Review: 35MM: A Musical Exhibition (Phoenix Arts Club)

Review by Sam Waite

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With a catalogue including musicalising a real-life student-teacher romance turned murderous, a drug-fuelled spin on Peter Pan, and a pop-rock take on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, it feels fair to call Ryan Scott Oliver’s contributions experimental. In both tone and approach, he brings his own unique vision to storytelling and presentation. Married to photographer Matthew Murphy, it’s perhaps only logical that Oliver would produce something like 35MM, a daring swing into multimedia theatre.

Billed as 35MM: A Musical Exhibition, the show is a song cycle with each number inspired from one of Murphy’s photographs. With Murphy having translated his early dreams of professional dance into dance and theatre photography to ongoing acclaim, he and Oliver instead drew on quieter, more personally-resonant images for 35MM. A variety of subjects make for a variety of tones, with a cast of five strong voices and the images themselves, displayed at the back of the Phoenix Arts Club stage, the only connective tissue.

Song cycles, series of songs without a distinct narrative to unite them, can be a difficult sell. With the sound balance as complicated as it can often be for a cabaret setting, I had difficulty making out most of the lyrics of opener “Stop Time,” but realised quickly enough that each song could be taken as its own piece of work, and I wouldn’t be trying to catch up for the next hour. Unfortunately, without many real connections formed, it becomes that bit too easy to forget one song as you listen to the next. Personal highlights were the haunting, country-infused “Leave Luanne,” which did bleed nicely into a western-tinged selection of songs, and the twisted high school comedy of “The Ballad of Sara Berry.”

Director Dean Johnson has helped his cast to create strong individual numbers, though at times the structure works against them. David Joseph Healy ends one dark, hopeless song only to sit on the floor with a dazzling smile, nothing indicating this change of mood beyond it being the start of the next song. Some of the mini-narratives within Oliver’s lyrics are genuinely compelling that it’s hard not to wish he had been Sondheim to Murphy’s Georges Seurat, and focused in on one image to craft an entire musical. Still, Johnson and company win rounds of raucous applause, so charming are the performers and so ably has Johnson navigated this intimate space.

Backed, literally, by Adam nightingale’s video design bringing the images to life either still or in motion as best suits the number, the five performers are all strong and emotive vocalists. Stepping in at the last minute in a truly show-saving move, Elizabeth Walker brings strong vocals and boundless energy to her track, especially the aforementioned prom queen villain song. Though both were impacted by sound issues beyond their control (live theatre, folks!) Joseph Riley and Aaron Aisoni delivered terrific vocal performances and dug into some genuine emotional weight for their songs.

Healy came through loud and clear with a robust, well-supported voice, while Babies star Jaina Brock-Patel delivered a standout performance both vocally and physically. With a presence as mighty as her voice, and a genuine sense of anticipation when she is centre-stage, Brock-Patel proved to be an absolute star within this small but mighty ensemble. Once the early struggles subsided, I was impressed with the work of musical director Ben Ward, who kept a rock-gig-cum-cabaret edge to the proceedings without too much drowning out of the lyrics we were supposed to be following.

For me, 35MM: A Musical Exhibition proved to be a capable, exciting production of a show not as consistent or fluid as I had hoped. The passion and drive to bring these different, more experimental projects to London stages is clear in Taylor Jay Productions’ past efforts, and that same energy shines through here. In a time where opinions are easier than ever to share, and when plenty have had their turn at pointing out what “gimmicks” and “cliches” have begun to overwhelm the arts, this level of passion for bringing something m ore unique in its vision to the stage is something to commend.

35MM: A Musical Exhibition plays at the Phoenix Arts Club two-nights only until July 8th

For tickets and information about the final performances visit https://phoenixartsclub.com/events/35mm/

Photos by Danny With a Camera

For updates on future shows follow @taylorjayproductions on Instagram

To keep an eye out for more performances in the future follow @35musicallondon on Instagram