Review: WHEN MIDNIGHT STRIKES, The Drayton Arms

It's New Year's Eve 1999 and Manhattan socialites Jennifer (Elizabeth Chadwick) and Christopher (Simon Burr) are ready to host the party of the millennium. But as their guests begin to arrive, everything starts falling apart.

The show is a gathering of clichéd characters and rather Nineties, middle-aged humour, peppered with catchy tunes that fall short in context. With book and lyrics by Kevin Hammonds and music by Charles Miller, When Midnight Strikes feels like finding no prize in your Christmas cracker.

Underdeveloped characters with storylines that go nowhere are the guests of honour: a wife who confronts her cheating husband during her highly awaited party, her over-the-top sister, her snooty husband, his failed brother, the licentious woman who doesn't like the host, the weird hippie one, the (implied virgin) nerd, the gay guy, the petty spinster neighbour, the uninvited friend of a friend, the actress/waitress, the girl-who's-lost-a-lot-of-weight-and-is-now-pretty (who was previously dating Christopher's brother, who dumped her on voicemail)... And that's a lot of people for a stage this small.

It's akin to the cattiness of Sex and the City, but without the show's sharpness or relatability. Marc Kelly's ensemble is also mixed - some powering through the insubstantial musical, others turning in more cringeworthy performances. Oli Rew at the piano and Dominic Veall at the cello form a beautiful duo, but are adrift here.

However, Ellie Nunn is a firework in the gloom. Her role as Josephina, the failed actress who has to work for the rich couple as a waitress, is one of the few well-rounded ones, and song "I never learned to type" is resonant and full of heart.

But as a whole, the musical feels thematically lacking, largely because it tries to juggle too many characters and fails to develop any of them.

The main couple is rushed and under-explored: we come to know in a quick conversation that they've lost a child and Christopher was happy they couldn't have any more. Surely that's worth delving into, instead of having a song about Greg losing his chance to be with Rachel. Misses the mark.

When Midnight Strikes runs at The Drayton Arms until 12 November.

Photo credit: Thomas Scurr

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