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Charing Cross Theatre, London
Music and lyrics by Matthew Wilder
Director David Gilmore
Cast: Greg Barnett, Sam Barrett, Jack Chambers, Kelly Hampson, Douglas Hansell, Jewelle Hutchinson, Connor Wood, Alex Anstey, Aiden Carson, Richard Dawes, Grace Galloway, Jennie Jacobs, Owen Johnston, Cassandra McCowan, Hannah Murdoch, Samuel John Taylor, Sienna Widd.
Produced by Patrick Bywalski for the Robert Stigwood Organisation and Steven M. Levy for Charing Cross Theatre Productions Limited.
Dates of run: Until June 15
Running time: Two hours, fifteen minutes, including interval.
On average 5,000 boys were castrated every year in 18th-century Italy in a desperate attempt by poor families to change their fortunes.
They nearly always managed only to add tragedy to their misery.
Even the handful of castrati whose voices became legendary had to endure the jeers of society and the unwanted attentions of libidinous priests or unhappily married, wealthy wives seeking affairs with no unwelcome consequences.
For a bold new musical, the choice of subject is daring in the darkness of its undertones and the difficulty of delivering a voice sufficiently amazing to justify the price paid for it.
Directed with tension and pace by David Gilmore, “Stiletto” leaves us largely satisfied, as any lack of authenticity is compensated for by an inspiring, feel-good ending.
Given that the last castrato died more than a century ago, the combination of female grace and masculine power that characterised castrati is provided by mezzo soprano Jennie Jacobs, who hides behind a golden, Venetian mask as the voice double for leading man Marco Borroni.
Just as the production demands we accept that Jack Chambers as Borroni for much of the action has only an ordinary male voice, we have to cope with the musical anachronism of a score that blends far more modern melodies with the rich, Baroque sounds initially struck up by the live band to cast us into 18th-century Venice.
One of the production’s many strengths is ensemble casting that gives actors who at first play the underdogs a chance to shine.
Sam Barrett, as the downtrodden Luigi, erupts into rebellious life and Connor Wood, as the supposedly mute Niccolo, eventually delivers some of the finest singing.
As the rotten establishment’s central couple, Kelly Hampson as Azurra D’Orozco and Douglas Hansell as Pietro D’Orozco, are outrageous and entertaining as they relish what are effectively their theme tunes “Without Me” and its reprise “Without You”.
In the 18th-century, they would have surely carried wickedly on and the outsiders would have stayed in their proper place, but the daring of this well-crafted musical does not extend to refusing to please a 21st-century crowd.
The alternative central couple of Borroni, played by Chambers, and Jewelle Hutchinson as Gioia, therefore improbably find happiness and justice in the face of extreme odds.
Stiletto
Charing Cross Theatre, London
Music and lyrics by Matthew Wilder
Director David Gilmore
Cast: Greg Barnett, Sam Barrett, Jack Chambers, Kelly Hampson, Douglas Hansell, Jewelle Hutchinson, Connor Wood, Alex Anstey, Aiden Carson, Richard Dawes, Grace Galloway, Jennie Jacobs, Owen Johnston, Cassandra McCowan, Hannah Murdoch, Samuel John Taylor, Sienna Widd.
Produced by Patrick Bywalski for the Robert Stigwood Organisation and Steven M. Levy for Charing Cross Theatre Productions Limited.
Dates of run: Until June 15
Running time: Two hours, fifteen minutes, including interval.
On average 5,000 boys were castrated every year in 18th-century Italy in a desperate attempt by poor families to change their fortunes.
They nearly always managed only to add tragedy to their misery.
Even the handful of castrati whose voices became legendary had to endure the jeers of society and the unwanted attentions of libidinous priests or unhappily married, wealthy wives seeking affairs with no unwelcome consequences.
For a bold new musical, the choice of subject is daring in the darkness of its undertones and the difficulty of delivering a voice sufficiently amazing to justify the price paid for it.
Directed with tension and pace by David Gilmore, “Stiletto” leaves us largely satisfied, as any lack of authenticity is compensated for by an inspiring, feel-good ending.
Given that the last castrato died more than a century ago, the combination of female grace and masculine power that characterised castrati is provided by mezzo soprano Jennie Jacobs, who hides behind a golden, Venetian mask as the voice double for leading man Marco Borroni.
Just as the production demands we accept that Jack Chambers as Borroni for much of the action has only an ordinary male voice, we have to cope with the musical anachronism of a score that blends far more modern melodies with the rich, Baroque sounds initially struck up by the live band to cast us into 18th-century Venice.
One of the production’s many strengths is ensemble casting that gives actors who at first play the underdogs a chance to shine.
Sam Barrett, as the downtrodden Luigi, erupts into rebellious life and Connor Wood, as the supposedly mute Niccolo, eventually delivers some of the finest singing.
As the rotten establishment’s central couple, Kelly Hampson as Azurra D’Orozco and Douglas Hansell as Pietro D’Orozco, are outrageous and entertaining as they relish what are effectively their theme tunes “Without Me” and its reprise “Without You”.
In the 18th-century, they would have surely carried wickedly on and the outsiders would have stayed in their proper place, but the daring of this well-crafted musical does not extend to refusing to please a 21st-century crowd.
The alternative central couple of Borroni, played by Chambers, and Jewelle Hutchinson as Gioia, therefore improbably find happiness and justice in the face of extreme odds.
Barbara Lewis © 2025.
By Barbara Lewis • musicals, theatre, year 2025 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, musicals, theatre