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POSTED: 22 OCTOBER 2011 No Way to Treat a Lady, by Douglas J Cohen, based on a novel by William Goldman | Directed by Stephen Colyer Darlinghurst Theatre, Potts Point, Sydney | Until 13 November No Way to Treat a Lady started life as novel by William Goldman, was turned into a movie in 1968 starring Rod Steiger and George Segal, and then was reincarnated once again as a musical by Douglas J Cohen. Essentially it is the story of Morris Brummell (Phillip Lowe) a bachelor detective in pursuit of a publicity-obsessed serial killer. It is also a comedy-thriller and a love story. The entire piece is performed by four actors who manage to create the illusion of a larger cast, in particular Julie O’Reilly, who plays the mother of both cop and killer and all of the victims. As Flora, Brummel’s over-bearing Jewish mother, O’Reilly is excellent but her various roles as the older women become formulaic. Lowe as Morris is both nerdy and charming and there is a certain credible chemistry between this shy sleuth and Sarah, his new girlfriend (Katrina Retallick), who is energetic and convincing as the poised, affluent socialite and Manhattan art dealer. The star of the show is Jason Langley, as the failed actor/strangler, Christopher “Kit” Gill, who is fixated with his deceased actress mother and sets out to kill a series of older women. He uses various disguises to enter their apartments — Irish priest, dance instructor, female friend. His goal is to get on the front page of The New York Times. Langley has an excellent singing voice but it is his acting skills which impress most. His performance is detailed and dimensional – camp but nicely nuanced. There are some really excellent numbers, notably Only a Heartbeat Away, So Much in Common and So Far, So Good. The lyrics are witty and amusing but the score after a while becomes generic and at times the pace is hampered by the sheer number of songs, some of which are repetitive and do very little to forward the plot. Ultimately it is really space that is the problem here. There are multiple scenes with multiple locations yet there is little in the way of set design. The stage is cramped and underdecorated and, to be honest, dowdy and dull. Hardly the correct evocation of the times or the locations. After all we are on the East Side! So it is all down to the wonderful cast to evoke the time and period, and they do it very well!
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