Stalled: A New Musical
In the heart of Islington lies the Kings Head Theatre, a popular destination for London’s fringe theatre lovers. Founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, this off-West End venue has showcased a variety of new material and is currently the home of brand new musical STALLED in its world premiere.
With its all female cast, Stalled brings a delightful sense of female solidarity to the stage, sharing a collection of tales centring around mother/daughter relationships and how ladies in ‘the ladies’ can unite and heal together. It’s certainly a piece which holds an abundance of enthusiasm, passion and female unity, however, is Stalled too heavy for UK audiences?
Vikki Stone (who you may know from her previous work Romeo and Duet in 2022) has recently turned her TV directing and comedy talents to the stage to direct this production. The music and lyrics for Stalled have been predominantly written by Andy Marsh, with Liesl Wilke writing the script and some lyrics and a spot of additional lyrical help by Kyle Puccia. This emotional show has some very catchy numbers played by an all female band including piano, guitar and double bass.
Both set and costumes were designed by Emily Bestow. The costumes were realistic and gave each character their own style. The set was swanky, sophisticated and felt quite high budget for fringe. Recreating an ostentatious female lavatory in a Seattle office building, the set consisted of 4 toilet cubicles, each 2 separated by a plush pink sofa and a fancy washbasin island upstage left. Being based in a ‘loo’ this really does give a new meaning to sitting in the stalls and with a thrust audience setting like this, it means there’s not really a bad seat in the house .. err.. apart from the toilet seat I guess?!
The Choreography was basic and too cramped for the space. The moves were slightly dated and didn’t add much to the narrative, so whether it’s a question adapting them to better fit the space at the Kings Head Theatre or reworking in new choreo entirely, this could help to improve the show as a whole.
There were many songs, a whopping 15 in total, all delicately composed by Marsh and squished into 90 mins. While it’s appreciated that this is a condensed version of a full show, swapping a few ballads with more upbeat humorous songs could have given the production more lift and lightness that it was lacking. After all, you don’t want to leave the audience feeling ‘bogged' down! .The ballad-heavy show does present the audience with very catchy melodies and a sprinkling of humour, we just hoped it would be a stream rather than a slow trickle. Sung beautifully by the all-female cast, an array of beautiful harmonies filled the auditorium, especially during the trio's song ‘Slow Down.’
Fronting the cast we have theatre veteran Lauren Ward (who you may recognise from Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Dear Evan Hansen). Ward stunned the crowd with her motional portrayal of Maggie, a grieving mother. Joined by ten wonderful women, this talented cast married great vocals with evoking acting choices too. A notable highlight was Regina Co starring as Krystal who rocked the stage with her killer voice - definitely a rising star and a performer to watch out for in the future!
Considering Stalled is a show about toilets (and especially female toilets where so many funny, bonding moments happen) there was a lot of missed opportunities to have funny, light-heartedness added. For example, no time was dedicated to those funny circumstances in which many women meet, at the mirrors, complimenting outfits, sharing makeup, gossiping, taking photos and bonding over silly, funny scenarios etc. By excluding these novel instances and focusing solely on other topics only loosely linked to bathrooms, the theme consequently is invalidated and only relevant for its play on words of being ‘stalled’ in life and in a ‘toilet stall.’
The major themes of the piece included abandonment, religion, teen pregnancy, sexuality and identity, autism, anxiety, depression, death and bereavement and was arguably too intense for one show to highlight in a short time-frame. Even though these are important, every day subjects that will resonate with many people, it’s too many to squeeze into a 90 minute show. It makes Stalled a very heavy piece with lots of lows and not many highs. By replacing a few issues with a heavier dose of comedy, Stalled could easily provide more light and shade, thus appealing to wider audiences. By having too much of one emotion it naturally takes away from the severity of the situations at hand - ironically leaving the show slightly stalled itself.
Stalled: A New Musical is like Next to Normal’s younger but slightly immature sister - lots of great attributes but needing time to develop and blossom to reach it’s full potential, and whilst it didn’t exactly plop, we are wanting 3 ply rather than the 2 ply state it's currently giving. It’s making a splash at the Kings Head Theatre - but will this brand new musical transfer and soon be coming to a cubicle near you? Don’t flush away your chances of seeing Stalled: A New Musical.
This show was reviewed on the 16th February 2025 at the Kings Head Theatre, London where it runs until the 23rd March 2025. Tickets available here: Stalled: A New Musical | What's On | King's Head Theatre
Review written by Lauren Atkinson
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Photo credit: Johan Persson
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