CurtainUp
CurtainUp

The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings
www.curtainup.com


HOME PAGE

SITE GUIDE

SEARCH

REVIEWS

REVIEW ARCHIVES

ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP

FEATURES

NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings


LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway

NYC Restaurants

BOOKS and CDs

OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere

QUOTES

TKTS

PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS

LETTERS TO EDITOR

FILM

LINKS

MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp London London Review
Dusty


"Dusty you will catch more bees with honey than vinegar." — Johnny
Dusty
Alison Arnopp as Dusty Springfield (Photo: Elliott Franks)
It is a lovely idea, a jukebox musical based on the songs of Dusty Springfield, the diminutive Irish-English singer with the larger than life backcombed blonde hairdo and a soul voice to match. The producers promised us the most up to date 3-D technology and digital media. Well I had been won over by the Sinatra musical at the Palladium with its vintage re-digitised film of Ol' Blue Eyes so was ready for more.

The problem with Dusty is the mixed media. We have Alison Arnopp live playing the singer with costume carefully matched to the slightly eerie, ghostly holographed film of Dusty Springfield herself singing some of her songs. The effect is to undermine the live performance and create one of those comparison photos where you spot the difference. The real Dusty has a diminutive bust line, the live singer not so, Alison Arnopp's wig isn't quite right and so on. This puts the suspension of disbelief "in the middle of nowhere" as she famously sang.

I love Dusty's songs but the sound at the Charing Cross is set too loud for comfort and there is distortion. The first film clip is out of synch with the music making us think we might be in for The Musical That Goes Wrong. The storyline, too, is clunky with Dusty's life long fictional friend Nancy (Francesca Jackson) giving an interview to a journalist. The two GoGo dancers work amazing hard for little choreographic invention.

There were scenes I liked: early on with the trio The Springfields with her brother Deon renamed Tom Springfield (Leo Elso), the song "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" with its folksy, country and western sound. In New York we go to Capitol Records where she records the Bert Berns' song "Tell Him". In South Africa, she is given 48 hours to leave the country after inviting black people to her concert in a whites only theatre. She had said that she would not play to a segregated audience and we segue into "Dancing in the Streets".

Act Two opens with the scary hologram of Dusty in a frilly Caribbean voodoo outfit for "Spooky". Illustrating her reputation as "the world's best white soul singer" she steps in for a missing Vandella in the trio now down to two of Martha (the excellent Witney White) and one Vandella. She finds love with Californian Norma (Sienna Sebek) but the transatlantic relationship battles with the travel involved and later with the Lesbian publicity but "The Look of Love" has real meaning.

I know the budget must have been hit by all the resignations from the previews but surely someone could turn the volume down. The band is live and the main show finishes with Dusty's iconic " Son of A Preacher Man". The true story of the spiraling downward end of Dusty's life is not touched on. In musical history, another one bites the dust.

Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe, E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to Curtain Up and from what part of the country.
Dusty
Written by Chris Cowey and Kim Weild
Directed by Chris Cowey

Starring : Alison Arnopp, Francesca Jackson, Leo Elso, Witney White,
With: Harvey Robinson, Matt Blaker, Luke Thornton, Graham Kent, Oliver Lynes, Megan Makin, Gemma Geanaus, Siena Sebek, Ellen Verenieks
Designer: Phil Lindley
Musical Direction: Dean Austin
Lighting: Richard Williamson
Choreography: Joey McKneeley
Sound: Paul Gavin and James Nicholson
Running time: Two hours and 5 minutes with an interval
Box Office : 08444 930650
Booking to 21st November 2015
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 9th September performance at the Charing Cross Theatre, The Arches, Villiers Street, Londo WC2 6NL (Rail/Tube: Charing Cross/Embankment)
REVIEW FEEDBACK
Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
  • I agree with the review of Dusty
  • I disagree with the review of Dusty
  • The review made me eager to see Dusty
Click on the address link E-mail: esommer@curtainup.com
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V):

Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email . . . also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review.

London Theatre Walks


Peter Ackroyd's  History of London: The Biography



London Sketchbook



tales from shakespeare
Retold by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Co.
Click image to buy.
Our Review


©Copyright 2015, Elyse Sommer.
Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from esommer@curtainup.com