Set on a Hawaiian island, in 1941, in the two weeks prior to the Pearl Harbour attack, ‘From Here to Eternity’, is a new revival of Tim Rice’s 2013 musical. With book by Bill Oakes and Donald Rice and based on the James Jones’ novel of the same name, is the first mainstream re-working of the musical since the original West End production which came under criticism for a book and narrative that was unnecessarily complex and drawn out, and that it lacked relevance at the time it was produced. It received mixed reviews, and closed in 2014, after a run of only six and a half months.
This much smaller production, offered up by the usually brilliant Aria Entertainment production team, and making maximum use of the compact Charring Cross theatre, with a re-ordering of some of the musical numbers, reintroduction of some of material edited out of the book prior to publication relating to homosexuality, and presenting a somewhat stripped, but more focused (although still sizeable) cast, had the potential to truly restore some energy into the shows somewhat controversial history.
The musical is set at the Schofield Barracks and tells the very complex and interwoven stories of the many soldiers of G Company. There are lots of overlaid messages of military bullying, misogyny, and toxicity, with a specific focus on Private Prewitt (Jonathon Bentley), an infantryman from Kentucky, who falls in love with island prostitute Lorene (Desmonda Cathabel). Prewitt is recently transferred to G Company because of his boxing talents, but refuses to fight, due to an earlier trauma, with knock on affects for many. There is also First Sergeant Warden (Adam Rhys-Charles), engaged in a not-so-secret love affair with Captain Holmes’ (Alan Turkington) wife Karen (Carley Stenson), which is ok, because Captain Holmes is also having an affair, and Private Maggio (Jonny Amies), whose questioned sexuality ends up with him court marshalled into forced labour.
Despite the reimagining of this work, this new production misses the mark on many levels, and despite best their efforts by Director, Brett Smock, and a highly talented young cast, the questions of storyline relevance remain, the overall pacing is slow, and several questionable creative decisions, makes it difficult to understand why the production team have chosen to revive a show that is so complex that it borders on boring.
It feels that there is a lot of development required on this production, not quite back to the rehearsal room, but maybe some creative changes are required. The most significant challenge comes from the set design (Stewart J. Charlesworth), staging and positioning of the musical in the centre of the auditorium. Smock took the directional decision to present the piece on a central, square concrete block, with several concrete pillars rising up, that overpower and dominate the entire auditorium, and there is no reference to the military or Hawaii at all in the set design, aside from two tall palm trees, one either side of the stage. Of course, there is nothing unusual about presenting a musical “in the round”, but Smock has seemingly given little consideration for how best to maximise the action so that the entire audience can see what is taking place on stage at all times. Whilst there are many scenes set centrally, there are others where half of the cast is closer to one side of the audience than the other, hidden behind blocks of cement, the result of this being a massive disconnect from the audience who are left feeling that they are watching a musical through a pair of military binoculars.
There is also an over reliance on projection throughout, potentially a nod to the 2013 production, but seemingly unnecessary, and quite distracting. There is really no need to project the tide lapping on the shore for the audience to understand the scene is set on the beach!
In terms of musical performance and production value, whilst the score, with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Stuart Brayson, has often been labelled unmemorable, the very strong cast do a fantastic job at carrying the many styles of song (smoky blues, jazz, swing and military march), and keeping the pace of the production going. A few performances really do stand out though, including Rhys-Charles’ who truly delivers a mesmerising solo during ‘As Ease’, and Bentley and Cathabel, whose duet ‘Love Me Forever Today’ is both playful, but also deeply connected in terms of vocal skill and character development. Stenson is also a powerhouse vocally and shows true strength and emotion during her solos ‘More to Life Than This’ and ‘I’ll Remember the Day’. The ensemble is also unified in their skill and vocal talents. There company numbers, including ‘G Company Blues’ are incredibly rousing, and crescendo to a level of epic proportions.
The show ends with the attack on Pearl Harbour and ‘The Boys of ‘41’ is sung with passion by the female cast members, as the soldiers of G Company fall under attack from the Japanese, in a scene with strobe lighting, battling sound effects and incredibly slow-motion choreography. Shortly after, the real names of the fallen soldiers are projected across the cast as they take their finale bows. There are very few musical productions that end with such tragedy, and it should be a poignant moment, one of intense emotion and sorrow. However, the lights quickly came up, the audience started to leave, and as quickly as that probably moved ‘From Here to Eternity’ into the memory bank of musicals that were seen, but quickly forgotten.
‘From Here to Eternity’ runs at the Charing Cross Theatre, London until 17th December 2023. Tickets can be purchased here: https://charingcrosstheatre.co.uk/theatre/from-here-to-eternity
Reviewer: Alan Stuart Malin
Reviewed: 8th November 2022
North West End UK Rating: ★★★