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 The show, which opened in London on Thursday, received mixed
reviews, with The Guardian saying that "Lloyd Webber's
romanticism sits oddly with a social and political critique" and
The Daily Telegraph praising it for "delightful tunes, winning
performances — and an unexpected dash of mischief".
The main characters, in real life and the show, are party girl
Christine Keeler and her friend Mandy Rice-Davies, a
vodka-swilling Russian military attache who was one of Keeler's
lovers, and John Profumo, Britain's Secretary of State for War,
a married man and also one of Keeler's lovers.
When his affair with her came tumbling out, courtesy of the ever
vigilant British tabloid press, it was suspected that Profumo in
"pillow talk" may have leaked nuclear secrets to Keeler and
through her to the Russians.
Profumo lied about it all to Parliament and was forced to
resign, leading indirectly to Conservative Prime Minister Harold
Macmillan stepping down some months later and an election a year
on that brought the Labour opposition to power.
The affable, Jaguar-driving Ward's role in all this? He was said
to be the procurer and committed suicide with an overdose of
sleeping pills after being forced to take the rap by the corrupt
British political, judicial and police establishment of the time — or so the musical's book would have it.
From the opening number, "Human Sacrifice", in which Ward,
played by veteran musical and stage performer Alexander Hanson,
is shown in a wax museum display alongside historical villains
such as Hitler, this latest offering makes it clear that the
evening's entertainment comes with a moral lesson attached.
"Get up the nose of the establishment ... step across the line,"
Ward sings as he comes alive amid the display of wax dummies, and you, too,
could become a "human sacrifice."
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 That may sound grim and "Sweeney Todd"-ish, but there need be
no fear that Lloyd Webber — creator of "Evita", "Cats" and "The
Phantom of the Opera", among others — has turned ghoulish and
dark.
The next number is set in a popular London nightclub of the
period, with showgirls performing a dance routine with hula
hoops. It's there that Ward meets Keeler, played by Charlotte
Spencer, and the seeds of a disastrous relationship are sewn.
Shortly afterwards, they attend a high-society dinner party in
which everyone strips down to their underwear — in the case of the
women mostly black semi-fetish regalia — and has an orgy.
The orgy, while tame even by the standards of what can be seen on
today's stages, provides one of the show's best tunes, "You've Never
Had It So Good." It twists Macmillan's famous quote by adding:
"You've never had it so often."
Another memorable number is sung by Profumo's shocked wife, the
actress Valerie Hobson, played by Joanna Riding, when he confesses
to the affair. She says that despite his lies she won't leave him
because "I'm hopeless when it comes to you".
Richard Eyre directed, Don Black and Christopher Hampton wrote the
book and lyrics, and costume designer Rob Howell has found some
eye-catching 1960s fashions for Keeler and Rice-Davies, portrayed by
Charlotte Blackledge.
(Editing by Jermey Gaunt)
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