|
Forthwrite Productions Hetty Feinstein’s Wedding Anniversary
Books, Music and Lyrics by Chris Burgess
Directed by Stewart Nichols
New End Theatre
14 October – 6 December 2009
A review by James Fritz for EXTRA! EXTRA!
Hetty and Harry Feinstein, a middle aged Jewish couple living in 1977 Brooklyn, have been married for thirty years. Hetty decides this is the perfect opportunity for a party but the more reserved Harry seems unsure. The resulting argument serves as a device through which husband and wife take turns to look back on the ups and downs of their relationship. Hardly groundbreaking stuff, then, but when a show comes packaged with as much wit and feeling as Chris Burgess’ ‘new Jewish musical’ it becomes very easy to forgive cliché and be swept along for the ride. This is a musical with a big heart and an even bigger mouth. Burgess (ironically not Jewish himself) skilfully pays homage to the famous New York Jewish wit of Neil Simon and Jackie Mason, and it is not too gracious a compliment to say that there are lines in Hetty Feinstein… that would sit comfortably alongside the best of his heroes. The script is laced with crackling comebacks and double entendre – ‘I don’t know what got into me’ Hetty smirks just after losing her virginity - as the two principles entertainingly bicker and ‘kvetch’ at each other over the course of thirty years. Yet there is also a tenderness here that is largely warm and sincere as the story dares to take us back to not only the comic moments in the Feinstein’s marriage, but also the brutally tragic. The feeling remains, however, that Burgess’ script could potentially fall flat without a cast with the strength to carry it off, and thankfully here he is wonderfully blessed. David Burt, in the double role of the browbeaten Harry and his roguish twin Ben, is thoroughly entertaining, pulling a Clark Kent to effortlessly switch between characters who, between them, are tasked with some of the show’s darker moments. But it is to Sue Kelvin as the titular Hetty that the show truly belongs. Kelvin – a West End veteran well known as Mama Morton in Chicago – embodies every inch of the wisecracking, soul-searching Jewish matron, masterfully using her impeccable comic timing and powerful voice to give a performance that is not only hilarious, but at times heartbreakingly real. The two performers effortlessly bounce off each other, maintaining a chemistry that rings true from their very first date to the uplifting, sing-a-long climax of the anniversary party. It is no easy feat to carry a musical two-hander for the best part of two hours, but Burt and Kelvin are exceptional. The show is not perfect. The score, also written by Burgess, is at times mildly repetitive, a couple of ‘comedy’ dance numbers largely miss the target and there is a tendency to revert a little too often - as the Feinstein’s would say – to schmaltz. However all in all Hetty Feinstein’s Wedding Anniversary provides a thoroughly accomplished and wonderfully uplifting evening’s entertainment. Mazel tov!
Box Office: 0870 033 2733 Ticket Prices: £22.50/£19 New End Theatre
Copyright © EXTRA! EXTRA All rights reserved
|
