Jason Manford stars in one of the more recent creations by theatre pioneers Kander and Ebb currently on tour named Curtains.
Curtains is a musical whodunnit that puts both very popular genres into a humble mixture of an exciting song list and story fuelled with humor and curiosity.
Kander and Ebb are the creators of huge productions such as Chicago and Cabaret; Curtains had it’s world premiere in Los Angeles in 2006 and a year later it entered the world of Broadway.
Now its landed in the fabled land of Stoke On Trent at the Regent Theatre.
The story is about a musical performed in front of an audience with the main lead (Nia Jermin) who is a disaster as a main star and is then poisoned during the finale of her performance and therefore ends up dead.
A mixture of sadness and joy from the other casts members show and they appoint lyricist Georgia (Carley Stenson). In comes Lieutenant Frank Cioffi (Manford) to announce that all the cast members are murder suspects.
“Filled with charm, surprise and catchy musical numbers” – Matthew Clewley
The first act may have excellent choreography and tremendously performed songs but does not explore the whodunnit aspect of the story too much.
The musical side of it does tend to overshadow the story considerably. So much so that you forget there is a killer on the loose by the half time interval.
The songs however are absolutely amazing and can stick into your head like glue. However, we didn’t feel that the whodunnit aspect made too much of a difference at this point despite there being a death at the beginning.
The second continues with the consistency of high quality talent that goes into the music and choreography.
A little more focus is on aspect of who is the killer and also love interests between some characters.
When the killer was revealed it was a little unexpected, but not as interesting as we hoped. What was interesting was the twist at the end and that was something really added that surprising quality at the end.
Curtains is definitely worth a watch due to the stellar performances from the cast. Stand out performers for us were Manford, Rebecca Lock and Samuel Holmes.
Those who are keen on whodunnit plays may not be taken too much with Curtains, but this will definitely be a hit for fans of musical theatre.
The set is absolutely stunning and there is enough jokes to make you laugh out loud. Curtains is a must-see!
Not only because the curtains on the stage are rather lovely, but the heart and soul from the performers put into the show stand out more than the show itself.
For more theatre reviews from Matthew Clewley CLICK HERE
Summary
Curtains is a wonderful experience filled with charm, surprise and catchy musical numbers.
