Gino Bartali’s inspirational life story premieres as a musical at London’s Charing Cross Theatre. Guillermo Nazara shares his thoughts upon his attendance to the opening night, to let us know more about this show dealing with one of Italy’s highest esteemed heroes.
“Good is something you do, not something you talk about”. I know, dear Gino, but there’s nothing we can do about it – people just seem to be fascinated with me. Sorry not sorry. But today’s not about me. I’m writing my review, in my magazine to express my ideas, but I swear that’s the last thing I want readers to remember (my bio and new headshot on the link down below, by the way).
Celebrating the bravery of others is a no brainer when it comes to picking subjects for a new work of fiction – let alone, a musical. The chances of staging big, spectacular scenes, combined with a more intimate exploration of the protagonists’ fate and personal struggles provide an almost already written outline of numbers its recipe should be almost impossible to spoil.
But no rules are rules without exceptions, especially in an art form where formula is prone to become your greatest enemy if not treated with caution. Diana – The Musical has served, I hope, as a warning to anyone playing with idea of transforming a serious historical tragedy into a sugar-coated Vaudeville aiming for Disney-esque fandom.
Glory Ride doesn’t commit such a sin, for which I’m grateful, but is still in need of serious reworkings. From score to production, the show sadly fails to narrate and touch its audience through a plotline that however had the potential to bring everybody to tears. Written by Todd and Victoria Buchholz, the dialogues seem underdeveloped, focusing more on the melodramatic side than a more profound observation of something that could (and should) have been much more philosophical.
A great deal of the music sounds unable to accompany what’s going on, usually incapable of either transporting us to its 1930-40s Florence setting (apart from the accents and a few forced Italian loan words) or connecting us with the journey both characters and viewers themselves should be experiences. Way too often, uptempo light pop songs are employed in an attempt to articulate experiences that can’t align at all with their soft vibe; no matter how smooth we want the recount to be, tunes resembling 80s cartoon repertoire can’t simply work when somebody has a gun aiming at his face.
The same problem affects the lyrics, constantly too shallow and, unfortunately, cliché – never coming up with interesting observations or a relatable understanding of whomever sings them. You may like camp, but if you’re trying to move an audience with a young musician who’s relentlessly working for the fascist regime, violino and bambino are probably not the right choice of words – or rhymes.
The show’s production values are gladly a few steps over the core material, but wistfully don’t manage to make up for all the previous flaws – featuring a few more themselves. Relying on a figurative set design (credit to PJ McEvoy), the scenery does not have the dynamism or evocative power you would expect – repeatedly reminding you that, perhaps, the use of a more symbolic, transgressive approach would have been more compelling. There’s the exception of the lighting, nevertheless, at all times creating rich textures and visual effects that soar over its counterparts.
As for the cast, Amy Di Bartolomeo rises as the undisputed star, her vocals being the highlight of quite a satisfying performance. The rest of the company delivers their roles with passion and faithfulness to the text, but there’s too many moments when you would hear some of the leads being out of tune – sometimes, for a whole set of bars. Whoever did what shall remain, in this case, a secret as Gino’s own.
Glory Ride draws from an laudable intention, but errs at trusting the ‘musical theatre recipe’ a bit too much. The lack of instinctive innovation and a further comprehension of the genre itself are the basis of its malfunction – as a story that actually cries to make it to the stage is regretfully drowned in a good-natured but misconceived perception of its true essence. It has the tools to walk the path to success, but so far, it’s still riding on a flat tyre.
All pictures credit to Marc Brenner.
Glory Ride plays at London’s Charing Cross Theatre until 29 July. Tickets are available on the following link.