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A CurtainUp London London Review
Do I Hear a Waltz?


"I am not the dream come true/But stay/Not perfection/But then nor are you." — Renato di Rossi
Do I Hear a Waltz?
Philip Lee as Renato Di Rossi with Rebecca Seale as Leona (Photo: Bill Knight)
Do I Hear a Waltz? sounded so promising. Two giants of musical theatre: lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, music by Richard Rodgers and a book by Arthur Laurents. Filmed with Kathryn Hepburn and Rosanno Brazzi but unknown in the UK, and now opening as The Park Theatre's first musical.

Set in Italy about a woman travelling on her own, tempted by a less than perfect romance with a married Italian man, she longs to hear the waltz, a metaphor for falling in love. The tensions between the American way of life and the Italian form the cross cultural theme.

Venetian Bed and Breakfast owner Fioria (Rosie Strobel with a good singing voice) talks about the nationality of her guests — the English and their breakfasts, the Parisians with far more cheek than chic and the shrieking Americans. This is Sondheim making us smile with his clever, witty lyrics.

The American tourist couple the McIlhennys are incongruously matched with Bruce Graham's rotund septuagenarian and Victoria Ward as the attractive but squirming much younger wife. A younger couple Eddie (Matthew Kellett) and Jennifer (Rebecca Moon) are having all sorts of matrimonial disagreements. Leona (Rebecca Seale) is on holiday alone when she wanders into the antique shop owned by Renato Di Rossi (Philip Lee) and a pink wine glass takes her fancy.

When Philip Lee as the philandering shop keeper starts to sing, we are impressed by his magnificent tenor voice but that rousing Howard Keel type delivery is mismatched to Rebecca Seale's quieter voiced but quirkily comic acting performance. "I think you make many jokes but inside you cry" says the arrogant amateur psychologist. "You are like a child who is hungry. They bring you the ravioli and you say you want the beef steak but you are hungry — Eat the ravioli!" He is all heavy intensity with stronger singing than acting and she is the opposite. This makes for a seriously uneven production.

Philip Lee's Renato is so lacking in charm that the backhanded compliments he pays are not playful but offensive. This makes us feel sleaze rather than wildly romantic fling but that may be the "American" view of morality which is satirised here interfering with Laurents' storyline.

Act Two improves with the "Moon in My Window" from Leona and Fioria, a pretty song. Jennifer and Eddie sing about making up in "We're Gonna Be Alright" and on production of the red glass necklace which we can see is not the longed for garnets, Leona starts to hear Strauss. A strong jolly party scene is spoilt by the arrival of the man who needs to be paid for the necklace which rather kills the romantic gesture.

There is little help from the minimal set of descending shop and Pension signs to make us believe that we are in Italy. A pianist and drummer provide the accompaniment in full view centre stage. The side stairs are steep and dangerous with people tripping on opening night.

Richard Rodgers' songs are pretty tunes and there are some good singers. Given the right leads we might believe the spontaneity of the romantic story line but a question remains over the acoustics in this new venue. Do I Hear A Waltz has not been produced by The Park but by the director John Savourin of operatic company Charles Court. When I go to the Park's lovely venue, I am now struck by the aphorism, "The triumph of hope over experience."

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Do I Hear a Waltz?
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Arthur Laurents
Based on the play The Time of the Cuckoo by Arthur Laurents
By arrangements with R&H Theatricals Europe
Directed by John Savourin

With: Rebecca Seale, Rosie Strobe, Matthew Kellett, Robecca Moon, Bruce Graham, Victoria Ward, Carolina Gregory, Will Haswell, Arcadio Fernandez, Philip Lee, Theo Coleridge/Ernesto Xhema
Designed by Louie Whitemore
Choreographer: Damien Czarnecki
Sound: Theo Holloway
Lighting: Nic Holdridge
Musical Director: David Eaton
Running time: Two hours 30 minutes with an interval
Box Office: 020 7870 6876
Website: www.parktheatre.co.uk
Booking to 30th March 2014
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 6th March 2014 performance at the Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London N4 3JP (Tube: Finsbury Park)

Musical Numbers
Act One
  • Overture
  • Someone Woke Up
  • This Week Americans
  • What Do We Do? We Fly!
  • Someone Like You
  • Bargaining
  • Here We Are Again
  • Thinking
  • No Understand
  • Take The Moment
Act Two
  • Moon In My Window
  • We're Gonna Be Alright
  • Do I Hear A Waltz?
  • Stay
  • Perfectly Lovely Couple
  • Thank You So Much
  • Finale - Company

  • These songs may also be included but no list was in the programme "Perhaps", "Two by Two", "Philadelphia", and "Everybody Loves Leona"
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