High Noon Review – Billy Crudup brings back the classic Hollywood Western with a bang | stage

HHow do you turn classic Hollywood Westerns into West End musical fare? Add the songs, several Bruce Springsteen songs in this case, plus a few rounds of line dancing and a breakout star in Billy Crudup. However, it’s an initially strange experience as Thea Sharrock’s production shifts from one brief cinematic scene to the next, and the endeavor feels as wooden as the saloon bar slides that make up the beautiful set.

As a piece of theater, it finds its flow. However, as a debate play, it gathers the energy of a locomotive as it travels toward the confrontation between Frank Miller (James Doherty), who returns to this “dirty little village in the middle of nowhere,” and Marshal Will Kane (Crudup), who has put him behind bars. That’s mostly because of the strange and urgent significance of this 1952 film about a society working out (or rather evading) its civic responsibilities around institutional malfeasance.

Originally an allegory for McCarthyism (screenwriter Carl Foreman was blacklisted), the story pits the cowardice of the many against the courage of the few — in this case, Kane, the lone hero, who rallies his defense against Miller and his followers after the townspeople fail him. John Wayne criticized the film as un-American because of its critical portrait of society. The production comes to life in its arguments about inaction/collective action and seems to speak directly to the dilemmas facing cowboy country in Trump’s America (the Minneapolis shooting is the latest example). Eric Roth’s script uses many lines from Foreman’s screenplay but embodies discussions about society’s moral position in the face of America’s wrongs and misguided myths about immigration.

There is also the combined talent of Crudup and Denise Gough who plays the central couple on their wedding day. She is Amy Fowler, a Quaker who abhors the behavior of violent men; He’s the marshal who has just given up the “tin star” to start over as a shopkeeper. That is until news reaches the city of Miller’s arrival on the noon train.

Gary Cooper made the role completely his own, his integrity matched only by Gregory Peck’s Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird. So Crudup has his own long shadow to run from. He manages to pull off the role on stage as a straight, serious, and increasingly desperate man. Gough makes her role bolder and more modern than that of her film counterpart, Grace Kelly. The pair are convincing as a couple even though their narrow characterization overlaps with the full range of their abilities.

Many of the other characters seem too flimsy, from Deputy Marshal Billy Howle, Harvey Bell, to Mexican businesswoman Rosa Salazar, Helen, though the juxtaposition between her and Amy is refreshing, and gives Roth more voice and texture to these women as a whole.

Many of Springsteen’s songs bring their own American politics (from the frontier optimism of Land of Hope and Dreams to Ascent, written in response to the events of September 11). Some are sung a cappella, mostly by Jove, a strong singer, her voice emanating from desolation, but she repeats I’m on Fire many times.

It feels like a hesitant musical at times, the songs are short and thin but the percussive music and sound design always catch the eye, as does the lighting designed by Neil Austin, which brings emotional clarity and excitement. The clock is a key element of Tim Hatley’s set design, counting down to the exciting train’s arrival and subsequent showdown, which manages to contain tension and drama, despite the difficulty of staging a cross-town shootout.

Despite its early stiffness, it gains momentum and there are poignant moments. Ultimately, the political message speaks louder, tapping into McCarthyite fear then and Trumpian terror today.