I was at the opening last night of this show’s short residency at The Other Palace and found much to admire in the Bacharach/Sater songs when heard in the context of the show, not just those we’ve come to know in recent years like Every Other Hour, Just Walk Away, Hush and the title song but also the songs that I was less familiar with like Hold Me, A Hit For You, Molly (see below) and Welcome To My World and these were all wonderfully well performed by the cast of four, two of whom were making their professional debut. I found myself being reminded of Promises, Promises throughout the show, not only because of the New York at Christmas setting but also because Bacharach’s music has more echoes of his 60s oeuvre than it does his later output and there’s even one or two songs with tricky time signatures. However, the comparison with PP ends when it comes to Steven Sater’s book and the often clunky dialogue lacked the wit of Neil Simon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNXs7LTOeTI
Lasting barely 90 minutes with just two characters played by a cast of four and with minimal set changes, Some Lovers is just too small-scale to be anything more than a off-off Broadway/London Fringe show. The songs that we've got to know mostly via YouTube sound terrific in the show, helped by the talented cast and the tip-top musicians and in fact Bacharach's music is by far the strongest element as I found Steven Sater's script pretty heavy going at times with a lot of it sounding like we're intruding on a couple's therapy session. I think the yrics are better if not very original and I'm sure Hal David would have avoided using the line, "Don't fuck with me", at all costs.
Apparently the show's been re-jigged quite a bit since the San Diego production in 2011 with two new songs and is still being regarded very much as a 'work in progress'. There are plans for a full London production in the near future, although I too wonder if it could play a big West End theatre.
Flashes of Bacharach
About the right length
Cast - well done to them
Plot - girl meets boy, no money, get old, lose baby = tame stuff
Script - as others have said, ennui
6.5/10
But why oh why was Hush so short? About a 2 minute version only. The most Bacharachian and chord-interesting song of the whole show gets shrunk!
(Just like Promises Promises in London, where they erased the beautiful first verse of Whoever You Are, I Love You)
No, don't think so. It seems to have been cut. We're struggling a little in London as there isn't a proper programme with a song list.
I saw it on the opening night and really enjoyed it. Some lovely songs though lets be honest these are not anywhere close to the 60s classics. However, it was beautifully performed and I thought quite touching. Only 12 performances, I'm seeing it twice more before it closes......may never get another chance. I'd be surprised if this gets a booking at a major West End theatre but there are plenty of smaller theatres where it could get a longer run. One likes to think a new musical by Bacharach would be a surefire hit but sadly in 2017 that isn't the case.
No, I too don't recall the song The Only Music I Understand being featured in this production.
Comparing new Bacharach songs with his 60s classics and finding them wanting has been going on since, well, 1970 and I think by now it's a fairly fruitless exercise. However, I personally think that writing for the theatre again has instilled in Bacharach a focus and discipline that's resulted in some of the best constructed songs I've heard from him in many a year and, most importantly, most of them have his melodic and harmonic stamp all over them.
As for nowmedical's assertion that the song Hush has been trimmed down for this production, I don't believe it's any longer or shorter than the version performed here (see link below) during the concert version of the show at the Lincoln Center last year. I recall that Bacharach's concert version from a few years ago included a violin solo which must have added almost a minute to the song.
Molly
Aren't We?
Some Lovers
Aren't We?/Another Start
Love Me For An Hour
Living With the Ghost
A Hit For You
Window Shoppin' & Dreamin' Dreams
The Only Music I Understand
The Girl Who Sang My Songs
Hold Me
A Thousand Things That Were You
Welcome To My World
Ready to be Done With You
Every Other Hour
Just Walk Away
This Christmas
Hush
This Christmas (finale)
Above is the song list for the production in 2011. I'll be taking notes when I see the show again later this week to establish what's been dropped along with 'The Only Music I Understand' to make way for the two songs added to the score mentioned in the Playbill article posted by Martin and what those songs are called.
Here's a report on the show before it opened on BBC TV London News:
Apparently, "The Only Music..." is in this production, after all, but broken up by dialogue. A shame.
In addition, "Don`t Fuck With Me" is now the first song performed.
Yes Blair, it was the first song of the new London production of the show that included the 'Don't Fuck With Me' line. Thanks to the world of rap it's far from unique as a title.
Martin Johnson wrote:Yes Blair, it was the first song of the new London production of the show that included the 'Don't Fuck With Me' line. Thanks to the world of rap it's far from unique as a title.