Soho Boy
Drayton Arms Theatre • 24 May - 4 June 2022
It was a first time visit to The Drayton Arms Theatre to check out the world premier of new British musical Soho Boy, by Paul Emelion Daly, telling the story of Spencer, a young lad who leaves his home to hit the streets of Soho ‘for a whirlwind journey of love, laughter and heartbreak’, and a whirlwind is exactly what we get as, clocking in at just a little over 50 minutes, this ambitious piece of musical theatre crams in a story arc that could have easily sustained a show twice as long… and quite possibly should have been allowed to do so.
As a one man musical, there is no doubt Soho Boy is a fantastic showcase for the talents of actor Owen Dennis who delivers a very impressive performance as Spencer which, considering he is making his professional debut with this show, has no problem single handedly carrying the whole production, commanding the audiences attention from the moment he steps onto the stage to launch into his first musical number. It’s not an easy task given the minimal set and absence of any other cast members to bounce his performance off, but he throws himself into the fourteen songs that make up the impressive score and provides the soundtrack to his story. This is made even more impressive given how intimate the space itself is… and just how intimate he gets in front of the exceptionally close audience. I think I actually lost count of how many times the actor was required to get undressed and dressed again throughout the shows duration, there being enough flesh on display to no doubt make Soho Boy a real crowd pleaser, but Owen also manages to bring both warmth and a likeable charm to the character throughout. (He has also mastered the art of effortlessly removing his t-shirt numerous times without once disturbing his microphone headset or getting it caught up in the wire. No mean feat).
Despite both the music and Owen’s performance being the show’s two main strengths, it’s unfortunate that both of these felt ultimately let down by the breakneck speed at which Spencer rushes through his story. With sometimes no more than a few sentences between each song, and director Matt Strachan often leaving Owen with little significant stage ‘business’ to do, (other than to remove his trousers), it can sometimes feel like the few lines of dialogue that do exist have been thrown in as a way to bridge some of the more abrupt changes in direction that the songs sometimes take. To hear him sing such a heartfelt ballad about falling in love having just been offered drugs for the first time by the guy he’s about to have sex with, who he met in a nightclub just moments before, all just felt a little bit… rushed.
It’s a shame that more care isn’t given to this narrative between numbers as the musical set-pieces are themselves impressively delivered, (helped by Richard Lamberts lighting design that always manages to bring West End ambitions to fringe theatre venues) but for a young man’s journey through love, loss, coming out, drugs, chemsex parties (an impressively shocking and visceral moment), HIV, and a fully realised drag performance, (the last time I saw legs that hairy on a drag queen was back stage at… but that’s another story!), nothing is really given enough time for the audience to either fully process, or even register on occasion, and when Spencer says, “I know it sounds bad, but I don’t really feel anything…”, I was unfortunately left echoing the sentiment. With so many moments in Spencer’s journey begging to be dived into much deeper, Soho Boy seems strangely satisfied to just skim the surface.
I could imagine this show working well as a piece of musical cabaret, the star of which would reminisce about their life whilst entertaining the audience with these highly polished musical numbers, and it’s an album I would very happily play should the soundtrack ever be released, but unfortunately Soho Boy feels slightly more ‘work-in-progress’ than a fully realised piece of musical theatre in its current form. It has the music, it’s found a star… it just needs a bit more attention paid to the emotional heart of the story.
★★★
review: Simon J. Webb
photographs: Brittain Photography