Stiletto
Lyrics and music by Matthew Wilder
Book by Tim Luscombe
Directed by David Gilmore
Charing Cross Theatre until 15 June
Star rating: 2
A new musical about the horrors of 18th century castration of young boys is unlikely fare for a warmish Monday night but it’s a good way of testing one’s open mindedness.
Ceci Calf’s shadowy set really encapsulates the murky atmosphere of Venice in the 1730s and converts neatly enough to a noble salon with the wheeling on of chandeliers. The orchestra (MD Jae Alexander) seated on a balcony above are partly visible through two big arched windows and that works very well, especially for the harp.
Then comes the creaky plot. Marco (Jack Chambers) has been “sold” to the Church by his impoverished parents for castration at the age of eight to preserve his treble voice. This was common practice involving around 5000 boys a year so that the church could furnish its choirs with adult sopranos at a time when girls and women were not allowed to perform. A handful of these boys acquired star status and that is the future envisaged for Marco.
The narrative, however is shot through with complicating issues such as Marco’s apparently pretty active bisexuality – yes, some men can enjoy sex even after full orchidectomy although it is usually low key. Marco’s enthusiasm doesn’t quite ring true although his anger is understandable. Also in the mix is the frustration of talented women such as Gioia (Jewelle Hutchinson – third time I’ve seem her in action and she’s good) who want to perform and aren’t allowed to. Then, just to complicate things further Gioia is black and therefore completely beyond the pale as far as the nobility are concerned. And there’s a sub plot involving Marco’s companion Nicolo, who has what would now be called post-traumatic mutism, which is never fully developed. On top of that is a another subplot about an innocent woman who’s about to be hanged for murder – although we all know she won’t be. There’s far too much going on in this show.
Max Wilder’s dialogue seems forced and unnatural especially in the first half in which there’s a lot of declamatory shouting. I like, the way, however that it drops into rhyme and then, almost imperceptibly into song. The music, however, is a problem although it’s beautifully played. It’s good enough in its way but we’ve heard most of this score before. It comes with many echoes of Oliver!, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Hamilton and Jesus Christ Superstar to name but a few. That, of course, is the very reason why this show might just catch on – some audience members will enjoy the sound of something which sounds comfortably familiar. Best to try, however, not to hear lyrics such as “Shaken as you were, like a kitten you did purr” although you’ll be hard put to miss them because the diction is unusually clear.
Greg Barnett puts in a good performance as Faustino, Marco’s promoter and soon-to-be-ex lover. And Kelly Hampson is pleasing as Azzura who spots Marco, wants to support Gioia and stands up to her own appalling husband Pietro (Douglas Hensell – strong)
There’s a large ensemble in this show and a great deal of walking on and off as in an amateur G&S production although each individual does a reasonable job and there are some quite nice choreographic groupings.
The trouble with a show about someone who is supposed to have exceptional talent is that somehow you have to present that talent convincingly. Stiletto uses a female mezzo double for Marco and, as a device, it falls disappointingly flat because he sings in a perfectly decent but standard tenor voice at other times. Surely they could have cast a male actor who could have done this in showpiece falsetto? After all Sasha Regan finds plenty of them for her productions of, say, The Pirates of Penzance or HMS Pinafore.
