Reviews 2009
Reviews 2009
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music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, book and lyrics by Ben Elton, directed by Ben Elton
Mirvish Productions/Manitoba Theatre Centre,
Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto
September 25-November 1, 2009
Most people know that The Boys in the Photograph that premiered in Winnipeg earlier this year is Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton’s revision of their musical The Beautiful Game of 2000. Anyone who thought that Lloyd Webber could only write about femmes fatales, felines and falling chandeliers will be surprised to find that he can also write about ordinary people experiencing complex human emotions. Under Elton’s meticulous direction, the deliberately unglitzy, ungimmicky production is is impeccably performed by an all-Canadian cast. Yet, many will feel that the show requires even further revision to be fully successful.
Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 1969-72, the musical follows the lives of boys, Protestant and Catholic, all once players on the same football (i.e., soccer) team together. The team photograph of the title is a reminder of the one time their passion for “the beautiful game” overcame their political and religious divisions. The first difficulty with Elton’s book is that the long first act, devoid of narrative drive, functions almost entirely as background leaving the plot proper to begin only in Act 2. The second is that Elton’s over-explanatory dialogue continually harps on the theme “Violence and hatred are bad” as if the action and setting did not make that abundantly clear. He is most successful in comic scenes as when the the newlywed Catholic lovers John Kelly (Tony Lepage) and Mary Maguire (Erica Peck) confront their first sexual experience.
Lloyd Webber’s score, one of his strongest in years, combines 1970s pop with Irish folk influences to create one memorable tune after the next. The duet “All The Love I Have” and Mary’s powerful indictment of violence “If This Is What We’re Fighting For” will likely join the composer’s other classic songs.
At the end of the performance Elton himself came on stage to praise the cast as equal with the best on Broadway or the West End. This indeed is the show’s chief glory. The cast works with such dedication and unity of purpose the energy it generates sweeps all before it. Peck’s performance itself is truly outstanding as she subtly delineates her character’s growth in maturity and understanding. Lepage creates such an outgoing character in John Kelly, he surprises you with the depths of emotion he can convey. Richard Harte is chilling as the villain of the piece, while Richard McMillan is a delight as the priest/football coach who knows more about the profane world than you’d expect. The show is alone worth seeing for these and the many other superlative performances themselves. If Elton could make the first act more compact, cause the central crisis to arise sooner and, most of all, allow the action to speak for itself, The Boys in the Photograph should go on to the great success it deserves.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2009-09-30.
Photo: Tony Lepage (centre). ©Bruce Monk.
2009-09-30
The Boys in the Photograph