Set in New York City, roughly in the 1950’s, this show is based on the 1960’s book by William Goldman The stage adaptation was first produced in 1987 and can be regarded as spoofing both the musical theatre genre and the hard boiled detective genre. Colyer’s excellently acted and extremely well sung production more than delivers the goods.
Two men’s lives are shown in parallel. One is the somewhat failed and ignored actor Christopher ‘Kit’ Gill, who is the son of a Broadway star , Alexandra ,who has recently passed away. Kit is obsessed with gaining his mother’s approval and has become seriously twisted.The other is Morris (‘Mo’) Brummell, a desk trapped detective still living at home with his dominating Jewish mother Flora.
Their paths entwine when Kit begins a demented rash of killings that demonstrate his acting skills in a series of disguises (Irish priest, French waiter, Latin private dance teacher and so on ) as we see magnificently in Act 1. Brummell investigates the murders (all menopausal or elderly women, all found with a lipstick kiss on their forehead) and he and Gill discover the ‘joys’ of being celebrities ( All Gill wants is to be front page news on the ‘New York Times’ so his mother will be impressed). With his confessional, somewhat frantic calls to Brummell, Gill develops a taunting, uneasy almost intimate symbiotic relationship with Brummell that is mutually dependent, and odd and twisted in many ways. Does the ‘good guy’ win?!
As disturbed, psychopathic mummy’s boy Kit, the New York strangler, Jason Langley gives an absolutely stellar performance. He is indeed a master of disguise and various accents ( Irish, Italian, French etc) .Cold and manipulative, he is totally in control – until he makes one small slip!
Jason is splendid in Act 1 whilst having great fun doing the murders and stops the show in Act 2 with his descent into madness (‘Once More From the Top ‘). In Act 2 we see further excellent disguises – including drag when he pretends to be Sarah .He hogs the limelight deservedly and has a classic film noir ending, compete with yellow lighting .
As the scruffy, hard boiled yet lonely and soft hearted Jewish detective Morris Brummell, Phillip Lowe is just right. His voice is pleasant and strong and I loved the trademark coat, hat and suit of the era he wears.
As fresh, sweet Doris Day like Sarah Stone, Katrina Retallick is terrific, enchanting and in fine voice. Her conquering of Flora is brilliantly done( ‘So Much In Common’). Will she survive Gill’s devilish plot? Does she marry Brummell ? You will have to see the show to find out!
Julie O’Reilly performs excellently as both Gloria Swanson like Alexandra Gill ( glamorous in pearls and furs: never satisfied) and dominating Jewish mother Flora(no wonder Morris dreams of poisoned eggs in the duet for Morris and Flora ‘I Hear Humming ‘ in Act 1 that stops the show!). She also has a whale of a time as Gill’s assorted murder victims!
David Fleischer has devised a dingy, very flexible ‘police station’ like set with a whiteboard that doubles as projection screen for changes of scene. Cohen’s script is often witty and biting and his tuneful score (adapted for keyboard by Craig Renshaw) does have a ‘golden age’ feel about it .
If you are into murder mysteries and film noir this is for you – a chillingly delightful evening. The show’s running time is 2 hours 30 minutes including one interval.
Stephen Colyer’s production of Douglas J Cohen’s NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY plays the Darlinghurst Theatre, 19 Greenknowe Avenue, Potts Point until Sunday 13th November, 2011.
(c) Lynne Lancaster
23rd October, 2011
Tags: Darlinghurst Theatre Company, NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY, Douglas J Cohen, William Goldman, Stephen Colyer, Craig Renshaw, David Fleischer, Chris King, Emma Howell, Ryan Watson, Elizabeth Jenkins, Jason Langley, Phillip Lowe, Julie O’Reilly, Fiona Chapman