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THEATRE: Musical trip to the dark side when what we need is sunshine
Last summer we had something magical with The Music Man, a genuinely-uplifting show which sent you out a high.
This summer, when we all need that feeling even more, we get Oklahoma! – hardly the best choice in the circumstances.
Of course there is a place for the gritty hard-bitten dark stuff, but Rodgers and Hammerstein's tale of obsession and viciousness really is a fairly morbid, miserable affair for the most part.
And at times, the drab set – consisting of a couple of grubby sheets – is all too sadly the perfect backdrop, particularly during the dreary Pore Jud Is Daid, loosely translated as Poor Jud Is Dead.
You just long for it all to flare into life and take us somewhere special, and at times it does.
After a first half which drags, it sparks beautifully in the opening number of the second half, the highlight of the evening when suddenly all is bright, breezy and colourful.
Too soon though, we are back in the murky world of the misfit loner Jud – a character Craige Els certainly brings powerfully to
life in a glowering, menacing performance of real presence.
You can't take your eyes off him even when he is lurking in the background.
Michael Xavier is similarly impressive as Curly, his love rival, hinting at a nastiness beneath the devil-may-care exterior which gives plenty of depth to the portrayal.
Els and Xavier lock horns mesmerisingly in their bid to win Laurey (Leila Benn Harris), little caring what Laurey seems to think of it all.
Stylishly done, excellently done – and there's certainly no fault with the production. But don't go along expecting a little lift in your life.
It's probably a musical that you either like or you don't, though it's fair to say director John Doyle has gone over to the dark side a little too much. The programme tells us his recent productions include Sweeney Todd – which maybe explains a thing or two.
Thank heavens then for the sublime Natalie Casey as Ado Annie, the girl who just can't say no. It's a brilliant comic performance, rich with wonderful expressions and great timing.
But overall, it's a fairly grim evening. Give me the nutty battiness of The Music Man any day.
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Weather for Bognor
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
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