The A-Z Of Mrs P
Southwark Playhouse
Reviewed on Thursday 27th February 2014
If you told me the true story about a woman (Phyllis Pearsall) who got lost on the way to a party and ended up spending the next five years of her life walking the streets of London creating the A-Z, my immediate response would not be "that would make an amazing musical!" However, Diane Samuels (Book) and Gwyneth Herbert (Music & Lyrics) have done just that and transformed Pearsall's story into a weird but wonderful musical which has moments of glory despite losing direction.
The A-Z Of Mrs P sees TV star Isy Suttie make her musical theatre debut as Phyllis Pearsall. Whilst Suttie is lacking vocal ability she brings a great deal of charm to proceedings. Her quirky performance is hugely endearing and it wasn't until the second act that I realised just how much I had grown to care about the character.
The rest of the company are strong, often performing as an ensemble (as well as individual roles). I found it utterly hypnotic when the company performed together in perfect harmony - musical bliss.
Frances Ruffelle and Michael Matus give strong performances as Phyllis' troublesome parents and stand out performances come from Stuart Matthew Price, Dawn Sievewright and Sarah Earnshaw. The entire cast give their all.
It's wonderful to see such a unique new musical being staged at the Southwark Playhouse. However, the piece is yet to find its feet. The script is sometimes dull - not every moment of Phyllis' story is intensely gripping. The running time could could easily be dramatically cut.
Although it's important for a musical score to have a distinctive and identifiable sound, at present The A-Z Of Mrs P's musical numbers are too similar. The music could be far more adventurous and offer opportunities for the supporting cast to shine and show what they can do. Whilst there are solo numbers for several supporting cast members, the melodies are fairly limiting. However, I found it refreshing to listen to such a new and different musical theatre score.
If developed further The A-Z Of Mrs P could certainly have an interesting future ahead. It is a bizarre, weird and wacky piece of theatre providing audiences with something very different to a traditional musical.
Reviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)
andrew@westendframe.com
The A-Z Of Mrs P sees TV star Isy Suttie make her musical theatre debut as Phyllis Pearsall. Whilst Suttie is lacking vocal ability she brings a great deal of charm to proceedings. Her quirky performance is hugely endearing and it wasn't until the second act that I realised just how much I had grown to care about the character.The rest of the company are strong, often performing as an ensemble (as well as individual roles). I found it utterly hypnotic when the company performed together in perfect harmony - musical bliss.
Frances Ruffelle and Michael Matus give strong performances as Phyllis' troublesome parents and stand out performances come from Stuart Matthew Price, Dawn Sievewright and Sarah Earnshaw. The entire cast give their all.
It's wonderful to see such a unique new musical being staged at the Southwark Playhouse. However, the piece is yet to find its feet. The script is sometimes dull - not every moment of Phyllis' story is intensely gripping. The running time could could easily be dramatically cut.
Although it's important for a musical score to have a distinctive and identifiable sound, at present The A-Z Of Mrs P's musical numbers are too similar. The music could be far more adventurous and offer opportunities for the supporting cast to shine and show what they can do. Whilst there are solo numbers for several supporting cast members, the melodies are fairly limiting. However, I found it refreshing to listen to such a new and different musical theatre score.
If developed further The A-Z Of Mrs P could certainly have an interesting future ahead. It is a bizarre, weird and wacky piece of theatre providing audiences with something very different to a traditional musical.
Reviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)
andrew@westendframe.com
The A-Z Of Mrs P runs at the Southwark Playhouse until Saturday 29th March 2014.
Please visit www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk for further information and tickets.
Photo Credit: Jane Hobson
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