Ed: The Musical
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A stockbroker in need of a heart transplant and a rock star who needs a liver transplant meet in hospital. “Sounds like the start of a fabulous joke,” says the rock star. Add a comatose novelist and his grieving girlfriend, and you have the peculiar foundations of Ed: the Musical.
The posters describe it as “like a f***ked up version of the Wizard of Oz”, which it isn’t really, though it does sparkle as charmingly as a pair of Technicolor ruby slippers. Already shortlisted in four of the six categories for Musical Theatre Matters:UK, Ed… has garnered widespread attention through little more than word-of-mouth publicity and production company StoppedclocK’s quality repertoire.
What results is an unexpectedly affecting romantic-comedy. The characters may not be the most innovative but the stellar performances force the audience to care about them. Of particular note is Lydia Jenkins’ fabulously ballsy Meredith; her solo number and ‘I Want A Man’ duet with Frances Israel are real musical highlights. Performed largely on keyboard, and occasionally guitar, Michael Bruce’s score usually provides a refined undertow to the main dramatic action. There is the odd moment when the score tips into mawkishness, but the well-produced songs make up for it. The staged montage sequences, as well, are commendable for their simplicity and effectiveness.
Heart-warming, heart-rending, and heart transplants; this musical is unlikely to win over those odd folk who cannot stand a good song-and-dance number. But for anyone who can indulge guilt-free in a slice of Richard Curtis-like sunshine, Ed… shows that there really is no place like life.
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