Alex James Ellison and Aidan O’Neill in Best of Friends at the Landor Theatre, London. Picture: Matt Cocklin LRPS
Best of Friends continues at the Landor Theatre, London until 10 May.
Nick Fogarty’s troubled musical about the perils of fame and fortune finally makes it to the stage, debuting at the Landor Theatre. The show’s journey to this premier fringe theatre has been beset with headline-making scandal – and financial misfortune to the tune of £1 million – but this scaled down, modest reworking hasn’t appeared to have suffered along the way, packed as it with solid, rock-pop tunes and strong performances.
Best of Friends began life about eight years ago as The Golden Voice which, after a period of workshopping, was scheduled to open in August 2013 at the Arts Theatre with Darren Day attached as the star. This production was beset with financial problems, however, requiring Equity to step in and attempt to reclaim unpaid wages for the cast and crew. Producer Rob Hewitt was even arrested on suspicion of fraud, proving how real life can be as dramatic as anything seen on stage.
The show’s creator, Nick Fogarty, who is responsible for the book, music and lyrics, clearly refused to be beaten and has bounced back with a much smaller-scale show, sans Darren Day – and sans Rob Hewitt. Indeed, it’s just Fogarty, five other performers and a band of two on stage in the 60-seater Landor, supported by a small team of technicians.
Best of Friends opens with best buddies Jim Ryan (Fogarty) and Mike Chariot (Aidan O’Neill) struggling to make a success of their band. The final nail in the band’s coffin is hammered in when Mike enters and wins a TV talent show, ‘The Face and Voice’. (Interesting that we should see another talent-show-inspired musical in London, although this is where the similarities with I Can’t Sing! end, thankfully.) Not only does Mike jettison his band and best friend, but his girlfriend Natalie is also given the boot. Despite his success in the charts, however, he starts to tire of life as a celebrity and goes AWOL, vowing to get back to his roots and write his own music instead of churning out bubblegum pop.
Leaping ahead in time, we meet Taylor Jones (Alex James Ellison), a young wannabe pop star who leaves his mundane shop job to make a go of it in London, albeit it initially as a busker. There, he is talent-spotted by Mike, who takes him under his wing and encourages him to pursue his dreams of stardom. Mike, in turn, gets reacquainted with the disgruntled Jim, who now operates mostly on the wrong side of the law as a club owner and gangster. Jim lends Mike the money to buy his club, which reopens as a talent agency and venue, and here we get to the meat of the plot, as Mike strives to make a star of his protégé while keeping out of Jim’s harmful way.
There’s no let up in the action, as director Robert McWhir whisks us through the first 20 years of the story in the first 20 minutes. The shift in focus from the story of Mike and Jim to the relationship between Taylor and his mother Natalie (Rosie Glossop) and girlfriend Jodie (Sarah Goggin) is a bit of a jolt but once things settle down, we finally get to connect with the characters and fully engage with the story. By the end, it really is nail-biting stuff.
The cast is superb, with the button-cute Ellison the perfect choice for the nascent pop star Taylor. (An up-and-coming singer-songwriter in his own right, Ellison’s biog mentions that he doubles for Harry Styles in a One Direction tribute act!) O’Neill is also believable as the former star trying to make a new start, and the soul-singing Glossop shines as Taylor’s mother. Fogarty’s Jim Ryan comes across as a truly menacing character who wouldn’t be out of place terrorising the inhabitants of Albert Square, and the rest of the company give full-bodied support.
The staging is kept simple with a set of flight cases and video screens, but credit must be given to Richard Lambert’s West-End-worthy lighting design, creating a vivid and ever-shifting environment that helps propel the story along. The two-man band, too, do a great job, with MD Tom Turner leading from the keyboard with the help of bassist (and occasional cajon-player) Dara Stewart.
Best of Friends conforms to the old adage that musicals are not written but rewritten. Yes, the book could still do with work – particularly the pacing and the ‘twist’ regarding the Taylor/Mike relationship that isn’t – but it must be gratifying for Fogarty to see the fruits of his last eight years being finally enjoyed on stage. He’s undoubtedly an accomplished songwriter, and as the opener of Act II suggests, it’s ‘All About the Music’. The musical numbers are neatly woven into the action, with the ever-present need for pop in the plot giving the cast ample excuses to exercise their lungs. Stylistically, it’s somewhere between Blood Brothers and Rent, and while I wasn’t a big fan of either of these shows, the music here feels exactly right. Indeed I enjoyed Best of Friends more than I have most of the bigger shows in the West End recently.
This production needs and deserves a bigger space – I’d’ve liked to hear the singers mic’d up (especially at those moments when they’re put in front of a prop mic stand), and the musical arrangements could do with being beefed up. But the space shouldn’t be too big, as there’s something personal and intimate about the story that suits a modest venue. Of course, the Arts would probably tick these boxes, so with a bit of luck, perhaps it will finally get to where it was meant to be. Meanwhile, we can thank the Landor once more for committing itself to new writing like this.
Craig Glenday
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Golden Voice musical reworked as Best of Friends – News
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