Reviewed by Kathryn Harrison
Last night my husband and I headed into Liverpool to watch Curtains, A Musical Comedy at the Empire theatre. Curtains is a relatively new musical on its first UK tour with Jason Manford playing the lead character, Lieutenant Frank Ciofffi. My husband and I are big fans of Jason Manford which is the main reason we wanted to watch the show.
Curtains is a musical comedy with a whodunnit plot. A musical within a musical, the story goes that a new musical is opening in Boston before, hopefully, heading to Broadway. On opening night, the leading lady Jessica Cranshaw is murdered as the cast take their final bow. This is when Lieutenant Frank Ciofffi comes in to investigate the homicide whilst also sharing his passion for musical theatre. Jason Manford was brilliant as Frank, I was a little worried that hearing such a familiar northern comic acting with a Boston accent would be hard to accept but Jason pulled it off. Carly Stenson and Ore Oduba were the other headline acts within the show playing, Georgia Hendricks and Aaron Fox, respectively, an ex-husband and wife who once again come together as a writing team for the new musical. Both Carly and Ore were great in their roles however despite their celebrity names status the three headliners weren’t the stars of the show for me. Without a doubt the cast members who wowed me were Rebecca Lock and Emma Caffrey who were playing the mother and daughter roles of Carmen Bernstein and Bambi Bernét. Both of these ladies were absolutely fantastic. Rebecca Lock was hilarious as show producer Carmen and Emma Caffrey amazed the audience with her flexibility and dancing talents in addition to great acting. Another actor of note was Samuel Holmes who was extremely funny as camp director Christopher Belling.
The music in this production was brilliant, lots of toe tapping catchy songs, although with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the musical masters behind Chicago and Cabaret I wouldn’t expect anything less! I particularly enjoyed the darkly funny The Woman’s Dead song from the first act. All the cast were terrific singers with wonderful dancing to match. Add the brilliant choreography to the beautiful costumes and this show was a treat for your eyes and ears.
My husband and I both really enjoyed the show, it’s not necessarily something I would rush to see again but definitely enjoyed whilst we were there. Unfortunately, not everyone felt the same, during the interval a couple sat behind us left, as did the couple next to us during the second act. We spoke to the family sat on the other side of us after the show and they were also split in their opinion of it with half the family enjoying it and half not enjoying it at all. I think if you are already a fan of musical theatre you will definitely enjoy this musical comedy however if musical theatre isn’t your cup of tea then it may not be the right show for you.
Rating: 3.5/5
Tickets cost from £13 (plus £3.65 transaction fee).
Curtains is at the Liverpool Empire from 28 January to 1 February 2020, for more information or to book tickets visit www.atgtickets.com/liverpool or call the box office on 0844 8713017.
Liverpool Empire, Lime Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 1JE | 0844 8713017
