical, and what a joy it is to see such a young
company giving everything to it, and with such innate understanding
of what they are about. If there is any justice - and to judge
by the reaction of the audience at the first performance there
may be - The Amazons is a show that deserves to live on. In 1971,
The Amazons was somehow out of its time, but I have the suspicion
that it has found its place at last.
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- The original 2002 London cast recording of this production
will be available from Must Close Saturday Records in the summer
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