'A Face in the Crowd' review – celebrity conquers politics in this eerily prescient Elvis Costello musical adaptation

Read our review of new musical A Face in the Crowd, starring Ramin Karimloo and Anoushka Lucas, now in performances at the Young Vic to 9 November.

Elia Kazan’s 1957 film about a jailed-up drifter turned radio and TV personality whose influence eventually extends into politics seems eerily prescient at a time when a certain former president, with earlier TV credits and ongoing criminal counts, is once again campaigning for the White House.

It is, in part, a cautionary tale about the boundless power of celebrity, and with its central character Lonesome Rhodes a travelling musician, it's a story that lends itself to being livened up with songs. Enter book writer Sarah Ruhl, who with the help of songwriting royalty Elvis Costello has adapted A Face in the Crowd into a stage musical.

In a production directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, marking his swansong as artistic director of the Young Vic, it is an ambitious and neat reimagining led by two terrific central performances: West End and Broadway star Ramin Karimloo plays Lonesome opposite Anoushka Lucas (Oklahoma!) as Marcia Jeffries.

But although Costello’s songs dutifully carry the story and allow its characters’ emotions space to breathe, they don’t stick. Nor is this Lonesome as terrifying at the peak of his power, or as tragic in his downfall, as his screen predecessor. As a result, it unfolds as a cosy period piece when there’s a sense it could be much more.

Marcia Jeffries is a radio producer with an ambition to put real people on air. A trip to an Arkansas jailhouse introduces her to Lonesome, a charismatic, radical down-and-out, whose appearance on her radio show woos working men and downtrodden housewives alike. As new listeners and advertising deals pour in, Marcia and Lonesome become a duo in demand.

Soon they’re off to New York via Chicago, swapping radio for TV and blurring the boundaries of their relationship along the way. But Lonesome’s influence is unstoppable (he goes from advertising energy pills to assisting a presidential candidate in rallying the public), his ego and sexual appetite untameable, and Marcia realises she’s played Frankenstein to a Monster who’s out of control.

It’s a story that jumps between several US states, and the marauding world of the show is gorgeously realised through a carousel of set designs by Anna Fleischle. The power of radio to connect the isolated is conveyed as the output from a glossy 50s radio studio beams into illuminated windows dotted above the stage, framing listeners in their respective homes. As Marcia and Lonesome travel from Arkansas to Illinois, Fleischle’s moving train carriage evokes Wes Anderson in its colourful symmetry.

While not the show’s best numbers, the chorused songs are also visual spectacles. “Why Don’t You All Jump In?” casts the stage in watery hues and sends inflatables flying as Lizzi Gee’s choreography mimics all the fun of a pool party. Emily Florence’s Betty Lou, wielding a twirling baton while singing “Miss Hot Mischief”, is another head turner.

But it’s Lucas, mastering notes high and low in Costello’s often challenging, bluesy score, coupled with Karimloo’s effortless showmanship, that stand out here: two performances more memorable than the material itself.

A Face in the Crowd is at the Young Vic through 9 November. Book A Face in the Crowd tickets on London Theatre.

Photo credit: A Face in the Crowd (Photos by Ellie Kurttz)