Pal Joey, will
it grab the audiences?
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As the audience
awaited a delayed performance of Pal Joey, you could sense the enormous
expectation. The question was, would it live up to that?
Review by Neil Heath
And the answer,
sort of.
Yes, because the acting was good, and the set was one of the best
I've seen on stage.
But no, because there was something missing, that I can't put my
finger on.
The Plot
The story is set in Chicago in the 1930s, Joey Evans is young, ambitious,
as well as a dreamer and a fantasist.
He worms his
way into a job as an MC at Mikes nightclub in the south side of
Chicago. However, Joey has eyes for his own club.
Using his charm and breaking a few hearts along the way, Joey achieves
his dream of owning a club, 'Chez Joey'.
With the aid of the affluent Vera, he achieves his dream, but he
could lose it as quickly as he gained it...
The Review
Like I said, it was a good performance, there were no massive flaws,
and the lighting was spot on.
But what was it that made me fidget, and look at my watch so many
times?
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| Des Coleman
as Joey Evans. |
Perhaps it was
a generational thing, I know there were many people at the Playhouse
last night, who clapped energetically as it finished.
Or could it be the lack of real drama.
In comparison to Blood Brothers (poles apart, I know), the dialogue,
humour and all the songs fall flat, and are distinctly unmemorable.
Another reason may have been that I didn't care about the characters,
I didn't care about Joey or whether he was successful or not.
There are scenes, which to me didn't even need to be there, but
I guess were there to add more humour.
For example,
Joey is interviewed by a reporter with the most annoying New York
accent, and unfathomabley she ends up stripping off! It's not funny,
and I was clueless as to what the relevance was.
Obviously if that was in Rodgers and Hart's original script, then
they have every right to use it, but perhaps it's doesn't work in
the 21st century, it may turn out that the whole musical doesn't
work anymore.
However, full
credit to the Playhouse, as always they're ambitious, and excel
when it comes to putting on a professional piece of theatre.
Lets hope future audiences enjoy Pal Joey much more than I did.
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