One Touch of Venus
From: Tuesday, 24th July 2001
To: Sunday, 2 September 2001
Our Review: 
Your Reviews:
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Synopsis
New York art collector Whitelaw Savory (motto 'New Art is True Art') has acquired a 3000-year-old statue of Venus (it reminds him of a girl he once loved and lost). His hairdresser, Rodney Hatch, idly slips his fiancée's ring on the statue's finger one day, and a grateful Venus comes to life. As Venus pursues Rodney around New York she can't understand why he doesn't welcome her advances, but Rodney lives in fear of Gloria, his fiancée, and in sheer terror of her mother. And Venus isn't the only one in pursuit of Rodney: so are Savory and his henchmen, who think that Rodney has stolen the priceless statue. The show lightly satirizes American suburban values, artistic fads and modern sexual attitudes (this was the show that Marlene Dietrich, of all people, turned down because she claimed it was immoral!) but it also has its deeper moments, such as the haunting ballad 'Speak Low'.
Our Review:
31 July 2001
By the time he wrote the music for One Touch of Venus in 1948, Kurt Weill had been a continent away from the aesthetics and politics of Europe for over a decade. It's strange then, in what was primarily a show designed for Broadway audiences, to still detect traces of his original style lurking beneath the ostentation.
The lyrics of Ogden Nash, which Weill cast his jaunty rhythms around, flow straight from the Cole Porter book of chiming wordplay. But it's the merging of the widely discussed 'two Weills' styles which catches the ear at the outset, with the company's rendering of New Art Is True Art. The melody and swagger are pure Cole Porter too, but there's a Germanic staccato underneath which marks the number as truly memorable.
The King's Head Theatre in Islington provides an agreeable setting for this work, which requires little more than a piano and some genuine singers to make it fly. The venue also unveiled its new air-conditioning for the e...
Latest User Review
USER: Whatsonstage.com - 1 September 2001:
The intimate surroundings make this a great venue. In this case the music and performance is good as well. ...
Creative
Kurt Weill (Music)
Ogden Nash (Lyrics)
Ogden Nash (Book)
S J Perelman (Book)
King's Head (Producer)
Tim Child (Director)
Nigel Hook (Design)
Mike Reed (music) (Director)
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