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Wendy's in da house
Next up, a guest review submitted by regular 20six blogger Floatykatja  Postcards from God: The Sister Wendy Musical has finally made its off West End debut! Three years in the making, from one-man show to 20-strong chorus to 5 characters and a piano; Marcus Reeves and Beccy Smith have created an affectionate and, at times, very moving show about one of the most recognisable characters of the art world: Sister Wendy Beckett. Myra Sands, as Sister Wendy, is well cast, but doesn’t seem at home in the role yet. The show generally, in fact, needs to be much slicker; the base production is there, but at the moment it still seems like work in progress. I shall look forward to seeing it again at the end of the run, as once the highs and lows have been established it will be really exciting. The scenes between Wendy and her cousin, Coz (Catherine Millsom), who has cancer, in particular, have the potential to be really moving; and scenes such as Sister Wendy’s Rapture, in which she raps about Stanley Spencer, accompanied by a backing group of velour tracksuit-clad Girlz in Da Hood-style dancers, will be hilarious once the words are solid and delivered with confidence. Juliet Gough, Andrea Miller, Louise Hollamby and Catherine Millsom are worked hard throughout the production, playing at least one named character and three or four different supporting characters each. Some of the most entertaining of these were the characters from the paintings about which Sister Wendy was talking. Botticelli’s Birth of Venus was, in particular, absolutely fantastic – Andrea Miller camped it up for all she was worth as Venus, in a long, blonde, Lady Godiva wig, while the song bubbled along at a cracking pace. Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, in contrast, was moodily lit and emotively sung by Louise Hollamby. ‘No way in. No way out. Nowhere left to hide.’ I loved the set, which is boldly painted in a mock-pop art style and incorporates a number of drawers and windows, which swallow props and convert into living pictures as the show unfolds. It works very well and, although when I walked in to the space I worried that it might be too bright and distracting, in actual fact it serves as a very good foil to the costumes, which are in the main black, white and shades of grey. The closing number seems to sum up everything that is wonderful about both the show and Sister Wendy herself. It’s a simple, country-style song, one of the few sung by Wendy, and I confess it brought a tear to my eye as she sang in a cracked voice about not wanting to be famous, but how she was ‘lit up by the wonder of the beauty in God’s art.’ It was a beautifully understated, touching ending to an enjoyable evening. Postcards from God: The Sister Wendy Musical is playing at the Jermyn Street Theatre until 3 February. To read Michael Billington's Guardian review go here: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/review/0,,1988801,00.html |
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amillionpieces / Website (12.1.07 14:44) I can't comprehend that Katja herself is not in this. Tsk! |
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cha0tic / Website (12.1.07 16:37) They were talking about this on the radio the other night & I instantly thought of Katja. |
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Katja / Website (13.1.07 12:35) What were they saying about it, Cha0? Billington's is the only review I've seen so far. The thing that I found odd, watching, was how different it was from when I last worked on it. The script has changed beyond all recognition and there are quite a few new songs in there as well. Quite nice in a way, because it meant that I didn't have to watch someone else doing the character that I created, but still very wierd. |
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amillionpieces / Website (13.1.07 13:27) Aghast, hang them from the yardarm for killing your character! |
