Performers are no doubt well accustomed to the slings and arrows of outrageous bad reviews, but seldom can one have received such a sustained personal attack as Tommy Steele has just had from the my esteemed colleague Charles Spencer of the Daily Telegraph for his performance in Scrooge. Or rather, for simply being alive, it seems.
Below a headline “The most terrifying grin in showbusiness” (which in the online version of the review stands right beside a terrifying mugging picture of Charlie himself!), he writes:
“Though Steele is almost invariably described as a “much-loved entertainer”, I have never met anyone (with the exception of this show’s producer, Bill Kenwright) who admits to liking him, let alone loving him.”
He repeats an idle bit of showbiz legend – that when Steele appeared in Singin’ in the Rain at the Palladium (in a long run that helped him set the house record for appearances by one actor at that theatre), he was so disliked by the backstage crew “that they would regularly urinate into the water tanks that were to rain down on to Steele’s head during his performance of the show’s title number.”
Whether that’s substantiated or not or just an apocryphal theatrical anecdote, he then takes great glee in declaring, “I fear this review is about to perform the verbal equivalent.”
Proceeding to rain vitriol on Steele’s head, he says, “Doubtless blameless in his private life, he comes over on the stage as the most obnoxious ego-tripper, basking luxuriantly in the glory of an extremely modest talent which doesn’t extend much beyond an OK singing voice and an irritatingly chirpy charm.”
But it’s only setting Steele up only for a double fall: “Actually, chirpy charm isn’t the first quality one associates with Scrooge and it initially looks as though Steele is going to break the habit of a lifetime and try to do some acting for once.”
He damns him with (very) faint praise: “At 68, he is certainly beginning to look the part of the old miser, with his leathery tortoise face, dismayingly lank mullet haircut and arthritic walk, and in the first scene he scowls and growls and snorts “Bah Humbug!” with something approaching conviction.”
And then really puts the knife in. “But you know it can’t last, and it doesn’t…. Before long the people’s star is treating us to comic capers and his Bermondsey lad’s version of an allegedly posh voice, which Steele clearly finds a hoot even if no one else does. This Scrooge proves quite nauseatingly sentimental, and when he finally discovers the milk of human kindness - just as my own was curdling - Steele starts flashing that dazzlingly insincere smile at us, the one thing about Bob Tomson’s anodyne production that is certain to give the children in the audience nightmares.”
Just in case we’re not entirely clear about how frightening he finds it, he then says of Steele’s grin, “There is no more terrifying sight in showbiz. “Love me! Love me! Love me!”, it silently screams. “Tell me I’m a star.” And sure enough the audience rewards him, as Tommy Steele’s audiences always do, with a standing ovation. There is nothing the British love more than the second-rate.”
So now the audience itself gets it in the neck, too, for admiring their star. And, he concludes, “anyone who cherishes style, talent and taste should give it a very wide berth indeed”.
Undoubtedly amusing though Charlie’s review (and/or rant) is, critics have a privileged position of power, and we must be vigilant against allowing our personal opinions to not merely cloud our critical judgement but entirely overwhelm them. As chairman of the drama division of the Critics’ Circle, Charlie might be our spokesperson; but a review like this doesn’t speak for us all.
was there even the faintest taste of hypocrisy in your mouth as you condemned charles spencer for attacking the audience, having just done so yourself in your previous post?
It's not just Charlie and myself who are attacking the audience, clearly -- Hamlet does so, too, in this week's cartoon! (http://www.thestage.co.uk/hamlet/)
Fair cop, though, Fred, if not fair copy!
Thank you for that. I've been a TS fan since the age of 11 when I lived in the UK. This "review" was a personal attack, not a review. I question the journalistic integrity of both Mr. Spencer AND his editor. The editor should have never assigned, and the reviewer should never have accepted, a review when he was completely prejudiced against the star of the show. Mr. Spencer should have refused the assignment in favor of a more open-minded reviewer who would have judged the show and the performance on its merits. The entertainment editor or newspaper editor or whoever assigned the review is equally at fault. I just hope Mr. Spencer and/or the newspaper had enough journalistic integrity to have paid for his ticket rather than accepting a comp.
Dianna Morrison
Nashville, Tennessee
I, too was so angered at Charles Spencer's vitriolic personal attack on Tommy Steele. I have been a Tommy Steele fan since 1956, but having said that, it does not mean that I have not, or cannot, be critical of any of his performances.
The London Palladium has over 2,000 seats and all of them have been full so far during this run of "Scrooge" - does that not tell Charles Spencer something? Thankfully, critics in the UK do not have the power to close shows (however hard they try), or make much difference to theatre attendances, thank goodness. People will make up their own minds as to which shows they will go to see.
Scrooge is a MUSICAL and an adaptation of the book. Tommy Steele toured with it in 2003 and 2004 and it was a sell-out. He has been at the top of his profession for 50 years - and nothing that this Charles Spencer says will change things.
Tommy is wonderful family entertainer and a very sincere and caring person (I know this for a fact). His smile is genuine and he has a friendliness for all his fans.
I don't know how Mr. Spencer can sleep at night!
Pat Richardson says that theatre critics do not have the power to close shows in the UK. In fact they do. For this reason, for five years my fortnightly e-newsletter has been doing unto critics as they do unto others. It can be found at www.rcubednews.com or you can subcribe to it directly (it is free).
In detailed research I quantified the damage that particular critics and newspapers inflicted on the West End in 2003. The results are on the Web in Issue 101 of 29 October 2004. In fact, Charles Spencer was the most beneficial critic to the West End in that year. The most negative was Nicholas de Jongh.
R Cubed was founded five years ago because in October 2000 the Cretinue (which is the collective noun for a group of critics) killed Napoleon, a very promising musical in the style of Les Mis. Many critics panned Les Mis at the Barbican before it became a hit.
Ian Senior
Publisher and Editor
www.rcubednews.com
Oh, so critics CAN close shows? That is nothing to feel proud about.
Thankfully Tommy Steele is way above all this and and his sell-out shows are testiment to that.
I guess critics have to earn their crusts somehow - but how low do they have to stoop?
I have just "stumbled" across your Site
having recently revived an interest in the entertainer Tommy Steele . I must admit to a total ignorance of what Tommy has been doing in recent years and I am unable to give any opinion , good or otherwise , on Scrooge
However , if I were to seek an opinion on the said show I would not be advised by Mr Charles Spencer He does not use his column for an accurate review of the show but sets out to show his obvious dislike of a star Ask yourself Mr Spencer - How did Tommy Steele become a star ? Because audiences didn't like him ? Mr Spencer's comments are bigoted and all bigots are fools. Just what are the requirements to become a critic ? Answers on a postage stamp please
Can anyone tell me what Tommy is doing now ?
Rock on Tommy
Ken