Marilyn Monroe Forever Blonde! begins with the movie star posing for the famous 'last sitting' photo-shoot with photographer Bert Stern in 1962. Marilyn is 36 and in the midst of a mid-career crisis. She recently quit the movie Something's Got to Give causing its abandonment. She wants to be taken seriously as an actress. She's been divorced twice and she's drinking too much.
Marilyn's Rise to Stardom
Marilyn recounts her life from her childhood to her rise through and eventual disenchantment with the Hollywood system. Occasionally we hear contributions from those she is talking about who give their side of the story or reveal how they felt about Marilyn. Greg Thompson's script is taken from real interviews and quotes, some of which will be familiar to Marilyn devotees.
The first part of the play covers her unhappy childhood and the early years trying to make it big in Hollywood. It is hardly glamorous stuff. The indignities forced upon aspiring actresses in the era of the casting couch included going with older men in the hope they could further their career. Marilyn claims not to mind, because that's how things are done.
This part of the play is lighter in tone despite her struggle to make it in Hollywood. Marilyn is in love with the idea of attaining stardom. We know she makes it. The first half ends with a rousing rendition of 'Diamond's are a Girl's Best Friend' from her hit movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks 1953).
Marilyn Falls out with Hollywood
After the intermission things get darker. Marilyn's never far away from a champagne glass. She's popping pills and slurring her speech. Her anecdotes turn to rants against the system. She discusses her failed marriages and affairs. She feels used. Hollywood wants her to be the dumb blonde, but she wants to perform Shakespeare.
Sunny Thompson is Perfect as Marilyn
Sunny Thompson does everything right as Marilyn. The physical resemblance is uncanny. She's got the breathy vocal delivery down to a tee. Her mannerisms are perfect, as is the famous wiggling backside. As Marilyn gets drunker Thompson flails a champagne glass around in a way that recalls the scene in Some Like it Hot (Billy Wilder 1959) where Sugar Kane gets tipsy.
There is nothing in Marilyn Forever Blonde! admirers of Marilyn Monroe do not already know. Those who've read the various biographies available or Norman Mailer's lovely, but slightly mad, Marilyn know what's coming. It is also why the show works. We're there to watch Marilyn. To see her move again and say funny things.
Marilyn was funny. She could deliver a one-liner like her her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio could hit a home run. It is a pity she never realised the value in being a great light comedienne. Marilyn was smart, if not quite clever. She was smart enough to know the screenplay for The Misfits (1961) was a dog's dinner, a fact that evaded its writer Arthur Miller, and the film's director John Huston.
Though it skims over the details of her life Marilyn Forever Blonde! is lovingly put together. Sunny Thompson is so convincing you'll feel wounded when she lies down on her bed and tries to make one last phone call. She recreates Marilyn's greatest talent, the one that set her apart from every other pretty young thing trying to make it in Hollywood in the '40s and '50s; making audiences fall in love with her.
Marilyn Forever Blonde! is playing at the Leicester Square Theatre in London until the 18th November.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
