| Affectionate homage to gangster chic |
At RWCMD |
| Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama- Speak-easy! , Sherman Theatre, Cardiff , February 20, 2003 |
| THIS "gangster musical" from Wales's pre-eminent theatre director Michael Bogdanov is subtitled the Bootleg Gentleman - a nudging reference to the fact that it's a loose adaptation of Moliere's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, which is almost certainly a play you won't know unless you were forced to study French Literature. But you don't need to be familiar with the 300-odd-year-old classic to follow this transposition to post-Prohibition Chicago, where an uncultured gangster decides to get class so he can bed a prominent movie actress. The language here is that of black-and-white movies, sentimental pop schmaltz and Broadway hoofers. Big production numbers, a jazz band and a script that is full of one-line jokes suggest that Bogdanov is not only very affectionate about the period but wants his musical to be taken seriously. This extravaganza from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama then, has the feel of a pre-professional try-out, and maybe Bogdanov is expecting too much of his student company - and their typical audience. |
Reviewed by: David Adams |
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