Close-up: The Twiggy Musical – Review | Theatre | Entertainment | EUROtoday

Can there be anybody on the planet who doesn’t love Twiggy? Discovered by Deirdre McSharry, the style editor of this very newspaper, and dubbed ‘The Face of ‘66”, Twiggy Lawson was the world’s first supermodel.

Written and directed by Ben Elton, that is way over a jukebox musical tribute to the Neasden-born Lesley Hornby. Exploding onto the stage in a photographer’s flash of white mild the present kicks up a storm from the beginning.

Twiggy tells her personal story from the current, going again by means of her early household historical past, her mum’s psychological sickness, her college days when she was physique shamed by boys and her naive relationship with self-styled ‘Svengali’ Justin de Villeneuve aka Nigel.

The narrative romps alongside, pushed as a lot by the songs chosen not only for evocation of the interval but in addition their lyrical relevance – I’m A Believer, Bony Moronie, Downtown, The In Crowd – performed by a reside band and sung by a sterling forged led by Elena Skye as Twigs herself.

Blessed with a robust singing voice, Skye will get Twiggy’s Cockney-ish accent and undercover feistiness excellent.

Elton organizes the fabric – a lot of it Twiggy’s personal phrases – right into a present that dives extra deeply into the topic’s life than most, together with the highs, the lows and all ports in between.

On a easy set consisting of the white roll of a style photographer’s studio and a sequence of screens on that are projected streets, archive movie clips and style images, her story exposes her vulnerability in addition to her pure intuition and intelligence, epitomized by a TV clip when she turned the tables on a despicable Woody Allen who tried to humiliate her.

The two main – and disastrous – amorous affairs of her earlier years – she was 15 when she met the 33 12 months previous Villeneuve (Matt Corner) and 22 when she fell for 43 12 months-previous TV cowboy Michael Witney (Darren Day) – are much more surprising now.

She makes no excuses or apologies for her behaviour, merely telling it prefer it was; the Sixties was a overseas nation the place they did issues otherwise.

Commentating all through are her two besties – potty-mouthed Irish lady Cindy (Aoife Dunne) and Kay (AJ King-Yombo) – who ship pointed remarks on outmoded values, class prejudice, sexism and males.

Hats off to Hannah-Jane Fox as Twiggy’s Mum, Nell, and the versatile Steven Sirlin as her Dad and likewise Melvyn Bragg, David Frost and Woody Allen.

Elton’s path is assured and infrequently impressed although he overplays the political proselytising occasionally.

It’s a minor criticism however it’s pointless to inform individuals what to assume when you’ve got so efficiently conveyed the fossilized attitudes of the previous.

That apart, it’s an absolute stonker.