Arturo Brachetti al the Garrick Theatre until 3rd January 2010
In an amazing display of virtuosic skill, Arturo Brachetti brings over one hundred characters to the stage in a unique and spectacular show that simply has to be seen to be believed. From James Bond to the Queen via Johnny Rotten, he transforms between characters in the blink of an eye in an astonishing display of the time-honoured art of quick change. Arturo's own distinct brands of humour and charm combine with eye-popping illusions in a show that tells the story of a famed entertainer whose memories of his illustrious career come to life.
Brachetti’s residency at the Garrick Theatre in London, which runs until January 3, is certainly ambitious. It is not every day that an unknown European books an 11-week West End run. And what he does bears little relation to the sort of thing the British usually buy tickets for. The nearest touchstone is his fellow Italian Ennio Marchetto and his paper costumes, but Brachetti takes things to a higher level. Some of his quick-fire transformations — to describe them would spoil the fun — make Derren Brown look like a rank amateur.
If charm alone sold seats Brachetti would sell out until 2020. After rehearsals, over a small plate of gnocchi — he eats simply to remain superfit — he excitedly explains how he first discovered this ancient craft as a teenager in a Turin seminary. “My father sent me there because I was shy,” he recalls. A priest introduced him to magic, and Brachetti was hooked. “I was bad at football — a big shame in Italy — so magic was my defence.”
When he was 20 he went to Paris, where he developed his contemporary take on an art form that goes way back, beyond the commedia dell’arte, where Harlequin would hide from creditors in a trunk and Pulcinella would miraculously emerge. For Brachetti, coming to London is a logical progression. He sees English panto as inextricably linked to Italian theatre. “Panto is full of Catholics and gay people,” he giggles. Is he gay? “Only on Mondays,” he says, inscrutably.
This is not his first British visit. In the early Eighties he appeared at the Piccadilly Theatre in the revue show Y. He was immediately smitten. He nostalgically recalls “learning English from a lesbian teacher” and becoming a committed Anglophile and New Romantic, drawn by the punky sense of rebellion but mainly the dressing-up. “I had an Adam Ant stripe on my nose and the jacket.”
He appeared on television and even did a quick-change routine at the National in Tony Harrison’s Square Rounds in 1992, but it was on the Continent where he carved out his reputation for gobsmacking sketches, including a violin trick that is best described as Chaplin meets Rod Hull. In 1997 he wowed the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, where he was taken under the wing of the festival’s co-founder Gilbert Rozon, hence the rehearsals here. His subsequent touring show, The Man with a Thousand Faces, was a global hit, selling more than 1.5 million tickets.
The art of the quick-change has not been big in the UK since the golden age of music hall, when Leopoldo Fregoli packed out the long-gone Alhambra in Leicester Square, but if anyone can revive it, Brachetti can. It is easy to see why this family-friendly act, with its sentimental nods to Fellini and knockabout silent-movie homages, has proved so popular on the Continent. In an age of computer-generated flim-flam Brachetti’s real-life magic and unashamed theatricality is appealing. “These are essentially 19th-century tricks but we’ve never seen them before,” Foley says.
So how does Brachetti do it? “There are two secrets,” he confides. “The construction of the costumes: they have to look right, but be practical. And secondly, the organisation in the wings. Imagine a Ferrari pulling into the pits and in four seconds they change all the wheels and fill it up with petrol.” Except that Brachetti does it in less than one second, sometimes without even going into the pit where his two assistants wait. He does not mind giving away trade secrets, it is the execution that makes this memorable, not the Velcro. “Graceful chaos” is how he describes it.
It is not without its dangers though. He rolls up a sleeve to show a lengthy scar where he broke his arm slipping on some material. And six months ago he fell during his aerial sequence. He was lucky to break only one toe.
He does seem blessed. Now he needs some good fortune in London. “This is the Olympus!” he says, not given to understatement. “London is the only place that matters. It is so refined. Maggie Smith and Vanessa Redgrave next door!” He is also a big fan of British comedy. “I love Little Britain — they are so good at things you could never do on Italian television, so amoral. Rowan Atkinson, French and Saunders.” He even admires Benny Hill, but then nobody is perfect.
The cappuccino machine was sorted and the show looks hot and frothy too. Conquering the West End is a big challenge, but Brachetti is a driven man. Filling a London theatre for nearly three months? That would be his greatest trick of all.
Arturo Brachetti: Change is at the Garrick Theatre, London WC2, until Jan 3 (0844 4124662; www.nimaxtheatres.com/change)
