It’s no secret that the UK theatre scene has taken a massive hit this past eighteen months; with many theatres, especially the regions and the fringes, taking the biggest blows. Upstairs at the Gatehouse has long been a leader in the London fringe theatre scene so it was joyous to attend their offering of the Irving Berlin classic Call Me Madam last night.

Call Me Madam is loosely based on the real life of US socialite and one of the first female US ambassadors in history, Perle Testa. The story tells of her musical alter ego Sally Adams, a socialite who gets appointed as the ambassador to (the fictional) Lichtenberg. Whilst on placement, Sally connects with the ambassador for Lichtenberg who wants to solve his country’s financial problems by himself without the loan Adams is so fervently offering. As their feelings develop, alongside Sally’s press attache Kenneth’s for the country’ very own Princess, she must consider whether money and parties can really provide true happiness. 

With Sally singing the majority of the score’s numbers, it’s no question that the show itself is a star vehicle for whoever plays Madam Adams, and they’ve found the perfect person in industry titan: Rosemary Ashe. Ashe tears through this score with traditional Broadway flair and pizzazz, giving a fully voiced and rich vocal performance with golden age vibrato to die for. Ashe honours the vocal and physical performance of the legendary Ethel Merman who originated the role but well and truly makes Sally her own, deftly mixing an authentic essence of likability alongside sharp wit and expert comic timing. It’s easy to see how the show could fall flat without the right person at the helm but with Ashe in charge, it merely raises the game.

Richard Gibson provides an ocean of calm in the form of Cosmo Constantine; he and Ashe have a gorgeous chemistry that creates beautiful moments of connection. Against a character like Adams, it would be easy for Constantine to get lost but Gibson navigates the energy Ashe gives him and processes it intelligently, giving the audience the impression of the strength of their bond. A strong supporting performance is seen in Beth Burrows as Princess Maria whose gorgeous voice contrasts wonderfully with her characters’ comedic awkwardness, which is complimented well by Daniel Breakwell’s tender and measured Kenneth. The supporting cast do well in the multi-roling aspects of the show, providing an interesting array of characters, however in the bigger production numbers, you just can’t help but wish there were a few more of them to flesh out the stage and the group vocal blend as a whole. 

The choreography from Aimee Leigh is effective and vibrant. She makes good use of the space and the cast, careering through a range of styles with a highlight being her use of European traditional dance in ‘The Ocarina’. However, her technical and artistic prowess is really demonstrated in the dance break during ‘It’s A Lovely Day Today’. Leigh’s work glides effortlessly out of Burrows and Breakwell, with quick and snappy up-tempo articulations that beautifully contrast the softer motifs. Leigh is definitely a creative to keep your eye on. Mark Giesser’s direction is competent throughout keeping the action moving, however, this is sometimes stunted by less fluid and elongated scene changes. Giesser does well to showcase the right people at the right time, which is especially difficult when it’s an almost singular role led show, but moments are often swallowed by the thrust stage set up, causing the audience to feel cut out of certain moments. Mollie Cheek’s set design is simple and effective, highlighting the original mouldings of the Gatehouse itself to give the impression of the illustrious political offices and function rooms. The band sound strong in the hands of Jessica Douglas, with lovely orchestration work to reduce Berlin’s sweeping score to a 5-person band and a special mention to George Shrapnell’s  sensational ocarina playing. 

Alces Productions have produced an adorable little revival of an overlooked Berlin show. However, although Berlin’s music is sumptuous, Call Me Madam is not lyrically his strongest work and Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse’s book definitely needs a rehaul in order to make it more accessible and engaging for a modern day audience. It is also refreshing to see age-appropriate casting on the fringe scene as all too often people are cast in roles much older, which can make digesting the action dislocating at times, whereas this only elevated the production. It is just a shame that the diversity on stage is lacking. 

The Golden Age of musical theatre has something you can’t quite bottle, a unique effervescent joy of storytelling through grand music, undeniable love and sophisticated musical comedy. That’s exactly what I needed, and that’s exactly what I got. 

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Duncan Burt

Call Me Madam plays at Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 10 October. To book tickets, please click here.