(left to right) Eleanor Brown, Rosemary Ashe, Sara Crowe and Catherine Hayworth rehearsing for the musical Crush, currently playing at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. Pictures: Catherine Ashmore
Belgrade Theatre Coventry and Big Broad Productions are presenting Crush, a brand new musical, currently premiering at the Belgrade, running until Saturday 19 September 2015. The show will then play at Theatre Royal Brighton (22–26 September) and Richmond Theatre (29 September–3 October).
It’s 1963 and Dame Dorothea Dosserdale School for Girls has a proud tradition of fostering free spirits from all walks of life – so it’s a crushing blow when the new Headmistress turns out to be a tyrant with strict Victorian values.
Giving a new twist to the world of Malory Towers and The Girl’s Own Annual, with lashings of charm and toe-tapping tunes, Crush is a coming-of-age romp that celebrates schoolgirl friendships and fighting for what you believe in.
Oliver Beatson was invited along to rehearsals…
A week and a half into rehearsals, I went along to see how the musical Crush was shaping up. Progress seemed still to be going full-steam ahead with the cast spinning off a trio of freshly-rehearsed numbers. With writing by Maureen Chadwick of Waterloo Road fame, and music and lyrics by Kath Gotts (who wrote Bad Girls the Musical with Chadwick), they have more than enough experience of telling stories within the intimate confines of an institution.
The show seems so far to be working on a pastiche musical backdrop – and while the music may be conventional (and so far, very polished), the story sits atop this rebelliously askew. Set in an all-girls’ school during the early 1960s, Crush starts at the end of a beloved headmistress’ tenure – and, passed over for promotion, the school’s deputy (Sara Crowe) fears the new replacement will contravene the liberal principles of self-direction and freedom that the school once upheld. In the midst of the hormones, social fears and achievement, the volition and desires of the girls are also being questioned.
The numbers on show in this sneak-preview rehearsal included a hockey-stick-wielding tap number, led by the sports coach Miss Givings played by Kirsty Malpass. Weaving between fellow cast members – the schoolgirls – she acts as a beacon of confidence and all-things-adult that brings out the adoration of her students. A prime theme, the raw and sometimes confusing nature of adolescent feelings, is playfully evoked here.
Veteran of new works, and of the stage in general, Rosemary Ashe (The Witches of Eastwick, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, to name but a few) peddled a wonderfully unenlightened Victorian line as the new Headteacher in ‘The Future Mothers’ – an iron-fisted manifesto, introducing herself and her vision for the school. Even as the antagonist, Ashe manages to inject humanity into the role, which itself will be just as interesting to see play out as the central conflict.
Olivier-winning actress Sara Crowe also delivered a resolute, impassioned plea in her song at the beginning of the show, where she writes: “This is an S.O.S. message – Save Our School!” Her caring really came through her performance, partly helped perhaps, I discovered, by the salience with which she recalls the fearfulness of schooling. The harsh, draconian rule of the new Headmistress happens in a period between much historical improvement in the treatment of children – and a musical exploring that evolution mid-process is an interesting thing indeed.
The whole cast is doing an energetic job of bringing together this musical and I hopefully look forward to seeing it in action!
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