Some Like It Hotter (tour – Ipswich, New Wolsey Theatre)

There’s a lot to be
said for having second thoughts. Take, for instance, Richard
Hurford‘s fantasy Some Like It Hotter. I saw this
in its earlier incarnation two years ago. For this extended tour,
Hurford has expanded the cast from four to six actor-musicians and
re-cast one of the roles. By so doing he and his director Karen
Simpson have turned an agreeable little fribble into something
altogether more thought-provoking.

We find ouselves in a sort of
comfortable Purgatory, where the not-so-bad – but equally
not-so-perfect – play out their time before going on to The Other
(Higher) Place. Film stars Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn
Monroe are tasked with accommodating their recently deceased fans.
The latest of these is Charlie, who arrives in a fog of uncertainty
and disbelief.

As with those who have
preceded him, Charlie (as was his late mother) is a word-perfect fan
of the film Some Like It Hot. We all know that
fans can become dangerously obsessive and that attempts to turn
fiction into fact lead to disaster in real life. So, in transpires,
it has been with Charlie’s mother, a woman whose excessively
glamorous appearance combined with her pursuit of equally unsuitable
men have led to adult condemnation mushrooming into playground
bullying.

All this comes out
slowly, as the three stars draw Charlie into the topsy-turvy world of
the film for which they will always be remembered. It’s punctuated by
music of the Twenties and Thirties arranged by Neil MacDonald which
is very well played and put over by the cast. Sarah Applewood‘s
Marilyn hints at the troubled persona behind the image and is much
more than a mere lookalike. Paul Matania catches the spikiness of
Tony, just as newcomer Daniel Lloyd suggests Jack’s own ease with
himself undet any circumstance.

But the centre of the
show is Charlie, to whom Patrick Bridgman brings a fine balance of
pathos and stoicism. He’s very funny dressed up as a band member and
immensely moving as he reveals (yet without apportioning blame) what
a true hell his life at home as his mother degenerated must have
been. Jane Linz Roberts‘ set suggests theatrical make-believe very
well.

My one great criticism of this reworking would be for the false ending; the coda
may set our minds at ease over Charlie, but perhaps we would have
preferred to be left guessing just a little?