Review Roundup: SCISSORHANDZ: A Musical Reinvented At Southwark Playhouse
Now playing at Southwark Playhouse through 29 March.
SCISSORHANDZ: A Musical Reinvented is now playing at Southwark Playhouse through 29 March. Jordan Kai Burnett stars as Scissorhands, a role they originated in the original Los Angeles production, and 4-time Olivier Award nominee, Emma Williams stars as Peg.
Jordan & Emma are joined by Dionne Gipson as The Inventor, Lauren Jones as Kim, Annabelle Terry as Esmeralda, Ryan O'Connor as Helen, Richard Carson as Jim. The Ensemble is played by Candida Mosoma, Luke Cairns, Grace Towning.
SCISSORHANDZ is a fresh and funny reinvention of Tim Burton’s cult classic Edward Scissorhands. This pop-musical parody extravaganza is a celebration of those who dare to be different, packed with a killer soundtrack featuring the likes of Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga & Alanis Morissette, plus more iconic hits you know and love. This is more than just a musical; it’s a movement!
SCISSORHANDZ is written and directed by Bradley Bredeweg with choreography by Alexzandra Sarmiento, musical direction by Gregory Nabours, set design by James Pearse Connelly, costume design by Abby Clarke, lighting design by Adam King, sound design by Yvonne Gilbert, casting by Harry Blumenau Casting, production management by James Anderton and general management by Wildpark Entertainment. See what the critics are saying...
Mica Blackwell, BroadwayWorld: art parody, part straight up retelling, what makes Scissorhandz fall apart story-wise is its lack of identity. Unlike the similar screen to stage musical parody Titanique that treats the James Cameron film like a drunken watch party with friends throughout its run time, Bredeweg's book wants its audience to laugh at campy caricatures and self-referential jokes one minute and treat scenes with utmost seriousness the next. This isn't to say they work on their own, but together it feels disconnected.
Chris Wiegand, The Guardian: As with all jukebox musicals, some lines simply distract while others hit home, such as Kim singing “you hold me without touch” from Gravity by Sara Bareilles. Music director and orchestrator Gregory Nabours’ macabre choral arrangement of Aerosmith’s Dream On manages to strike a similar tone to Danny Elfman’s film score. But the jumble of songs, played by a tight band, never quite finds a unified sound and the relationships between characters don’t all convince. It’s a fun and heartfelt show yet retains the air of a work-in-progress, as unfinished as a child with scissors for hands.
Daz Gale , All That Dazzles : The pitfall with Scissorhandz is it doesn’t seem to have completely worked out what it wants to be just yet. Full of ideas, little nuggets are dropped but then never followed up so it becomes a mish-mash of ideas that aren’t fully utilised. Rather ironically, like its main character, the show feels unfinished. That isn’t to detract from the potential this show has as there really is no shortage of that, but to me it felt like it had been going through rewrites up until the last minute, whether that is true or not, and as such is not currently the best version of itself.
Average Rating: 53.3%
