Spread over a year from 1933 to 1934, we follow the life of 22-year-old Laurence Metcalf (Barry O’Reilly). Funded by his father, he is nervous of expressing his homosexuality in a time where it was illegal. Still, there’s “A Little World Out There” as the opening number runs, and he finds his way to the Trocadero bar, where the gay men of London congregate.
There he meets Wilfred (Teddy Hinde), the footman – and secret lover – of Lord Hemsworth. Wilfred edges his friend into the lifestyle while teasing him about his privileged status. Their lives change as Metcalf becomes embroiled with Wilfred’s former lover and Metcalf’s background clashes with Wilfred’s own lowly status.
Writer Jude Taylor has potentially something very interesting if he can get the right backing to develop it. Running at just an hour and played as a two-hander (with the participation of the excellent Musical Director Francesca Fenech and two more musicians) on a simple studio set with a bar on one side and a bedsit on the other, there is something taking shape already.
The songs and lyric are for the most part strong and exude period charm. Perhaps one line “get out of my face” is a little modern, but there’s no hiding the celebratory songs “I’m Here” and “A Glorious Way To Be,” nor the audition potential of the previously mentioned “A Little World Out There” and its later sequel “At the Canteen.”
Both characters manage a full story arc, one moving upwards, the other down – and suggest plenty of space for extra characters and longer scenes to produce a full-length show. The atmosphere of the time is captured with references to the young men who met at the Trocadero, cruised the balconies of the Alhambra and bought make-up (clanger of a modern gift-bag, though) from a “theatre shop in Leicester Square” (that such wonderful businesses could exist there today...). A dash of adapted “Girl I Love Is Up In The Gallery” is a final touch of conviction.
A reminder of times past for LGBTQ+ History Month, and with live semi-staged concerts at The Other Palace Theatre, London on Friday 25 & Saturday 26 February 2022, the monkey rates this worth a look as a chance to see the start of an idea which could well prove to be quite special in the future.
Full details of streaming and ticket information are available at https://linktr.ee/ishemusical