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reviews of the mummy's tomb 2008 |
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You can’t keep a good ghoul in its sarcophagus. Especially when it’s an ancient Egyptian. It can be truly frightening, or that terror can be exorcised through laughter. Ken Hill’s musical The Mummy’s Tomb has just enough of the former to whet the appetite and crisp dollops of the latter to assuage it. Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 may have boosted interest in this extraordinary culture but heroic stories and chilling legends captured the European imagination long before then. This stylish production by Matt Devitt does the audience the courtesy of giving us a touch of authenticity as well as crisp comedy and a quite brilliant staging. Designer Rodney Ford must take a large share of the credit for this. He has created a monumental sandstone-coloured pillared set which wraps around the stage, looks as solid as granite and reveals all manner of trickeries – multiple levels, trap-doors, sliding panels and so on. Richard Godin’s lighting wraps an illusion of pure gold around the pillars when required while the monumental statuary boasts glowing eyes. The Queen’s resident company cut to the chase… act, sing, dance and play a variety of instruments with great facility as Professor Niven (Paul Leonard), his daughter Nancy (Michelle Long) and her two fiancés Paul (Oliver Beamish) and Rodney (Simon Jessop) go in search of the vanished tomb of the Amun Ra high priest Inmutef (Marcus Webb). He, of course, has been buried alive by order of the pharaoh Amenhotep IV (Shaun Hennessy) – that’s the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten, by the way – for inappropriate behaviour with the queen (Claire Storey) – while Nefertiti was presumably having her head sculpted. But Ashayet as well as her former lover has acquired physical immortality, to be renewed in thoroughly unpleasant ways. Nancy being a sort of reincarnation of the murdered slave Selena, who displaced Ashayet in the high priest’s affections, means that there’s yet another male in pursuit. Add some very dodgy 20th century Egyptians, a comic housekeeper and a moderately helpful sailor to the mix – the result is almost a new brew. The best singing and dancing come from Long and Storey; the latter’s “Maturity” number is a real show-stopper. Beamish tinkles the ivories with piano-born panache while musical director Julian Littmann controls his peripatetic ensemble from its main perches on the stage’s upper level. I saw the show at its second preview but everything went nearly as smoothly as though it had been run in for at least a week. |
WHAT'S
ON STAGE 
– Tuesday 4 November
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From the look of things, designer Rodney Ford got a job lot of chipboard down Romford Market, then sprayed it with sand-coloured Artex to create his Egyptian temple set, complete with projected cartouches and high priest statue. With all the stabbings and counter-stabbings 3,000 years ago, Ken Hill’s musical play couldn’t be anything but a spoof. Director Matt Devitt and his cast are just the people to do it justice. So it’s back to 1922 with Paul Leonard using his jutting lantern jaw to good effect as the dusty archaeology professor with Michelle Long as his dim-witted, multiply-affianced daughter. An expedition consisting of professor, daughter, plus Oliver Beamish as her latest song, dance and pianist fiance, and her previous fiancé Simon Jessop’s Lord Soper sets off to discover the long lost tomb. Claire Storey doubles wicked ancient Egyptian devotee Asgayel with comedy housekeeper Mrs McGuinness who sings them farewell in a most affecting soprano. Marcus Webb is the impressive mummy Inmutef. Shaun Hennessy is both Nancy’s kidnapper and Scouse turncoat Rouse, while sinister Sam Kordbacheh is Kemal, responsible for general evil. There’s much fun to be had with songs such as Oh Tilbury, Maturity and British Heroes Know How To Behave. Luscious, sparkling costumes abound for the Egyptians. Some hilarious props such as the practical boat on the Nile, the camel, a snake, the fish head River of Life and of course the mummy himself bring belly laughs. They really do these things well down Hornchurch way. |
THE
STAGE – Wednesday 5 November|
Leave your brain cells behind to enjoy camp 1920s caper! CAMPER than a row of tents and more laughs than a barrel of monkeys, the Queen’s Theatre’s latest offering is everything you are looking for in the run-up to Christmas. But don’t expect The Mummy’s Tomb to test your brain cells – leave all grey matter at the door! The tongue-in-cheek production, written by Ken Hill, went down a treat with its post-Halloween audience. Twists and turns muddy the often confusing plot, which allows for capers galore. The story, set in the 1920s, sees the flirtatious and not unattractive Nancy, along with fiancés – pianist Paul Conway and shotgun-toting Lord Soper – and father Professor Niven, embarking on a mission to uncover the Mummy’s Tomb. On their travels, they are taken through the dangerous waters of the Nile, into the desert and through a pyramid. The first half of the show was impressive. It is unclear whether it is a musical or a play at first, given the sporadic song element. The second half, where everything seems to happen at once, is comparatively full of score. But in this play, timing is everything, and I would wager that once it is in full swing and everything goes without a nervous hitch, then it will be a production to remember – if not for the laughs and feel-good factor, then the high standard of comedy acting. Michelle Long, who oozes sex appeal, plays Nancy and Selena – the incarnated love interest of The Mummy, who had an affair with her some 3,500 years before. One of the highlights of the play is a Benny Hill-esque scene where the Mummy and both fiancés - all bandaged up – are running on and off set, much to the horror of Nancy, who is tied up and awaiting sacrifice. Undeniably, the best performance came from Paul Leonard, who played Professor Niven. The scraggly-haired madcap academic is a gem. Notable performances also came from Oliver Beamish (Paul Conway), Simon Jessop (Lord Soper) and Claire Storey, who plays Ashayet – the Mummy’s other love – and the loveable maid to Professor Niven, Mrs McGuinness. Parts by Shaun Hennessy, Sam Kordbacheh and Marcus Webb – the Mummy – were all played well. |
ROMFORD
RECORDER – Friday 7 November|
ONE THING about the cut to the chase… company at the Queen’s Theatre is you are never bored. Take for instance the latest in the Autumn Season, Ken Hill’s The Mummy’s Tomb. Leaving aside the bolt-on attractions such as the films and spoof theatrical experiences, the story-line is an old chestnut that has been around probably as long as the bandages, but it is all good stuff. Ken Hill was writer, director and actor at Theatre Royal Stratford East, and equally noted for his off-the-wall sense of humour as demonstrated in his other comedies Phantom of the Opera and Curse of the Werewolf. He was also a very demanding director and writer, and in an earlier interview with the Queen’s Associate Director Matt Devitt, the author’s ‘need for speed’ was well-documented. So Matt brought in the cut to the chase… big guns with Julian Littman as Musical Director and two of the finest actors you could ever wish to grace the stage – Paul Leonard and Claire Storey. Add Oliver Beamish, Simon Jessop and Shaun Hennessy, and then the joint really starts rocking. Phenomenal The quality of depth of the professional actor-musician company is phenomenal and along with those already mentioned, Sam Kordbacheh, in his second professional performance since graduating from drama school, was joined by Michelle Long, Marcus Webb, Lindsay Ashworth and Laura Penneycard for this worthy romp round the pyramids. Very briefly - Egyptologist professor with beautiful daughter, who has two upper-class suitors in tow, discovers a map where a disgraced priest, now a prime example of junior first aid cadets bandaging class, is resting. His former love has spent the last three-and-a-half thousand years waiting for him to return to former glory, but is fast running out of virgins to supply the vital corpuscles to the river of life. The rest you can make up yourselves, but the author never liked his audience to sit still and according to Matt, demanded the action be as fast as possible to keep the audience guessing. Paul Leonard was the professor and for those who have enjoyed his many superb performances at the Queen’s, there is probably not a lot more you need to say. With designer shorts that were a cross between shrunk in the wash and turn of the century footballers’ apparel, he not only looked the part, but also was the epitome of scientist with one aim in life – fame. Even to the point of offering his beautiful daughter Nancy, in exchange for a camel to continue the search. With eyeballs popping and body language to match, Paul always gives maximum effort and like all his other performances, made it his own.
But he did not have it all his own way and was again matched line
for line by the equally talented Claire Storey, whose tenancy at
the Billet Lane Theatre has been remarkable for the sheer quality
of her versatility and skill. The secret of cut to the chase… is the in-depth quality of the actors, and this production was loaded. Oliver Beamish, Shaun Hennessy and Simon Jessop were superb and carried off all the old chestnuts with a theatrical skill you can only wonder at. Timing
Timing, body language and looks were in abundance and a valuable
learning experience for any student of theatre. As a trio they were
formidable. Michelle Long was the love interest and suitably over the top as the Roedean-educated daughter. Really felt for her as she was pulled and pushed round the set as well as abducted and carried off, but she came back smiling. Enjoyable performance, but we all knew she would survive. Marcus Webb, Laura Penneycard and Lindsay Ashworth also featured as musicians and in other roles. I have to say something about the costumes and my good friend, Head of Wardrobe, Aimee Easter, who pulled out all the stops. It looked as if she bought all the bandages in Havering, and the costumes told the story without saying a word. With a Rodney Ford set of polystyrene blocks that turned the stage into a museum and tomb with a flick of a light switch, it was a good night. The Mummy’s Tomb is great fun and has a large number of rich moments to savour.
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BARKING
& DAGENHAM POST 
An
example is the remarkable way in which Claire adapts to her roles.
Almost aristocracy in Coward, focused housewife in Godber and a
fair crack at Nora Batty and Princess of the Nile in this one. Playing
comedy is serious stuff, but to find an actress who can turn on
a sixpence and give a moving performance while making you laugh
is quite hard a find.