I’m Almost There ★★★★
New York writer, musician and performer Todd Almond (Gossip Girl, Law and Order:Special Victims Unit, Girl From the North Country) has chosen the Edinburgh Fringe for the world premiere of his new show, I’m Almost There.
Brought to Summerhall by the producers of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, Francesca Moody and Audible, I was expecting an enjoyable, quirky hour of fun and I was not disappointed
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Todd Almond is our troubadour, telling his humorous love saga in music and song. The Gods are playing chess with the destinies of men and a moody, scatterbrained Todd is sleepwalking through life whilst a simple pawn in their game.
After meeting Mr.Right, appropriately just named Guy, at a bougie TriBeCa penthouse brunch party, Todd and Guy quickly escape to grab a coffee. Enthralled by each others company, they spend the day walking and talking, sharing coincidences and amusing anecdotes. Although everything seems to be going perfectly well, the evening finishes on an awkward note and Todd is devastated when he finds himself going home alone
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The rest of the show follows the physical and mental Odyssey Todd takes to find his way back to Guy. It is played out in a New York apartment building where time and space are frozen, and Todd’s romantic fate is constantly being thwarted by the distractions of neighbours (real or imagined), disturbing childhood memories, a religious cult, and a talking cat.
With just a hint of Stephen Sondheim, Todd’s comforting baritone voice is accompanied by his elegant piano playing throughout. He shares the stage with Erin Hill (harp and eerie vocals) and Luke McCrossan (sexy bass guitar) who take on the rôles of siren and cyclops-like characters respectively.
The songs are well written and memorable and for someone like me who is not normally a fan of musical theatre I found them unusually compelling.
The spine tingling “Almost Half Way There,” is the highlight of the show but Mr. Almond gives us no time to catch our breath or applaud his virtuoso performance as he immediately cuts to a joke. The story continues merrily to its rather abrupt ending, and I left wanting more and wanting to hear more songs like this one.
Summerhall Main Hall
Until August 26th
Daily at 2.45pm
Robert Malcolm is an Interior Designer who relocated from London to his home town of Edinburgh in 2019. Under the pen name of Bobby Burns he had his first novel, a gay erotic thriller called Bone Island published by Homofactus Press in 2011.
