Written with Andy Street in 2012 very enjoyably via Skype, as Andy lives in Thousand Oaks California, and I live in Shepherd’s Bush London, it played at the bijou 60 seater theatre in Kentish Town, The Lion and the Unicorn. Andy and I began writing together through the wonders of Facebook. He’d been the MD on the Brian Conley Show in the 90s which I’d been in as a sketch performer. I’d also written a lot of the songs for the show for Brian which Andy had arranged. Anyway he popped up as ‘someone you might know’ on Farceberk and so I sent him a friend request and also asked him whether he’d like to write the tunes for my idea. He was keen and ‘Wasp’ was the consequence. He has since become a mentor on American Idol.

Here’s a beautiful song by Andy. Lyric by me. Sung by me. It’s ‘Black and Blue’.

Wonderful Reviews
It got three wonderful reviews. Here’s one:

The Hard Boiled Egg & The Wasp
By Jonathan Kydd and Andy Street

Director: Jonathan Kydd

Cast includes: Richard Albrecht, Chris Vincent, Alwyne Taylor, Sarah Earnshaw, Callum Coates, Phillip Herbert, Claire Marlowe, Richard Foster-King, Paul Matania

Book & Lyrics, Jonathan Kydd

Music: Andy Street

Music al Director: John Knight

Choreography: Leanne Harwood

Lighting Design: Phil Hunter

Design & Wardrobe: Alison Cartledge

Venue:  The Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Dates: Until 10 June 2012 (Tuesday – Saturday 7.30pm  Sunday matinees 3.30pm)

Photographer:  Alastair Muir.

Review by Mark Norfolk

If you hanker after an evening of unbridled fun and laughter then get yourself over to The Lion & Unicorn Theatre, a tucked away pub theatre in fashionable Kentish Town where a brand new show of theatre and music runs till 10^th June. Written by Jonathan Kydd and Andy Street the cumbersomely named The Hard Boiled Egg & The Wasp centres around legendary music hall star Dan Leno in the year in which he is said to have suffered mental health problems which eventually led to his untimely death in 1904.

The production starts with Leno being admitted to an asylum run by Miss Cornthwaite, a brutal, self-appointed doctor of the mentally challenged with a reputation for experimental brain surgery. She has a protégé in Miss Proudfoot, a pretty young assistant whom she has tucked under her wing who secretly favours a new method of treating mental patients through discussion and reminiscence. This is the serious side of the story and we are tasked with deciding whether Dan Leno is in fact an artistic genius or a madman. It’s an interesting notion which afflicts present day alternative comics such as the likes of Ricky Gervais and Russell Brand whose acts are routinely scrutinised. Early twentieth century morals are addressed in the script as it comments on late nineteenth century laws and attitudes to cross-dressing and homosexuality- Dan Leno was famous for his cross-dressing performances on the stage.

The show is liberally patterned with songs ranging from heart rendering numbers like ‘Where Is My Youth?’ to the skittish ‘Did He Say A Man?’ with excellent music played by the onstage band of Geoffrey Grey on piano, John Knight playing violin, Mertle Bruce Mitford playing cello and Jose Maria Guerrero on the  drums. Leanne Harwood’s choreography works well in tandem with Jonathan Kydd’s direction making use of the space, fitting the four piece band and eight energetic actors onto a small stage without it ever seeming overcrowded. Kydd keeps the action moving along at an edgy pace which only sags a little before the end of the first act. His telling of the story is very well done as we learn a lot about the subject which can also be attributed to a fine cast, particularly Chris Vincent as Dan Leno who is utterly convincing as the troubled comic, played in a sardonic stream of self-pity interspersed with song. Alwyne Taylor is equally impressive as Miss Cornthwaite, the manager of the asylum with her soprano singing voice and sinister performance laced with humour. The narrator of proceedings, The Chairman played by Richard Albrecht is commanding and affable, interacting with the audience in a light and carefree manner which is at once endearing.  Other notable performances come from Sarah Earnshaw, Claire Marlowe and Phillip Herbert as Dawlish the humorous asylum attendant. Alison Cartledge’s costumes in sync with the music provides the atmosphere along with unobtrusive lighting by Phil Hunter.

Ultimately, this isn’t a show enamoured of intellectual content , but nevertheless is as entertaining as you will find anywhere. It is warm, funny and professionally staged- I watched with a perma-smile etched on my face.’

Personally I wouldn’t agree with the ‘intellectual content’ aspect as there are some quite in depth issues going on, but a good review nonetheless. Here are some of the songs.

[youtubegallery]
Chris Vincent singing ‘Black and Blue’, one of my favourites|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeI8Bcx5luY
This is the excellent ‘Two Baths’|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QarVhMTjaU
This is ‘Put on Women’s Clothes‘|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eucRIAd6kEk
These are ‘Phineas Gage’ and ‘Rose Garden‘|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3VmtprVvjo
[/youtubegallery]

Here’s the Stage Review:

The Hard Boiled Egg and the Wasp

Published Thursday 24 May 2012 at 10:48 by Scott Matthewman

‘Something of a legendary figure in the history of Victorian music hall, Dan Leno’s later years were plagued by alcoholism and a mental instability that saw him briefly admitted to an asylum. Jonathan Kydd’s new musical fictionalises Leno’s last days to present a nonetheless involving tale of a broken man, damaged further by maltreatment.
Chris Vincent’s Leno is a warm, if confused, figure who rightfully belongs at the head of a line of camp comedy that continues to this day. Together with Philip Herbert’s loveable lobotomised orderly Dawlish, he provides the show with much of its ample heart, although it is Sarah Earnshaw’s Amelia, the practitioner who yearns to put Freud’s theories into practice, who excels as the vocal star of the evening. Alwyne Taylor’s Miss Cornthwaite, a Victorian Nurse Ratched with a thirst for psychosurgery, amply provides further layers, causing us to question who in the asylum can really be considered sane.

Presenting the tale as a series of music hall scenes ensures that even the blackest scenes drip with humour. Kydd and collaborator Andy Street create tunes which perfectly evoke the age, both in style and the ability to lace otherwise straightforward numbers with barely hidden innuendo.

Where the music hall conceit falls down is in the linking elements by the compere, Richard Albrecht. A little less reliance on this mechanism would allow scenes to flow into each other more effectively, heightening the confusion between reality and imagination. And that, if allowed to flourish, would further enhance this intriguing new musical.’

This is ‘The Butcher of Bermondsey‘:

This is ‘The Hard Boiled Egg and the Wasp‘:

And annuver review. In ‘So So Gay!’ 4 Stars!

‘James travels back to 1904 for a bawdy musical hall romp that is more than meets the eye.

Rating: ****

Musical hall legend Dan Leno (Chris Vincent) is not having a good time. He’s lost his funny and there’s the increasingly debilitating head pains. As his condition worsens he’s committed to an asylum under the care of vicious Miss Cornthwaite (Alwyne Taylor) on the belief that he’s mad and that he can be cured. But can there be a happy ending amongst the gruesome grips of Victorian psychological treatment? And what deeper truths lie within the walls of the doomed mad house?

Book writer, lyricist, and director Jonathan Kydd does a marvellous job of mixing unsavoury pathos with delightful smut resulting in something that is highly original and completely compelling. Leno’s story is presented as music hall fayre itself, complete with audience banter and participation. But it soon turns into a fractured, nightmarish pantomime as it tracks Leno’s tragic demise. Constantly brimming with uncomfortable irony, suspicious scenarios are dressed as bawdy innuendo, the maudlin is performed with high kicks and happy hands, and horror is punctured with punch lines. Nothing sits neatly in this musical and its nasty streak quickly becomes apparent. But rather than cause friction it adds to a morbid intrigue of the brooding and sinister narrative, and still prises a good deal of laughs from its audience.

Vincent is great as the aging music hall star. He manages to mix the high camp of his stage persona with the overt sense of conflict and vulnerability of his deteriorating personal life. Scared, broken, and resigned to his fate, he staggers around defeated but still spouting puns like a fretful walking shadow. However, it’s Taylor who steals the show. Her portrayal of the villain is deliciously sneering, malicious, and out rightly sadistic. She propels the character’s melodrama into a joyous cabaret, making her the highlight of the cast.

The show’s crowning glory however is that it hides a surprising and complex plot which starts to unravel in the second act beyond what was set to be the ordinary plot of the sorrows of historical malpractice.  Outlandish drag suddenly becomes a harbinger of something much deeper as issues around gender and sexuality burst unsuspectedly in on the palaver. It’s this that marks out Kydd’s intelligence and  theatrical muse.

Unfortunately, as fun as Street’s music is, it’s not particularly memorable – even though the songs and dance numbers are just as integral to the production as the lyrics and narrative. Also Alison Cartledge’s set makes it hard work to imagine both music hall and asylum, although making a good effort in the extremely limited space of the theatre itself. But at least there’s enough room for a talented company bristling with rapport and ability to do the footwork unhampered.

In this ingeniously twisted night of music hall macabre, nothing is what it seems. Tighten your corsets and hold onto your pineapples, you’re in for a treat.’

Here’s a song that was cut and it shouldn’t have been. It’s Weedy Jesus! I’m singing on the demo.