Review: SIN THE MUSICAL, Arcola Theatre

With the possible exception of "Here's a round-up of the main points of tonight's Conservative Party Leadership Hustings", few phrases can chill the reviewer's soul like "A New Musical". They're so hard to get right. Take it from me - I saw Blood Brothers at the Royal Court in Liverpool in 1982, and that needed a lot of work (which it got).

That said, it's important to see shows early in their lives, to locate talent pushing through some of the rockiest soil theatre has endured in decades, and to encourage musicals that will take us into the next decade and beyond. So to Dalston for the Grimeborn Festival and John-Michael Mahoney's original musical, staged for one night only.

The first thing to say is that though this young man may be overreaching as lead actor, writer, composer, arranger, orchestrator and director, he has the two most crucial elements required to succeed in this trickiest of fields - he can write a song and he has the willpower to see his show staged.

The score is billed as blending jazz with contemporary pop, but I caught swing, lounge and good ol' easy listening in there too and the songs really do have that indefinable quality that suggests "Musical Theatre" in the melodies and proper storytelling in the lyrics. There's much to work with here.

The Arcola is a fiercesomely unforgiving space for musicals, the brick walls and metal outcrops swallowing sounds and spitting them back, a challenge for singers much more experienced than this young cast, initially nervous on this showcase night. But musical director, Angelo Deller-Tsocos, will have learned as much as anyone and the band were never less than tight and comfortable in the different genres.

The book was, as it so often is with musicals, the element most in need of surgery. Billed at 105 minutes, it sprawled a good half-hour beyond that, the tale of a prohibition-era bar founded by band of friends fracturing under the pressure of family traumas, deceit and violence, running out of steam long before the curtain. It's entirely understandable to want to get all the good songs in, but the armature of character and plot has to sustain the show - and that's not always the case even with musicals that reach the West End.

So an evening that showed real potential, but also suggested lines to attack if this musical is to develop towards its full potential. Mr Mahoney will likely need to give up some of that fistful of roles if he is to realise a show that can use his excellent songs in the best way. That said, if he can write a score like this in his early twenties, it augurs well for the future. Look out for the name.

Sin - The Musical

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