The MGM Story continues at Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 25 September, before transferring to the Theatre Royal, Windsor from 27 September until 1 October.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
The MGM Story – The Magic of the Musical is what you might call a ‘Ronseal’ musical – it does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s the story of the MGM musical and its rise from the late 1920s, through the golden years of the 40s and 50s to its decline in the late 1950s. It’s no slight against this show to say that it practically writes itself, although I’m sure its creator Chris Burgess would say otherwise.
“It would be easy to throw a hotchpotch of songs together and call it The MGM Story…” starts Burgess in the programme, and to be fair he has done more than merely serve up a handful of tunes in chronological order. Instead, he has crafted a narrative recounting the highlights of MGM’s output, and particularly the movies produced by Arthur Freed. A cast of four act as narrators and performers, leafing through the movie-musicals history book and illustrating their chat with song and dance numbers.
The quartet – all of whom work together well and do a splendid job of telling the stories – consists of Steven Dalziel, James Leece, Emma Kayte Saunders and Miranda Wilford. They’re all in strong voice and can really move, although Leece is particularly charming and, for me, the most engaging of the foursome; he somehow seems more ‘MGM’ than the others. In their own voices – no cheesy attempt at American accents here, thankfully, or attempts at impersonation – the cast share the narrative duties, bursting into song, either as solos or in combination (although the songs are parlayed in American accents, as you’d expect).
The filmography is also as you’d expect – The Wizard of Oz, Strike Up the Band, Meet Me In St. Louis, Easter Parade, On the Town, Annie Get Your Gun, An American in Paris, Singin’ in the Rain, Gigi, and so on – and the songs Burgess has selected are typically the biggest hits from each show. Fans of MGM musicals will not be disappointed.
Well, there’s no swelling orchestra or swimming pool of chlorinated chorines but Charlie Ingles and his band – Alex Bellamy on keys, Andrew Richards/Doug Grannell on double bass, and James Hulme/Janette Williams on percussion (with Claire Shaw joining the band on reeds for its transfer to Windsor) – do a fine job with Andy Collyer’s arrangements, re-creating the classic numbers with a light touch.
The staging is fairly basic too, with just a few props, although inventively used – a megaphone doubles as the Tin Man’s hat and a champagne bottle, for example; and a fur stole becomes the Cowardly Lion’s mane – but Matthew Cole’s choreography makes up for it by filling the small Gatehouse stage.
Cole, who also directs, keeps it all ticking along at a decent pace, and the choice of songs is varied enough to hold your attention. It really perks up in the second half, particularly when the cast members reach for their tap shoes. The flooring isn’t particularly great for tap, although in the more effective of the two routines, wooden boards are introduced, which perk things up no end.
There’s absolutely nothing new or groundbreaking here, which is fine if all you’re after is a nostalgic reminder of how wonderful the music of this period was. It’s a theatrical documentary… the kind of predictable, inoffensive thing you can take your Nan to.
Burgess’ narrative is a bit uneven – at one point, he likens Carmen Miranda to a “Brazilian transvestite” and Judy Garland’s attempt at singing Annie Oakley is written off as “pitiful”, both of which seem opinionated and off-pitch with the rest of the more Wikipedia-like script. But otherwise it’s a joyful celebration of a golden era.
Craig Glenday
www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com
* The MGM Story – The Magic of the Musical will also be performed on Friday 7 October at Norwich Playhouse and at the Radlett Centre on Saturday 22 October.
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