A Taste of Cake: A Parisienne Dance Gig (In Rehearsals!)

New musical Cake: A Parisienne Dance Gig is set to embark on a UK tour, opening at Southampton’s Mayflower Studios on 18th March before heading to the Lowry in Salford, the Drum in Plymouth, Leicester’s Curve and Norwich Theatre. Staring life as part of MTFestUK in 2021 and described as “a brand new musical, come gig, come ballet” Cake is a retelling of the story of Marie Antoinette – with a small cast performing a high energy, genre defying show that runs at just around an hour!

At a sneak preview in London, Director and Choreographer, Drew McOnie, introduced the cast who performed Cake’s opening four numbers. Talking about the show, he said it’s impossible to describe, the only way to find out what it’s all about is to come and see it!

And he’s not wrong …

From the start, Cake is an assault on the senses. In a very good way. The choreography, as you might expect from McOnie, is mesmerising. It’s aggressive, expressive and absolutely fizzing with energy. The small cast throws everything into the performance, mixing hip hop moves with ballet, rap with harmonies that border on operatic and bringing this 18th Century story bang up to date. It may not be 100% historically accurate, but the cast members like to think this is what Marie would be like if she was alive today, and that’s better than any history lesson!

Our “host” for the show is the character of Jean, played by Renée Lamb. She is a charismatic and commanding presence and you feel an instant rapport as she starts to tell the story.

From this brief excerpt it’s clear that Zizi Strallen is perfectly cast as Marie Antoinette. She is almost purring as she takes to the stage to remind us that she is just better than the rest of us plebs, just as it should be, it’s what she deserves. Through a combination of song and dance she perfectly embodies the shallow, preening Queen of France.

We were given the opportunity to ask the cast a few questions. So I asked Zizi how easy it was moving from the practically perfect Mary Poppins to what must be her polar opposite in Marie Antoinette. She told me I shouldn’t be fooled into thinking Marie is a one trick show pony as there’s a journey to be revealed as the show progresses. She said that she’d actually been a bit scared at how easily she took to the character, given Marie’s reputation but she’s loving the part and is looking forward to seeing how far she can go with her, taking the mickey out of herself and basically being very silly and fun. She also admitted she’s more Marie than Mary Poppins!

When it comes to explaining what you’ll experience when you go to see Cake, it’s inevitable that people will want to make comparisons with other shows – you might see a hint of Six, Hamilton or even newly opened Sylvia or Standing at the Sky’s Edge. Explaining where Cake fits in with all these other shows B Terry, who plays Nicole simply said “It’s perfectly valid to make comparisons but we want to stand on our own two feet. So, if you’re a fan of musical theatre and want to discover new work, give us a go!”. Zizi added “This show’s great whether you love pop music, dance, comedy – it’s making its own genre!”

The show’s original score sounds very exciting. Written by Jack McManus and Tasha Taylor-Johnson, Drew McOnie described it as “an explosive marriage of two incredible new voices in the musical theatre writing scene”. The cast could all pick out plenty of musical influences that they could see in the music – with nods to Dua Lipa, Elton John, Motown, 90s garage, Lily Allen and even a bit of Sophie Ellis-Bextor (Marie Antoinette’s kitchen disco anyone?).

It's clear this is a cast that is loving the rehearsal experience. Renée commented: “Drew was saying the other day that he had never laughed this much in a rehearsal room. We gelled from day one. When you’re creating something you have to be willing to lose all your ego, and everyone in the company has had each other’s backs from day one. That’s why I think this show is going to be something special”.

Talking about her fellow cast members, she continued, “I love that anyone can watch this and think they could be on that stage. We’re all so different and playing characters we don’t necessarily look like. I always like to imagine that little Renée is in the audience watching, so I’m doing it (to inspire) her.

B Terry added “There’s space for everyone to be here regardless of body type, colour, gender or disability – theatre is accessible”.

After my brief foray into this most unconventional French court, I completely agree with its cast – Cake: A Parisienne Dance Gig looks like it’s something special and I can’t wait to see the next stage of its journey.

Of course we couldn’t leave today without a cake related question. If you’re wondering about what gifts to leave at the stage door, most of the cast have a definite preference for red velvet cake, and after the work they’re putting into this show, they absolutely deserve it – Let them eat cake!

Cake: A Parisienne Dance Gig opens at Southampton’s Mayflower Studios on 18th March.

Written by Penny Walshe.