A tailor made show for the golden age of Hollywood enthusiasts

The Tailor-Made Man is a play written by Claudio Macor, and was originally shown in London back in 1999. This new production is directed by Robert McWhir and stars Hugo Pilcher, as the “Golden Age of Hollywood” movie star William ‘Billy’ Haines. It tells the true story of his life in Hollywood as a (unknown to the public at large) gay man, and the trials and tribulations of this. 

There are some very strong performances in this show. Shelley Rivers was a standout for me as Miss Marion Davies. Her character was super fun, if a bit cliched as a ditzy blonde, but she brought a great energy to every scene and was very enjoyable to watch. Hugo Pilcher was Billy Haines also gave a strong performance, but was perhaps let down by some script issues.

In my view, the weakest part of this whole show is the script itself. There were slightly bizarre moments where the show would come to a screeching halt while a character did a monologue about their life story, before jumping back into the actual story. Moments it felt like the writer wanted to just tell us about some cool history they had found out about, and did not care whether it helped to serve the story or the show. The show also suffered from a lack of clear focus. Was the focus meant to be Billy’s career? His relationship? His supposed innate talent for interior design? The Hollywood studio system as a whole? It was not clear to me what was meant to keep engaged and this story is crying out for a strong point of view. We end Act 1 on a scene with a brand new character Pola Negri played by Olivia Ruggiero. While she plays the part well, the part itself seems pointless. We get another monologue in which we learn about Pola Negri’s life and losses, she agrees to a scheme to a proposal from the studio to marry Billy, and then she never appears again. If this entire scene was cut, very little, if anything in the show would be negatively impacted.

I have more issues with the script itself, but I shall not labour the point too much, for fear of making it seem that this is not actually a good show. It is a perfectly good show with competent direction, good costuming, and strong performances. At no point was I wishing for the show to end prematurely, and it is a decent way to spend a few hours. But I would not expect to be blown away by a brilliant piece of storytelling. The content and real life historical story is very interesting, and I definitely left the show knowing a lot more about Billy Haines than I did before. So if this was the aim of the show, it definitely succeeded. 

In conclusion, a decent show that I would probably recommend to anyone with a particular interest in the golden age of Hollywood, and wants to learn a little bit more about a man with a fascinating life.