Little Piece of You; An Atypical Musical in Concert
Little Piece of You; An Atypical Musical in Concert will be making its performance debut at West End’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, for a limited 2-show run on October 31st and November 1st 2024.
Behind the beautiful story of the show, lies a 17-year-old break-out talent, Kjersti Long. Long began writing songs for the show at age 14, marking her European performing and writing debut. It is not every day that a new show premieres in the West End, making dozens of dreams of one teenager come true in one go. Little Piece of You is indeed a very special introduction for the world to see the talents of Kjersti Long.
The show stars triple Olivier-Award winner David Bedella, UK’s Soul Queen Mica Paris and the gift that is the stardom of Dujonna Gift.
With a cast and background like this one, it is with great disappointment that this review is mostly constructive, expressing my concerns on a questionable evening at the theatre. No reviewer/theatre-lover enjoys giving low ratings; however, it is important for a show with a lot of potential to grow.
Little Piece of You ‘s score is possibly the only good element of the show at this stage and would be worth being utilised as a stand-alone concert album. Long’s lyricism is, for the most part, admirable for her age and unique sound that one has to wonder why there ever needed to be a musical production to accompany it in the first place.
From the first 5 seconds of the show, I thought; Six meets A Strange Loop. It had the potential of something incredibly exciting and edgy. There are quite a few points I would like to address here, but I would like to start by saying I will not be giving an official star rating. On the contrary, I am approaching this as a column of constructive criticism and suggestions for the future of the show. It is unfair for a show that is clearly not ready, to be reviewed as harshly as an established production that has undergone previews would. On the other hand, Theatre Royal Drury Lane is a venue too big and too prestigious to be hosting material at such early stages. If I had seen the exact same show in a smaller, off-West End venue, this would be a different story. There would of course still be notes and gaps in the material to be addressed but I strongly believe that the size, status and reputation of this venue created an even bigger barrier between the audience and the performers. The blank spots in the story were more noticeable and the awkward silences filled a much bigger space, a space where the art of theatre has been triumphant for years.
Even though the PR of the show claims this to be a concert-esque production, the show was fully staged and approached as a full-scale musical. Already, the show is giving too much away for the sake of quantity over quality. Justin William’s set is great but under-used, giving the audience a very limited grasp of its variety in platform levels and layers, which could have been highlighted innovatively. Furthermore, it seems that the use of the 2 beds between mother and daughter, are the sole focus of props in the show; there is no visual barrier separating the rooms, as the characters constantly follow an invisible landscape in their own house’s structure. It feels rushed and one-dimensional, reiterating the shame of having a set that could have solved that exact problem.
In terms of the ensemble, the choreography itself works but requires a higher level of precision and polishment on a stage like Drury Lane’s. It feels like an intimate, gig venue approach and could afford a show-stopper attitude. It needs to be more grand and illusionary to switch between the backing dancers of what is meant to be one of the biggest names in the pop industry and the vulnerability of the thoughts that follow our protagonists. In particular, some of the lifts needed smoother transitions and visual ease to match West End standards. Coming to intention, the purpose of the ensemble is not clear and feels like an attempt to fill the time in between set changes which is not helping; there should at least be a differentiation in costume when the ensemble serves as Sidney’s sidekicks in her fantasy sequences, and when they are helping the mother get out of bed as what I am assuming to be triggers of her depression disorder.
The character profiles are vague and would perhaps benefit from a workshop period, just focusing on character development; before even touching the songs. Mica Paris as the mother, treats the audience with astonishing vocals, giving goosebumps with every vocal build-up. However, this could also be a sound issue, when a duet or multiple voices are singing, including Paris’s, the blend does not sound organic and with unmatched volume levels. There are also quite a few moments in the script where Paris seems lost and delivers the lines as if she is reading them out loud from the script for the first time. The book itself feels like it was written in a hurry, ticking as many boxes as possible without necessarily elaborating on them and giving them the attention they deserve. She makes up for it every time she sings, filling the theatre with the gold of her soul sound. But again, this would be far more useful if the show was done in a more accurate and immersive concert structure…
The father, played by the wonderful David Bedella is hilarious and provides a sense of comfort on stage that relieves the audience. However (God I have never used ‘however’ as much in a blog entry), due to no fault of his own, he adds absolutely nothing to the story. He does not sing a single note in the show, which is a red flag in itself. Following the footsteps of a toxic-positivity husband of Pulitzer Award Winning Next To Normal, Ethan’s character unfortunately does not go further than that. We never get to learn what happened between him and his wife, although it is quite obvious her mental illness got in the middle of their relationship. I could write a whole different article just on the character gaps of the father, but I think he is someone worth exploring and could add so much more to the story than a few lines and dad jokes.
Here are a few of my main narrative questions:
Does he ever find out about his wife not completing the gig? Does he become aware of his daughter skipping school to paint with her mother? Why does his daughter go to therapy and what happened in the past of the show’s starting point? Does the mother ever get better and what led to her depression in the first place? What is actually the point of Sidney’s character? What is the connection between Sidney and Britt, what is it about her that she loves so much? Perhaps this could be explored as a queer love story between them? Is music an escape for her? Expand, expand, expand.
Mental Health is a very important topic that should be talked about more on and off stage. It is always wonderful to learn that there is a new show of promising talent that is attempting to tackle such topics. It is evident that Little Piece of You was eager to represent characters who struggle with their mental health and create a platform for meaningful discussions. Unfortunately, what the show manages is an overwhelming amount of topics that surround mental health without going in-depth; Making the mental states of the characters static, poorly-paced and misleading.
A young pop star committed suicide; This tragic act offers an opportunity to raise awareness, investigate further what led her to this decision and show how fame and money do not equal happiness. Britt makes an excellent point at the beginning of the show ‘How can someone that has everything want to do this?’, which we never really expand on. Sidney is a strange combination of a know-it-all narrator and a ‘ghost’ of her pop persona. Additionally, she is still on stage at various moments in the show, including the throwback scenes when she would not even have been born yet.
Mother and daughter share traits of depression and anxiety and instead of finding ways to help get out of their patterns, they badly influence each other to avoid the situation altogether. Additionally, a toxically positive father gives the audience no ounce of his life and thought process in having a mentally ill wife and daughter who require help, with the occasional comic relief the audience is too confused to follow anyway.
There are way too many gaps and questions to make this a show that accurately represents mental health issues and resembles a hopeful approach to audiences that might relate. The time flashbacks are completely unnecessary and could have been cut, in order to use that time to answer all the questions this show leaves one with. It is not food for thought, it is rushed writing that requires a connection of all the dots to make sense.
One last point I would like to point out is the songs. As said at the beginning of this entry, I believe the score has potential on its own and with applied feedback from various reviewers and fellow creatives, could do very well. However, if the songs are maintained in a musical theatre production such as this one, the transitions need to be smoother. To break out into song is where the magic lies in musical theatre, and what makes it so special. Songs are there to add to the story and the narrative. What is a character’s I Want song, a comic relief character song, a ballad informing us of someone’s past, a duet of two characters connecting for the first time, a finale, or a dance break, what is it? My biggest problem is that not a single character has an I Want song at the moment and that is crucial.
I also personally believe that adding hit list plug-ins such as ‘Empty chairs and empty tables’ or ‘She Used to be Mine’ is an even bigger foul. Especially on the latter; a woman in a vulnerable state singing the lyric ‘She used to be mine’ that is not in the context of Sara Bareilles/Waitress is a set-up for failure. That is not to say such well-known lyrics cannot be used by anyone in anything ever, but is it a smart choice? Originality would work better for a new show in my opinion, as much as possible.
Long story short; One should never have as many unanswered questions after watching a show nor should they be wondering whether it’s the end of Act 1 or even the end of the show. Lastly, an audience member should not be questioning awkward silence as an opportunity for applause. Not to mention, it is not clear why the show is titled Little Piece of You, only mentioned once or twice as a lyric in the whole show. The story ends quite abruptly, leaving the audience confused in a ‘convenient deja vu’ once more…
I sincerely hope the show takes this opportunity to read all reviews and seek advice from other creatives too, taking some time to apply the feedback that they feel resonates with the future of the show they envisioned in the West End.
