A fun evening out with great music
In A Face in the Crowd, Marcia Jeffries (Anoushka Lucas) has one main ambition: to use her morning radio show for good; to medicate the loneliness of ordinary people, and to hear those who are usually ignored. The starting point of this musical, then, is a happy one: that popular ideal among journalists that everybody has a story to share, if only you let them, writes Mary Bradshaw.
It is on this quest where she will meet ‘Lonesome Rhodes’ (Ramin Karimloo), in custody for drunk and disorderly behaviour, and perpetually ‘on the road’. She manages to convince him that ‘freedom is overrated when you’re hungry,’ and before long his natural affinity behind the studio microphone gets him a regular slot on the show.
The tale is a remake of a 1953 film of the same name, adapted into a musical by playwright Sarah Ruhl and Elvis Costello (music and lyrics). It is directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, The Young Vic’s Artistic Director, and will chart Lonesome’s transformation.
From the get-go his is an anti-establishment voice of the people, speaking to those who feel disenfranchised, so you can probably see where this is going. Yes, his influence will catapult, he’ll be put on TV, and little by little he’ll forget his distaste for a money-grabbing mainstream media. Things will get dangerous as he becomes obsessed with his ability for mass control. And yes, in the outside world, the 2024 US presidential election is looming.
Politics and entertainment now start to collide, Lonesome becomes a campaign-trail coach, and begins spouting whatever nationalistic nonsense comes into his head. It’s a world of slogans and showmanship where the showmen are addicted to the spotlight and just won’t stop talking.
One of the most impressive aspects of this Young Vic musical is Anna Fleischle’s 1950s-style set design, flexible enough to be a TV studio, a moving train carriage, a swimming pool and a jail, with minimal changes.
The orchestra are in full view, and their jazz, country, and rock tunes do much to keep the momentum and the cheer. The lighting and costume, too, are a sight to behold.
The show is, thankfully, never overacted (often the danger in musical theatre), and Lucas and Karimloo make a good pair. Yet they go too far the other way: their tumultuous emotions, which should keep us on the edge of our seats, lack gumption, and the second half begins to feel a bit flat just when things should be coming to a head.
But where this musical misses the mark in places, it makes up for with good humour – including ‘The Ajax Sisters’ trio, singing clichéd commercial harmonies – and its stunning set and costumes.
Overall, A Face in the Crowd lacks energy and sincerity at times, but is a fun evening out with great musical numbers.
A Face in the Crowd runs to 9th November 2024
Monday – Saturday, 7.30pm
Matinées on Wednesday and Saturday, 2.30pm
