SUPAS’ Sister Act was definitely “A Tough Act to Follow” but their production of Broadway’s Curtains has followed, and will leave the audience wanting more!
It’s not surprising that as I sat in the audience at Wednesday night’s opening of SUPAS’ Curtains I felt nervous, when in Act I they began to sing about “What Kind of Man” (or in this case, woman) would want to be a theatre critic. But, their fears of a bad review will not be substantiated here.
After their extraordinary productions of Sister Act and Rent last semester, I was sceptical at first, as SUPAS has a lot to live up to. But as Act I began to take off, I found myself mesmerised in the bright lights, dances, and well-choreographed chorus.
Curtains, originally written in book form by Rupert Holmes and later adapted with lyrics by Fred Ebb and John Kander, follows the story of a Boston theatre company (aspiring for Broadway) putting on a production of Robbin’ Hood. On opening night, a member of the cast is poisoned, and then more begin to mysteriously die. Lt. Cioffi (played by Nathan Sloane) is sent to investigate the murders, but as a big theatre fan, he becomes wrapped up in the glitz and glam of show-business, assisting the company in improving their show for re-review. But we can’t forget that Curtains isn’t really just a murder mystery, but a story of love and family; it addresses mother-daughter feuds, falling for someone you shouldn’t, and of course blackmail and murder. I must say, it wasn’t very predictable, and, without giving spoilers, I didn’t expect the murderer to be who it was.
The mounds of audience laughter began at the first chorus and didn’t stop until the finale. Despite the house hardly being half full, they managed to provide enough encouragement to fill a full-sized theatre. And of course, this is fully justified, with the characters of Christopher Belling (Will Leggetter) and Carmen Bernstein (Imogen Setters) providing perfectly comical performances, perhaps the best of the night.
The music, executed superbly by the partially on sight band, wasn’t as tight at the beginning as it was in previous productions (which I’ll forgive because it was opening night), but really started to meet my expectations as the show progressed. The band was beautifully accompanied by the voices of the cast, with the big chorus numbers “The Woman’s Dead” and “Show People” mesmerising the audience. The smaller performances “I Miss the Music” (performed perfectly by Harry Reeves) and “Thinking of Him” (with a powerful solo from Charlotte Beeden) gave that well needed sprinkling of emotion to the stage.
On the tech side of things, I noticed some minor faults. The light cues were perhaps slightly off, with the cast performing what sounded like a dance number in the dark, and the mics, at times, crackled. There was also a notable issue with sound. In some numbers some mics were quieter than others. This was especially noticeable in the second performance of “In the Same Boat” when Randy Dexter’s (played by Precious Ikechukwu) solo line was barely heard from the fourth row. The set and props were what would be expected from a performance of this sort, and can’t be criticised. They supported the show well and provided a good backdrop for the story.
George Maher (director) and the production team did a brilliant job of bringing Ebb and Kander’s musical to life in Sheffield! The performance was professional, and very much lived up to my high expectations after last semester’s performances. With the performances from this cast, and the on-point choreography, music and overall production, SUPAS’ production of Curtains is something I would expect to see in bigger theatres, and with a few tweaks, maybe even… Broadway!
Ratings
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Band: 4/5
Tech: 3/5
Performances: 4.5/5
Audience Engagement: 5/5
