The Daily Telegraph
November 24, 1994, Thursday
The Arts: Charm of old school theatre:
Stairway to Heaven, King's Head, Islington
By CHARLES SPENCER
With the current vogue for pop anthology shows, I feared Stairway to Heaven
might be a tribute to the rock band Led Zeppelin, who had a
characteristically over-the-top hit with a song of the same title. In fact it
turns out to an irresistibly charming and defiantly old-fashioned new musical
which leaves the audience purring with pleasure. The authors, Thomas Morgan and
Kevin Metchear, were both born on the same day in 1968, and this, their first
piece of work, won the 1994 Vivian Ellis prize. They seem an exceptionally
bright prospect for the future of British musicals, and their songs - melodic,
cheerful, and sometimes blessed with splendidly witty lyrics - are often
reminiscent of the great Vivian Ellis himself, still going strong at 90. Morgan
and Metchear can't take all the credit: they have taken their storyline from
Michael Powell's and Emeric Pressburger's 1946 film A Matter of Life and Death.
The action is set in the last week of the war in Europe, May 1945, and at the
start our pilot hero, Peter Carter, is facing certain death. His bomber has lost
its undercarriage, his crew are all dead, his parachute is ripped to shreds. In
his last radio broadcast to base he falls in love with the female operator and
she with him during one of those stiff-upper-lip conversations which were such a
hallmark of films of the period. But up in heaven someone has bungled. The
"conductor", a periwigged 18th-century Frenchman who was meant to have escorted
Peter to the other side, lost the pilot in thick fog. Peter somehow arrives
unharmed in England, and he and June meet and confirm their love in gorgeous
songs that heroically refuse to rhyme June with moon. But Peter is officially
dead, his name on the records in heaven, an engagingly prosaic place full of
jolly air crews. In the second half there is a splendid trial scene to decide
Peter's fate. Is romantic love strong enough to overcome death and the laws of
the universe? Is Jeremy Beadle a berk? I suppose all this might just strike the
hard-hearted as twee and sentimental, but the script often has its tongue in its
cheek, and there is real wit in the final debate, in which the lyrics sometimes
achieve an almost Gilbertian ingenuity (IQ rhymed with haiku, universe with
croon a verse). Dan Crawford's breezy production, marshalling a large cast on
his tiny stage, is generously blessed with cherishable performances. Gary Cady
is a strong and handsome hero and Fiona Sinnott brings a lovely tenderness to
the role of June. There's plenty of fine support, too, from Michael Medwin as a
wise and sympathetic doctor, Martin Connor as the amiable French conductor,
Godfrey Kenton (92) as the heavenly judge and Brogden Miller as a hilariously
gung-ho RAF man, Bob "Trubbers" Trubshaw. It's the kind of musical I feared
they'd stopped writing and it sends the audience glowing into the night.
Tickets: 071-226 1916
Details from the programme kindly supplied by David Collard:
The King's Head Theatre
Morgan & Metchear's
Stairway to Heaven!
A musical based on Michael Powell and Emeric
Pressburger's film 'A Matter of Life and Death'
Directed by: Dan Crawford
Choreography by:- Irving Davies
Design by:- Nigel Hook
Musical Director:- Nick Finlow
Costumes:- Melanie Wynyard
Written by:- Thomas Morgan & Kevin Metchear
|
|
The Company
(In Alphabetical Order)
|
| Gary Cady |
|
Peter Carter |
| Leroy Charlery |
|
Airman / Orderly / Jury |
| Simon Clark |
|
Abraham Farlan |
| Martin Connor |
|
Conductor 71 |
| Katey Crawford Kasten |
|
Little Girl |
| Amardeep Kaushal |
|
Airman / Doctor / Jury |
| Godfrey Kenton |
|
Judge |
| Jane Lancaster |
|
Gracie Trubshaw |
| Alan Livingstone |
|
Airman / Doctor / Clerk |
| Karen McCaffrey |
|
Receptionist / Mrs Tucker |
| Michael Medwin |
|
Dr Frank Reeves |
| Brogden Miller |
|
Bob Trubshaw |
| Ichi Obdam |
|
Airman / Orderly / Jury |
| Tober Reilly |
|
Airman / Jury |
| Fiona Sinnott |
|
June |
| Jeremy Tustin |
|
Airman / Conductor / Jury |
| Claire Vousden |
|
Chief Recorder |
|
|
|
Act One
|
| |
| Scene One |
|
Somewhere Over the Channel |
|
|
| |
| Scene Two |
|
Heaven
Happy Ever After |
|
Airmen / Gracie /
Receptionist |
| |
| Scene Three |
|
A Beach
Half Past Heaven |
|
Peter / June |
| |
| Scene Four |
|
Heaven
Falling Out of Love |
|
Gracie / Bob |
| |
| Scene Five |
|
A Silvan Glade
What Keeps Dreamers Awake? |
|
Peter / June |
| |
| Scene Six |
|
Frank's Living Room
Let's Put Our Heads Together |
|
Peter / June |
| |
| Scene Seven |
|
Heaven
You're Not So Bad Yourself |
|
Gracie / Bob |
| |
| Scene Eight |
|
Frank's Living Room
You're Not So Bad Yourself |
|
Peter / June |
| |
| |
|
Everyone's a Fool in Love |
|
Peter / Conductor 71 |
| |
| |
Act Two
|
| |
| Scene One |
|
Frank's Living Room
Goodnight Sweet Dream |
|
June |
| |
| Scene Two |
|
Heaven |
|
|
| |
| Scene Three |
|
Hospital Waiting Room
Again and Again |
|
Peter |
| |
| Scene Four |
|
Heaven
Love is the Law |
|
Conductor 71 /
Frank / Farlan |
| |
| |
|
Don't Blame a Man in Love |
|
Conductor 71 /
Frank / Peter / Bob |
| |
| |
|
Goodnight Sweet Dream |
|
June / Peter |
| |
| |
|
Happy Ever After Reprise |
|
Full Company |
|
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