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THis FBI background check doesn’t seem like the stuff of sports. Produced by Royal American Comedy – Harry Shearermember of The Simpsons team for a long time, writing the book and words with Tom Leopold, of Cheers and Seinfeld writing fame – music with the late Peter Matz, known for his work with Barbra Streisand. Along with these commercials, Mad Men actor Bryan Batt is in the lead. It is very interesting that, as a very American story about the life and times of the eponymous first director of the office, it will appear for the first time in Britain.
It’s been in production for decades as well (since live on radio in the 1990s). How did it end here?
The production deals with the much-discussed question of whether Hoover was gay. He responds with “the truth”, introducing his old friend, Clyde Tolson (Hugo Bolton, excellent), to be his best friend in hiding with a law enforcement agent.
An ailing Hoover, on the brink of death, takes on the style of a Christmas Carol, seeing his life re-enacted as a jazz, Broadway musical. Discover choral and musical numbers that channel and celebrate the theatrical form.
His old son (Jess Pratley) is the old ghost. We see how Hoover goes from an independent schoolboy, who knows how to insult the headmaster and ignore personal information, to do the same thing with four presidents during his tenure. FBI.
Directed by Josh Seymour, there are pockets of sarcasm, camp and sparkling humor as Hoover becomes the challenger of his life. His dark side is left out – the dirt he digs on Martin Luther King, his forced close relationship with Walter Winchell (Marc Elliott), his friendship with Joseph McCarthy, his failure on the “commies” and little to say about ending homosexuality in America.
On its merits, the play has a Mel Brooks soundtrack. But aside from the humor there is a pain that feels real and human, especially in the romance between Hoover and Tolson. Their first meeting in the bathroom leads to a funny romance and a great song accompanies their relationship (Once in the Face and I’ll Never Miss Her). Repressed desire resurfaces in the form of Hoover’s secretary, Helen (Laura Medforth) who gets one of the most violent numbers in Helen’s Blues.
Sometimes it’s too big for the place, with its own show music and singing lines. A quality joke that the second half is not as good as the first and there is some truth. But this is a fun musical adventure, full of fun, exotic and imaginative. You can see his West End ambitions, and with just a glance it should be there.
