Review: Allegro (Southwark Playhouse)

It's an epic premise: tell the story of one man, from birth to death, with all the highs and lows, the joy and pain that living a full life entails. Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers had big ideas when they penned their 1947 musical Allegro, which is only now receiving its European premiere.

That excellent re-invigorator of lost musical classics Thom Southerland (responsible for recent hits Grand Hotel, Titanic and Grey Gardens) has brought Allegro to these shores and, as usual, his staging is top-notch. He has an upbeat, dedicated and very talented ensemble perform Lee Proud's complex and multi-layered choreography to winning effect. Staged in traverse, the show moves constantly, the pace is high and the energy is full on. It is a pity, then, that the actual musical of Allegro is fairly disappointing.

It is the story which drags things down. The tale of Joseph Taylor Jr really does begin at the very beginning: he is born to a small-town doctor and his wife. The villagers are excited, the mayor makes a little speech. He was born to be a doctor, thinks his mother, and to join his father helping the locals as their saviour figure doctor. We see him grow from a toddler – portrayed onstage with puppetry – through to young college student. It is here he forms new friendships, but never loses his love for the girl-next-door Jennie. He returns from his studies to marry her.

The problem is, Jennie wants more than a life with no money. She convinces him to head to the big city to become a big-wig doctor. But the patients in the hospital he ends up working in are rich, pill-devouring gits. He quickly begins to see where he should really be.

The tale never quite bites in the way it should, perhaps because it tries to fit so much in. Joe is a struggling human being, but aren't we all? There's not enough drama in the pedestrian issues he faces. The trickiest element to the piece are the women – Joe's mother is intent on making sure he becomes a doctor at all costs, while his wife is intent on destroying his mother's dream for her son. At one point they declare war on each other. Each woman is shown to be a sour, manipulating force in Joe's life.

Though the music is technically superb, there's barely a stand out tune. "The Gentleman is a Dope" is sung beautifully by Kate Bernstein and the title number is a real treat. Proud's choreography really comes into its own in this raring set piece which is a great way to end the show. It's just a pity some of that dynamism wasn't injected into the musical itself.

Allegro runs at Southwark Playhouse until 10 September.