2016 Edinburgh Fringe Show #33
Stop the Train
Rick Guard and Phil Rice (Book & Music)
Can a musical about a bomb-vested terrorist threatening to end
it all for hostages on a commuter train actually be funny, uplifting, and in
the end, a totally feel-good experience?
If that musical is called Stop the
Train and is written by platinum-selling songwriters Rick Guard and
Phil Rice, then there is close to a 100% chance that most audience members will
not only be exiting with big grins, but will also probably be humming any one
of a number of memorable, Broadway-worthy tunes. And this outcome comes from a musical that
reinforces the persistently gnawing fear that most people now have that a
random terrorist incident could occur anywhere, any time. This same musical tackles some serious issues
like today’s lack of genuine communication in a world where everyone is
connected to any one else 24/7, the antipathy many people have for anyone
slightly different from them, and what ill effects the race for more and more
money has on today’s fast- and want-to-be-fast-trackers. Even with all these dark threads streaming
throughout Stop the Train, yes, they still
come out the doors happy as larks!
Big stage voices well-blended and the first of many
fabulous and inventive choreographed sets (Lindsay Pollard) kick off Stop the Train as commuters enter a car,
ticking like clocks and singing a rousing and intense “There Must Be More to
Life than This.” As soon as they each
settle into their seats, cell phones are plastered to every ear; and multiple,
cacophonous conversations erupt and battle for the ability to be heard above
all the rest.
Pacing up and down the aisle with absolutely no one
speaking to him or even nodding his way, Eric Molton takes off his rumpled
overcoat to reveal a vest full of tubes and wires that indeed are enough to
halt all the train car’s conversations. Half-spoken,
half-sung and with knife-sharp voice and profusely sweating brow, the
once-successful, now-in-ruins man played by Richard Ely sings of “The Straw
that Broke the Camel’s Back.” He then
collects all cell phones and announces that unless everyone joins with him and
each other in genuine conversation, they will all die.
The bulk of the musical now becomes each person,
often reluctantly and with initial resentment, telling his/her life’s story,
with the other hostages slowly starting to listen and even to offer help and
advice. First up is soft-spoken, shy Rhodri,
a low-level, never-to-rise-in-the-ranks sales guy who happens to have big debts
due to a love for gambling. Jarrard
Richards brings pleasing vocals full of spirit and clarity as he bursts into
“The Lottery Song,” fully supported by four scantily clothed chorus girls with
large lottery balls. He blasts away with new-found swagger, “I’m waiting for my
balls to drop.”
Similar numbers follow for each of the other
travelers, most accompanied by the appearance of an excellent ensemble of
dancers as well as a projected, background video. Amy (played by Amy Forrest) is a proud
medical student from the rural north of England who sympathizes with Eric because
nobody listens to her either in the stuck-up big city of London. But she has her plans for fame and fortune
that she unveils in a belting, soprano voice.
“Plastic Makes Fantastic” is her answer to get noticed since she is
going to make rich women more beautiful with new nose jobs and plumper breasts.
Bart is a grumpy lawyer with lots of opinions and
ways of being totally condescending -- all of which he displays even under the
constant threats of bomb-holding Eric.
However, he too finally opens up with some honest sharing, disrobing his
tie and suit and jiggling his mammoth, now-bare belly with tasseled nipples
while telling the world his secret: Bart
(John F. Doull) is one disco-loving “Showgirl” who lives to entertain in drag. He is backed up by four glittering fan dancers
right off a Vegas stage.
Nicky Lee is beautician Katy who has a knack of
upsetting her fellow hostages with her snarky comments and constant
put-downs. But when she finally opens
up, this working girl turns her heavily accented voice into a knock-out number
of “My 10 Steps to Being Famous,” all which will she believes will lead to her
grand goal of reeling in a rich footballer and becoming famous for just being
famous.
Two of the commuters have been climbing corporate ladders to
gain their share of big money and power while also having shared in the recent past
the same bedroom as lovers. Hot shot,
snotty Tom clearly has something on this shoulder that he blames everyone else
(but himself) for putting there. Chloe is
pretty hard-hearted herself, but she is also broken-hearted (and thoroughly
angry) because Tom wandered into someone else’s bed when he was supposed only
to be in hers. Several times we get to
hear Jack Wealthall and Megan Pearl Spencer bring their equally superb voices
to the fore; but when the two combine in “Why Did I Never Say I Love You?”,
they separately and together offer style, substance, and sustainability unparalleled
among this extremely strong-voiced cast.
Director Owen Phillips does a masterful job in mixing big stage
numbers full of pizzazz, parody, and party with moments of soul-searching,
soul-bearing, and soul-confessing. While
conversations with increased empathy and caring actually do occur under Eric’s
constant threats, the drama of the terrorist situation has yet to peak once the
stories are all told. Mr Phillips’
directorial abilities are tested to the fullest as he brings the seriousness
back to bear while also offering believable ways to make the individual and
collective stories have endings happier than they appeared they could ever have
in the musical’s beginnings.
Stop the Train has everything
necessary for a winning musical: A story that grabs and holds attention, lyrics
clever and tunes catchy, characters quirky enough to enjoy but real enough to care
about, and serious messages threaded into all the big-time fun. With a cast that is the best in song and
dance that I got to hear at the 2016 Fringe, with a director and a
choreographer who know how to sell and sell big the numbers and storyline, and
with song writers who draw on the best traditions of Broadway and the West End
while adding their own flairs, Stop the
Train is a hands-down winner for my vote for Best Fringe Musical of 2016.
Rating: 5 E
******
2016 Edinburgh Fringe Show #34
Not the Horse
Mike Dickinson
Paradise Green at Augustines
An over-the-top, altogether hilarious, and crime-gone-amuk
comedy, Not the Horse is full of
laughs thanks to three groups of outrageous characters. Mike Dickinson writes and directs this world
premiere where horse semen becomes the key to resolving the many life crises
that the crazy shenanigans of these small-time, wanna-be gangsters and goof
balls create.
Tony is the smooth-talking seed of the entire mess about to
unfold. Nick Sheedy plays Tony as
nice-guy with not-too-smart ideas of how to make it rich fast. When a guy agrees to buy from one
quick-talking sharkie a race horse for £20K that has never
raced and then that same schmuck bets with a rough-neck boss of the local
underground that this no-race horse can beat the boss’s prize steed (and
agreeing to pay £250K if it does not), then OMG! How stupid can he be?
But Tony is a actually a pretty good, all-around guy and
convinces his sweet (and a little simple in the head) brother, Stan (Warren
Kettle), and his smart-alecky but true-to-the-end friend, Paul (understudy Phill
Bulman), to do all they can to help him save his ass from being attached to a cement
block and dumped in some near-by river (or worse). Their cock-eyed plan is simple: Steal semen from the prize-winning horse of the
man Tony owes the money, and then sell it back to him for £1MM! Sounds logical, right? Only thing, who is going to extract the semen
... and how?
Tom Silverton is the big boss man, Dom Jones, who goes livid if
anyone pronounces his name “Jones” instead of
“Juan,” no matter how it may be spelled.
He tries to play it rough all the time; but that is particularly
difficult when his assistant, Beef (Freddie Johnson), keeps pinching his butt
and making googley eyes at him (something Dom seems rather to enjoy and ready
to reciprocate if no one is looking).
Face (Ryan Leder) and Minge (Adam Nicholls) are his sometimes rough,
mostly silly sidekicks who are eager to act tough as long as they also get to
sniff the abundant coke all around them (or wallowing face-first in it if your
name is Face). And all are out to find
the Dom’s stolen horse, which -- unbeknownst to them -- just happened to follow
Tony and his pals home when they fouled up the semen extraction.
The third group of wild and wooly guys are the most bizarre of
all. Archie (Nicall Ross Hogan), Jerrie
(Calen Griffin), and Ernie (Callum Forbes) are the ones who sold Tony his
bum-deal horse, and now they want the full £20K, which of
course Tony does not have. They too are
rough-and-ready toughies ... that is when they are not falling all over
themselves like a bunch of Keystone Kops.
And everyone needs a gun, which a ever-cool, but quick-to-scare
guy in black leather named Silk is more than willing to supply to all three
soon-to-be-warring factions. Handsome
and tall Daniel Carmichael plays a Silk who knows how to control and separate
the better (but maybe not good) guys from the worse (and still probably bad) guys,
ensuring he gets to decide who will be the winners and who the losers in this
wacky set of escapades.
With curves thrown aplenty, this twisting, turning tale is a fun
ride for all. Jokes and one-liners
abound; crazy antics pop up like corn; and to a person, this cast delivers
quirky, quacky characters that are impossible not to love.
Rating: 4 E
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