On Saturday September 22 the curtain came down on the last performance of the world premiere of the Maltby/Shire/Weidman musical,
Take Flight, at the Menier Chocolate Factory - just proverbially of course, as the beautifully intimate space created by set designer David Farley dispensed with the use of a curtain. Instead the audience were drawn into a world on an open sand-strewn playing area that from the first moments captivated them in a triangular storyline concerning the trials and tribulations of the Wright Brothers' premiere flight as well as the lives of two other pioneers of aviation - Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart.
John Weidman's Book, despite some laboured and tedious dialogue in places, deftly weaves the three stories together so that they move seamlessly back and forth in time and space, creating a tightly-knit piece of theatre. Richard Maltby's lyrics provide a totally apposite companion for Weidman's text, enhancing the drama, touching at emotions without ever becoming melodramatic and dropping into Sondheim-like wit at appropriate moments. And David Shire's score soars magnificently as high as the skies that the aviators sought to explore.
In an excellent ensemble cast, the leading performers all shone - Michael Jibson (Charles Lindbergh), Sally Ann Triplett (Amelia Earhart), Ian Bartholomew (George Putnam) delivered superbly balanced acting performances and sang exquisitely; Clive Carter as Otto Lilienthal (the aviation theorist who inspired the Wright Brothers' endeavors) displayed his usual larger-than-life persona and used his clinical annunciation to great comic effect. And Sam Kenyon and Elliot Levy as the Wright Brothers delighted the audience as their great comic timing drew out every nuance of humour in Maltby's intricate lyrical ventures into the world of physics, mathematics and aeronautics. Once again director Sam Buntrock and the Menier succeeded in creating a first class musical theatre experience that aptly imitated the aviators who inhabited its core with its intense drive and passion. Apparently a CD recording of the score is imminent, which will be eagerly anticipated by those who enjoyed the musical journey in the theatre - myself included.
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