Arthur Hull’s Fringe show runs just over an hour and begins with an enticing concept: a selection of great songs from unsuccessful shows. Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along certainly fits the bill, although its reputation has been transformed and it is now widely admired as one of his finest shows. Other choices, however, stretch the definition of a flop. Cats was hardly a commercial failure, while Babes in Arms, which introduced “My Funny Valentine”, ran for 289 Broadway performances, definitely a success by 1930s standards. King Kong, Moby Dick and Carrie more clearly meet the brief, but none produces the promised undiscovered masterpiece. Instead, the concept increasingly feels less like great songs from bad shows and more like bad songs from bad shows. There is nevertheless plenty of fun to be squeezed from these questionable choices, and Hull proves an engaging performer. The problem comes when the jokes and satire give way to supposedly serious moments. The shift in tone is awkward, and it is sometimes difficult to tell whether Hull is genuinely playing a moment straight or subtly parodying it. His rendition of “My Funny Valentine” seems intended as sincere, but the context and polish of the performance make the emotion feel inauthentic. Indeed, there is such self-consciousness surrounding the serious moments that they can seem emotionally manipulative rather than genuinely moving. Practice may make perfect, but something that is over-practised can also come across as emotionally hollow. The one moment that escapes this difficulty is the finale, “I Still Call Australia Home.” Peter Allen’s song was not originally written for a musical, although it was later incorporated into The Boy from Oz. Here, its simplicity is by far the most affecting part of the evening. Ultimately, Hull is at his most entertaining when he embraces the eccentricity and excess of the theatrical turkeys. When the laughter stops and the performance asks us to feel, its studied nature becomes a problem. The result is an entertaining but uneven hour in which the premise proves increasingly elastic and the parody proves considerably more persuasive than the pathos.
Rated: ★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Jasper Wood
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