By Ollie Wilson
This is an excellent and entertaining musical based around the dwindling years of Bette Davies when the fading film star accepted a role in the 1975 movie Burnt Offerings, co-starring with Karen Black and hellraiser Oliver Reed.
The supernatural story puzzled me a tad at times but the performances of the five-strong cast were all extremely good and the music very enjoyable. Davies has a torrid time in particular with Reed who is vile on set, in the story. This I can relate to, having physically wrestled with a very drunken Oliver Reed at a showbiz event in the early 1990s! Reed was a strong guy! And I liked the way he was played on stage in this production.
Artistic director John P. McEneny, who wrote the book, and composer and lyric-writer Rob Parker can feel very proud of what has been achieved here.
There were some great tunes and great lines such as 'artists don't retire, it's not a job!' or the gay guy saying to Bette: 'You weren't just entertainment, you were permission!'
It was a shame only 17 people were in the audience. This show deserves a bigger crowd!
Star rating: *****
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feedback welcome.