Review: SEA WITCH, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Photo credit: Danny Kaan
Sea Witch is a new musical based on a two-book series of the same name in which author Sarah Henning goes back to the original Hans Christian Anderson fairytale of The Little Mermaid and considers the backstory of the character simply known as the sea witch – before Disney named her Ursula and gave her a confusing number of tentacles.
There are two main truths here and unfortunately, they are at opposite ends of the spectrum – one, the majority of the songbook could easily become the latest soundtrack obsession of many a theatre kid, but two, many an audience member left the Theatre Royal Drury Lane expressing frustration at the disjointed nature of the plot.
Just like a sea witch to leave us speechless. It should be simple – exceptionally gifted vocalists and performers, with only five days as a company under their belt, romance, magic, high stakes danger, just a few little issues sprinkled in every now and then – but when the little issues happen to be that it doesn’t make sense, it naturally stops a review in its tracks. Sea Witch, much like a mermaid, is a story of two halves.
Before the house lights were even noticeable, bodies rose from their seats for their interval mingling. Upon exit, scattered voices of varying validity could be heard pondering characters, concept and content. Gasps tickled but laughter startled as this production achieved something we would have deemed impossible – a theatre audience laughing at Mazz Murray – only to be watching her minutes later stood statuesque in her spotlight framed by various audience members rising in applause.
Natalie Kassanga as Malvina is done something of a disservice. Her character lacks dimension beyond the mean girl archetype and her character song expresses as such, putting beat and vibe ahead of all else. The harmonising talent of ensemble is immediately impressive. Vocal solos from within the chorus blow us all away, sporadic goosebumps give way to full body chills and the rich, raspy rock-style wail of Robin Simoes Da Silva gets a fan-girl shriek from the crowd.
Unshaken by hurdles, Jay McGuinness grows into Prince Iker, a growth that a strange narrative timing threatens to stunt. He is undeniably the triple threat of the cast, holding his own as a dancer, transforming just beyond his personage and bringing a pop trained vocal that adds pleasing texture to the soundscape of the show. It is a voice at its best in belt with an intrinsic capability for carrying desire. He has a stance on stage that, in itself, makes you happy to see him there.
Musicals we now call classics, or the more brutal ‘old’, are full of this all-of-a-sudden abundance of love but now, in this age that pioneers the yearning lovers, we may have reached a time where that doesn’t cut it anymore. Although the budding romance between Iker and Evie has the chemistry and well-built foundation to trigger a ‘shipper heart’, they lack the time to develop the required depth for optimum pay-off. It’s about more than a meet-cute now, guys.
As a ‘Live In Concert’ experience, the production plays all of its musical numbers to the crowd and so we miss out on ripe opportunity for tension and intimacy that would come from the cast singing to each other and playing with one another around the stage. A combination of lighting and musical composition fills a lot of gaps left by the simplicity of the staging, facilitating an ambience and rhythm that does a lot to paint an intimidating or fantastical picture as needed.
A brilliant creative decision is made in filling the stage with a cast of dancers, nailing again and again the silhouettes and formations to achieve strong visuals. Dean Lee’s choreography of sharp, clean modern contemporary and emotive lyrical captures the drama and heat at the core of the piece. Clear parallels can be drawn to recent West End musical theatre successes, Hamilton, Six and Evita, as fellow sung-through musicals, modern retellings of previously established stories and stripped back stagings.
Natalie Paris shapeshifts into a new youthful energy and sends chills down the spine with powerful vocals as Evie. Michelle Visage surprises with lovely control, bringing to the stage a beautiful grounding voice in harmony. Djavan Van De Fliert is an absolute star. A dynamic international performer of instant impressive climb now returning to where it all started in Sea Witch. Nevertheless, something of a lesser-known name amongst an admittedly star-studded cast, he steals the tune from icon-status scene partners and establishes himself an undeniable lead.
To watch Amy Di Bartolomeo step into the part of Annemette is to see a portrayal of no cracks or creases. Pristine is the word. Her story, her motive, her relationships are the most - perhaps the only - unshakeable touchstone of escapism. Her performance starts out strong with true favourite song potential and continues in near perfect vocal of expert breath, tone, control and emotion to become what I would call the ‘all-rounder’ performer of the show.
Overall, the work on Sea Witch may not be quite done but we sure hope there will be a future for the production.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Louisa Clarke