Riverside Studios is always a hub of interesting activities. Among the many other shows and films it currently has on offer is Joe Evans’s Hutch, a play charting a period in the life of 1920s cabaret star Leslie Hutchinson. Hutchinson was a lauded pianist and singer of the era who was as well known for his bisexuality and liasons as for his musical prowess. Being black kept him, even at the height of his fame, assigned to the tradesman’s entrances (the back door) of the venues he filled.

In the the ’20s he teamed up with Cole Porter, becoming his lover; in the ’30s he cracked America, but an affair with Edwina Mountbatten, wife of the Queen’s cousin Lord Louis, was one too many. A tabloid furore ensued, with Mounbatten going to court. Hutch’s career, and life, fizzled out.

If you know nothing about Hutchinson, Evans’ play requires pre-reading. The language is very subtle, with quiet references made to “living lies”, and such like; no overt references to bisexuality are ever made, which can result in much head scratching when things kick off. I went in completely new to the story, so when Hutch’s affairs with men and married women began to unroll, I was more than a little confused.

The cast kept whipping out a variety of talents; acting, singing, dancing and piano playing, which was impressive. However the love triangle of Sid Phoenix, Sheldon Green and Imogan Daines as Porter, Hutch and Mountbatten, had little chemistry. I did wonder if they perhaps had been cast on their musical/singing abilities first and their acting second, which makes sense for the production, but leaves the dialogue scenes a little flat and emotionless.

Hutch is not a musical, but there are a lot of musical numbers; the stage itself is set out like a cabaret venue: piano, stage, several round intimate tables. While I enjoy the songs of Porter (‘Let’s Do It’, ‘Let’s Fall In Love’, ‘Anything Goes’), because the songs were neither performed as they would be in a musical, nor quite as they would be in a cabaret, once the novelty wore off the constant breaking into song began to drag, and made the play feel longer than it was.

Such a complex history as Hutch’s is difficult to cram into 90 minutes. The company evoked the era excellently in their costumes, music and manner of speaking, and the songs were perfomed wonderfully. On the whole though it felt like important information was either rushed through or left unclear. The actors were musically skilled but the emotional extremes of love and bitterness, confusion and hate the characters go through never really came across. A great deal of care and effort has clearly gone into the work, but it lacks heart.

Hutch runs at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith until 8 June. For more information and tickets, see the Riverside Studios website.

As I’m sure you’ll know, music within the theatre had an integral part to play in responding to the death of Margaret Thatcher. The decision to keep the anti-Tory retaliation ‘Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher’ in a performance of Billy Elliot in the West End on the evening of her passing was put down to an audience vote. I’m sure that the performance of the number that night was a clear manifestation of what the musicologist Nicholas Cook termed “negotiating cultural identity”. A song that is lyrically sardonic, with jive-like beats and major key melodies and harmonies lending an ironic twist, being sung by young and old: a poignant symbol of Thatcher’s impact on countless generations. The bitter humour makes it understandable why the audience chose to keep the song in. Furthermore, the story is being told not on behalf of a whole nation, but from a particular sector of society: workers involved in the 1984–85 miners’ strike, affecting the British coal industry.

But perhaps the agenda is more subtle. In his book State of the Nation, Guardian theatre critic Michael Billington argues that “it seemed apt that the musical should become the dominant form of the 1980s since it represented Thatcherism in action: what it celebrated was the triumph of individualism and profitability.” It appears reasonable then that these values are not only embodied by the ‘song-and-dance’ templates, poster, ticket agency or hotel advertising, or even the goal-driven narratives, but also the architecture of the music. For instance, I see the score of Cats as producing order out of chaos, opening with uneasy, fugue-like passages which are resolved in ‘Memory’ – Grizabella’s desire to recommence a new life – and finally concluded in a triumphant orchestral and chorale-like wall of sound as she is the chosen feline to take the ‘Journey to the Heaviside Layer’. Les Miserables, without a doubt, takes on a similar structure: the gritty minor toil of the prisoners’ opening chorus, followed by an overwhelming range of numbers varying in mood and genre as Jean Valjean searches for the man inside himself. The climactic ‘One Day More’ and ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’ are permeated with the idealism of living for tomorrow, for the future, enhanced by the simple yet soaring melodic phrases. And while the gospel-infused ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’ from Starlight Express sings the praises of steam-powered engines, there is undeniably a secondary message of the ability to achieve your destiny.

Of course, this is not the case with all musical theatre pieces. It would be a generalisation and historically inaccurate to frame every number within Thatcherist beliefs. Nevertheless, in light of recent events, it is fair to say that music has an extraordinary capacity to be able to say whatever you want it to, whether politically implicit or explicit.

Image: Billy Elliot

Many Brits and Irish have long been fans of the 2006 indie film Once, especially for the music by Glen Hansard, known for his band The Frames and appearing in The Commitments: the song he wrote with co-star Markéta Irglová, ‘Falling Slowly’, won them an Academy Award for best song. The plot of the film, as is typical of many indie films, is not necessarily a happy one and the film doesn’t r0und off with a clichéd ending. But it is adorable. So I was beyond excited to hear it was going to be a stage musical.

The confusing part is that although Once is an Irish film and the musical’s creative team is largely Anglo-Irish, the musical had its workshop and world premiere in New York at the Off-Broadway theatre The New York Theater Workshop. Due to its success, the show transferred to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway, where it has been playing for over a year. It was also very successful at the 2012 Tony Awards, winning best musical, best book of a musical, best actor in a musical, best direction of a musical, best scene design, best orchestration, best sound design and best lighting design.

It is sad that such a successful and different show, with its use of actor-musicians and minimal set, had to start life in New York. London has small off-West End theatres but not in the same way New York has off-Broadway and even off-off-Broadway. It was perhaps for the best it got to be nurtured at the Theater Workshop which has also helped develop the musical Rent and premier work from playwrights such as Tony Kushner. I am unsure if we could have created such a loveable show here in the UK or if we had if it would have been taken to the hearts of Broadway as it has been on being transferred.

However it has now been taken to our hearts in London, too, and the UK production opened last month at the Phoenix Theatre. Interestingly with a lead actor, Declan Bennett, who is a British performer but spent the past seven years working in New York on shows such as American Idiot. He originally auditioned for the role of Guy on Broadway before being asked to take the role in London. The British connection is being deepened in New York currently as two British performers Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who’s Rory) and Joanna Christie (Equus opposite Daniel Radcliffe) have just opened as the new lead characters.

Once is one of those musicals that seems to come along every so often and just dismisses what a musical has to be. It is not a loud megamusical and neither is it a traditional musical comedy, as some of the creative team have been quoted as saying “it is a show that celebrates music”, which is perhaps why it excites me so much.

Image: Once The Musical at the Phoenix Theatre

I have visited the Finborough Theatre on numerous occasions and yet have still succeeded in getting lost every single time. Despite its secluded location, the quality of work is consistently impressive. It certainly upholds the amount of awards it has accumulated and Rooms is no exception.

The plot line certainly isn’t anything you haven’t heard before; boy meets girl, boy makes music with girl and they fall in love, they run away together, fall out and reconcile. It’s difficult to ignore comparisons with a newly opened show in the West End and admittedly it is essentially a Scottish version of Once. But the appeal of this particular production is the genuine chemistry between the solitary two characters. Under the direction of Andrew Keates, Alexis Gerred and Cassidy Janson play the Glaswegian punk lovers in a whirlwind from Scotland to London to New York in their suspiciously easily-achieved success as musicians. The transitions between comedic songs and genuinely moving scenarios are incredibly smooth and emotive, and clearly demonstrate their versatility.

The score (by Paul Scott Goodman) is, in my opinion, too Musical Theatre to be classed as punk, especially when executed by polished vocals, but it still packs a punch. Janson’s powerful voice envelops the tiny space of the Finborough Theatre whilst Gerred’s voice contrasts in a subtle yet melancholic way. They both boast impressive West End repertoires and their voices gel together in an enchanting way, and as a couple they are very entertaining. The highly skilled on-stage four-piece band provide a unique intimacy as they chat to the audience and strum at their instruments prior to the performance, and involve themselves in the drama at appropriate moments.

One of the many perks of the Finborough is the versatility of its space; although small, they have managed to manipulate it to create various ‘rooms’ and continents across the stage and still directly involve audience members. The lighting design is clever and complex for such an intimate venue, taking us in and out of the characters’ minds and viewpoints. It appears they have tried to recreate a rock concert, but with an audience of only 20 this is easier said than done; they are trying too hard to do something they cannot achieve.

The representation of the punk era is rather timid with a few references to parties and drug abuse which don’t paint an accurate picture, and other serious issues of the time are somewhat glazed over. However, its 90 minute run-time does not overstay its welcome and there are no unnecessary songs or plot lines.

Rooms makes for an enjoyable piece of theatre. It is in no way ground-breaking and the plot veers toward cliché, but it is enough to satisfy most theatre goers and adds another strong production to the Finborough Theatre’s catalogue.

Rooms is playing at Finborough Theatre until Saturday 18 May. For more information and tickets, see Finborough Theatre website.