1928. Germany. The Grand Hotel. The most expensive hotel in Europe. And it runs like clockwork.
Perhaps you’d expect that from a German hotel, but this
production has the glossy, musical sheen that only Hollywood can provide. All-singing,
all-dancing porters take your bags, the service is friendly, and you may even
meet a rich celebrity or two.
Beneath the surface, though, the hotel bubbles with
corruption and horror. The narrative follows a number of different characters
as their paths intertwine across the lobby – there’s an aging ballerina past
her prime; a dying Jewish man who frequently suffers the prejudice of others; a
supposedly wealthy Baron forced to steal from his fellow guests. There are
shady business deals, money issues, and even murder and rape. It doesn’t quite
add up to the sum of its parts to create a satisfying narrative backbone –
instead these are disparate, overlapping stories. Yet the sinister tone is a
welcome one. This is a musical that’s not afraid to uncover the darker side of
life, to unveil the secrets of its characters, to prove that musicals aren’t
all joyful dance numbers and slushy romance. Here, love comes with a price.
That’s not to say there aren’t some exuberant dance numbers
in this production. Reflecting the plot, Lee Proud’s choreography quickly turns
from frivolous entertainment and buoyant Charlestons, to nightmarish
machine-like movement. And whilst it may seem too much for the cramped traverse
staging, the stage space is intelligently utilised under the direction of Thom
Southerland as scenes segue seamlessly from one to the next, creating smooth
pacing even where Luther Davis’ book is fractured. Robert Wright and George
Forrest’s music and lyrics only add to the Hollywood polish, with a jazz and
classical score full of high drama and sweeping, almost operatic, melodies,
even if they’re not the most memorable of tunes.
Every cog in this machine works incredibly hard – from the
aforementioned creatives through to the cast. A few performances stand out,
namely Victoria Serra as the naïve Flaemmchen hopelessly following a Hollywood
dream; Christine Grimandi as the diva ballerina Elizaveta Grushinskaya; Scott
Garnham as the lovable rogue Baron Felix Von Gaigern with a stunning high
tenor; and George Rae as the innocent and fragile Otto Krigelein. Yet every
member of the cast puts their all into the rich tapestry of harmonies and sharp
choreography. As the saying goes, ‘there are no small parts, only small actors’,
and it especially applies here.
It’s not quite a perfect machine – the narrative feels a
little too disparate, with some threads lacking development – but this is a
slick production from a talented cast of both experienced and young performers.
The Grand is a hotel everyone should be clambering to check into.
4/5
Watch: Grand Hotel runs
at the Southwark Playhouse until 5th September.
Photos: Aviv Ron
