Slay it with music – at “The Space” on The Isle of Dogs

I was working in the City of London yesterday so I didn’t think it would take long to get to this tiny theatre which is housed in a converted church. I took the DLR to Mudchute and dutifully followed my iPhone GPS for about 15 minutes.

Arriving a bit later than intended – around 7pm – I was delighted to find that just behind the theatre was a small café/bar/restaurant called Hubbub. This was a find in itself – lovely original screen print artwork on the walls, scattered wooden tables and a large squishy sofa with low lying tables. By the French looking bar in the corner was an open door allowing a soft breeze through the room. I got my glass of wine and waited for my tuna steak nicoise salad. And I waited. I assumed that being a part of the same building they would understand that I was there for the performance which started at 730pm. Alas, our food arrived just as it was about to start – it looked and smelled fab – and I reluctantly allowed them to remove it to place in a takeaway box for 930pm.

The interior of The Space http://space.org.uk/ is tiny – there were no more than around 50 chairs on raised platforms around the central area. There was a bank of lights up on the minstrel’s gallery and a few draped white curtains around the walls. Intimate. There was that chilling horror film circus film playing. I must admit that I don’t like musicals much and the horror genre even less so I wasn’t sure what I would make of the production.

Anyway, this is the first UK presentation of “Slay it with music” - a new American musical. With numerous references to classics like “Whatever happened to Baby Jane” it is the story of two sisters – one who is a successful TV soap queen and the other who was once a great film star but who hasn’t acted for over 25 years since the negative publicity over a court case where she was acquitted of murdering her boyfriend. Enid (Andrea Miller), the former movie star, who is tended by her devoted butler Zachery (Sofoklis Kostoulas) receives a visit from her sister Marcy (Ellen Verenieks) as she plans her film comeback in a slasher movie “Chop, Chop”. Other characters include the young girl from next door – Jill (Charlotte Stevenson), a Hollywood tour guide Rosemarie (Candice Palladino) and Marcy’s ex-husband Chad (Mark Lawson). There were three of four other performers in the singing and dancing routines.

After a tour group bursts onto the scene with torches that created an atmospheric backdrop, the singing and dancing for the first number began – “Gory Horror Story”. It bought a smile to the face although at first I was rather worried about how the evening was going to pan out – I was hoping that I wasn’t going to make a rapid exit – I really didn’t want to hurt the feelings of the super-friendly doorman nor the really committed, professional and enthusiastic company of players who were touch close as they worked.

I needn’t have worried as I was soon absorbed in the plot and drawn to the characters. The script and lyrics were tight – there were some great lines: “my slasher movie will be a scream”, “day time Thespian”, “more plastic in her than Dow Chemicals”, “turned her boyfriend into a hamburger with a hatchet” and numerous references to the Hollywood of yesteryear. Everyone sang to a standard that I thought might put a few West End shows to shame and the only musical accompaniment was a piano which played out a pretty neat score.

Considering the small space and the tiny audience, I was impressed too with the choreography and dance routines and even how the small cast managed the scenery and prop movements seamlessly.

There was a great song by the butler “I’m in love with a nut” which actually made me laugh out loud. The flash back to an Egyptian movie “Sheik to Sheik” dance scene was perfectly executed too. The plot developed and after an hour we had a 10 minute break. The storyline unfolded in the second half with an interesting twist. I wouldn’t say that “Slay it with music” would be to everyone’s taste but I thought it was entertaining and expertly performed in a professional “tongue in cheek” style by a dedicated team – particularly the role of Marcy, a stunning performance. I even liked the costumes. The attention to detail in this small production was breathtaking.

As we returned to the café/bar, they had kindly reheated our tuna salads which turned out to be extremely good. It was also really nice that the cast members were around us, getting on with their evenings. It would be worth returning to the area just to sample some more of the food and attentive service at Hub bub.

Slay it with Music is running at The Space until 7th August and then it transfers to Greenwich. Other forthcoming productions at The Space include: Electra Her Life, Orestes His Fall and As Fate Would Have It. I may make the trip again as I enjoyed being there so much last night.