Theatre Trip: Preludes

PRELUDES

Southwark Playhouse

Date: 9 September (Monday), 7:30pm

Seats: The Large, Row C10

(Seen solo!)

Notes: Another solo show, which I had booked purely on an ad in the bathroom from my trip to Once on this Island, and back at the Southwark Playhouse! This time the staging was arranged in one corner with only two banks of seating. This time I picked row C after being a bit too close to audience interaction at Once on this Island, and it was just about the perfect spot.

Dave Malloy is the composer of this show and I must admit that that was a drawcard for me - not because I had experienced any of his works, but precisely because I hadn't! I had heard a lot about him, primarily about his work Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (a smash hit in NY in the last few years), and also through my theatre podcasts where they always say amazing things about him. So, given I knew it was by a composer I wanted to experience, and featuring music by a classical composer I really admire, I was sold.

I did a little reading before I arrived at the theatre, brushing up on the life of Rachmaninoff (although I already knew a little about it) and listening to my favorite of his pieces, the Piano Concerto #2. I was in the orchestra playing this years ago, when I was much younger (I must have been 14 or 15?) and it really stuck with me at the time. Ever since then, I come back to it every few months. I have distinct memories of feelings I had while playing it, and the emotions I felt during that time. I do for a few of the pieces I was a part of, but I don't usually have the chance to experience them again in this way.

The music in this show is amazing. The musical numbers fall roughly into 3 categories: pure extracts from classical works, songs inspired and influenced by particular compositions, and original songs. The classical works are mostly Rachmaninoff, but also feature Beethoven, and the mixed numbers really blended them well. The totally original numbers were more unusual, and if I had to choose favourites, it wouldn't be them, but I definitely could see how they fit the story and the moments they were placed in. This combination was clearly not for everyone, because the man next to me wasn't the only one who left during interval.

I did find the opening to Act Two particularly hard to move past, with its crazy strobe lighting and electronica music, but it works in context. With so much variety within one show of musical genres, it could be hard to understand.

In terms of the plot, it takes place during the 3 years of Rachmaninoff's depression - three years in which he barely wrote anything and completely lost his motivation. He ended up seeing a hypnotherapist, and the show take place during these sessions, with flashbacks to the past and hallucinations. In particular, it was interesting because there were really two of him on stage. He never played the piano himself, but there was an alternate version of him that did all the piano playing (and yes, almost entirely real and live, which is a feat in itself) and he often spoke to characters on stage, but who weren't technically in the moment that was being portrayed.

There weren't a huge number of actors - they covered the biggest people in the life of Rachmaninoff. Dahl (Rebecca Caine), his hypnotherapist, was a fully trained opera singer and was really good, as was Natalya (Georgia Louise), Rachmaninoff's cousin and his future wife. The Master (Steven Serlin) was a more fluid character who played a few roles, but Chaliapin (Norton James) was really good as Rachmaninoff's best friend. Then there's the two leads - Tom Noyes played Rachmaninoff, the version of him who was stable and rational and did the piano playing. Keith Ramsay was Rach, the modern version in therapy - he was really good and captured the vibe so well! It was an amazing cast overall with no particular stand out members in a really solid ensemble.

Actually, in the end, I think I may have been the exact target audience of the show. With my love for musical theatre, my appreciation and background in classical music, and in particular my prior experience of Rachmaninoff and the Piano Concerto #2, I think I am right in the centre of the Venn diagram of potential audience members. As it stands, I'm currently trying to work out a way to get myself back to see this again before it closes next month, but unfortunately it is a busy month with guests coming and other things on. I will try and make it work, because my honest and genuine first thought on coming out of the theatre was: I NEED to see this again.