A woke take on Twiggy, what's not to like?
Another Ben Elton (Writer and Director) musical mash-up, choosing popular or relevant and timely songs from Twiggy’s life (actually, from her parent’s marriage) until, broadly, her Royal Variety Performance of her Broadway Gershwin extravaganza in the 1980s.
Elena Skye doesn’t look like her that closely, and she sings with a stronger and truer voice, but when she is acting she is convincing as Twiggy, at least in her responses to the people in her life. Steven Serlin and Hannah-Jane Fox are excellent as her parents (and Serlin offers masterful interpretations inter alia of Melvin Bragg, David Frost and Woody Allen), Matt Corner is a frightening oily Justin de Villeneuve. The first half, covering her early life and discovery, is probably stronger musically (lots of No 1s), the second half more dramatic.
The music illustrates, rather than moving the action on. Most is played pretty straight, but with one set of lyrics very amusingly re-written (and amusingly performed for that matter).
The supporting cast and chorus line (doubling madly) is generally strong and accomplished, although some of the wigs are scary (but pictures of the real character being acted show that he wore some scary wigs in real life, so maybe this was verité here) and drunk scenes are somewhat telephoned in.
Elton (with use of Chorus figures; Twiggy’s childhood ‘best friends’) manages to reinterpret her life into modern parlance, such that de Villeneuve’s (25) seduction of Twiggy at 15 is told as we now recognise it is, and his lies and fantasy are called out. In that, a knowing Twiggy recognises the ‘modern’ truths of her life also.
Also interesting is his Elton’s focus on class as the key determinant of the 1960s.
The Menier is set as a standard pros arch stage and the set is simple, but with good back projection. As usual the orchestra is strong.
It’s clear Elton is hoping for a transfer, and that’s not implausible. Certainly worth seeing at the Menier.