Diana Vickers and Lesley Sharp Open in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
Terry Johnson’s revival of Jim Cartwright’s Olivier Award-winning comedy The Rise and Fall of Little Voice officially opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on October 20, with leading ladies Diana Vickers and Lesley Sharp earning strong reviews. The cast also includes Marc Warren, Rachel Lumbert, and James Cartwright.
The play concerns a painfully shy, diminutive woman named Little Voice who lives in the north of England with her overbearing mother, Mari. She listens to her late father’s records and creates faultless impersonations of the world’s greatest divas, including Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey. When Mari’s latest boyfriend overhears Little Voice’s singing, he puts in place a tragic sequence of events.
Among the dailies and U.K. websites reviewing Little Voice:
Daily Telegraph
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the Vaudeville Theatre review
“But what’s remarkable about encountering Diana Vickers for the first time on stage is that it turns out that she can act as well as sing, and more than hold her own in the company of seasoned professionals.”
The Guardian
Theatre review: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Vaudeville, London
“The plum role, however, is her mum, Mari, whom Lesley Sharp plays with fizzing energy. What Sharp also shows is the ultimate heartlessness of the raucous, man-hungry Mari who moves from cheery wisecracker to the wicked witch of the north-west.”
London Times
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the Vaudeville Theatre, London WC2
“Lesley Sharp gives an absolutely barnstorming performance. Dressing sexy, dead set on fun, her Marie chooses loudness as her defence just as LV chooses quietness as hers. Sharp’s Lancashire Rs go a bit Nashville now and then, but this is a big performance that isn’t a caricature.”
The Stage
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Vaudeville, London
“At the centre of this revival is 18-year-old X Factor star Diana Vickers. While she acquits herself well as the sad waif before her discovery, there is no doubt that the audience is waiting for her central “turn”. Glittering to her toes, she belts out the medley, showing off considerable vocal skill and sassy aplomb.”
Whatsonstage.com
Review: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
“But the real star turn here is that of Lesley Sharp as Mari, whose opening twenty-minute salvo of crass, crude self-absorption is the biggest blast on the West End stage, an amazing performance that is then sustained with brilliance and bravura for the whole, slightly over-long duration.”
London Theatre Guide
First Night Feature: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
“Jim Cartwright’s script, written nearly 20 yeas ago, has lost none of its bite and wit with time, and in the hands of director Terry Johnson moves seamlessly between laugh out loud funny and heartstring tugging.”
Variety
Review: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
“Vickers underplays nicely as the frightened mouse who eventually roars. But as Mari, Sharp, one of Britain’s most artlessly truthful actors, heads off into the other direction.”
