The Pleasure Garden ☆☆☆☆
Above The Stag Theatre, London 

If you were thirsty for a better musical after this week’s release on Amazon Prime of the one dimensional and utterly forgettable Everybody is Talking About Jamie then fear not, to the rescue comes The Pleasure Gardens,  which is fruity, spirited, and welcome as a bowl of punch.

While it styles itself as a Vauxhall Musical with generous nods to the diverse history of the area and the changes and gentrification that it has undergone this musical only uses its locality as a launchpad. Within minutes it’s plain that its ambition and sparkling delivery will far outstrip both the size of the neighborhood, the stage, and the cast. This musical, written by Glenn Chandler, directed by Fenton Gray, and with music by Charles Miller, has real juice. 

Set in the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens of the Victorian era, our hero Tom Restless (the charming Sam Baumal) is the innocent gardener who draws both men and women to him like flies to a budding rose. HIs introductory song styles himself as The Loveliest Blossom on the Bough and somehow, through deft words and tuneful optimism he gets away with saying it without losing humility or credibility. His heart is sought by shipping clerk and part-time poet Ralph Pottinger (Jay Worley). His other assets are chased by the predatory aristocrat Lord Roger Lovelock (Rory-Charlie Campbell whose arched eyebrows deserved their own encore) and, for reasons of pure sport and marital desperation, by Lady Maude Lovelock (the reigning comic queen of the evening Ashleigh Harvey). As a man from the lowest class within the aristocratic British class system, Tom faces doom-laden choices between his head and his heart.

Around the central couple of Tom and Ralph other characters manage to weave in supporting storylines of gender defiance, family strife, and the conflicts of empire. Each is beautifully drawn with their own lane of comedy and drama. Whether it was Princess Saura, the frisky alter ego of Dr. Watt who sashays away through the gardens at night (the formidable Bea Amora Wong) or Captain Antrobus (Jennie Jacobs) whose stiffly brave demeanor hides a family secret.

The songs are hearty, funny, tuneful and contain the best lines of the show. The talented cast give it their all on a tight stage that seems to expand with their gusto. The staging is a delight with scenery magically melting and metamorphosing (credit to David Shields the set designer). Despite the small cast and venue, the overall sense is of a big West End show bursting to get out at the audience. It deserves to get those bigger stages and audiences as soon as this initial run is over.

 

Review by ANDREW HEBDEN

Queerguru Contributing Editor ANDREW HEBDEN is a MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing, and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement, he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre, and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day.