With a name like "Beautiful And Damned",  this musical certainly has a lot to live up to. While it succeeds at being damned (The musical was savaged by bad London reviews), it falls critically short of being beautiful.

A matinee performance of Tonight's The Night left me so unsatisfied that I decided over dinner to watch the evening performance of Beautiful And Damned. The lesson I learnt that evening was the importance of keeping some coins ready to buy the programme. Realizing that I did not have enough  money for the programme, I went to the nearby ATM but it only dispensed £20 notes. In the end, I watched with a mixture of amazement and shock as the usher apologetically returned me £17 worth of coins for the £3 programme.

As in Jailhouse Rock, the lead who was lauded by press reviews was to be replaced by the understudy. In this case, Helen Anker was replaced by Jo Gibb in the central female part of Zelda. I was not too fazed about this change though. I had previously seen Gibb in Over My Shoulders and her dancing and singing talent was quite clear in the other musical. I was not to be disappointed and Gibb demonstrated her versatility in a wide range of dance styles in the musical.

The musical starts out with Zelda in a mental institution and its story is told through a mixture of flashbacks and present day reality. It is the roaring twenties and while a veil of conservatism still shrouds the older generation, the younger generation express their rebellious and liberal nature in a variety of flagrant ways, much to the disapproval of the older generation. Zelda belongs to this younger generation and her wild ways attract many suitors including the writer Scott (Michael Praed). Eventually, both of them marry but still maintain their liberal, open policy of allowing the other party to see other people if they so wished. They have a daughter Scottie (Katie Foster-Barnes) from the marriage.

Jealousy consumes Zelda when she sees Scott with the famous actress Lois (Heather Douglas). Her jealousy drives her to the mental institution where she is persuaded to release a book telling her version of events. Thinking that her book (written in four months) was meant to be in direct competition with his own painstakingly written book which had taken six years, Scott flies into a rage but finds out later that Zelda's book is a book of her love for him, rather than hatred. Unfortunately, he dies before they reunite and Xanga is left waiting for him before the harsh reality finally sinks in. 

Praed does a decent job as Scott and while I am convinced that he is an outstanding actor, his singing voice (especially the higher notes) sounds strained at times. In his defense, he probably was singing in a role which required a higher key than his normal singing voice. His part was played by John Barrowman in the original Guildford production in 2003. Barrowman would definitely have sounded more natural singing the role of Scott but his commitments with another musical production, Anything Goes, ensured that he would not be able to reprise a role that he had created.

Douglas cuts a tall, elegant figure as Lois and her tap-dancing dual with Gibb's Zelda is a sight to see.

The dancing ensemble numbers are well-choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood and well-coordinated by the cast despite their complexity. Unfortunately, the mass orgy scene is a little unintentionally laughable. 

Also, be warned if you are sitting in the stalls. There is a scene involving a water fountain from which the cast will scoop water to hurl into the audience. 

Musically, the score by Les Reed Obe and Roger Cook isn't very strong. There are some pleasant duets like "The Letters" and "Even Now" but none of the others leave much of an imprint in the mind.

I found the book which was written by Kit Hesketh Harvey to be excellent. There is a very compelling story which flows seamlessly from scene to scene. However, there is a possibility that the book seemed so good only because I had watched Tonight's The Night on the same day.

Beautiful And Damned promises a night of hedonistic debauchery and wild excesses. Unfortunately, it fails to deliver on both counts. Damned? It certainly is, but it still has some way to go before being close to beautiful.

Reviewed on 20 June 2004

More Photos