Review: OPENING NIGHT, Gielgud Theatre

Now a stage musical, John Cassavetes’ 1977 film Opening Night was a commercial flop when it was released, later becoming something of a cult classic of American independent cinema. Director Ivo van Hove specialises in bringing work to the stage that may be called “challenging”. Challenging can be hugely successful, but I’ve rarely seen a production more determined to confuse and frustrate an audience.

Myrtle is an actor struggling with her mental health, self-medicating with alcohol and unable to find herself in her work after the death of a fan outside the theatre. In the highly meta setting of a stage on a stage, this is a promising premise, but van Hove’s book is just the start of the problems with this show: disjointed, lacking clarity and losing all the spontaneity of Cassavetes’ signature style.

I suspect most of the audience will not be die-hard Cassavetes fans, but many will have snapped up pricey tickets due to the casting of Sheridan Smith. Smith has had her fair share of public meltdowns, one of the most notable being in 2016 when the curtain had to come down on her performance of Fancy Brice as she slurred her way through Funny Girl after her father became ill. She is also a brilliant stage actor, impressing both fans and critics in last year's Shirley Valentine. So it would seem an inspired choice to cast her as Myrtle. Smith really tries to show her characteristic appeal throughout, but she has such poor material to work with, even she cannot help coming off as slightly lacklustre.

Myrtle should be a compelling character; talented yet damaged; in love, yet rejected; aging yet still relevant. Yet van Hove gives her no narrative arc and has written a woman who fails to convince as a real person on pretty much every level. It’s perhaps not surprising to note that the director, bookwriter, lyricist, composer and designer of this show are all men.

It seems even more of a waste as the cast list is stellar and deserves so much more. Hadley Fraser is surprisingly one-dimensional as stressed director Manny, the wonderful Amy Lennox (so strong in Cabaret) performs a solo track “Married” beautifully, but is so underused she may as well take an extended dinner break during the show.

Nicola Hughes gets the most opportunity to show what she can do as playwright Sarah, with some powerful vocals and Shira Haas, best known for Netflix series Unorthodox, makes a strong West End debut as the hyperactive teenage ghost. Broadway's Benjamin Walker laudably tries to inject life into the anodyne character of Myrtle's ex-husband and co-star, while much of the ensemble mingle around looking rather embarassed to be there.

The show is singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright’s first West End musical. His baroque-pop style of music is not to everyone’s taste, but he is a very talented musician. However, his composition proves to be completely unsuitable for musical theatre. There are meandering, downbeat, directionless songs, no particularly captivating melodies and there isn’t a single refrain or memorable piece of music to be found. 

“Magic”, about finding the best within terrible situations, should be the track that sticks, but its style is too reminiscent of a circus theme to be taken seriously. Lyrics include “Outside it’s a mean time, people starved of bread and wine” and the rhyming of “crumbling” with “something”. Sondheim this ain’t.

Fans of his work will know van Hove is no stranger to using screens on stage and we see its use prominently again here. It is becoming a rather over-used trope, with far superior shows The Picture of Dorian Grey and Sunset Boulevard using them much more successfully. Here they add little but a visual overload. There are also video effects that feel over-stylised and a strobe that looks lazy and dated. Camera syncing comes with its own issues, with the camera giving a bird’s eye view of the stage often distractingly delayed.

The screen dominates the rather bland set, along with the use of a huge red voile curtain, used to convey the stage curtain of the theatre that we can see behind. The concept is fine, but the material is far too thick, making it hard to make out what is actually going on behind it and creating an even greater sense of disconnect with the audience.

One of my personal bugbears is audiences rushing to their feet to applaud every curtain call, no matter the quality of the show. So to report that barely anyone stood at the end of this production probably brings this review to an appropriate conclusion.

Opening Night runs at the Gielgud Theatre until 27 July

Photo Credits: Jan Versweyveld