Something Something Lazarus
King’s Head Theatre
16th March 2016
4 Stars
Book Now
Something Something Lazarus is a new musical that runs for approx. 80 minutes in one act currently playing at the King’s Head Theatre, and what an act it is!
At the Midnight Sun cabaret, Daisy and Vee are busy rehearsing for the opening of a new show that night. Tensions are fraught, and everything is about to into crisis. Daniel, owner of the Midnight Sun, is about to undergo a breakdown.
To say more than this would be to provide huge spoilers. Something Something Lazarus is something unusual, something unique, and bodes well for the future of musical theatre in the UK.
Something Something Lazarus has book and lyrics by John Myatt and music by Simon Arrowsmith. The programme notes go into detail about the development of the piece, which apparently started as something that had a few too many similarities to Stephen King’s Carrie. You wouldn’t know that now. The show expands the boundaries or musical theatre, and is not afraid to take some size-able risks with form.
The writers use a similar technique to Maury Yeston in Grand Hotel. In that show, the Baron’s life flashes by him mid-song as a bullet hurtles towards him. So it is with Something Something Lazarus, but in a far more expansive way.
The tight ensemble of four drive this show and are strangely compelling. Daisy Amphlett (who is also musical director) and Valerie Cutko play the performers in this bizarre cabaret. Ralph Bogard plays Daniel the owner, with Daniel Cech-Lucas playing Daniel’s boyfriend Jay. None of them comes across as particularly normal. Ego’s abound and sense is thrown to the wind. It all comes down to a precious 8 seconds, and what an 8 seconds they end up being! I certainly have to hand it to Daniel Cech-Lucas, who as ring-master in the latter half of the show, holds the concept of the show together with a firm grasp.
Interestingly, you can take the physical show as is, but if you want to get more out of the show, there are subtle clues and pointers placed throughout the performance, that provide copious amounts of further character development and go about enticing you further into the world of the Midnight Sun and an insight into Jay, who early on seems to be the catalyst for what comes ahead thanks to a knife. Associations with real-life characters like Harry Clayton-Wright, give characters like Jay a lot more mileage, through that we get a bigger understanding of the piece and just who these characters are.
Musically, there are some musical gems on display here. Cathedral, Alive and Promises Apologies particularly caught my interest. In Something Something Lazarus, songs don’t progress the plot as such but they do open up the characters in interesting ways.
At a time when we need to be developing new musical theatre talent in the UK, it’s encouraging to see work such as this. I’m very much hoping that there will be more and would like to see what could be done with a higher production budget.
Something Something Lazarus runs at the King’s Head until 2 April 2016. Book Now!
