"This time a ripple, next time a wave." Picture Perfect: A new musical by Scott Evan Davis and Simon

By E.L. Hardy

It is a disappointing reality that working in theatre requires serious courage. Life in ‘the industry’ is a perpetual gamble, particularly when it comes to producing new, original musicals. Picture Perfect (which shares its title with a Jennifer Aniston film but, I can assure you, has nothing to do with it) is, refreshingly, not an adaptation of a film or a book or a television programme. This musical by Scott Evan Davis and Simon Greiff, albeit about real life, comes out of the abyss of infinite imagination and therefore may have a difficult time getting off the ground. The fortunate few who ventured over to St. James Theatre, London this weekend will have witnessed the world première of this musical in its current format and, seeing it in development, will have become an integral part of the creative process too.

Along with guts, new production company United Theatrical have been reliant on a few key ingredients to bring their dream to fruition: 1) A suitable venue. Check. The St. James Theatre is rapidly becoming London’s most reputable venue for little-known but deeply loved musicals and the studio space is cosy enough for interaction and yet spacious enough for experimentation (not to mention some essential staring out into the middle distance); 2) Some brilliant performers. Check. This hard-working cast had less than a week to learn the music, and the responsibility of originating characters who, until last week, existed only on the page; and lastly 3) absolute belief and blind faith in the material itself. Check. The quality of the piece is the motivating force behind this production. There’s a lot to be said for producing the work you love, wanting to share it and give it a platform, because not enough people do it. Fortunately for the producers, and judging by the teary approbation of the audience, their faith wasn't in vain. Picture Perfect, still inchoate in form, was worth taking the risk on. These producers can feel now (to quote the show) 'Cautiously Optimistic' about taking the piece further in the near future.

Picture Perfect is technically a song cycle (although whether or not it will remain this way is yet to be seen). Other song cycles, such as Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For a New World, for example, or the indomitable Sondheim’s Side By Side, fuse stand-alone songs with dominant, overarching themes; you are able to tentatively collect a delicate narrative thread as the songs proceed but there doesn't tend to be narrative. Expecting something along these lines, I was surprised to find rounded characters and to watch their stories unravel. We meet Josh (played lovingly by Joel Harper-Jackson), son of Elizabeth (Helen Hobson) and Harry (Jerome Pradon), and Harry’s ‘bit on the side’ Ellie (played by Charlotte Wakefield). Their story, which explores family life, love and the dangers of aspiring to be proverbially ‘Picture Perfect', is as clear as any. And why shouldn't it be? If a musical is what we say it is – a story told through song – what need is there for dialogue at all? Les Misérables, based on the 1000 page novel by Victor Hugo, is entirely through-sung. Is the detailed plot not told with clarity? Despite its ambiguities (that I personally enjoyed and that gave the otherwise fairly generic plot a twist of texture) the audience for Picture Perfect knew exactly what was going on – even without scenes OR a revolve.

As the cello stirs and the first few notes fill the room, I am reminded of my terrible affection for the combination of piano and strings. An opening number, reminiscent of Into The Woods, introduces us to the difficult and yet memorable score. Far from being overly clever and isolating the audience however, the intoxicating lines of melody carry you on its path of unexpected twist and changes. Each song is nuanced, thanks to the detailed musical direction from Colin Billing and the four at ease performers, who work hard to make each number, big or small, heavy or light, look and sound easy. Accompanied by Sarah Bowler on cello, Billing’s sensitivity at the piano furthers the undeniable cohesion of story and song.

The song cycle uses a fictional American family as a case study in order to examine family life on a larger scale: It covers the problematic 20s – the years where trial almost consistently results in error until, at last, we land upon the correct answer, and the 40s – the supposedly settled years where we learn that there is no such thing as the correct answer after all. The women are particularly impressive in communicating this. Hobson beautifully pitches hurt and bitterness alongside strength and shared-responsibility, while Wakefield, as the disconcertingly likeable and familiar ‘other woman,’ eager to be anything other than alone, makes mistakes just like the rest of us. It’s no secret that ‘Everyone Has A Vice', but this comedy number (complete with ironic box step) brought with it a stir of audience recognition and shame fuelled laughter. Each song carries a message, something very human to relate to, questioning why, for example, when it comes to family, is it so god damn hard to say sorry?

The piece isn't quite finished yet and so inevitably has its holes. For instance, I can’t help but feel that a show set on analysing what it means to be ‘perfect’ might have been a touch braver in places. The sentiment - overly earnest, and the lyrics - heavily reliant upon sugary clichés, result in the occasional wave of nausea. Perhaps because we have become accustomed to the cynical and the sarcastic, some of the bigger ballads, although sung unbelievably well, are a little wet. That being said, the audience were entranced, so I'm willing to put it down to my own personal animadversion against anything too sentimental. And actually, this sort of thing isn't for everybody, like art installations or seafood, but it certainly has its place - particularly at a time when anything new is overlooked and squeezed out.

So, as is our proclivity at PostScript, let us consider this production within a wider theatrical context. As much as I felt privileged to see the première of a new piece and watch actors breathe life into new characters, is there a future for Picture Perfect and for this type of musical? United Theatrical excite me, because sooner than churn out another revival or adaptation, they look further afield and experiment with scores yet unplayed. New writing, whilst becoming increasingly recognised over time, needs to be continually acknowledged. It won’t always be good; it will often be terrible, but how can you know until you try? United Theatrical could just stumble across the next Cats, for example. And I hope that they do, but until then should keep doing what they’re doing – putting on the stuff that they think is good and giving us a taste of the bigger (im)perfect picture.

Click to find out more about United Theatrical.

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