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Anita Harris |
Feet still tap to 1930s hits
G & I
New End Theatre
OH what a lovely war! G & I doesn’t dwell much on the conflict of the Second World War, with more nostalgic name-dropping than bomb-dropping. Anton Burge’s gentle, musical comedy follows legendary leading lady Gertrude Lawrence over four days as she returns to London.
Anita Harris as Gertrude, the G of the title, and her American accompanist Grover Emerson (Ben Stock) prepare for an Entertainments National Service Association tour to entertain the troops fighting in Europe.
Flying in dressed in a fur coat and carrying a basket of rationed eggs, Gertrude couldn’t be more different from dowdy ENSA secretary Mary Barrett (Brenda Longman) – a killjoy who wages her own personal war against the singer’s swearing and America-inherited excesses.
Harris is scarcely off stage, so it’s a shame she doesn’t always seem at ease with the script – some first-night nerves perhaps.
However she does convey the star’s energy, and her ability to both entertain and
infuriate at the same time. Stock proves an able pianist and an eager pupil to the songstress, but I wasn’t convinced by the rapport between them.
Longman is a trouper, providing a much-needed comic lift at every entrance. It’s a pity she gets just one solo number, but she delivers it with an enthusiastic, operatic tone.
Indeed the production is carried by the timeless tunes, from the likes of Noel Coward, Cole Porter and the Gershwin brothers. There’s little staging for the musical numbers, with a piano and a table crowding an already tiny space, so most are simply sung, with an occasional spotlight or steppety-step thrown in.
Musical tastes have undoubtedly changed over the years and, while a night of songs strung together with anecdotes wasn’t quite enough to raise my spirits, G & I’s rose-tinted brand of nostalgia may well appeal to those with a few more years to roll back.
Until May 3
0870 033 2733 |
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