No Way to Treat a Lady
Company: Darlinghurst Theatre Theatre
Venue: Darlinghurst Theatre, Potts Point, Sydney
Dates: to 13 November 2011
Made in Manhattan
No
Way to Treat a Lady - the Musical; book, music and lyrics by
Douglas J
Cohen, based on the novel by William Goldman - was first performed in
1987 and was revived off-Broadway in 1996.
The novel apparently is a gently comic riff inspired by
the Boston
Strangler case written by Mr Goldman (screenplays: Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid (1966); Marathon
Man (1976); All the
President's Men
(1976); The Princess Bride
(1987); and Misery (1990)
under the
pseudonym of Harry Longbaugh [he real name of the Sundance Kid] after
a bout of writer's block).
The film of No Way to Treat a Lady
(1968) was adapted by John Gay and starred Rod Steiger, George
Segal, Lee Remick and Eileen Heckart. The film, from memory, does
not really work, a kind of "darkly comic thriller". The tone of the
film never really finds its clarity and I remember it, mostly, because
of a weird image, for that time, of a famous Hollywood star, Rod
Steiger, in drag and a very blond wig in a climatic scene. Cause
celebre, indeed in '87!
This musical adaptation by Mr Cohen, written economically for four
performers, also finds the tone a little difficult to plumb. That one
of the principal character's we see commit crimes as a vicious
serial strangler/killer, and, then, converting him into a
song-and-dance man may have been a near impossible conception and hence
the tonal awkwardness (although, Stephen Sondheim in his
operatic-musical Sweeney Todd, The
Demon Barber of Fleet Street gets away with it as does Kander
and Ebb in Chicago).
But despite the slightly macabre creepiness that permeates the work
this simply confident and breezy production by Stephen Colyer has some
charm to keep the musical theatre fan interested. While not exactly a
lost treasure of the genre it is very interesting and should be an
attractive offer for the fan
of the musical.
On a simple but clever one-set design by David
Fleischer (costume, as
well) the many locations are swiftly changed with furniture
re-organisation and the invitation to use our own imaginations.
Lighting by Gavan Swift.
The four performers are super charged and personable with a clean and
confident drawing of character, (musical theatre characters! - not much
in the way of insightful depths), serving the text as fully as the
writing allows, with professional proficiency.
Phillip Lowe, as the Jewish-son detective stumbling onto a series of
crimes that will make or break his professional identity, Morris
Brummell, is delightfully erudite in managing the cliché of the script
demands, including building a credible relationship with a rich
heiress, Sophie Stone, played charmingly by Katrina Ketallick. Julie
O'Reilly has the most challenge in the work, playing not only the Jewish mother (dare I say? a
rival to Woody Allen's Mother in the 1989 film New York Stories - 'Oedipus
Wrecks') as well as all the victims of the strangler. Ms O'Reilly
charts her way competently through the dramatic challenges and costume
changes. Jason Langley as Christopher "Kit" Gill creates blithely the
demands of this difficult character genre mix with such brio that one
just surrenders and enjoys the ridiculousness of it all - Mr
Langley's drag and wig moment extremely tasteful and credible, in
contrast to the Steiger horror.
The music and lyrics are reasonably pleasant if not particularly
memorable with some surprises to keep one alert. The musical direction
by Craig Renshaw is exemplary and all the performers are confident and
impressive.
The performance I saw kept the audience entertained and the work
gathered a warm support as it unwound. This is a very impressive
production by Mr Colyer, as was his work last year on Kiss of the Spider Woman in this
tiny space, and can be recommended to the dedicated fan of the Musical
Theatre, who like to capture the curious and rarely performed work as
part of their repertoire history. An easy way to spend a night or
afternoon in the theatre that is reasonably, real value for money.
The performers are worth catching for their creative diligence and
sense of exploration.
Kevin Jackson
To read more of Kevin Jackson's theatre reviews, check out his blog at Kevin Jackson's Theatre Reviews.