The Charing Cross Theatre’s new production of musical Zorro is an over-directed mishmash that comes across as strangely lacking in self-confidence.
7 April 2022
One of the attractions of musicals built around the back catalogues of successful bands is that you can be pretty much guaranteed there will not be a duff song in the show. I am tempted to think that if this musicalized tale of a fictional Los Angeles outlaw had managed to find more than three Gypsy Kings songs to licence, then the result might have been marginally more satisfactory.
Unfortunately, it is not just that most of the non-Gypsy Kings songs that pad out this over-wrought production are instantly forgettable. Not much else in the musical works either.
Director Christian Durham and Set Designer Rosa Maggiora have worked way too hard to make the design of the Charing Cross Theatre, where two banks of seats face each other overlooking a central performance area, suit the dynamics of this particular show. It is almost as if they felt the need to over-compensate for the obvious logistical challenges by over-stuffing the show with frantic action, a choice that communicates a curious lack of confidence in their own vision.
There are other problems. Audience sightlines to the sets, which sit on either side of the stage area (and look more like a scruffy 1980s LA motel than an 1850s pueblo) are poor and there are too many members of the ensemble to fit the stage area comfortably. Sometimes the cast looked unsure which way they should be playing or where they should be. There was an annoying whining reverb from the actors’ microphones throughout the whole show.
The job of the cast is not made easier by the sheer amount of frenetic action they are asked to undertake – swordfights; endless running up and down stairs for no observable reason; rushing in and out of saloon doors seemingly just because they are built into the set; and action that shifts pointlessly from the stage the rear of the audience seating. No wonder the entire troupe, hard-working to a man, was visibly sweating by the end of the first half and practically shattered by play’s close. I was breathless just watching and sometimes found it difficult to follow what was going on.
The book by Stephen Clark has more than a few good jokes, but the direction is so frenzied the cast did not have a chance the make them work and they often fell flat.
The comic character Sargent Garcia, played by Mark Pickering (channelling Manuel from Fawlty Towers) is charming enough. Alex Gibson-Giorgio who plays baddy, Ramon, looks as if he has wondered in from the set of Les Mis, but has sufficient steamy good looks to bring life to the role. The role of Zorro, champion of the LA downtrodden, is played by Benjamin Purkiss. The man can certainly sing and act but has about as much smouldering Latin charm as an accountant from Cheltenham.
At times I felt the show risked verging into a caricature version of what a musical is supposed to be. My experience is that self-parody is the kiss of death for West End musical audiences, who can sometimes be quite traditionalist in their expectations. The evening I attended the audience did not rouse itself to clap several of the songs, which is generally a bad sign. Perhaps director Christian Durham might reflect on whether ‘less is more’ in a bit of judicious reworking for the remainder of the show’s run.
Cast
Diego Benjamin Purkiss
Louisa Jessica Pardoe
Ramon Alex Gibson-Giorgio
Ines Jessica Lim
Director Christian Durham
Choreographer Cressida Carré
Book & Lyrics Stephen Clark
Presented by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and John Gertz in association with Zorro USA, LLC with Bonnie Comley & Stewart F Lane and Linda Bernardi.
Full Disclosure: I paid full box-office price for the ticket.
