Review: BKLYN from Lambert Jackson Productions

Source: stream.theatre

Happy World Theatre Day everyone! 

It seems rather appropriate to put out a post out today doesn't it? And today's is going to be another one from the saviours of Lambert Jackson: the 2004 Broadway musical BKLYN (pronounced Brooklyn). 

This is a small show that a lot of people don't know about - I know I say this with every LJ Production but they have really tried to bring out some unknown or underrated pieces back into the spotlight. It was written by Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson, and originally played on Broadway with a small company that included Eden Espinosa, and future Tony winner Karen Olivo. 

It may have had a run on Broadway, but other than one or two productions here and there, it hasn't had much of a chance to be in the spotlight. 

Source: Lambert Jackson (@lambertjacksonproductions) • Instagram photos and videos

The plot follows the "play within a play" format, as a group of street performers get together under the Brooklyn bridge in New York to tell the story of a girl named.... well, Brooklyn as she travels to America to try and find her long lost father. It's branded as an urban fairy tale of sorts - as if Annie, Pippin, RENT and classic fairy tales all had a baby together.... Odd image I know but bear with me. 

If there is anything we more needed right now, it is a fairy tale, and this while this one may not have any wizards or dragons to fight, it does follow the structure and tropes - the wide-eyed optimistic protagonist, the fairy-godmother type figure, the antagonist who's peeved that this girl has come out of nowhere to try and grab her spotlight and will hold onto it in any way possible; you get the picture. 

Just like the original Grimm stories too, BKLYN is not afraid to go to darker places, discussing homelessness, drugs, poverty and trauma. Schoenfeld was homeless before the fame of BKLYN, making money as a street artist himself, and the show is said to be based off some of his own experiences. They hit hard - but there is a giant heart there. It balances the fine line between happy and sad (or whichever way you interpret it) just like RENT does. 

Source: Lambert Jackson (@lambertjacksonproductions) • Instagram photos and videos

From the story to the cast, which features a very talented group of 5: Sejal Keshwala as Faith, Emma Kingston as Brooklyn, Newtion Matthews as the Street Singer narrator, Jamie Muscato (Heathers) as Taylor and Marisha Wallace (Waitress) as Paradice. I don't really want to get too much into Keshwala and Muscato in fear of spoilers, but the other three should be fine... Right?

Matthews is the glue holding everything together, leading the story along, and also acting as Brooklyn's fairy god-father type figure at the end. He has some really touching moments near the end, but that would also be spoiler territory. 

Kingston is the gutsy Annie-style optimistic title character, with a super-human voice reminding you of Streisand (please cast her in the next revival of Funny Girl!). Her anthem Once Upon a Time must be one of the hardest songs to sing, but Kingston belted it out effortlessly - is she superhuman? 

Source: Lambert Jackson (@lambertjacksonproductions) • Instagram photos and videos

Paradice is the diva-villainess Wallace now thinking about it was bound to play at some point. She is possibly my favourite character in the show - she may be loud and self-centered as stated in Superlover; but she has this vulnerable side that she cannot show to the public, as that was show she survived Brooklyn's streets herself. 

It's as she sings in her anthem Raven: 

I'll make you love.. to hate me 
But that's all still love 
It's still love

Love is what I want!
Love is what I need!
You see beneath this suit of armor,
I still bleed!

Plus if she had worked all her life for her status and then Brooklyn gets the same level in just a few days, OF COURSE she'd be pissed! (Now I think about it, it's very Season 1 Bakugo right...? Sorry, My Hero Academia is launching Season 5 today, so it's on my brain)

Source: Lambert Jackson (@lambertjacksonproductions) • Instagram photos and videos

This production was filmed at the The Loft space in Tanner Street, London Bridge (one of the filming locations for Dragons Den). The team have worked hard for it to feel that, with a little imagination (for a fairy tale after all), this could be worked as the streets of Brooklyn, with paper being to be a theme regarding décor. Scrunched up papers litter the floor and subway signs, and they latch onto the piano during Once Upon a Time (Kingston plays keys in this as well singing it). It look absolutely gorgeous - giving off the impression of either a butterfly about to open its wings, or of a tree branches spread, depending on what angle you were looking at it. 

I personally think this one is definitely worth your time. If you enjoy stories such as RENT and Pippin, I believe you would really enjoy this, but also for fans of gospel and soul music, as that oddly enough is the genre that the music in this show references from. Take Once Upon a Time for example - the solo itself is classic Musical Theatre, but add in the harmonies from the rest of the company, and it takes you to Church!

Source: Lambert Jackson (@lambertjacksonproductions) • Instagram photos and videos

BKLYN is running on stream.theatre for performances until 28th March (being tomorrow), or you can select to watch on demand, from 29th March until 4th April. 

As we start to ease out of lockdown next week, the lyric "I Believe That Anything Is Possible" hits home a bit more - because we have the possibility that things will be brighter.