Welcome
to the homepage of my musical ACHILLES IN HEELS.
I,
incidentally, am Mark Bunyan and you can find out more about me here
ACHILLES IN HEELS
played at
79 Landor Road, London SW9
(Clapham North Tube)
from
Wednesday February 22nd 2006 Adele Anderson Thetis Philippa Biggs Diodeima James Denning Odysseus Ian
Dring Phoenix Jonathan Eio Patroclus Stephen
Guilfoyle Lycomedes Simon
Masterton Eurymachus David
McClelland Zeno Nicola Justine Ogborn
and Thea Russell Walker as Achilles
to
Saturday March 12th
2006
to packed houses
with a cast as
follows:
Directed
by
Musical Direction by
Costumes by
Rap Choreography
by
Robert
McWhir
Stuart Barr
Jane Pooles Eason
Emma
Kelly
A revised
version
ran from Wednesday November 8th
until
Saturday November 25th
2006
with the following cast:
|
Adele Anderson
|
Thetis |
|
|
Sarah Applewood |
Diodeima | |
|
Errol Clayton |
Patroclus | |
|
Ian Dring |
Phoenix | |
|
Jonathan Eio |
Zeno | |
|
Stephen Guilfoyle |
Lycomedes | |
|
Joanna Hickman |
Thea | |
|
William Hazell |
Eurymachus | |
|
Nathan Kiley |
Achilles | |
|
Paul L. Martin |
as Odysseus | |
Described by critic Mark Shenton as “An
innovative, ground-breaking piece of musical theatre that casts a classic story
in a brand-new light, set to memorable
melodies by Mark Bunyan.”
“Very funny” -- Fringe
Report.
“Very funny” -- lastminute.com
Of Adele Anderson's performance, Phil Wilmott on
lastminute.com wrote "Adele Anderson from legendary cabaret troupe 'Fascinating
Aida' stops the show as scheming mum with a comic number that wouldn't disgrace
Sondheim."
Click
here to hear Adele
singing "Little Monsters"
on mp3.
She was joined in both
productions by Ian Dring as Phoenix and Stephen Guilfoyle as
Lycomedes.
(Except in the last week of the second run where the author took over
at very short notice as Phoenix!)
Click
here to hear them sing the trio "Easy For You To Say"
Other reviews for ACHILLES IN HEELS on its first
run:
Reviews for the show:
From the Londonist
“Is your February feeling a little flat? … Then Achilles in Heels is the show for you.”
“A talented cast of ten works through an extremely varied musical score, taking in traditional Greek harmonies, Supremes-esque Motown, classical chorales, brassy show tunes, and even some fairly ropey rap. If variety is the spice of life, this play certainly has it, in abundance.”
“…there are some truly inspired moments – strong singing and acting performances from all the girls in the cast, and a fabulously showy Odysseus, played by Jaymz Denning, are highlights... “
“Russell Walker plays Achilles with great comic timing, and seeing him with his sisters, singing the praises of ‘frou-frou girly things’, before falling in love with Patroclus makes for good laughs.”
“Credit should go to Martin Terry for lovely lighting design which helped animate a rather barren set, creating a scene perfect for all the falling in love that was going on.”
“…overall, there’s easily enough pure frou-frou escapism to warm you up on a cold February evening. “
From Fringe Report:
“Verdict:
Better than School House Rock
“The cast seem to have
tremendous fun with the characters, making the ancient stories more human - if
slightly more trivial. The playful dynamic between the three sisters is
delightful, and teenage innocence is hit perfectly by Nicola Justine Ogborn,
Phillipa Biggs and Russell Walker - as they coo over boys and ‘frou-frou girlie
things’. Also very funny is the contrast between stunningly cool Thetis (Adele
Anderson of Fascinating Aïda), and her panicky men - brother Lycomedes (Stephen
Guilfoyle) and old flame Phoenix (Ian Dring).”
"Russell Walker plays
[Achilles] superbly."
“Costumes and snazzy
magenta lighting, against a stark white set, suggest camp from the start. But
the romances are approached more earnestly than might be expected for such a
comedy - and in the end the questions of gender identity and gayness seem almost
irrelevant. Achilles and Patroclus are presented as two teenagers, in the midst
of a first love that is delightfully awkward and gender-blind. Jonathan Eio and
Russell Walker give particularly endearing performances as they bashfully pine
for each other.”
"Jaymz Denning gives an uproarious performance as the
warmongering leader [Odysseus]..."
”The most enjoyable part is
the vocally-talented 10-actor ensemble, all evidently at ease in a tricky brand
of comedy.”
from theatreworld.com:
"The Up Pompeii aspect to the show is given depth by the convincing characterisation in the songs, which are reminiscent of Sondheim. They feature much clever word-play, and are clearly communicated by an excellent cast. "
And from “The Stage”:
Camper than a battalion of Spartan soldiers, …it actually turns out to be
rather fun. The cast throws bundles of energy into the performance and Russell
Walker as Achilles, Nicola Justine Ogborn as Thea and Philippa Biggs as Diodeima
all sing particularly well. Jaymz Denning also impresses as the scheming
Odysseus.
However, the real highlight has to be seeing Adele Anderson, of
Fascinating Aida fame…
….when viewed in the right light, it helps pass an amusing two
hours.
Alistair
Smith
Friday 24 February 2006 03:35
PM
There are also audience comments to be read on
http://theater2.nytimes.com/gst/theater/tdetails.html?id=1124993362084
http://www.whatsonstage.com/dl/page.php?page=details&id=L01548101687&PHPSESSID=fd2669f410433b6094d2bd7e24e648
http://www.myvillage.press.net/events/web/results.php?town=London&maincat=the&subcat=all&myreg=brixton
ACHILLES IN HEELS is
based round a little-known Greek myth which I discovered late one night whilst
reading the catalogue for the
National Museum in
Warsaw. (As you do.) Here I found a painting by Jan de Bray
(Haarlem 1627 – 1697) of "ACHILLES WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF LYCOMEDES".
I'm not the only person to have tackled this
subject. It was very popular in pictures in the late seventeenth century. In
drama there is a
version by Tirso de Molina in Spanish and
musically it was the subject of Handel's last comic opera, DIODEIMA.
I hope that my version is even funnier…
Through the auspices of Mercury
Musical Developments, I have had two workshop
sessions with Musical Theatre students at the Royal Academy of Music which was enormously helpful as has been the
opportunity to hear individual numbers sung at the Writing Block in Covent
Garden, organised by Martin Seager.
On this website you will find a synopsis.
For further information, to give any feedback
you may wish or to contact any of the individual artists mentioned, please
email me on
achilles (at) markbunyan (dot) com .
Thank you for visiting. I hope you enjoy ACHILLES
IN HEELS.