Living With Sin: theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Grand Theatre) Venue 53
22nd August 2022
★★★
Living With Sin follows Cece who, after her grandmother dies, spirals into a quarter-life crisis. Unexpectedly, she finds support from some new house guests: the Seven “Deadly” Sins. This production comes from the company that brought Six to the Fringe in 2017 so audiences may expect a similar feel. Whilst the show is about a group of equally well-known characters Living With Sin is not a pop-concert style show. The concept is a good one but at times the plot is hard to follow and the characters need to have a larger presence to make them memorable. Adding in more dialogue and breathing space to build the characters would definitely help.
The cast did well, particularly as one of the cast members only knew an hour beforehand that he would be making his debut in the show. However, there are definite moments where the vocals lack the power and strength required. Having recently moved to a new venue the uneven mic volumes can be excused but there are times when the cast really need to be louder to show the light and shade of the character.
The songs were lyrically well written and the score had some catchy tunes. The harmonies were also good with a nice blend in the ensemble voices. Some of the diction needs to be improved to fully appreciate the lyrics and dialogue. A real highlight is towards the end where Elsie’s music box is given the words of the song from Cece’s childhood – this is a really touching song and coupled with the ballet sequence adds real emotion to the show. Considering the show starts with a death of a loved one, the emotion showed onstage feels muted and it is hard for the audience to get too invested. However, Lauren Lopez, who plays Cece, is very good in role and the final song is the perfect finish to the show.
Click here for tickets.
Musical Manda 
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