From Oscars to Oblivion: Tim Rice's From Here to Eternity

1/5

Glossy posters advertise From Here to Eternity as the next shining star of the West End musical scene. The experience in the Shaftesbury, though, feels more like the death throes of a supernova.

The musical, derived more from the 1951 novel by James Jones than the 1953 film adaptation, fails to capture the magic that won the film eight Academy Awards. Missing the opportunity for rich period-accurate music, Composer Stuart Brayson opts instead to rehash trite conventions of musical theatre. Though the underscoring is pleasant, transitions from dialogue to song are dizzyingly abrupt. Ballads blur together while upbeat numbers blare gratingly. Rice relies more on vulgarity and colloquialism than on intelligent writing, of which he is capable. The bellowing male chorus reprises a cornerstone piece, “Thirty Year Man,” so frequently it seems as though Rice and Brayson wrote only half a musical and then recycled material.

The performances of the leads further undermine the show, in part due to poor casting choices by Pippa Ailion. As Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt, Robert Lonsdale thinly chokes out tenoral notes almost beyond his reach while acting with a gangly casualness more befitting a front man for a boy band than a romantic soldier. Playing opposite Lonsdale as Lorene, Siubhan Harrison lacks both seductive magnetism and tender pathos. Her flat, whining portrayal and reedy voice fail to emotionally convey the transition from ice queen to sensitive lover.

Darius Campbell’s slightly rough but richly baritonal voice fit the role of bold First Sergeant Milt Warden. But, while convincing when acting alone, his interactions with Rebecca Thornhill’s Karen Holmes feel erratic and lack connection. Thornhill herself, possessing a full voice that she wields without artistry, moves too quickly between moods such as affronted wife, bereaved wife, or enthralled lover, as though putting on masks.

Despite a tiredly strained voice, Ryan Sampson’s Private Angelo Maggio adds comedic flair to the production while at times endearingly portraying the abandoned best friend. Martin Martinez, as Captain Dana Holmes, might be better served by a less affectedly gruff character voice but plays a contemptible character with surprising remorse.

Director Tamara Harvey allows the chorus to upstage important moments between main characters and seems not to guide the show’s overall tone. Tempering actors’ dramatic instincts might allow for more subdued and satisfying character development.

Within this otherwise dull and obnoxious musical, Javier de Frutos’ precise, quick choreography magically characterizes military life, making apt use of Soutra Gilmour’s sparsely functional if not stunning set comprised of military beds, a significantly raked platform, and a screen of blinds.

From Here to Eternity’s closing scene manipulatively but effectively forces poignant reflection on the Pearl Harbor attack. Even combined with superb choreography this scene fails to buoy the show’s weak, trite writing and music, or redeem its poor execution, wasting its serious, intensely emotional source material.