'The Bridges of Madison County' at the Menier Chocolate Factory

'The Bridges of Madison County' is the latest musical at the Menier Chocolate Factory. I knew nothing about it - I've never read the book or watched the film so I didn't know the story at all, I booked to see it for Jenna Russell in the lead role. I've seen Jenna in lots of things since seeing her in 'Guys and Dolls' in 2005 and then in the Menier's production of 'Sunday In The Park With George' (which I saw with Jenna at Studio 54 on Broadway in New York) back in 2007 and in loads of things since then.

It's the tale of Francesca, a Second World War bride from Naples who marries an American GI and moves to a farm in Iowa when her own love doesn't return from the front. Twenty years later, in the mid-60s, she has two teenage children and a settled life with Bud on his farm. The family goes off to the state fair but Francesca stays at home.

Out of the blue a photographer drives up to the house to ask for directions to one of the covered bridges the area is famous for and she offers to show him. Then, as an Italian lady, she can't send Robert off to a hotel without feeding him and so it begins. Meeting someone new who had recently been to her home town of Napoli opens up yearning and dreams in Francesca. A couple of days later and they are in love, the connections are all there but she has a husband and children. The children win and she bids him farewell. But that's not the end of the play, o no. I won't spoil the surprise for those of you new to the story.

Yes, it's a love story but it's not all that soppy, and there are lots of little moments of joy with our lovers simply enjoying being together, eating out together as lovers in a nearby city and picnicking. There's a lovely tender moment when Robert gives Francesca a copy of the National Geographic with his photos of Napoli that stirs her memories and yearnings at the sight of familiar places and areas rebuilt after the war. We are kept reminded that Francesca has another life by her husband and children calling her on the phone and her nosy neighbours notice Roberts car behind the house.

I really liked the set which was basically an empty, open space with wooden floor and walls, like an empty barn, which then opened up to allow a kitchen to appear and swing out onto the stage, or a bedroom or the state fair with its singing and dancing. At one point, we even get part of one of the famous bridges appearing when Robert is waiting for the light to be right for his photographs. Different scenes are projected onto the bare walls at times to open up the stage. I thought it was really clever and the only downside was seeing a couple of stagehands behind the scenes from where I was sitting.

I thought Jenna was excellent as Francesca, playing her with a slight Italian accent that seemed to get stronger when she spoke or sang of her home and family in Naples, lending a more exotic edge to the songs. She brings a nice vulnerability and care to the part, a brave women who travelled alone to Iowa and her husband after the war and made a go of it, raising two children and working on the farm. Jenna seems to be seeing this as her swan song as a romantic lead as she moves more into character acting but I think she's got a while to go yet.

I also liked Edward Baker-Duly as the photographer Robert, played with an openness and honesty of someone ready to fall in love. We see a lot of the couple together on stage, and with others as Francesca recounts tales of family and friends, and they worked well together with some very convincing chemistry. Dale Rapley was great as Bud, Francesca's husband, as a hard working farmer doing his best to keep his family fed and happy even though he can't quite handle the moods of his teenage children. I also really liked Gillian Kirkpatrick as Marge, the nosy neighbour peering across their respective land with her binoculars but who comes to Francesca's aid when the family get back from the state fair. There's an almost hesitant tenderness in her approach because she can see that her friend has found that elusive thing, love.

Full credit to Jason Robert Brown for the songs and Marsha Norman for the book and together they've crafted a really good show. It was directed by Trevor Nunn and the set was designed by Jon Bauson. I loved it and have already booked to go back and see it again, this time in different seats. Well done everyone.

'Ain't Misbehavin' at Southwark Playhouse

We caught 'Ain't Misbehavin' in it's final week at Southwark Playhouse. It's subtitled 'The Fats Waller musical' and that's exactly what it is, a collection of his songs loosely strung together to tell tales of life in and around the nightclubs of Harlem in New York in the 1920s. There's no story as such but the songs tell the tales of people in the clubs, of racism, domestic abuse, love and the joy of the dance.

Southwark Playhouse is a small space and uses that to its advantage with imaginative staging, moving the seating around to accommodate the action. The 'stage' is just the floor of the theatre but this time it was covered in some shiny, gold material and the focal point was the bandstand at one end with all it's glitter and lights, gold and orange/red - it immediately pulled the eye.

The cast were all excellent singer/dancers, rarely still, belting out the songs with gusto, living the reality of the songs and, every now and then, a slower song to calm things down to allow another build up later.

The energetic cast were Adrian Hansel, Renée Lamb, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Landi Oshinowo, Wayne Robinson and all were on top form. It was quite nice to be able to relax into the show without having to keep track of the plot or what a character might do next because there is no plot, it's a collection of songs telling multiple stories and you never know if the next one will be a ballad, a social commentary or an out-and-out fun-fest with arms and legs flung in every direction. I think I smiled and grinned throughout the whole show, tapping my foot and eager for the next song.

I'm really pleased that I saw this production and was introduced to these dynamic actors who brought it all to life. And great thanks to director Tyrone Huntley, choreographer Oti Mabuse (yes, the dancer from 'Strictly') and the amazing set designed by Takis. Well done all, and well done to Southwark Playhouse for putting it on in the first place.

'Violet' at Charing Cross Theatre

It's been a good year for Jeanine Tesori who wrote 'Violet' which is on at Charing Cross Theatre while another of her shows, 'Caroline, or Change' is playing down the road at the Playhouse and just six months after another of her shows, 'Fun Home' was on at the Young Vic. It's clearly her time in London.

'Violet' is based on 'The Ugliest Pilgrim' by Doris Betts, a short story telling the tale of a young woman who travels by bus across America to get a prominent scar on her face magically repaired by a charismatic preacher. It's set in 1964 with the racism of the time and on her bus journey we meet several of her fellow passengers including two soldiers, on black and one white, who she develops relationships with. There are flashbacks to her as a young girl with her father and we find out that he gave her the scar in an accident with his axe. We follow Violet's adventures as she travels across country until she reaches the preacher but can he heal her? And what actually needs to be healed?

I quite liked the structure of the work, a bit picaresque moving from one set scene to another courtesy of the motif of the bus and the journey. What didn't work terribly well was the character of Violet, the heroine who should be sympathetic but I found her a bit too militant, too sure of what was she was doing and what the outcome would be - a bit of self-doubt would have helped a lot, I think.

Kaisa Hammarlund was good, if a little bit turbo-charged, as Violet, with an excellent voice and she delivered the songs really well, especially her quiet song to her soldier lover as he falls asleep after their first night together. I also liked Jay Marsh as the soldier who falls in love with Violet but, sadly, isn't the soldier she sleeps with.

I think my main problem with the show is that I couldn't remember any of the songs, even while walking to the tube station. They sort of oddly work while watching the show but aren't sufficiently memorable. A musical ought to have a few songs you go home humming. I wasn't humming anything.

The Harder They Come - The Concert

The Theatre Royal Stratord East is reviving some of its musical successes in 'concert' versions - I saw Ray Davies' 'Come Dancing' a few weeks ago, and on Friday was the turn of 'The Harder They Come'. A 'concert' version gives you all the songs and enough of the dialogue to make sense of the story without going the whole hog and enacting the full musical. Needless to say, 'The Harder They Come' was excellent!

I first saw the musical at The Barbican in 2008 before it transferred to The Playhouse in the West End. A year or so later it went on tour and I saw it for a last time in Oxford in 2010. I loved it every time I saw it and I still think there should have been a cast recording. There's still time. Please?

It was lovely to sit in the audience and see the actors come on stage in costume and start to chat and mingle, sitting down on either side of the stage. There was Ray Pierre, Miss Daisy, Hilton, Precious and, of course, Pinky. And even better, most of the cast were the originals including Chris Tummings as corrupt police chief Ray Pierre and Susan Lawson Reynolds as the glorious Pinky (fluffs up afro)! We had Marlon King as Pedro, the rastaman ("blessed love") who farms the hills outside Kingston to harvest ganja, Joy Mack as Miss Daisy and Matt Henry as our hero Ivanhoe Martin, the role played by Jimmy Cliff in the film. It was also nice to see new boy Delroy Atkinson as the nasty Preacher - Delroy was in 'Come Dancing' and played Gary Coleman in 'Avenue Q'.

Highlights of the evening were Pinky leading the cast into 'Women and Money', Ray Pierre's 'Pressure Drop' and Ivan's 'The Harder They Come'. Brother Pedro once again allowed us a 15 minute "ganja break" for the interval (there was still no ganja ice-cream though), Miss Brown sold hats in "international style at local prices" and Pinky and Precious gave us some dance-hall love.

I love this show and I'm proud to say so. Jimmy Cliff's great songs, along with Toots and others, conjour up a spirit of love and rebellion, music of its time and music for all times. I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, but I can't understand how Jimmy Cliff's music isn't bigger than it is - he's written some truly great songs and is still performing live (he played in London a month or so ago). I skanked my way home to Mr Cliff with those memorable characters playing out the show in my mind.

Blessed love, mon.

'Come Dancing - The Concert' - Theatre Royal Stratford East

On Friday evening I went to Stratford to see a concert version of Ray Davies' musical, 'Come Dancing'. I saw the musical a few times on its run at Stratford in 2008 and loved the story and the music. The concert version is part of the Open Stage 2012 season that includes other concert versions of musicals, including 'The Harder They Come' at the end of June.

The stage was set with microphone stands across the front and a couple of risers for the cast to sit at tables when not singing. There was some dialogue to keep the story going inbetween songs but the star of the show was really the songs, some beautiful and some rousing.

I was pleased when the actors started filing the stage to see them coming on in their late '50s costumes and even happier to recognise some of the faces reprising their roles in the original production. That was a bit of a surprise and very welcome.

'Come Dancing' is a tale of change in the late '50s loosely based on Ray's childhood but with lots of invented family details. The local Palais dancehall was the focus of the community and everyone went dancing on a Saturday night. Ray's older sisters and parents go there regularly and that's where most of the action takes place. We're introduced to older sisters Rose and Brenda on the evening of their younger sister Julie's first evening at the Palais. We learn that Julie was disabled by polio, has difficulty dancing and is nervous. As the story progresses we learn more about the family and the community, dead-end jobs and a need to escape, of violence and love. We meet Tosher, the local Borstal boy, Frankie the owner of the Palais and part of the old world of the big bands and Hamilton, recently arrived from Kingston Jamaica.

It's a lovely story with a wistful ending when we learn what happened to the characters over the succeeding 30 years. It's the songs that make it work and they're all original Ray Davies compositions with the addition of 'Tired Of Waiting' and 'You Really Got Me'. In the original production Ray opened the show by strolling on singing 'Tired Of Waiting' but in this version Tosher sings it to Julie on a bomb-site outside the Palais, he's tired of waiting for Julie. 'You Really Got Me' is a new addition and used as Tosher's bands' audition to play at the Palais (it got a rousing cheer).

The songs written for the musical deserve to be recorded - maybe one day. I was mulling them over in my mind on the train home and decided that Julie's songs are personal, written at an individual level looking to the future and yearning for change. The lads songs are more aggressive and about social change and revolution, that things will have to change and they will. From personal to social. I'm not sure I can imaging Ray singing Julie's songs but it's a sign of his skills that he can write convincingly and tenderly for a teenage girl discovering love and freedom for the first time, knowing there's more to the world than her neighbourhood but not knowing how to reach out for it.

I remembered the ending of the play and was ready for it but still got moist eyed when Julie comes on after everyone else has told us what happened to them over the years. Julie went dancing.