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Review
SIDE MAN
By Lizzie Loveridge
U.S. reviews of Side Man and an interview with the playwrightIts Off-Broadway Debut
Its move to the Roundabout further uptown
Its transfer to Broadway with Christian Slater
CurtainUp interviews Warren Leight
The Tony award winning Side Man has come to London in an Equity agreed swap which takes Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing to Broadway later this year. Warren Leight's refreshing play is a study of the disintegration of a marriage because of the diminishing employment prospects and lifestyle of a jazzman, a trumpet player, ranging from the nineteen fifties to the mid eighties. The play has already been reviewed by Curtain Up on each of its three American outings, ( see links above) so I shall concentrate on the British response.
The cast are largely those who have won acclaim in New York, including the return of the terrific Edie Falco who is funny and tragic as Terry, the mother who turns to alcohol to console her for the loss of romance in her marriage. She spans the range of naïve girl from Baltimore to embattled wife on the edge of a complete breakdown, flinging plates at the men in her family.
New to the cast is Jason Priestley as Clifford, the narrator and the son who tenderly cares for a mother who is unhinged by booze. Priestley seemed to start tentatively but loped into his stride when he plays Clifford at age ten years. From then on he seemed to grow in confidence.
Frank Wood' is memorable and poignant as Gene, Clifford's father, the disappointed trumpet player who knows that, good as he is, he will never rival the great Clifford Brown. A happy marriage with this detached musician is as unlikely as her dream of meeting Frank Sinatra.
Time was not on the side of the jazzmen. Changing public taste made them forgotten men, but the characters of Gene and his jazz cronies will stay with me as will that of Patsy, the waitress who seems to marry most of them in turn without ever considering marrying a non musician. Talk about repeating one's past patterns!
The Apollo is a traditional West End theatre, the sight lines are not perfect and at times I longed to see Leight's play in the intimacy of a studio type space but economic considerations weigh heavily on theatre as they do on the sidemen of the play. These ancillary musicians may not have superannuated pensions but from memory, they tell wonderful stories that will make you laugh and cry and they make music to die for.
I had hoped for live jazz rather than somewhat muted recordings. However, Side Man is a well crafted play which Londoners are fortunate to be able to see with an all-American cast, so for once the Brits cannot grouch about flaws in the accents. You may to have listen carefully until your ear can adjust to the New York voices but the language is not difficult and the performances of the four jazz men have been honed to crisp perfection by director Michael Mayer. I can understand how excited my editor must have been to have seen this play in its first venue in 1998 and to follow it all the way to the Tony awards and the Pulitzer final.
Editor's Postscript. Apparently Lizzie was not the only one expecting live jazz as part of this play. There was no live music in New York so this is not a case of attrition as part of the journey abroad. In fact, a cast of seven was at least two more than is allotted these days to a new play. Perhaps one of these, there'll be a movie -- with a real big band accompanying the story.
| Side Man
Written by Warren Leight Directed by Michael Mayer Starring: Frank Wood, Edie Falco, Jason Priestley With: Jeff Binder, Kevin Geer, Michael Mastro, Angelica Torn. Set Design: Neil Patel Lighting Design: Kenneth Posner Costume Design: Tom Broecker Sound Design: Scott Myers Running time 2 hours and twenty minutes with an interval Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 28th February 2000 performance The Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1V 7HD, Box Office 0207 494 5070 Booking to 22nd April 2000 Mon-Fri 8pm, mats Wed 3pm, Sat 5pm and 8.30pm |