Thursday, 6 October 2016

Murder Ballad, Arts Theatre | Review

Murder Ballad

The Arts Theatre
Reviewed on Wednesday 5th October 2016 by Olivia Mitchell

★★★★

Press nights are always exciting but the atmosphere on this particular one was more electric than normal. If you're at all in the loop with the theatre community you must have heard about Murder Ballad! It seems to have been everywhere and since little snippets were released and previews began I'd only heard good things so I was super excited to finally see the show myself.

I'm one to encourage going into shows blind and this definitely one production to go into without looking up a synopsis. It's absolutely a show that you'll benefit from seeing with no preconceptions of the plot. All you need to know is that it follows three characters in a love triangle and a narrator who all merge into each others lives. Oh, and someone ends up dead! Intriguing right?!

The story is accompanied by a rock score which works well to give the story a sort of grounded realism. It really helps in the moments of anger and tension to build and crash and bring out every emotion on stage. This is a raw and gripping 90 minute fully-sung-through rock musical with love, darkness and death.

The cast of Murder Ballad are stellar and all give the outstanding performances you'd expect from these veterans of the stage. Kerry Ellis is a regular star of the West End and her portrayal of Sara really shows why. Her voice effortlessly glides into all the notes of this rock score. Her unique growl and rasp add a depth to the character and help to emphasise the emotions Sara feels, especially in the opening argument scene. The audience see the development of Sara's personality throughout and Kerry manages to capture all the little changes perfectly with an ease and innovativeness only seen in true stars. Her chemistry with Ramin Karimloo fills the whole room and they create a dark and believable pairing.

photo by Mark Brenner

I have been a huge fan of Victoria Hamilton-Barritt for a long while now so was super excited to see her take on the deep, dark role of the narrator. Victoria's voice is on another level in this production; her sultry, beautiful tone completely fit the mysterious narrator. Not only is Victoria's voice insane but her facial expressions told a whole story of their own. No spoken or sung words were needed for Victoria to convey exactly what she was feeling, her little knowing glances into the audience conveyed 1000 words; its truly a joy to see how this lady owns the stage at all times!

Now onto the men... Ramin Karimloo is a favourite of the West End and Broadway alike with a number of huge roles under his belt. Most of his famous roles such as the Phantom and Valjean are more operatic, typical musical theatre roles so it was refreshing to see him showcase the rocky, raspy side of his voice as the dark and handsome Tom. As with Sara, we get to see a lot of character development with Tom, he goes from a young-lovesick boy to a possessive man in a short space of time and Ramin carries this transformation out with dexterity and all the nuances of the in-depth character are very clear.

Norman Bowman for me has one of the most underrated voices on the West End. He's starred in a number of shows but I personally don't hear enough about him. His voice blew me away whilst he played the role of the agreeable Michael and left me with chills at points. His character is less in depth that Ellis' and Karimloo's but he still achieves a well performed character arc.

Richard Kent's set design is innovative and adds a dimension to the show, making it exciting to watch and making you feel somewhat part of the action. The revolve cleverly highlights key moments and adds a nice flow to the show. The lighting is also very clever; from the single lightbulb on stage to the green and orange tinted lights later on; David Plater's design backs up the transitions of all the characters and heightens the tensions at the crucial points.

photo by Mark Brenner

Sam Yates' direction has created a truly wonderful piece of contemporary theatre. Although I found the show to drag a little at the beginning, it soon picked up pace and I could physically feel my heart beating at points. The fantastic cast give faultless, lifelike performances which are so refreshing to see in these days of more fantastical productions. I truly enjoyed this show and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. Its a unique, lively and deadly production which ticks all the boxes for an enjoyable night out! The realistic storyline and killer soundtrack are a deadly combination, leaving you on the edge of your seat, anticipating whats to come until the very last moment in this arresting production.

Check out Rewrite This Story's interviews with Kerry Ellis here and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt here

Murder Ballad is running at the Arts Theatre until December 3rd

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Murder Ballad, Arts Theatre | Review

Thursday, 6 October 2016

Monday, 23 May 2016

Hamilton Dream Cast

My Hamilton obsession has been out in full force recently and the prospect of it coming to the West End in 2017 has got me ridiculously excited and kind of nervous. I'm praying that I'll get tickets and that I won't have to sell a body part to pay for them!

So with all the Hamilton fever going around, I wanted to do my own dream cast for the show (I was inspired by this post.) Before I start I want to say that I basically want the whole of the In The Heights cast to become the Hamilton cast so there's going to be a lot of them in this....!

Alexander Hamilton (Lin Manuel Miranda) - Sam Mackay

I know there are many people who would agree with me in saying that Sam would be the perfect Hamilton. He's currently playing the role of Usnavi in In The Heights so we know he has the chops for it and what would be more perfect than stepping from Lin's first musical baby into his second?

Aaron Burr (Leslie Odom, Jr) -Paapa Essiedu

I was actually struggling with who to cast as Aaron Burr (Sir), but the lovely Hayley suggested Paapa Essiedu who is currently starring in Hamlet. Who knows if he has any musical talent but if he does then sign him up to wow the audiences, his acting abilities are insane so he would definitely perform the hell out of Burr!

King George (Jonathan Groff) -Jon Jon Briones

I know this is a super random one, but the scheming side of King George really reminds me of the Engineer from Miss Saigon. I'm probably the only one but I'd certainly love to hear Jon Jon Briones put his own spin on You'll Be Back! King George and the Engineer would be a dream team for revolution!

George Washington (Christopher Jackson) -Joe Aaron Reid

Do I even need to explain this one? Joe is the obvious choice to take the role of George Washington. Not just because he'd be following in the footsteps of Christopher Jackson going from Benny in In The Heights to this role, but because Joe's voice is insane and I know he would bring a new and fresh interpretation of Washington.

Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson (Daveed Diggs) -Ramin Karimloo

Now I know this is kind of a stupid one and will 99.9% never ever happen but I would love to see Ramin try this role. I'd just love to hear him do What'd I Miss and having him on the West End stage is pretty wonderful. Honestly though, Daveed Diggs is a hard one to replace so I'll just have let the casting directors make the decision for me!

Hercules Mulligan/James Madison (Okieriete Onaodowan) -Tosh Wanogho-Maud

Tosh is currently starring in Showboat and wowing the audiences. His voice is so special and unique and I would love to see what he'd bring to the characters originated by Okieriete. They also have an uncanny resemblance to each other?!

John Laurens/Philip Hamilton (Anthony Ramos) -Cleve September

Cleve is one of the biggest up and coming stars right now, he's currently playing Sonny in In The Heights to immense praise and I know he'll be absolutely incredible in Hamilton. He's got a stunning voice, amazing rapping skills and is really just the whole package! Cleve is just the natural choice for this role and I would certainly place money on him being a part of the West End cast.

Angelica Schuyler (Renee Elise Goldsberry) -Christine Allado

I did warn you that I was basically going to cast the whole of In The Heights and Christine is 100% a force to be reckoned with. Her voice is incredible to say the least and I would love to hear her sing Satisfied, I can imagine the sassiness already! Christine is a wonderful actress too and definitely has what it takes for this role although I can really see her in any of the female lead roles. Theatre Gods, do your work please!

Eliza Schuyler (Phillipa Soo) -Philippa Stefani

Phillipa to Philippa, both extremely talented! Philippa S has sure got some pipes on her, we've seen her vulnerable side in Ghost and her sassy side in In The Heights so of course she'll be brilliant; I just know her rendition of Burn would bring the house down! Whether she ends up in Hamilton or not, I think I'm gonna have to start a petition to hear her sing it!

Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds (Jasmine Cephas Jones) -Emma Kingston

I recently saw a video of Emma singing in the Hamilton medley at West End Fests and she sounded incredible! I think she'd be brilliantly suited to the show and perfect for the roles of Peggy/Maria! Her voice is the definition of flawless- she could sing the phone book over and over and I would be satisfied (pun intended) so her singing Say No To This night after night would be heaven!

I'm going to be counting down every day from now until the show finally opens in the West End and I can't wait to find out the cast and I really hope some if not all of the people above end up in it but if all else fails and none of the people on the list make the show, I'll be happy to do the one woman performance!! Please though theatre Gods, just let this be the cast. Thank you.

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