Review: Midnight Cowboy - A New Musical (Southwark Playhouse Elephant)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️ 

There has been a surge in the number of musicals opening in London lately that are based on well-loved movies from years gone by. Clueless and The Devil Wears Prada are two that have recently dug their heels in the West End, but a trip further south in London will reveal another new opening as Midnight Cowboy rides into town for its world premiere at Southwark Playhouse Elephant. Would its arrival in town allow it to fulfil its dreams or would it find itself going bust?

Originally a novel from 1965, Midnight Cowboy is perhaps best known for its Academy Award-winning 1969 movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. The story centres on Joe Buck who escapes his past for a new start in New York City. Turning to sex work in pursuit of wealth, he discovers an unlikely friendship when he meets Rico ‘Ratso’ Rizzo, a man just as lost as he is. The pair team up as they attempt to do whatever it takes to achieve their dreams though just being able to survive proves to be the biggest challenge.

Midnight Cowboy is an ambitious production – the most ambitious I have ever seen at Southwark Playhouse Elephant since its opening in 2023. The grand set design by Andrew Exeter is joyous to behold, particularly in its first reveal, with a beautiful blend of lighting design, also by Exeter, and video design by Jack Baxter providing a wonderful aesthetic that immediately impresses. As admirable as it is that this production has opened here, at a venue I personally love, it did feel like it perhaps wasn’t the most natural fit for it and this particular production would have benefited more from a proscenium theatre. However, it is here now and should be judged based on this particular production and the choices that have been made, and that unfortunately is where it all falls apart.

The team that has been assembled to bring this production of Midnight Cowboy to life are all accomplished in themselves, with many a creative I have been a great admirer of personally through their track record, so it is quite surprising to see how much of a misfire this production is and my mind was racing to pinpoint why. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that it felt like not all creatives shared the same vision of this production and it was a case of “too many cooks” as it didn’t tie together cohesively, instead providing elements that were conflicting and rather jarring.

The production seemed to me to be both under-developed and under-rehearsed. Cast members regularly stood in darkness with missed lighting cues, the sound proved all too quiet throughout, feeling as if cast members were singing to themselves at home to an ineffective backing track as opposed to performing with a live band to an audience. The pacing was completely off throughout, especially in the first act which featured a number of awkward and prolonged pauses, never quite managing to maintain a momentum and not feeling anywhere near as slick as it ought to be. Act Two fared slightly better and proved far more compelling to watch in comparison to the first, but couldn’t make up for the overwhelming flaws I had already experienced prior to the interval, and adding several more along the way.

Bryony Lavery’s book attempts to take the essence of the original story and translate it for the stage but seems to lose all of its heart in doing so. The result is writing that is frequently clumsy and comes across as soulless, losing any emotion from the darker moments in the story. Sex work is a part of the story and though I am far from being a prude, I do think some of the overly graphic sequences crossed a line when it comes to good taste in sequences I think could have benefited from a little more subtlety – something this production disappointingly lacks.

A bizarre moment during a party scene in the second Act saw cast members descend into the audience, asking who looks the most uncomfortable and wants to join them for a party in what may be the single most cringeworthy thing I have seen in the theatre (and that takes a lot given some of the things I’ve seen). I wondered if they had any takers if they would have been dragged on stage but nobody was willing to respond to them on this press night. I question the necessity to have a singular bit of audience participation in a show that doesn’t break the fourth wall in any other part – this is just one example of how confused this production is in its execution, never quite knowing how to tell the story, bursting with ideas but never quite picking one to run with.

Featuring an original score from Francis ‘Eg’ White (who many will know for his track record of writing huge hits for the likes of Adele, Will Young and James Morrison) - the problem is the songs here are unmemorable at best and just not good enough at worst. ‘Every Inch Of This Earth Is A Church’ was a particularly low moment in a number that should never have survived the workshopping of this musical while Act Two opener ‘I Would Never Do That’, as inoffensive as it is, feels as if it was written by AI as an example of how to create a catchy and conventional musical number – though it tries, it’s just not good enough and the attempts to replicate a winning formula is chiefly to blame for its ultimate failure. The exception is the rousing ‘Don’t Give Up On Me Now’, a number that closes both Acts, but one good song does not make a good musical, and the rest of the numbers prove chaotic and in dire need of development.  Though Eg White is clearly talented in what he does when it comes to music, but when it comes to musical theatre, the results prove to be scrambled. As well as his own songs, Midnight Cowboy features the inclusion of the classic ‘Everybody’s Talkin’ replicated from the movie. Opening the show, it sets an impossibly high bar that the original material can’t come anywhere near.

Paul Jacob French takes on the lead role of Joe Buck in an accomplished performance that showcases his stage presence and soaring vocals. However, he is let down by the material that doesn’t play to his talents and allow for the connection you would hope for. Max Bowden is a pleasant surprise as Rico ‘Ratso’ Rizzo in a performance I longed to see more of. Though the pair have an interesting dynamic together, it doesn’t feel as natural or believable as you would expect with perhaps a bit more chemistry required to make this blooming friendship leap off the stage.

Midnight Cowboy features a comparatively large cast of 13, given the space it is playing. The problem is the vast majority of them are left on the side-lines with very little to do - some only appear for mere minutes of the show. Rohan Tickell comes and goes (pretty much literally) as Mr O’Daniel and by the time Matthew White appears as Towny in a memorable sequence, I wondered where he had even come from. The sensational Tori Allen-Martin delivers a standout performance as two of Joe’s partners Cass and Juanita, showcasing her strength and versatility as a performer. Her time as Cass delivered impeccable comic timing with her musical number ‘Whatever It Is You’re Doing’ a rare highlight in the show. Allen-Martin is a real strength in this cast which makes it even more frustrating at how woefully underused she is throughout.

This production of Midnight Cowboy mirrors the plight of Joe Buck in dreaming big though sadly, it also mirrors his story in the fact it struggles to fulfil its dreams and finds itself facing a number of setbacks. Where the show talks about two broken souls, in some sense, this production also feels broken as it just doesn’t work in its current form. Though admirable in its ambitions, a number of factors prevent it from reaching anywhere near the clear potential it has. This can be attributed to (what I perceive to be) creative differences and a lack of cohesion, production elements that aren’t strong enough or even right for this particular show, and the sense that it is in dire need of further development and has been placed in front of an audience before it was ready. In the right hands, Midnight Cowboy could prove to be something special but it has a long journey to go if it ever wants to get there and, judging by this first outing, I’m not confident it will survive the trip.

Midnight Cowboy plays at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until 17th May. Tickets from https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/midnight-cowboy/

Photos by Pamela Raith