Anyone Can Whistle - Jermyn Street Theatre (Review)
Review by David Munro
ONE must be forever grateful to the Jermyn Street Theatre for giving us a chance, at last, of seeing Anyone Can Whistl, Stephen Sondheim’s major flop of 1964!
It has become a legend in its own time – mainly, I feel, because although it only ran for nine performances, an original cast record was made preserving the score and the stars for all time.
The show is a collaboration between Sondheim and Arthur Laurents who, with West Side Story and Gypsy under their belt, decided to try a totally original show on their own.
On paper the story is simple; a town is going bankrupt and its venal mayor and her associates fake a miracle to raise money, crowds pour in and all goes well until some of the inmates of the local “Cookie Jar” (as the mental asylum was known) get lost in the crowds and cannot be identified.
Doctor Hapgood, who is on his way to take up an appointment at the asylum, and Nurse Apple, in whose charge they were, seem to be able to identify them although, in fact, nobody knows who is who.
In the meantime, the mayor is told to return the inmates to the asylum so she orders that the requisite number of bodies be taken from the crowd on the basis there is no difference between the mad and the sane.
It then transpires that Doctor Hapgood is a serial anarchist and a prospective inmate; a new miracle occurs in a neighboring town and the crowd moves on leaving Hapgood and Nurse Apple to find what happiness they can.
As will be realised, the show is intended as a satire on various aspects of American society and its morals and mores, but somehow this has never got off the ground and the book is a mess of styles and ideas which never quite jell.
It is, however, supported by one of Sondheim’s great scores, including numbers like There Won’t Be Trumpets, With So Little To Be Sure Of and the title song, which have lasted the test of time.
Although Cora and her cronies appear to have the lead roles, Doctor Hapgood is the major role and Jermyn Street have cast the part perfectly with David Ricardo- Pearce, who sings the songs as though they were written for him and plays the ambivalent doctor with style and expertise.
Rosalie Craig, as Nurse Apple, couldn’t quite cope with There Won’t Be Trumpets (which was cut from the Broadway production as Lee Remmick had difficulties with it) but she developed as the evening went on and was quite amusing as a French Coquette (don’t ask me!) and finished off the evening in a warm duet with Ricado-Pearce of With So Little To Be Sure Of.
The disappointment to me was Issy Van Randwyck’s Cora, the mayoress. I have long admired Miss Van Randwyck as a subtle and amusing comedienne who was able to warm up the coldest show – not last night alas! Whether she, like Angela Lansbury before her, disliked the part or not, the fact remains she gave a shrill camp vamp performance that suited neither her nor the character
The rest of her henchmen, Leo Moffat, Len Andrew and, in particular, Alastair Robins made amusing caricatures of their characters and with snatches of song and dance endeared themselves to the audience.
The remainder of the cast played townsfolk, inmates and whatever and frankly I found it very difficult to distinguish who they were playing at any particular moment.
This, I feel, must be laid partly at the door of Tom Littler, the director, although I will agree that, with an impossible book which called for a far greater cast perhaps, it was not all his fault.
His production followed the current fashion in having members of the cast as the orchestra and, although they gave a good account of themselves, it did add somewhat to the confusion.
There are, however, two good reasons why you should not miss this show; first, the Sondheim score and the chance of seeing a rare but interesting show which it undoubtedly is; and second, Mr Ricardo-Pearce’s performance, which almost makes sense of the insane plot!
Anyone can Whistle
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Director – Tom LIttler
Designer – Morgan Large
Costumes – Emily Stuart
Lighting – Christopher Nairne
Sound – Jaimie Beamish
Choreographer – Alice Jackson
Musical Director – Tom Attwood
CAST: Issy Van Randwyck; Alistair Robins; Leo Andrew; Karl Moffatt; David Ricardo-Pearce; Nick Trumble; Rosalie Craig; Sophie Juge; Richard Colvin; Lloyd Gorman; Deborah Hewitt; Elizabeth Reid; Rhiannon Sommers; Jessica Adair; Martha Tipper.
Produced by Chantelle Staynings for Primavera in association with the Jermyn Street Theatre.
Jermyn Street Theatre, 16b Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6ST
Tel: 020 7287 2875
Performances: Tues – Sat: 7.30pm/Matinees Sat/Sun 3.30pm
From March 10 – April 17, 2010.