Yet another casualty of our second UK lockdown, as this show was cut short in its prime. Fortunately however, Cirencester's Barn Theatre had the foresight to record a live performance and make it available to be streamed online. Not the most ideal way to watch a Musical, but under the prevailing circumstances, an excellent idea which worked very much in the theatre's favour, allowing people like myself, who live far too far away to travel to see the actual show (so have to wait for large scale tours to come up north!) to view and enjoy this, an exquisite piece of theatrical magic!
'Marry Me A Little' is, I suppose, strictly speaking, a Jukebox Musical, in the sense that the show is created from the words and music of a specific composer, but that composer did not write the music for this show. Although, here we are not talking about a pop or rock group's ouevre, but instead one of Musical Theatre's 'gods'; Stephen Sondheim. Love him or hate him (and I love him), you cannot deny that he is a master of the genre and his music and lyrics are always clever (too clever some say) and slightly unconventional, a little difficult, a little 'off kilter' (again another reason to dislike I suppose.. or maybe that's just jealousy). Here, several of his lesser-known songs from shows which did not make it 'big' are compiled with a couple of really well known numbers to make a beautiful one act chamber musical for just two people.
The Barn Theatre is a lovely, open building - a little like a small aeroplane hangar with the stage at one end. It's intimate, and seemed just the ideal space for a two-hander with grandiose pretentions such as this. The stage was cleverly split into two New York apartments, and the story centres around the recent break-up and subsequent feelings / actions / recriminations of this 20-something pair. We've all been there at some point in our lives. A relationship which we naively thought would last forever, and then we drift apart for whatever reason but still hold a candle for each other and still want each other and still try and make the relationship work, knowing deep inside that the attenpts are futile.
The show had been cleverly and superbly updated too with the use of social media. A screen to the rear of the stage showed us their Messenger chats. Instagram photos, etc, which not only ameliorated the songs' lyrics (the show is through-sung), but also added an extra layer / dimension to the show which wouldn't have been available to the original producers.
The show itself was - well I can't think of a superlative which accurately describes it - wonderous? incredible? amazing? yes, all of those and more. It was heart-wrenchingly and exceptionally realised from all involved. Subtle lighting, simple and effective set design, clear and clean Musical Direction (Arlene McNaught playing live on keyboards), meticulous and thoughtful direction (Kirk Jameson), and two SUPERB peformances.
Rob Houchen and Celinde Schoenmaker played the lost pair with simple ease; the chemistry between them was, even through a computer screen, palpable. I have seen this show a couple of times before, and Schoenmaker for me gave the definitive performance of the role; her solo was both heart-breaking and sensational at one and the same time, and I've never known anyone able to elicit so much from the single word 'foxtrot' in my life before! They both managed to negotiate some tricky music which they did with practised effortlessness, and worked wonderfully together complementing their acting styles and voices beautifully. A masterclass in Musical Theatre acting.
I sincerely hope there will be a new lease of life for this Musical once we emerge from lockdown again; it would be a real shame to see it disappear into obscurity. You have all done Sondheim proud! We don't give stars at Number 9, but this production deserves the full five nevertheless!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 21/11/20
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