Gone With the Wind

Darius Danesh and Jill Paice/Nicos Vinieratos, Rex

Gone with the Wind swept onto the stage with high hopes of taking the West End by storm. With the dashing Darius Danesh as the handsome hero, a gorgeous leading lady on his arm and a huge supporting cast, all directed by the illustrious Trevor Nunn, it should have had a head start.

At first, there was a flurry of advance bookings - but the star-spangled flag which flaps so jauntily on the publicity posters is now flying at half mast.
The reason? a fierce savaging by the critics who whipped up a frenzy of wind-related metaphors to voice their chorus of disapproval.
To make things worse, Jill Paice, playing the lead role of Scarlett O’Hara, came down with a sore throat just after opening night, temporarily requiring understudy Savannah Stevenson to step into her dainty shoes at short notice.
With a marathon running time of three hours 45 minutes, “long-winded”  has been top of the list of criticisms of this musical re-working of the American classic. 
The Pulitzer prize winning novel by Margaret Mitchell is of course, a weighty tome, but can be read at leisure: the movie was long too, but managed to carry it off due to the strength of its plotline and performances. The musical version simply doesn’t have the weight to support the length.

The plot follows the fortunes of feisty Southern belle Scarlett  through the American civil war, charting her on-off affair with the rugged Rhett Butler. Clark Gable starred opposite Vivien Leigh in the 1939 movie - a hard double act to follow.
Jill Paice has a strong voice and looks lovely, but is a little too sweet to portray such a vicious vixen, while ex Pop Idol Darius might not seem man enough for the meaty role of Rhett.
Actually, he’s not that bad, and his performance is one of the few things which  earned some praise from the critics. To his credit, he’s matured into more than a one hit wonder. Growing away from his pop background over the past couple of years, Darius has branched out into musicals like Chicago and Guys and Dolls and can belt out a tune like a trouper.  
Captain Butler is no gentleman, as he acknowledges, pointing out to the capricious Scarlett that she is no lady – so the couple seem made for each other.
But Scarlett is blinded by her crush on golden boy Ashley Wilkes (Edward Baker-Duly – otherwise known as Joe Fisher in Emmerdale and sports master Mr Malachay from Grange Hill) – whose marriage to the safe and saintly Melanie (Madeleine Worrall) makes him out of bounds.
As the love-hate relationship between Scarlett and Rhett plays out against an equally stormy backdrop, there are some humorous touches along the way.  At times the dialogue crackles with witticisms and one-liners worthy of Oscar Wilde.
When one self-righteous woman denounces the renegade Rhett  as “a viper in our bosom”, he laughingly retorts that he could find more ample refuge elsewhere.
While wooing Scarlett  he impatiently insists: “I can’t wait all my life to catch you between husbands.”
And his legendary parting shot: “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” is delivered with enough panache to merit a round of applause. 

The script  is faithful to the original book – perhaps a little too faithful in places, as writer and lyricist Margaret Martin tries to cram in all the key scenes from the Pulitzer prize-winning novel and sometimes risks overloading her script with historic detail.
The result is an over-long second half which sometimes loses momentum. It could certainly do without the death bed singing scene. Bursting into song with your final breath might work in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, but not here. 

There are a number of deaths along the way and some are handled more effectively than others.
Still, it’s not all gloom and doom, there are plenty of  lighter moments, plus a few toe-tapping tunes as well as more poignant passages. One Gospel style number, Wings of a Dove, stands out above the rest. 
The signature tune should, by rights, be the one entitled Gone With the Wind, but this, like much of the score, is just not memorable enough. 
Costume designer Andreane Neofitou rustles up a rich seam of colourful crinolines, including a witty little number for Scarlett, who, when times are hard, has to supplement her wardrobe with a pair of curtains … (pull yourself together woman! there’s a war on!)
The imaginative set design serves well to take the story through its changing moods. There was one slight technical problem (put it down to teething problems during the preview) which was hastily fixed and taken in good part by the audience.
If only the rest could be so easily fixed, with a few cuts, changes and just one song good enough to get the audience humming the tune on the way out.
For now, the show goes on, although, like its fiery heroine, it’s far from perfect,  as the critics have been at pains to point out.
So will the bad reviews kill off this musical, or will it find a willing audience regardless?
At least there's a cult fan base and a market for all those tee shirts with slogans like “Fiddle-de-dee” and “I don’t give a damn!” 
As the winds of change sweep the past aside, Scarlett  is a survivor, living to fight “another day”. 
Only time will tell whether this show has the fighting spirit to survive the storm of protest  provoked by its debut.

Angela Lord

Gone with the Wind, New London Theatre, Drury Lane, London, WC2B 5PW
OpenTickets Special: Get the best available seats for just £30. Offer valid for weekday performances, until May 31st. Click here for details:

 

Rating

• add to del.icio.us
• digg this article!