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A night at the opera: That Bastard Puccini! (Park Theatre)

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It’s hard to imagine that it’s only been 130 years since Puccini first premiered La Boheme. Nowadays, it’s a revered classic, and guaranteed to be on any opera company's annual programme if it needs to stay afloat. It’s a crowd pleaser with its melodrama of poor, impoverished artists loving, starving and dying in Paris. But Puccini’s La Boheme had a less auspicious beginning, with one of his contemporaries accusing him of stealing his idea and being poorly received on its first outing. And that’s at the heart of That Bastard Puccini! Currently playing at Park Theatre , writer James Inverne uses the friendship and rivalry between the two composers, Puccini and Ruggero Leoncavallo, to weave a comic tale of creative frustration with an awful lot of facts and tidbits about the opera scene at the time. It’s part comedy, part music appreciation.  It opens with Leoncavallo (Alasdair Buchan) at home with his wife Berthe (Lisa-Anne Wood), cursing about Puccini’s latest work, which is drawn ...

The greatest show and other bromances: Adam Riches and John Kearns ARE Ball and Boe @sohotheatre

Production publicity photo

Alfie Boe and Michael Ball seem to be a bit of a joke act anyway. Their endless interpretations of popular songs (also known as covers) and their double-act bromance make them quintessential crossover artists where popular music meets opera and Broadway. And a perilous choice for the discerning listener. It’s not that they aren’t talented musicians and performers in their own right. Still, their musical choices are always safe, predictable and less than their potential. But every country deserves to have a pair of self-described national treasures that can tour the local arenas and give people a good time for the bargain price of £175 a seat. 

And so the concept of Adam Riches and John Kearns - two world-famous from the Edinburgh Fringe comedians taking on this bromance seems like a curious choice for a Christmas musical fare. One can only hope that over the fourteen nights, it is playing at the Soho Theatre that the show evolves into something more substantial than a series of poop jokes and dubious sketches. I’m not sure it will become a wry observation about the state of popular entertainment and musical events in this country, which seems like a missed opportunity. 

The audience seemed primed for the comedian’s piss-take of the two. Either it was the good choice of beers that the Soho Theatre offers or prior knowledge of their act. Laughter was happening even before any punchline. But being unfamiliar with both the performers and the Ball and Boe phenomenon, it seemed a hard slog for what is only a one-hour show.

Still, we are treated to a rousing rendition of The Greatest Show (from the movie The Greatest Showman)—several times. Adam Riches and John Kearns can’t match the vocals of Michael Ball or Alfie Bow. And they don’t quite match their over-the-top reverence for this bizarre song, either. But at least they annunciate the words. 

This one-hour diversion in the basement of the Soho theatre might be your cup of tea as an alternative to the usual pantos and Christmas carols. For others, including me, I was intrigued by the concept but left perplexed by the execution. Maybe that is a commentary on popular entertainment in this country. Pass the power ballads. 

Directed by Tom Parry, Adam Riches and John Kearns ARE, ‘Ball and Boe’ is at the Soho Theatre until 4 January

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Photo credit: production photo

 

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