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A Review of Letters of Life, Lust, and Love: The Music of Anthony Newley by Paul Goodhead, President of the Anthony Newley Society Newsletter Vol: 7 - No: 4

Member Chris Layton used his love for the music of Anthony Newley as the content for his graduate thesis project. This came to fruition on May 13th/14th 2005, at the Orlando Repertory Tupperware Theatre, Florida. Chris took on the role of Newley himself and was accompanied by Justin Scott Fischer.
   The nine Bricusse and Newley songs chosen were delivered around Newley walking in a park outside of Heaven's gates. Here Newley finds time to talk to God in a similar manner that his Merkin character did in the 1968 movie. This takes on a more personal touch when he finds a pen and paper and tells the story of his career via a series of fictitious letters to his mother, Grace. But why Newley and how did it come about asked our reviewer?
   "Knowing only of his name and a few musical works associated with it,' said Chris, 'I saw a production of Greasepaint a little over a year ago; I absolutely fell in love with the score and immediately searched for recordings and sheet music. Investigating further, I quickly realized that much of his life had not been documented outside of the Society and/or a single published biography, Stop the World-The Biography of Anthony Newley, by Garth Bardsley. To make a long story short, I became obsessed with the mystery behind this man, and have collected numerous articles, photographs, and memorabilia from different areas of the world including a copy of his 1968 controversial film, Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? I have developed this performance to honor his life, work, and contribution to musical theatre history.
   His disappointment with love, dissatisfaction in himself, and
dreams of being 'Larger Than Life' are apparent in the piece.
These writings are only the beginning. The emotional turmoil
invested into the numbers are, I feel, some of the most honest
and sincere examples of human emotion to ever be interpreted
on stage."
   The 45-minute performance is quite a remarkable piece of
entertainment in its own right. The script is put together with
considerable writing flair and is helped by the original approach
of Newley unfolding his career biography via the letters to
Grace.
   Being a Merkin fan like Chris, I was delighted that many of
the actual statements built into the script were real utterances
from the movie - itself lending enormously from Newley's own life! But this show is not about the personal life of Anthony Newley, unless it crosses into career plotline. The sensational aspects of his private life to the likes of Garth Bardsley's book. Layton's success is partly down to this judgment. The remaining success is down to Layton himself. (pictured above)
   He chose not to go for a straight impersonation, but instead takes on Newley's mantle as a character which allowed this reviewer to enjoy the performance and not look for comparisons to the master himself! As well as pathos which is sometimes in evidence via the "letters," there is also great amusement. In particular, Newley's (Layton's) telling of the Broadway nominations for Stop the World and Greasepaint and losing out to Zero Mostel.
   The show continues to focus on Newley coming to terms with his life's events and actions, finishing with him leaving his legacy of music with Pure Imagination.
   The show in my opinion - and that of the audience on both evenings - was both a touching and exciting celebration of the work of Anthony Newley. How wonderful that Chris claimed his graduation with a little help from the music of a true performer who sparked his imagination.
2005.