Theatre impresario Daniel Sparrow declared himself and fellow The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg producers to be “the luckiest West End producers in town” at the glamorous launch for Kneehigh Theatre’s new musical last Friday.
Held in the grand entrance to the Sofitel Hotel on Waterloo Place, the party was full of Gallic flair with French canapés and champagne on hand for the invited guests awaiting a sneak preview of the forthcoming production. Sparrow led the event describing the production’s creative team as “nothing short of legendary”. Plenty of the brains behind the forthcoming musical were present with Sparrow introducing the director as “the legend that is Emma Rice” and announcing the surprise presence of lyricist Sheldon Harnick who had battled through snowstorms in the US to make it to the London hotel.
The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg is based on Jacques Demy’s iconic 1964 film starring Catherine Deneuve and tells the story of two young lovers who are torn apart by war and meet years later when a reunion seems impossible. Kneehigh’s sung-through adaptation opens in March at the Gielgud theatre which Sparrow described as “one of the most wonderful theatres in London”. Referring to its neighbouring Queen’s theatre, where Les Misérables has been playing for over six years, Sparrow said: “We think it’s quite fitting because we’re next to another French musical, so we quite like the fact that we’re the new French musical on the block.”
West End star Joanna Riding and her fellow cast mingled with guests before bringing the room to a standstill with a seemingly impromptu performance from the show, champagne glasses still in hand. It was cabaret star and leading cast member Meow Meow who stole the show however. Wearing a sequined dress with diamante seamed stockings, red glittery lips and a fake cigarette dangling from her hand, she performed alongside the male ensemble dressed in Marine National uniforms with whom she danced and flirted in equal measures.
Talking to Official London Theatre, the exotic Meow Meow explained how a surprising mutual friend kick started her involvement with the show: “I was doing a show in New York and Annette McLaughlin – one of the performers in Brief Encounter, Emma’s [Rice] smash-hit from the West End and Broadway – is great mates with Liza Minnelli and one of Liza’s four dancers is my piano director’s boyfriend. He brought her to see the show in New York and Annette came up to me afterwards and said you have to meet my director she’d love you.” Rice then went to Meow Meow’s solo show at the Soho theatre later that year and their shared passion for “tortured, beautiful love stories” won Rice over. “The best way to get to know someone is by watching them performing and certainly Emma saw me sing my head off and rip my heart and my guts out on stage!”
Meow Meow’s involvement in the show meant the creation of a new character and Rice found inspiration in a fleeting reference from a leading character in the film: “Roland Cassard talks about falling in love with a woman who didn’t return his affections and he had never been able to love since then. Lola’s actually a character from two Jacques Demy films and she’s a cabaret singer so it’s perfect for me. It’s a very pent up emotion piece so I think it’s quite nice to have a bit of comedy.”
Providing that pent up emotion, Carly Bawden and Andrew Durand as the romantic leads will both make their West End debuts in the musical. After performing an emotional rendition of composer Michel Legrand’s Academy Award-nominated I Will Wait For You, Bawden told Official London Theatre: “I’m so excited. I don’t think it’s completely sunk in yet! I think when I’m stood there doing my warm-up on that evening it will finally hit me and I just can’t wait.” American Durand was equally as enthused explaining that while audiences shouldn’t expect another Brief Encounter, “there’s just as much theatrical magic. It’s very romantic and beautiful. It’s going to be great.”
Audiences should also put aside any preconceptions based on the film, as Meow Meow explained: “I do think because it’s such a perfect film that it’s daring to put it in English, take it away from its 1960s French jazz and to put something that people have such an emotional attachment to onto the stage. But the music is so incredibly wonderful and Emma loves real people; that is why it’s such a touching story because you see these real young lovers and how they evolve. It’s incredibly special, I feel very privileged to be a part of it.”
CM