I Love Paris in the Springtime: A review of the new musical Marguerite
Rarely does the West End play host to a new show from such a startling pedigree as the creators of Les Misérables. We couldn't then, in good conscience, allow Marguerite to pass us by without sending one of our eager young writers down to see what they made of this latest offering.
Alain Boubil and Claude-Michel Schönberg may not exactly be household names but their work is amongst the most revered in the West End. Perilous love stories set against crushing political backdrops, their style can be seen throughout hits like Miss Saigon and of course Les Misérables.
Marguerite doesn't stray far from this format, focussing as it does on a torrid love triangle set in Occupied Paris during the Second World War. With the prospect of a new show from great theatrical stock and a score by the peerless Michel Legrand, we set off to the Royal Haymarket last night in somewhat buoyant spirits.
The rather quaint Victorian auditorium at the Royal Haymarket is undeniably charming. Neoclassical scenes dart up high around the intimate playhouse and every glittery edge thrusts towards the huge gilt proscenium (the very first in the world or so I'm told). As we are shown to our seats a huge image of the protagonist's face is projected onto the Teaser curtain. As we wait for the seats around us to fill (which they easily do) the image starts blinking... creepy.
As the show opens we see a shadowy and violent scene played out behind a fine gauze. A gobo projects storm clouds to whistle over the curtain and further obscure our understanding of the scene. A woman, barely dressed, is being beaten and mocked by an angry mob, the true significance of which we will only become aware of later. Quick as a flash we find ourselves in an opulent French house amongst a twittering of self-important aristocrats. It's Marguerite's 40th birthday and the former chanteuse is laying on a lavish party for her wealthy friends. If this is "Occupied" Paris, it certainly doesn't seem too shabby. The company strike up with Come One Come All and we hear lines like "life goes on exactly as before" and "war is for other people". The frivolity and decadence of this number is gradually undercut however. References to rationing, petrol coupons and the sanctity of a few silk stockings remind us that, despite what these partygoers say, everything is not exactly peachy.
This is where we first get a chance to meet the protagonists. Against the muted colours of the party, Marguerite (Ruthie Henshall) sizzles in her flowing crimson dress. Her man Otto (Alexander Hanson), the Nazi General, is clipped and tightly wound and Armand (Julian Ovenden), the young jazz pianist with ties to the Resistance, is bright and enthusiastic and puts me in mind of a young John Barrowman.
The disjointed party is rudely interrupted by the RAF as bombs begin to rain down on the Occupied city. As the revellers descend into the shelter, Marguerite and Armand prefer to stick it out in the ballroom. The intensity and intimacy of their conversation blossoms until, suddenly, the whistle and crack of a bomb hits the front of the house and the huge glass French doors are blown through. Amidst the smoke, the danger and the shattered glass Armand and Marguerite share their first passionate embrace over the white piano wheeled upstage-left.
From here the love triangle inevitably takes shape. Marguerite clearly uses Otto because of his power and connections whilst her heart, increasingly, belongs to the younger jazz musician. As the plot unfolds it was Otto's character that really grabbed my attention the most. Tormented and driven by his love for Marguerite, Otto is a finely realised character that commands a sense of pity that is unusual for a Nazi officer. As much as he torments and wastes France and its people, he is tormented and wasted by his desire for Marguerite.
The horrors of the Nazi regime intensify as the French Jews are forced to wear the yellow star. Members of the jazz band are further embroiled in the activities of the Resistance and Armand's proximity to Marguerite and her General begin to put everyone's life in danger.
Marguerite is a very successful and accomplished piece of musical theatre. The set and orchestration is often fantastic though could be a little more diverse. For example, when a scene in the second half, set in a fairly debauched Paris bar, blasts in it's like a cool breath of fresh air. The palette shifts from cool blues to uneasy greens and jazzy clarinets and oboes swoon in to give the place a real swinging feel. An older lady in the company comes on decked in a vivid green dress. Glittery, defiant and vibrant, she invokes the period's fascination with Absinthe. The scene almost definitely steels the second half of the show as crazy, masked revellers writhe and dance to the hot drink-soaked jazz.
Though Marguerite may not be as immediate and successful as Les Misérables, it is certainly a very clever and thought provoking piece. Occupied Paris is not a genre we tend to know much about, much less the interplay between the Nazi occupiers and the French nationals. Ruthie Henshall is very strong as the 40s siren with a very wide, very French vibrato. Julian Ovenden is also strong and seems to pass between acting, singing and playing the piano with considerable aplomb. Probably the most interesting and confrontational character is Otto however, delicately drawn and morally repugnant, he is a finely represented warning as to the depths of unhealthy human desire.
Marguerite is a new musical that is bustling with class and sophistication. Intense, new and challenging, it runs at the Haymarket until November and is not to be missed.
Published by: Nathan Brooker
