Authors: John Kander (music), Fred Ebb (lyrics), David Thompson (book)

Director: Paul Taylor-Mills

Cast: Sarah Galbraith, Jay Rincon, Aimie Atkinson, Ian Knauer, Ian Kirton, Lisa-Anne Wood, Rob Lines, Amy Anzel and Brett Shiels.
 
Victor Victoria

Southwark Playhouse, London, October 25-December 15

Authors: Blake Edwards (book), Henry Mancini, Frank Wildhorn (music), Leslie Bricusse (lyrics)

Director: Thom Southerland

Cast includes: Anna Francolini, Richard Dempsey, Matthew Cutts, Michael Cotton, Mark Curry, Ashley Knight
 
If you can’t afford high West End ticket prices, there’s often great musical theatre on the fringe at a fraction of the cost. Two regular purveyors of fine shows are the Union Theatre, built into a railway arch near Waterloo and, recently, the Southwark Playhouse built into a railway arch near London Bridge. Both venues rely on their atmospheric surroundings rather than elaborate scenery and you’ll often find the action happening very close to you. Coincidentally both venues have currently transformed their spaces into dance halls of the past in which to stage revivals of weaker musicals from great writers.
 
At the Union Theatre, they’re blowing the dust off Steel Pier, one of the least successful shows by Kander and Eb, best known for Cabaret and Chicago. This piece is set in the fascinating world of America's depression-era dance marathons; desperate couples competed for money and recognition by dancing until they dropped from exhaustion in front of ghoulish crowd eager to watch their humiliation. It's a perfect backdrop for drama, romance, tragedy and song and dance. What a pity, then, that the writers chose to hang everything on such an absurd supernatural plot - as if the subject wasn't interesting enough in itself. The best scenes deal with the politics of the marathon racket with cynical and unscrupulous management personified by Ian Knauer as a slimy master of ceremonies.

Director Paul Taylor Mills used to spread himself too thinly with too many scrappily produced shows that were weakly cast. However, he recently hit his stride with a terrific revival of Rent and this production confirms what great work he can do when he puts his mind to it. The simple set is exquisite and he reproduces all the show's razzamatazz on a tiny stage aided by Richard Jones’ clever choreography that also powerfully portrays the misery beneath the epic Charleston sessions. There's not a weak link in the cast either. Commendably Sarah Galbraith makes us care about her journey through the silly story, Jay Rincon is adorable as the stunt pilot who falls for her whilst Lisa-Anne Wood and Aimie Atkinson as ruthlessly ambitious would-be starlets sing, dance and act up a storm.

This being a Kander and Eb show there's some pretty good songs in the mix too. You Can Always Count in Me, Second Chance and several others are potential classics. What a shame then that the story strains credibility.
 
There's a similar problem with the plot of Victor Victoria at Southwark Playhouse which requires you to believe it’s love-at-first-sight when a straight gangster sees a male drag artist perform as Marie Antoinette. Actually he's really a she, desperately broke, posing as a male drag artist. This role was written for Julie Andrews by her husband Blake Edwards and she played it on film and on Broadway where her superstar status kept the box office buoyant despite a sniffy critical reception.
 
This production is as good as you’re likely to get. In the first half director Thom Southerland has successfully brought out the darker elements of the show, as he recently did with Mack and Mabel at the same address, employing his trademark touch of wrapping the action in smoke and gloom – another fantastic lighting design from Howard Hudson. Lee Proud’s high energy choreography in the production numbers gives a glimpse of what’s to come when the fun breaks out in act two. By the end of the evening the audience is beaming when love conquers mistaken identities all round.
 
Anna Francolini is terrific in the title role bringing unexpected pathos, great singing and dancing and a star quality that helps explains the mobster’s infatuation. Richard Dempsey is too young to play her best friend, clapped-out old queen Toddy (Robert Preston in the movie), but he charts the characters journey from cynicism to stardom with such wit and poise that he wins our hearts.
 
It’s hard to believe the composer here, Henry Mancini, author of classics such as the Pink Panther and Dragnet themes and Moon River broke into much of a sweat over the VV songs though. Most of which remain earthbound despite the best efforts of everyone involved in this revival.
 
Of the two shows reviewed, I think Steel Pier has the marginally better score and Victor Victoria the better script but both enjoy terrific low-budget productions, wonderful choreography and some terrific leads performances that almost persuade you that these shows are unjustly neglected.
 
And the good news is that ticket prices are low enough to consider seeing both. I heartily recommend you do.
 
Steel Pier **** (Four Stars)
Victor Victoria **** (Four Stars)
 
Two ingenious productions of dodgy musicals prove that fringe theatre can give the West End a run for its money any day.