| Review of Marilyn Peter Schaufuss Ballet Company Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of “Marilyn” currently showing at the Apollo Theatre in London, a musical ballet of the life of Marilyn Monroe. It seemed a very interesting premise to me and I went with many expectations which I have to say, for the most part, were fulfilled. The production opens with Gladys giving birth to Norma Jeane to the title music from “The Misfits” culminating in her being carried away after her breakdown. There is very little dialogue at all in this production, as you would imagine, it is entirely in dance. We see little Norma Jeane dancing happily with various foster families, before they each get tired and drop her, eventually finding Grace McKee at the end of the line and a stable home. I thought this scene was very well done and quite intuitive, it expressed the turmoil of Marilyn’s childhood and the happiness and confusion that the little girl must have felt with each new family she entered. We move quickly to Norma Jeane growing up and to her first marriage, and then onto the bright lights of Hollywood, Marilyn is a star. The production spends one scene concentrating on the relationship between Marilyn, Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller, Marilyn is at a party with Kazan, but as she dances with him, she is distracted by Miller who she can’t take her eyes off. This makes reference to the meeting between Marilyn and Miller through Kazan many years before they were eventually to marry. It shows Marilyn then dancing with Miller, but realising that their relationship cannot continue, in the next scene, we see Joe Dimaggio come into her life and Marilyn and Joe marry. One thing I would argue with is the constant shadow and presence of Gladys, at one point giving the impression that she was the reason for the break up between Marilyn and Joe, which of course is untrue, there were many factors which influenced the break-up, but in the end who knows why Marilyn and Joe’s marriage did not last apart from they themselves. The theatre was quite small, so it was a really close, almost personal production and the set was wonderful, white arches of fabric onto which photographs of Marilyn were projected from the times in her life that we are looking at, combined with a light board at the back also showing Marilyn and other photographs to set the scene. When Gladys is on stage the projection changes to static like you would find on a television set, and this makes for a powerful image, although I do not agree that Gladys had so much influence over Marilyn’s life as is shown here, she is a menacing presence throughout the whole production. As this show is entirely in dance of course it is open to interpretation, I went with my husband and a very good friend and we all came away with different feelings and different understandings. Art is personal and is subjective, but I think that’s what I also liked about this. I feel that I must acknowledge the work that has gone into this production and the talent amongst the dancers, Zara Deakin in particular who plays Marilyn, although nothing like Marilyn in looks is a certain match in stage presence and talent. The dance numbers are really beautiful and mesmerising to watch, Marilyn with Arthur in the first flush of love after they have just married is a lovely light and happy routine, or scenes at the Actor’s Studio where both Lee and Paula Strasberg are pulling Marilyn in opposite directions at the same time, give an idea of Marilyn’s life, and how many people there were that wanted that “chunk” of her. There was one part in particular where Marilyn and Joe were onstage and Marilyn slowly turns a whole 360 degrees on the spot, it is done so well and so flawlessly you hardly notice that the actress has moved. The production uses Marilyn’s own songs all the way through interspersed with incidental music from her films and some contemporary classical music. It was a great thrill to hear Marilyn’s songs in the theatre and most of them are highly suited to the ballet interpretation. You are not treated like a fool, it assumes that you know about Marilyn’s life and that you know who the major characters were in that story. I did enjoy that, I thought it may have been written a little obviously so as to be commercial. I do however have some criticisms, one of the main ones being that it was just too short. There was so much more that could have been expanded on, Marilyn’s rise to stardom is covered at breakneck speed as are her marriages, blink and you will miss her marriage to James Dougherty. Her marriage to Joe is also covered extremely briefly, although Joe stays a presence on the stage for the rest of the show, eventually leading Gladys away after Marilyn’s death. I was wondering how they would handle the ending and also the events of the last months of Marilyn’s life including her relationship with John Kennedy. When I saw that he was a cast member in the programme, my heart did sink as to what was to come. I detest the way that their relationship is always covered in any form of media, it is an injustice to both Marilyn and Kennedy. However, the show does cover their involvement and this was the only part that made me a little uneasy, Marilyn sings to the President and then takes off her Happy Birthday dress to reveal the actress in a nude crystal beaded body stocking underneath. She then lays on the bed and waits for Kennedy, as Joe enters and picks up her dress from where she has left it. I wish that the Kennedy connection could be left alone, as soon as it appears, it overshadows everything else, and the inclusion of Marilyn nude on the bed with Kennedy seemed to me to just be salacious for the sake of it. One thing I was happy about was that no conclusion was made as to how Marilyn passed away, the ending was rather ambiguous and left you to make up your own mind which I appreciated, but conversely, I did feel that the instrumental version of “All By Myself” to this final dance number was rather too literal and unworthy of this production, even a little cloying. Another criticism I would level is at the costumes, they were beautiful, but they turned up in the wrong places chronologically, maybe it is only Marilyn fans who would notice, but it was a minor irritation to me. Overall, I did really enjoy this production and I would certainly advise anyone to see it if they have the chance. The ending left an emotional mark for me, and as soon as it was over I wanted to see it again, so I must have enjoyed it. It is a pity that it is only being performed for the twelve performances scheduled in London throughout June as I feel it does merit and would sustain a much longer run. Rebecca Swift June 2009 |
