Tonight:
5°c
Fiona Maddocks's rating
, A terrible fate should befall this Kismet
By
Fiona Maddocks
28 Jun 2007
Not since Nineveh, in the words of one of Kismet's hit songs, has a night at English National Opera felt so long, so dreary or so misconceived. Embarrassment prickled into shame when, within moments of curtain-up, Anglicised muezzin yodelled their calls to prayer and West End star Michael Ball, in his Coliseum debut, joked about finding his way to Mecca. Thank Allah no one laughed.
For this 1955 Broadway musical by Robert Wright and George Forrest camps up old Baghdad - "the symbol of happiness on earth!" - in a way which now makes us cringe. At the interval, many rushed for the exit muttering "torture", and they were not referring to Kismet's storyline in which Ball, a genial public poet, is threatened with having his hand cut off. Polygamy and the harem offer a backdrop to the thin plot. It's a wonder there were no snake charmers. Edward Said would be turning in his grave.
Who on earth allowed this production to happen? No one should object to the Coliseum taking on musicals. Nor should political correctness squash artistic imperative. But Gary Griffin's staging, hideously designed in raspberry colours with acres of satin curtain and beaded fringing by Ultz, was both tactless and lily-livered, quite some feat. Kismet is a so-called "sand and tits" show in the genre of The King and I. Flesh is of the essence. Instead, the harem was more well-dressed nunnery, with women swathed in blue veils looking, paradoxically, like the Virgin Mary.
Ball was alone in making the pantomimic lines sound credible. Tony Award winner Faith Prince, in her London debut as sexy Lalume, looked as if she'd rather be elsewhere. Sarah Tynan won warm applause for her charming Marsinah, well matched by Alfie Boe, the ex-car mechanic tenor, as Caliph.
Showstoppers such as Stranger in Paradise, and Baubles, Bangles and Beads raised wan spirits, but even helped by Borodin's tunes this is an impoverished score. Poor amplification helped no one.
This production has been dogged by technical hitches and"creative differences". With 16 performances scheduled, much is at stake. It had 648 performances when it was first seen in London, but arguably there was less to do in the Fifties.
Perhaps ENO should have followed the lead of one version which tackled religious difficulties by moving the action to Timbuktu. Tony Blair might bear that in mind as he sets off to sort out the Middle East.
Until 14 July. Box Office 0870 145 0200, /www.eno.org/kismet
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (3)
so one shouldn't joke about asking the way to Mecca but it's ok to
"Thank Allah nobody laughed " double standards !
- Joseph James, West Midlands, 18/07/2007 19:45
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Oh my God! The worst thing I have ever seen at ENO. Credit to Michael Ball, who almost gets away with it and pleased all his fans. Alfie Boe can sing but acts like a photocopier salesman in provincial am-dram.
The other singers did their best, some more convincingly than others, but the whole thing was just embarrassing: the style and class of a school panto, the lavish sets of It Ain't Half Hot Mum's concert party, the musical sophistication of a 1950s American TV special sponsored by Geritol.
It's cringe-making. And oh my God, don't get me started on the appalling music, taking Borodin's radical departure from German academicism and smothering the whole damn lot in a sickly sweet sauce of honeyed Hollywood Bowl strings, jazzband brass and - AARGH! - 'primitive' drums for the dancing girls in leather.
The genial Mr Ball, with his new beard grown for the part, looks spookily like Jeremy Beadle doing a Mesopotamian version of You've Been Framed. How horribly appropriate.
Actually, I've had a great idea. Bring in Sid Little as the Chief of Police, Eddie Large as the Wazir. No, I'm serious. I'm not making fun of them: they're experienced entertainers with this sort of material and would know how to play it.
Sorry, ENO. On The Town was fabulous; but this stinks.
- Dietmar Witz, London UK, 01/07/2007 09:29
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I went to see Kismet last night & have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes I am a Michael Ball fan, which some may say would make me biased, but I don't agree with this. The story line is perhaps weak, but I still had an enjoyable evening, with some beautiful songs, & the whole company in particular Alfie Boe & Sarah Tynan were fantastic. Perhaps it was just a little bit to light for the both the ENO & it's usual audience dare I say, especially with the prices of the tickets! However if it makes people (like myself) go to Opera for the first time because of someone like Michael Ball, is that a bad thing? I think Fiona Maddock's review was a little snobby, I knew very little about this musical before last night, but to me it was a light-hearted musical & I came away, happy and singing some of the lovely songs, what more can you ask? I might add although I have never been to an Opera before I regularly go to musical theatre, and was bought up to appreciate the old musicals, so I do know what I am talking about I think.
- Val Jenkins, Poole Dorset, 29/06/2007 21:51
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