Queen of the Mist – Brockley Jack Studio Theatre

Picture: Stephen J Russell 

Queen of the Mist continues at the Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, London until 27 April 2019.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Pint of Wine is to be applauded for fielding a stellar cast and eight musicians for this European premiere of Michael John LaChiusa’s Queen of the Mist.

LaChiusa is an American composer and lyricist with a string of awards. The Wild Party was given an impressive production at The Other Palace, but not much else has been seen here in the UK. The writer furrows his own often controversial path, and despite his array of awards, has never had a major hit. Giant, his musical based on the 1950s blockbuster film ran nearly four hours. Marie Christine, with a huge central role, was deemed unsingable eight shows a week, even for a talent such as Audra McDonald. The Wild Party is based on a 1920s narrative poem about a cocaine fuelled night culminating in murder, the jazzy score is seductive and grows on you with repeated listening, but is far from mainstream.

And so it is with Queen of the Mist. The score is said to be based on turn of the century tunes, the piece is set in 1901. It is quasi-operatic in style, reminiscent of one of the 20th century American operas like Ballad of Baby Doe and Lizzie Borden, with an occasional nod to more conventional American musical theatre.

The lyrics, also by LaChiusa, are often surreal, and trying to follow them literally is difficult, reminiscent of the lyrics of Kate Bush. The central role is unrelenting, requiring a voice of stamina coupled with real acting ability. And the true story of Anna Edson Taylor, though little known, is intriguing.

Born into a family of eight children that was comfortably off, she trained to be a teacher. After the death of her husband and the hard times that followed, she resorted to teaching a  variety of different disciplines, blaming their failure on people’s unwillingness to learn.

The story opens with Anne about to be evicted from her dance studio for lack of students, singing ‘There is Greatness in Me”. We get flashbacks to her childhood , and  a glimpse of her imagined ‘tiger’, who  fuels her drive to achieve something of importance beyond the restrictions of family life.

Her eventual decision to ride the Niagara Falls in a barrel becomes central to this goal, though it’s inferred that her ambition was to achieve more than mere money or fame, but to achieve some kind of spiritual fulfilment. She does so and survives. Act II is devoted to the aftermath and her increasing despair as her fame dissipates. She is exploited, frustrated by her perception that those around her are unable to share her belief in her greatness, leading to her eventual death as a pauper.

Trudi Camilleri as Anna is excellent, her laser voice never tiring, and her emotions true. Her final scene, ‘The Fall’, is a mammoth sing, and she rises to the challenge. The ensemble playing is impressive, as they take on all the other characters in her story.

Emily Juler is the stolid, dull, and loyal sister, but then surprises us as a blonde floozy impersonating Anna in a vaudevillian act that exploited her fame. Will Arundel is impressive as her manager, Frank Russell, championing her cause amidst his drinking, but abandoning her in the end.

Emma Ralston gives us a rousing Carrie Nation, a champion of the temperance movement who was eccentric in her own cause, who questions Anna’s motives, and has a rousing number in ‘Break Down the Door’. Conor McFarlane is convincing as the Man with Hand Wrapped in a Handkerchief, who is in fact Leon Czolgosz, who assassinated President McKinley; with the alleged encouragement of Anna, who tells him to follow his goals. And Tom Blackmore is intensely moving as a soldier heading off to war who encounters Anna selling postcards as souvenirs of her achievement.

The musical accompaniment is conducted by Jordan Li-Smith, and though visibly positioned to the  side of the stage the eight musicians are neatly incorporated into the accomplished direction and staging by Dominic O’Hanlon. An effective set and costumes are by Tara Usher. Mention must also be made of the make up and hair by students of the London School of Media Make-Up. Lighting is by Bethany Gupwell.

Queen of the Mist is one of the many musicals that deal with unusual themes. Almost a dissertation on the price one pays for daring to be different. It sits in the groove inhabited by music theatre like Sunday in the Park With George, Side Show, Grey Gardens, Goblin Market and others.

To find a production as good as this one with singer/actors of this calibre in a pub theatre (with very comfortable seating) on the outskirts of South London is a joy. It’s a rarity and one that may not be staged again for a while.  Do go and see it.

Leon Ferguson