The Pleasure Garden - new cast album
The British musical has a long and often distinguished pedigree. Think back to Gilbert and Sullivan, to pre-war Noel Coward and Ivor Novello, to post-war Lionel Bart, Sandy Wilson, Leslie Bricusse via Andrew Lloyd Webber to Stewart Lee (his ‘Jerry Springer the Musical’ was a masterpiece). So it is good to know that jolly Brit musical theatre is still very much alive thanks to people like Charles Miller (music) and Glenn Chandler (words). Their musical ‘The Pleasure Garden’ featured at the Stag Theatre in London around a year ago and the cast recording has recently been released by Jay Records.
The story focuses on the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens which were the place to see and be seen in Regency and early Victorian London. It drew vast crowds keen to be thrilled by circus acts, balloon rides, concerts and fireworks. The work is set in 1850 when the gardens were on their last hurrah. Tom, a handsome young gardener is caught in a sexual tangle with some male suitors including the Bohemian Ralph and a promiscuous aristocratic couple. Then there is the Crimean War drawing our beaux away to fight the Russians.
Through dialogue, songspiel and pretty ballads, the story is told by a small ensemble of fine singer/actors. Jay’s penchant for cutting little or nothing out, means that we get the full flavour of narrative. The musical style has occasional echoes of Sondheim but there is more than a hint of Julian Slade giving the whole thing a very English feel. I am old enough to remember the 1950s revue shows popular among London audiences and this piece definitely takes us back to those sardonic works. Simple rhymes (Australia/Dahlia, sod/God) adorn foot-tapping songs such as ‘The Loveliest Blossom on the Bough’. A small chamber orchestra gives nicely balanced accompaniment. The lyrics are crystal clear. There are few Victorian parlour ballad themes which is a bit of a shame as there is a rich largely untapped legacy there to inspire young theatre writers today.
Some love songs such as ‘A Nightingale’s Trill’ are remarkably pretty. There’s a feisty number calling on Crimea volunteers to ‘Fight Fight Fight’ which sounds authentically mid 19th century in its jingoistic call to arms. ‘Sebastapol, Sebastapol, We’ll Put Up Against the Wall’ has a darkly prescient resonance today. ‘Finding the Man in Me’ opens in a very Sondheim-style with its chunky narrative style (often semi sung) but segues into a whistle-along tune with a nod to Lloyd Webber’s romantic style sung as a complex duet between two of the male characters.
The singers well balanced in the foreground perform with gusto and strength.
‘The Pleasure Garden’ is a recording to give plenty of pleasure. Yes the score is old-fashioned but no bad thing for that. It is a return to musical theatre with a strong story to tell set against songs which accurately reflect the character of the singer and push the narrative forward. It’s a charming and well-wrought example of British musical theatre.
To order the new cast album go to
https://www.jayrecords.com/recording/the-pleasure-garden/
