{"id":970763,"date":"2016-10-06T20:21:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T19:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8ce250469d.nxcli.io\/?p=970763"},"modified":"2020-08-23T00:19:29","modified_gmt":"2020-08-22T23:19:29","slug":"murder-ballad-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment-focus.com\/2016\/10\/06\/murder-ballad-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Murder Ballad review"},"content":{"rendered":"
Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash\u2019s effective, but flawed, Murder Ballad \u2013 a chamber musical with a rock edge \u2013 gets its UK premiere at London\u2019s Arts Festival.<\/p>\n
The one act, sung-through production opens with young New Yorker Sara and her bad boy lover Tom alternately fighting and kissing. The tempestuous couple go their separate ways and Sara sets up home with good guy Michael. But, becoming bored of the school run and a comfortable but lustless marriage, Sara reignites her affair with Tom which, as the title suggests, doesn\u2019t end well.<\/p>\n
The contained, slight story is both refreshing in its honesty and simplicity, but also criminally under baked. The narrative is pacy and compelling but doesn\u2019t give time for any of the characters to breathe and develop, meaning that the audience finds it hard to care. Thankfully the cast makes up for the book\u2019s shortcomings.<\/p>\n
West End darling Kerry Ellis is in fine voice as Sara and pitch perfect for the dramatic rock\/pop tracks. She also manages to add depth to her one dimensional character and excels in the more dramatic moments \u2013 something she\u2019s obviously far more comfortable with than the awkward sexual scenes. But what Ellis lacks in passion, Ramin Karimloo more than makes up for.<\/p>\n