Siblings Zoe (writer/performer) and Simon (director) Lewis have teamed up to bring us the tale of Lesley, a grown woman whose lifelong obsession with Madonna has impacted nearly every decision in her life.
Prior to the beginning of the show, Simon came out to give the audience a disclaimer. This was his first attempt at the theatre and Zoes first as a performer. It shows. The writing is very good, exceptional even, but much of it is garbled by Zoe as she has a tendency to speak rather softly and garble her words. To her credit, it was better towards the end, so it may have just been a case of nerves.
The Lewis siblings lack of experience is made obvious mostly in their staging. On stage at all times is a young Madonna look-alike (Fannie James). At any point where Zoe rushes off for a quick costume change (this happens often), this look alike dances around the stage. In this case, dancing really just consists of jumping about and clapping her hands. It appears that she has been given no choreography at all, which considering the premise and muse of the show, is quite a shame. Whenever she is not dancing in a most un-Madonna-like fashion, she is sitting off to the side completely out of character, looking bored and staring at her nails as if she wasnt there. It makes one question the purpose of having her on stage at all.
This show is funny and a little tweaking would improve the quality greatly. Small things, like projecting and choreography could bring this show to a whole new level. I firmly believe that Zoe Lewis has the charisma to pull it off.
