"C'est parfait!"
Little is it known that Paris actually has 21 districts. And that in the 21e
arrondisement, humans and animals live side by side. And that in that corner of
Paris, they put on a show every day – the Carnival of the Animals. But the
animals are tired, they’ve lost their enthusiasm for the theatre, their star
turn has gone missing and they can’t stop arguing. It is only when a
chimpanzee, a zebra, a parrot and a lioness arrive breathlessly in the square,
determined to join the carnival, that they decide to carry on, but the
newcomers are hiding a secret. And watching over all of them is neighbourly
dress-shop owner Mademoiselle Parfait, who despite her friendly demeanour perhaps
isn’t quite all she seems either.
Inspired by Saint-Saëns’ musical opus of the same name, this Carnival of the Animals maintains a similar family friendly ambience to create a really rather
charming piece of musical theatre. Andrew Marshall’s book weaves a likeable
story about finding one’s own self-worth and appreciating others’ differences
in with the slightly darker sub-plot – nothing too sinister, think pantomime
villainry – and the whole thing is peppered with a bunch of amiable songs from
composer Gavin Greenaway and lyricist Roger Hyams.
There are definite shades of Stiles and Drewe here, not least in the hints of
stories like
Just So and
Honk! But this is no bad thing, for Greenaway has
captured much of the straightforward emotional immediacy of their music in
creating a tunefully memorable score, full of songs with uncomplicated feelings. There’s something hugely appealing
about this directness - though aimed at the family market, when delivered by
such a quality cast as Thom Southerland has gathered here, its charms broaden
its audience.
From Bronté Barbé’s reticent cygnet waiting for the chance to spread her wings
to Liam Doyle’s rascally chimp looking for the chance to do right, from
Alastair Brookshaw’s mynah bird with his unheard operatic impressions to Claire
Machin’s unusually forgetful elephant, this is a show of delicious performances
full of huge warmth and no little humour. Brookshaw’s tap routine with Matthew
Gent’s parrot is wonderful, the burgeoning relationship between the lions is
lovely to behold and at the centre of it all is a remarkably energetic and zany
performance from Anita Dobson as the exaggeratedly Gallic shopkeeper.
That this production only ran from 10 shows feels a real shame and one can only
hope that it is a precursor to some kind of future life whether here at the
Riverside Studios or somewhere else. For it truly deserves - set, costume and
lighting design are all ingeniously conceived, the score is the equal of many a
new West End musical, and if there’s a little evening out of the tone necessary
– the odd gag felt a little misplaced – it is easily fixed and then one really
will be able to say c’est parfait!
Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes (with interval)
Booking until 14th July
Labels: Alastair Brookshaw, Allyson Ava-Brown, Anita Dobson, Bronté Barbé, Cassie Compton, Claire Machin, Jacob Chapman, Jonny Fines, Liam Doyle, Matthew Gent, Paul Grunert, Stephen Webb