Review: Closer To Heaven (Turbine Theatre)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Turbine Theatre in Battersea continue their queer love season with a revival of an adored club musical as The Pet Shop Boys’ Closer To Heaven returns to London for one month only. Led by a performer who is no stranger taking on iconic roles, could it manage to reflect its title and bring us a slice of musical theatre heaven

Premiering in the West End in 2001, productions of Closer To Heaven have played worldwide in the decades since, now returning to the city where it all started. Set in ‘Vic’s Club’, a gay club which features regular performances from past her prime singer Billie Trix, the story centres around Vic’s daughter Chelle who falls in love with the club’s newest bartender “Straight Dave”. However, Dave’s name proves to not be so fitting when a love triangle emerges as he falls in love with drug dealer Mile End Lee. As the characters battle to try and rise above their station, who if any of them will get a happy ending?

Jonathan Harvey’s book drops you right into the middle of the club, allowing you to meet and fall for a variety of weird and wonderful characters. As this is the only production of the show I had seen, I can’t comment whether it was to do with this particular one or if it was similar before but I felt the pacing wasn’t quite right throughout, and the story wasn’t quite as developed as it could have been, though it did show moments of brilliance throughout. I personally would have liked to have seen more from Billie Trix who kicked off the show and adorns the poster yet takes a drastic back seat throughout.

When it comes to music, they don’t often match the brilliance of the Pet Shop Boys – the duo who have been blessing her ears since the 1980s. Rather than have Closer To Heaven as a jukebox musical, they wrote all new songs for the musical, and of course they are as brilliant as you would expect with their signature sound lending itself beautifully for a club musical. Highlights include ‘In Denial’ and the titular number ‘Closer to Heaven’. I did find it disappointing that there was no band in this show with the cast singing along to pre-recorded music throughout. While I understand the limitations of a production like this in a theatre of this size, I felt like it could have elevated the story had this been more live.

The greatest success of this production is the setting itself. The Turbine Theatre has been drastically transformed in a way I have never seen before with the theatre turning into Vic’s Club. Cabaret tables surround a long catwalk stage, allowing for a more immersive space that feels completely right for the show in itself and draws obvious comparisons to the current Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club. David Sheilds design here has led to a gorgeous stage, which Simon Hardwick utilises through inspired direction. With cast members straddling the audience and Christopher Tendai’s stunning choreography bringing the stage to life, it is a visually stimulating production. Not every direction choice landed in my eyes, with some key moments falling flat. Though not perfect, the hit rate was ultimately better than its misses.

Frances Ruffelle takes on the role of Billie Trix, going through a variety of accents and looking utterly fabulous in a series of outlandish outfits. Showcasing her talents throughout, she may be woefully underused in the production but her scene-stealing appearances are always captivating, such is the nature of her star quality. Kurt Kansley wows in his turn as Vic Christian, particularly on musical standout ‘Vampires’ where he gets to bring the house down with a spectacular vocal. David Muscat thrills in a small, mighty (and tad revealing) performance of Bob Saunders with Lewis Flynn engaging as Flynn.

Courtney Bowman stands out as Vic’s daughter Shel in a commanding performance that plays to all of her strengths as a performer. Her outstanding singing ability and characterisation veering from comedic to heart-wrenching was one of the most intriguing and successful aspects of this production, As Mile End Lee, Connor Carson has a slow burn of a character, though truly comes in to his own in his climactic scenes in an emotive and urgent performance. The object of both of their affections, Dave, is wonderfully played by Glenn Adamson in a portrayal that demands all eyes on him throughout and was, for me, the standout performance among a sensational cast.

Closer To Heaven is an interesting beast of a show. Though far from perfect, its imperfections add to its charm and authenticity of the situation it is acting out. A fantastic transformation of the space and mostly great direction made this a highly entertaining production, though it is the phenomenal cast that took this closer to Heaven than anything else. The end result may not quite reach the dizzy heights of Heaven, but it certainly comes close at times.

Closer To Heaven plays at The Turbine Theatre until 30th June. Tickets from www.turbinetheatre.com

Photos by Mark Senior