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CurtainUp The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features,
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A CurtainUp London Review
Lizzie
Brought to the Greenwich stage by Aria Theatre in conjunction with the Frederica Teater of Denmark, Lizzie the musical has creatives by Americans. Steven Cheslik-Demeyer and Tim Maner have been working off and on Lizzie for 27 years. The programme tells us that it owes less to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Steven Sondheim than to Bikini Kill, the Runaways and Heart. Indeed the famous axe is not the only piece of heavy metal that will figure in this musical. Four women singers will front the show with the first act seen in Victorian costume, a six piece rock band plays behind. Bjorg Gamst plays Lizzie Andrew Borden, never Elizabeth, always just Lizzie and her middle name after her father Andrew Borden. Blonde and sweet faced she looks a little like a young Lindsay Duncan. Lizzie tells us that she is her father's favourite child and when we see her sinister elder sister Emma Leonora Borden (Eden Espinosa) it is easy to see why. However Mr Borden's attachment to his pretty younger daughter is one which takes on an altogether darker hue as Lizzie convinces us that her father's intentions are incestuous in the song "This is Not Love". No one plays Mr Borden but we see a photograph of him projected as a negative emphasizing his dark side. Next door lives Lizzie's friend Alice Manely Russell (Bleu Woodward) the neighbour who is sexually attracted to Lizzie and sees what is happening inside the Borden house. There is the maid Bridget Sullivan (Jodie Jacobs) whom the sisters call Maggie because that was the name of their previous maid and they haven't bothered to learn the new maid's name. Bridget will provide much of the comic humour as she sardonically comments on the actions of the Borden family. I liked the song in the first half about how Lizzie attempted to buy prussic acid from the local pharmacy and in "Shattercane and Velvet Grass" she lists poisons. The front row of the audience has been issued with plastic sheeting, a hint that there could be some spill from the stage when the murders get going. We watch in horror as Lizzie finds her pet doves which have been killed by her father. After the interval, the performers have changed into basques and burlesque costumes, their hair long and full. Gone is the Victorian decorum and this enjoyable half really works well as a rock concert in full swing with smoke cannisters and flames. The singing is strong particularly from Bjorg Gamst and Eden Espinosa but Jodie Jacobs laces her part with Irish wit. "It blew the roof off the House of Barden".
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Search CurtainUp in the box below PRODUCTION NOTES Lizzie Music by Steven Cheslik-Demeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt Lyrics by Steven Cheslik-Demeyer and Tim Maner Book by Tim Maner Directed by Victoria Bussert Starring: Jodie Jacobs, Bleu Woodward, Bjorg Gamst, Eden Espinosa Set Design: Jens Frausing and Anders D Jensen Costume Design: Michael Nohr Choreography: Martin Bergman Korge Orchestrator: Alan Stevens Hewitt Musical Director: Richard Beadle Lighting Design: Bo Kudsk Kristensen Sound Design: Tim Hoyer Running time: One hour 45 minutes with an interval Box Office: 020 8858 4447 Booking to 12th March 2017 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 24th February 2017 performance at The Greenwich Theatre, Crooms Hill London SE10 8ES Index of reviewed shows still running REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
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