THERE'S an unparalleled awfulness to the song lyrics found in musical theatre. It's perhaps one reason why spoofs like Spring Time for Hitler and Elephant Man the Musical endure in our collective memories. Only when placed in context can show tunes t
ruly be appreciated for their creativity, orchestral beauty and affecting drama.
And it was context that was lacking last night as quartet Beyond the Barricade brought their 10th anniversary tour to the Playhouse. Singing a selection of songs from world famous musicals, the group have made a living out of entertaining audiences all over the UK with the edited highlights of many West End favourites. Yet, staged as a music concert, with the singers standing at microphones and a band behind them, there was little of the theatrical magic that punters will pay hand over fist for on Broadway.
Opening enthusiastically with The Heat Is On In Saigon, the vocally talented group worked their way through two more of Miss Saigon's classic tracks, complete with lyrics addressing prostitution and the horrors of war, before pausing for compere and lead singer David Fawcett to explain that the same music had opened their first tour in 1999. Yet, in that year Miss Saigon closed on the West End and, although still a touring production, very little has been heard of the show since. As a result, there seemed to be a chill about the auditorium that can only be attributed to an unengaged audience. Moving swiftly into a shrill rendition of the Phantom of the Opera's ensemble piece Masquerade, the performers continued in their wall of sound approach to song presentation.
While Fawcett worked the crowd well with light jokes and Wimbledon updates between vocally competent excerpts from Cats, Starlight Express and Blood Brothers, a distinct cool pervaded the air. It was almost as if the musicians had chosen their set purely on the basis of what they enjoyed performing, rather than as a piece of theatre designed to have dramatic appeal to an audience. Without a narrative to link the songs, or a personal history behind many of the choices, the show seemed aimless and thrown together. Especially at the half way mark when the performance ended with no suggestion of things to look forward to in the second part or obvious link between finale We Will Rock You and curtain raiser Chess.
It wasn't until well into the second half of the performance that the audience started to come round to the group's side, with a large dose of perk from Little Shop of Horror's competently acted duet Suddenly Seymour and Spamalot's Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.
Saving the musical that first brought show creators Fawcett and Andy Reiss together for their finale, the group performed an outstanding recital of Les Miserables' most poignant moments. An accomplishment that brought the audience to their feet. Supported by the versatile and deeply rich voices Katie Leeming and Becci Morrell, Reiss and Fawcett gave a performance worthy of the many of major productions of Les Mis that they have worked on.
One can't help being a little disappointed that the same standard of showmanship hadn't been applied to the first half.
