Step into a world where each note and lyric has been crafted to form, not just a powerful new musical, but a journey about opening up and unfolding your inner feelings!
Unfolding is a brand new musical written by Emma Vieceli and featuring an incredible score with the award-winning song ‘It Starts Small’. The musical has had it’s premiere at ADC Theatre in Cambridge. ADC Theatre is such a fantastic venue and often has put on some of my favourite shows (examples include their rendition of Pippin and Fun Home). The theatre hosts so many unique groups and talents, you should 100% check them out. Unfolding has been produced with Between the Bars theatre group, a group I’ve seen do Fun Home and Amélie superbly (the latter featuring Vieceli who gets to sing one of the best songs ‘A Better Haircut‘). But how was Unfolding?
Unfolding follows Rose, a lady reaching her 40s who is very fond of her pen pal friend Mark (who they often have debates over the best flavour of Monster Munch). She currently works a boring job and is struggling due to her father’s earlier suicide. Unfortunately for Rose, one day Mark’s letters suddenly stop coming. Rose is torn by this revelation as she has become very invested in these letters. Whilst this is occurring, Rose’s best friends attempt to cheer her up and be the maid of honour for their wedding. However, when Rose puts herself out there, she soon realises that life isn’t all it seems and sometimes you have unfold your feeling: being open to life and the rollercoaster we live.
Vieceli has crafted such a well loved and relatable story with the most beautiful score, orchestrated by Liz Townsend. The set, though stripped back, feels just right for this premiere production. In further life, I think more atmospheric scenery would make the show look stunning but I can understand the feasibility of that for this production. I’d also like to note that I love the art work and programme for this show. In case you haven’t been, the programme came in an envelope (which in itself is so charming) and is one of the nicest programme I have ever seen. The logo of the show (created by Emma Price) is charming and embodies the show perfectly. This is definitely something they should keep moving forward with the production.
The cast is fairly small in comparison to other shows, so I’ll mention each person individual efforts for the piece. Matt Wilkinson plays Rose’s father as well as many ensemble members. He is able to shift and navigate between each role really well. Emily Starr plays Rose’s mother as well as multiple ensemble members. Notably, she plays the librarian and barrister which had some great comic timings. Danielle Padley plays Young Rose as well as other ensemble characters. She was able to give some great vocals from the start which invested me in the show. Ed Chancellor plays Young Mark, as well as others. He has some of the best comedy timings within the show, especially after quite powerful moments.
Following the ensemble and supporting roles, we have the main cast. Vikki Jones plays Florence, who is Rose’s best friend. She actively wants her to be her maid of honor as she attempts to marry the love of her life Natasha, which Jones is able to portray flawlessly. Florence gets to sing a great duet with Rose called ‘Lay Down’ which really helps to highlight their relationship as besties. I’ve seen Jones before in Jesus Christ Superstar where she gave hands down the best Jesus performance I’ve seen. Florence’s fiancé Natasha is played by Ellie Baldwin. Baldwin is able to show a very caring and nurturing character, who we can learn to understand has been through a lot. She was also able to sing the best song in the first act ‘A Little Breeze’ fantastically. This song is one I still can’t get out of my head and really shows the brilliant talent behind the team, and the charming vocals of Baldwin. Finishing the friend group is Carly played by Helen Petrovna. Carly is an upbeat and charismatic character, helping Rose build her confidence. Petrovna gives a brilliant performance and has the best dialogue in the show. She also helps to break up the more intense, emotional scenes within the show: reminding us to let live and enjoy our lives to the fullest.
Two other characters which we don’t see much till the second half are Mark and Tessa. Chloe Hall plays Tessa and I feel that I have seen her before but couldn’t place where. The main reason for this is because she embodies this character better than anyone else in the show. Her solo song ‘So Many Doors’ is my favourite song from the second act and Hall sings this song perfectly. This is also really difficult as the second act went from brilliant song to brilliant song, but Hall’s performance made me love this song the most. David Barrett plays Mark, who is Rose’s love interest. Barrett does a great job at showing a contemplating man who is struggling with his life. He also gets to sing the award winning song ‘It Starts Small’ which is incredibly great. Though not my favourite from the second act, the song is great and deserves the win: showing that Barrett has a great vocal range too!
The main character Rose is played by the writer herself, Emma Vieceli. Vieceli, being both the creator of the show and the first person ever playing Rose, knows this character inside and out. Her acting shows how real and deep Rose’s feelings are and Vieceli is brilliant at storytelling. As previously mentioned, I’ve seen Vieceli before in another show, so I was already aware that her vocal range is supremely powerful. She really shows this throughout Unfolding, singing multiple powerful solos, such as ‘So It Goes’, which help to amplify the strong emotions of the character. I really hope Vieceli knows the extend of how wonderful this piece of musical theatre is and how grateful we are that she was able to show us her creativity through the stage. I really do hope that the show goes on to have further life, as I think the standing ovation speaks for the compelling story created.
Despite my positivity around Unfolding, there is definitely parts of the show which I think could be reflected on in further productions. A few of the ensemble moments when they are singing over each other does not work for me. I feel the show is really beautifully crafted and I would be open to more humorous and relaxed moments, but I don’t think this is it. Furthermore, Carly is a great friend and character but could benefit from more character development as I feel she is missing out of this. The final part I would edit potentially would be to show Mark’s life more in the first act. I understand the shock of that ‘moment’ but I don’t necessarily feel we need two potential ‘moments’. Maybe we can see Mark writing more letters in the first half which could also allow Tessa to be introduced earlier. However, I do get both sides of this.
Unfolding continues tonight until hopefully seeing further life elsewhere! Get your tickets now if you can!
Max
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