Samuel Clifford, Teddy Hinde, Renan Teodoro, Marisha Morgan, Jensen Tudtud, Jordan Broatch, Nathan Taylor, Kathryn Akin, Shane Convery, and Hana Ichijo, in Anyone Can Whistle at Southwark Playhouse. Photo Danny With A Camera.The original show marked Angela Lansbury’s New York debut as Cora Hoover Hooper the town’s scheming corrupt mayoress, alongside Lee Remick as the caring and staunchly idealistic Fay Apple (head nurse at the aforementioned asylum known affectionately as The Cookie Jar), but after just 12 previews and 9 performances — which elicited a raft of scathing reviews from the New York critics of the day — the show closed, losing most of its $350,000 production costs.
Fast forward 59 years and despite only very rare intervening revivals, the creative team at Southwark Playhouse (with Guildford graduate Georgie Rankcom at the directorial helm for this gender-fluid production) has resurrected the piece for a short run — just in time for Easter! But the burning question on Press Night was whether or not the cult 60s show would need a miracle to find a new, modern fan base, OR, have the subjects of political corruption, sexual identity and mental wellbeing potentially given the fundamentally flawed piece new meaning for a young and previously unfamiliar audience? This reviewer’s answer would be that it will almost certainly depend entirely on who you are, how you identify (if indeed you bother with such matters), whether corruption in public office bothers you (why wouldn’t it?) and probably most significantly of all, whether you consider yourself a Sondheim purist/aficionado/devotee.
Channeling Lansbury in the lead role, Alex Young amiably demonstrated some superb comedy timing and held the stage — albeit a catwalk stage which divides the two halves of the raked audience — against the general tendency of the ensemble to overplay their supporting parts. Meanwhile, Christine Symone as Nurse Fay Apple had the best notes but will need to develop her stage acting skills, whilst Jordan Broatch (as the well-meaning-but-fraudulent psychotherapist Hapgood) did little more than channel his inner Timothee Chalomet-esque androgyny to win over most audience members. Both were possessing of a beautiful singing tone and vibratos.
As for the production, it’s corny, kitsch, camp and not especially subtle or sophisticated, but there is energy in spades and it represents a decidedly new take on a piece which by rights should have disappeared without trace long ago. “Everybody Says Don’t”, “There Won’t Be Trumpets” and the heart-tugging title song have ensured that “Anyone Can Whistle” makes occasional if rare reappearances, and this reviewer can’t help but raise a nostalgic smile on each and every occasion.
Nathan Taylor, Shane Convery, Kathryn Akin, Hana Ichijo, Teddy Hinde, Alex Young, Samuel Clifford, Marisha Morgan, and Jensen Tudtud, in Anyone Can Whistle at Southwark Playhouse. Photo Danny With a Camera.
