
Schwartz Stories
Value For Money
Schwartz Stories
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Value For Money
Schwartz Stories When I First Reviewed The O
Schwartz Stories
When I first reviewed the original version of this refreshingly clever revue of the work of Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz in 2002, I spoke of how it could well revive his theatrical fortunes, which - after the early success of his seventies shows written when he was still in his twenties - was followed by what I called "a string of stage failures, still unbroken today."
In fact, just a year after this revue's debut came the Broadway bow of Wicked and Schwartz bounced back with a commercial vengeance. But though it confirmed his tremendous ability with an insistently memorable tune, I now find this revue an even more valuable reminder of the more intimate pleasures and range of Schwartz's words and melodies after the empty spectacle of that musical behemoth.
As devised by Mark Powell and John Cusworth, the piece folds songs from his repertoire, mostly for the stage but also with one from the film The Prince of Egypt, into a charmingly animated tale of interconnecting relationships. There are now, of course, also interpolations from Wicked, including a cut song making a first stage outing here. Though the creators take some liberties with context - with the pseudo-poetic lyric for Meadowlark, for instance, gloriously sent up as the rantings of a blind-date-from-hell and the Godspell finale sequence, 'O God I'm Dying,' even more outrageously ripped out of its original meaning - they make a surprisingly organic entertainment out of these songs to tell a new story.
A crack cast of West End regulars including Frances Ruffelle and Paul Baker expertly mine them for new meaning while Annalise Rossi earns top comic honours. It's also good to see the torch of talent being passed from Paul Nicholas to his handsome, real-life son Alex Beuselinck.
Production information
Management: Paul Nicholas, End Products and Ink Productions
Cast: John Cusworth, Paul Baker, Alex Beuselinck, Carys Gray, Annalisa Rossi, Frances Ruffelle, Paul Nicholas (Narrator)
Director: Joseph C Walsh
Design: Fahmida A Bakht
Choreography: Chris Hocking
Musical Direction: Simon Sharp
Run sheet
King's Head London
November 10-December 3
By Mark Shenton
Published Wed 15 November 2006 at 17:10
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