Those of us who were born during or after the early ’90s often forget that it hasn’t been that long since women were given the right to bank accounts and the means to cultivate our independence. Just twenty years prior, the options for women to get ahead were often limited to the opportunities that a man (or rather, a husband) could provide her. It is this premise that pervades Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black’s fairly vacuous one-woman, one-act song cycle, Tell Me On A Sunday. With a modern-day lens, it is quickly apparent that this is a man’s point of view of a woman of the ’70s – but for young women today, perhaps this production from Hayes Theatre Company and Michelle Guthrie Presents is also a reminder of how far we have come.
Initially, the show that is now Tell Me On A Sunday was paired with a ballet and debuted on the West End in 1982 as a show titled “Song and Dance”. The performance made Marti Webb a household name, and the adaptation for Broadway earned her successor Bernadette Peters her first Tony Award. This formula suggests that much of the show’s success teeters on the charisma and vocal proficiency of the sole lead performer. Although often touted as perhaps Lloyd Webber’s best work musically, the show has retained the DNA of an unfinished, discarded manuscript that even an other-worldly talent cannot entirely overcome.
This isn’t Hamilton’s New York where you can “be a new man”, or the “centre of the universe” described in Rent.
Erin Clare (9 to 5, A Little Night Music) plays “Girl” – because of course, this every-woman needs no name – a character who has no job, no friends, and no hobbies or interests other than securing a man and a green card. The 70-minute show tracks the rise and fall of her various romantic escapades, from a famous Hollywood heavyweight to a photographer, a younger man, and a married one – all of whom are deemed sufficient for her pursuit of financial security. The journey of love and heartbreak takes her from a small town in England to New York and on to Hollywood, though the depiction of these cities lacks the romanticism of more modern media portrayals (think Sex and the City or Clueless) or even contemporary Broadway. This isn’t Hamilton’s New York where you can “be a new man”, or the “centre of the universe” described in Rent. This is a lack-lustre walk-up and a melancholy trip down 56th Street. The cities presented in this show seemingly have no character, and yet I’m still baffled by how this jobless woman can afford to live in them.
Narrative aside, Webber’s music possesses the magnetism that he later became known for, and it's a delight to see the seeds of his success orchestrated and directed by our own Guy Simpson and David Gardos. There are many songs that will feel familiar, and the arrangement of the famed title song ‘Tell Me On a Sunday’ is enjoyable.
Blazey Best’s minimalist direction utilises the talented six-piece band as a sort of character, featuring them in a semi-circle around a simple central podium, and harnessing Kelsey Lee’s lighting design to signal their entry into each number. This choice effectively creates anticipation, contempt and hopeful desperation with the ebb and flow of Black’s lyrics. The rest of the approach takes a broad stroke, with the set and costume design lacking the specificity required to make Girl a dimensional woman.
Clare does her damndest to fill the shoes of her iconic predecessors, shining brightest in numbers where Black’s lyrics give her some wit or decipherable character that she can grab onto. The four ‘Letters Home to England’ are the most memorable pieces for this reason, as Clare effortlessly imbues sarcasm into an imagined conversation with her mother. The songs that require a lower register, falsetto and softer vocals best suit Clare’s vocal range. The original key seems too high in the songs that require a powerful head voice, and in many of the showstoppers she is straining for the higher register. This is exacerbated by the musical direction, which rarely veers from the melody and lifts the score with such gumption that the lead vocal is drowned out.
Those who are familiar with Tell Me On a Sunday or who are undying fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber are in for an enjoyable night of musical performance. Meanwhile, young women in the audience like me, may leave the theatre relieved that they are no longer belittled to a life in pursuit of a husband.
Tell Me on a Sunday is playing at Hayes Theatre Co, Potts Point, until May 12, 2024. Tickets are $75-$89 and you can snap them up over here.
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