Sinatra The Musical @ Birmingham Rep Review

What are the ingredients to a successful musical?

Well, you'd assume the catalogue and life story of one of the greatest entertainers of all time, all brought alive by a cast and creative team dripping in theatrical awards would be a good place to start...right?

Director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall (fresh from her UK triumph for the much-lauded revival of Anything Goes at the Barbican) seems like an obvious person to lead what should be a glitzy, bold and brash production. Yet, there's something here that doesn't feel like she fully got to put her stamp on, and the show does not obviously have her style in it, in a way her previous work has.

We meet Frank Sinatra (at first inexplicably) on New Year's Eve 1942, where his career is about to skyrocket, and then flashback to his engagement to Nancy Barbato, and then (rather confusingly) continue on beyond this as the point of flashback and further into Frank's life.

The cause of the confusion, ultimately, is the show's book by Joe DiPietro, which does have a lot of issues. Whilst in theory following a rather conventional theatre biopic structure, the way the piece flashes back, and then moves on past the point it started at without any explanation of where we are in time (along with very little changes in the stylings of the actors) is the first of many difficulties. 

There are plenty of scenes in Sinatra that are slow but short, stopping the pace dead in its tracks whilst the (admittedly rather effective) set by Peter McKintosh continues to roll in and out (rather noisily) for a number of scenes that could fairly easily be re-written so that they all take place together as one scene (as opposed to the three that are there now), and remove the need for scene change after scene change.

To be blunt, the show is currently (at least) fifteen minutes too long, so if it is to have a future life, streamlining of the story and the merging of scenes together will help everything feel like it flows better, rather than the stop/start nature that the narrative suffers from now.

 As the man himself, Matt Doyle brings the necessary charm to Sinatra, in a part that sees him basically only leave the stage to quickly change into another costume and walk back on to the next scene (more on this in a moment.) His amiable voice moves through the songs without ever trying to do much of a caricature, but the structure of the piece only enables Doyle to really let go at the end of each act (That's Life at the end of Act 1 being the real true moment where Doyle is able to let loose vocally). 

 As his suffering wife Nancy, Phoebe Panaretos feels like she takes time to warm up, although hits her stride towards the end of Act 1, and Broadway star Ana Villafañe does fine work as Ava Gardner - though neither feel like they perform to their fullest potential due to the issues

 The overwhelming feeling here actually is answered by the show itself, in their mentioning of Sinatra's reinventing of the concept album. Sinatra, as a piece of theatre, is promoting itself as 'performing more than 25 of Frank's most famous hits' - and this isn't a good thing.

 The show would actually have been more effective if it was looked at in the style of a concept album (or in the vein of a concept musical like Sondheim's Company), with some dialogue in-between the huge back catalogue of songs, as opposed to the book that is (rather sloppily) inserted around them by DiPietro.

That's not to say there's not a lot to like in this production.
The golden hits of Sinatra's career are expertly played by a luscious orchestra of 17 (who are gloriously on show at various moments in the show), and getting to hear that songbook sung as well as Doyle can, backed by as full an orchestra as there is, is a real treat.

So, the question still stands: is this a successful musical?
For the audience at the Birmingham Rep on an autumnal Saturday matinee, it certainly seemed to be. But for anyone who looks at a musical and wants an ounce of depth, and characters that feel fleshed out and real, there's definitely some work to do here still if there is to be a commercial future life.

⭐⭐⭐

Top 10 Shows of 2022

Man, I really let this slide this year and I didn't mean to at all... I think life just got in the way (and also I have seen in excess of 125 shows this year so like, where the actual hell am I gonna find the time to review them alongside work as well (I have no idea but I promise I will attempt to be better in 2023...!)

But, as is tradition for me, I wanted to record my favourite shows and performances of the year. I have seen some seriously great stuff this year, so picking my top 10 was HARD, but here goes nothing I guess!

 a couple of special mentions...

Sondheim's Old Friends - Sondheim Theatre

Is it hyperbole to call this event one of the greatest nights of my life? 

Not remotely. 

The line up assembled for this was just ridiculous - Judi Dench, Bernadette Peters, Julia McKenzie, Petula Clarke, Imelda Staunton to name A FEW (like, Josefina Gabrielle and Anna Jane Casey were in the featured ensemble if that gives you an idea of how starry we're talking)

I'm so glad this has been immortalised on screen for us forever, because so much of this event was literally life changing (wait till you people see Broadway Baby...I was SCREAMING).

I could write a War and Peace style essay on how brilliant this show was, but just know it was pitch perfect from the beginning to the end.

Who knows, maybe we'll get to relive it sometime next year...

Audra McDonald at the Palladium

The Queen came to town, with a 40-something piece orchestra, and sang just about every composer who ever lived, and it was fucking GLORIOUS.

Audra McDonald is the Queen of Broadway because she can do it all, and has done it all, and won six Tony awards because of it, and good lord did she prove it that night.

This night at the Palladium was one of the classiest things I've ever attended (also the most theatre gays assembled in one place at one time this year - we really all did die a gay death at THAT Roses Turn.) 

10/10 no notes - perfect.

10. Cock - Ambassadors Theatre

An Elliot Harper production is obviously going to be in my top 10 shows of the year, because they created great theatre - Cock was no exception.

The most wonderful cast, and the most brilliant creative team, and a play that felt like it still had something to say (at least I felt it did anyway). The genius of having the set be bare, one costume per character, and no props, just letting the text speak for itself was great.

I was hugely moved at the end of it, largely because of Bailey's performance, but because I understood that character so well. 

Brilliant work by all - glad I saw it twice...

9. A Number - Old Vic

Plays about parents and children are really difficult for me for a magnitude of reasons, so A Number hit deep.

Lenny James and Pappa Essiedu were utterly remarkable in Caryl Churchill's blistering look at the consequences of our parents actions and how we have to live with them. A weirdly imposing set, in menacing red, looms on the stage and you're aware from the beginning that something is going to go wrong...and it does...

The Old Vic have had an absolutely storming year, and it's been a joy to watch everything they've been up to (and boy, do we have a fantastic year to come from them in 2023...!)

8. Into The Woods - Theatre Royal Bath

So we all now that this production had...issues getting to the stage (and that's putting it politely.) But Into The Woods is my favourite Sondheim show and I knew I had to see it, to make my own mind up on the drama if nothing else.

It for sure has it's problems (as almost every production of Into The Woods does) but there was lots to love. Crucially, Act 2 is finally as dark as it needed to be and did begin to feel like a bit of a slasher flick (which it doesn't always). Alex Young proved that The Bakers Wife is one of the greatest roles in musical theatre, and she is one of our greatest talents, and the concept and design of the production was at times so unbelievably brilliant that I just sat, open mouthed at it.

I'd like to see it in the West End on a bigger stage (as it was just bursting at the seams at Bath and that had it's limitations), or I'd actually rather we just got a transfer of the current Broadway production...

7. Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder - Edinburgh Fringe

Edinburgh Fringe is always a joy - I'm very lucky I get to go for work and have a really lovely week of shows. I saw 22 shows in four days this time round, but the highlight of the festival was the INSANE Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder.

It's a true crime musical - two women run a true crime podcast and then...end up having to solve an actual murder and chaos ensues.
Rebekah Hinds and Bronte Barbe are enormous fun as the title characters, but (as with everything show they are in) it's Jodie Jacobs who walks away with the show.

It's madness that Jacobs is not the leading player of the West End - their voice is BANANAS (like, you name it, they can sing it, and will probably sound better than the original) and the fun they are having in this show? Unparalleled.

Can't wait to see what happens with this show - it's got the potential for a massive future!

6. Blues For An Alabama Sky - Lyttleton, National Theatre

I wasn't going to bother seeing this show, but word of mouth had been so good that I had to snag a ticket to the final matinee of Blues For An Alabama Sky, and thank god I did!

I truly wasn't sure what I was going to think of it, but it's as up my alley as any show I saw this year.

Beautifully realised characters, all with their flaws but all that you can't help but fall in love with. Giles Terera and the whole company were utterly sublime, with terrific musical numbers pushing you through the nearly three hour running time.

5. The Doctor - Duke of Yorks Theatre

I see an obscene amount of theatre each year - so much that lots of things blur into one and it takes something special to properly make me sit up and take notice.

The Doctor is one of those shows.

It tests every moral you have, and forces you to look at yourself and how you would react in this situation, and where you'd align yourself in a way I haven't felt for a long time. Add into that a sensational central performance like the one Juliet Stevenson is giving, and you've got a really compelling three hours that had me on the edge of my seat.

4. Much Ado About Nothing - Lyttleton, National Theatre

The fact this is on my list will probably surprise a lot of people, but I cannot tell you how much fun I had watching this.

Simon Godwin is an absolute legend when it comes to Shakespeare - his productions of Twelfth Night and Anthony and Cleopatra at the Nash were both absolutely bloody wonders, and he's gone and done it again with Much Ado About Nothing. I basically never want to see Shakespeare if he isn't directing it...

Future Dame Katherine Parkinson is a joy.

John Heffernan is a comedic marvel.

It just made me so happy for two and a half hours.

More of this please National Theatre, less of The Crucible.

3. To Kill A Mockingbird - Gielgud Theatre

I bloody love a courtroom drama, and no one writes a courtroom like Aaron Sorkin.

The novel of To Kill A Mockingbird had eluded me (don't worry it's on my TBR pile for January), so I pretty much went in blind, and my LORD what a ride to go on when you don't know what is going to happen.

Rafe Spall was a bloody sensation as Atticus Finch, Gwyneth Keyworth was a delightful Scout, and the whole company really rallied together and made an unforgettable piece of theatre - can't wait to go back and see it again.

2. Crazy For You - Chichester Festival Theatre

A big, flashy revival of a tap dance musical, directed and choregraphed by a Broadway legend, starring one of our best song and dance men?

Yeah, Crazy For You couldn't have been more up my street if it tried.

The show confirmed what we already knew, but got to show it even more perfectly: Charlie Stemp is a star. The ease with which he leads this show as Bobby Child is just astonishing. He dances like no one else I've seen, and is the ultimate showman - just wait until he does The Music Man in 15-20 years time...IT'LL BE INCREDIBLE.

Susan Stroman understands build in a musical like no one else, and so she creates a musical supernova in the act 1 finale I Got Rhythm, which fizzes over to a firework of joy and you have no choice but to stand up for.

When I first saw it, I saw both shows that day at Chichester - I loved it THAT MUCH.

And then I went back to see it's final performance.

I'm so thrilled that it's coming in to London for a season next year - if you were a fan of Anything Goes, you're going to love this show. I got that level of joy from it, and it's got a performance at the centre of it that is as joyful as the ones we got from Reno Sweeney.

1. The Band's Visit - Donmar Warehouse

The Band's Visit is a masterpiece, a marvel and a miracle, and I'm so glad it was in my life this year.

I had the opportunity to see it on Broadway in 2018 and for reasons unclear to me, I saw Waitress instead (I know, still trying to work out why). But I think I was waiting for a production like this that I could fall in love with...

What Michael Longhurst achieved at the Donmar with this show is remarkable. 

Assembling a truly authentic, gorgeous cast to deliver this material in such a unique way is something I will never forget. I've said it before and I'll say it again - watching Miri Mesika cast a spell over the audience as she delivers Omar Sharif is something I will never forget... ever.

Each time I watched it, I wept as Mesika was cast away into a dream, howled at the roller-skating, and then slowly dissolved into a puddle from The Park to the end of the show... (if you know, you know...)

Above anything I saw this year, this show deserves a future life.
More people deserve to see this show.

What a year it's been - we really have had a great variety of stuff, and boy is there some fun to come next year xx

Top 10 Performances of 2022

Putting this list together this year was unbelievably difficult - I began this list with 24 names, and I whittled it down to 13 (which for a top ten isn't massively helpful...)

So, I'm gonna talk about the three that just missed out on my top 10, and then my top 10, because we've had some pretty outstanding performances this year and its been thrilling to be able to get to watch them all.

Jonathan Bailey as John in Cock

Jonathan Bailey on stage is always a treat, and for him to be leading a new Marianne Elliott production was a double delight.

He doesn't leave the stage for the entire show, and carries it squarely on his shoulders. The play is pretty intense (whilst also being suitably hilarious) and Bailey goes on quite a journey through it, giving him the chance to flex every acting muscle he has - proving that he is such a wonderful talented presence on stage. 

Bertie Carvel as Donald Trump in The 47th

It's a performance I couldn't imagine before seeing it, and once you saw Carvel come on stage as The Donald, you forget within seconds he was playing a character.

Bertie Carvel's performance was grotesque, hysterical, disgraceful and you couldn't take your eyes off him - whilst the play for sure had its problems, you couldn't really fault the performances.

Kerry Ellis as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes

Anything Goes saved my life last year - there's essentially no other way to put it.

A piece of heaven that will stay with me forever entered the UK theatre scene for the summer and I got to live in this perfect cocktail of joy for 16 weeks.

What I hadn't anticipated was the production returning to my life for 5 months this year, and for the woman who made me fall in love with musicals making her triumphant return to theatre by leading the show as Reno Sweeney.

If you know me at all, you know how much I love Kerry Ellis, but getting to see her play this part was just unbelievable.

I've never seen her do anything like this, and I don't think I breathed the first time I saw her lead that tap number.

Ultimately, the thing that made this performance so wonderful is the fact that she was having the absolute time of her life. Reno in this production is HARDCORE, but every single time I saw Kerry play her, she was just having an absolute ball.
More of this please - may this be Ellis' great return to the West End stage and we continue to mount productions around her.

Top 10 performances of the year

10. Patrick Vaill as Jud Fry in Oklahoma!

Look, Sexy Oklahoma was great fun - mainly to watch the old people in the audience having an absolutely horrendous time at Daniel Fish's extraordinary reinvention of a classic.

Mainly though, it was worth watching for the absolute marvel that is Patrick Vaill as Jud Fry.

You're normally led to believe Jud is the villain in Oklahoma, but the way Vaill portrays this broken shell of a man in the production is nothing short of revolutionary. I was team Jud from the get go, willing things to get better for him. His rendition of Lonely Room  is heartbreaking, and then...well you know.

Thankfully, he's back for the West End transfer from February, and I cannot emphasise how much you have to see this man's performance. 
He's a sensation - don't miss it.

9. Alex Young as The Bakers Wife in Into The Woods

With her luminous performance as The Baker's Wife, Alex Young secures her place alongside Imelda Staunton, Joanna Riding and Rosalie Craig as one of our greatest interpreters of Sondheim's material.

The Baker's Wife is one of the greatest roles in musical theatre for a woman - it has such depth in both humour and drama, her material is hysterical and heart-breaking and she's the emotional heart of the show. I truly believe if you nail The Baker's Wife, you can walk away with Into The Woods and steal the show from The Witch and The Baker, and that's exactly what Alex did.

I cannot wait to see what else is in Alex's future in terms of Sondheim roles - we are all going to die when she gets round to playing Sally Durant Plummer and Desiree Armfeldt.

8. John Heffernan as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing

If John Heffernan isn't remembered when we get round to Olivier's next year, I will kick up such a fuss the likes of which you have never seen.

Heffernan was just having so much bloody fun in Much Ado and as a result, so was the entire audience watching him. The scene with the gelato (if you know, you know) was so funny I seriously thought I was going to wet myself.

He's just an absolute joy - there was real warmth to his Benedick and to achieve that in a role that largely can just be played as a blistering fool was just terrific to get to see (twice!)

7. Katie Brayben as Tammy Faye Bakker in Tammy Faye

I have many, many problems with the musical Tammy Faye. The entirety of Act 2 needs to essentially be thrown out and start again, and the lyrics are woefully inadequate almost the entire way through, but it does have one massive positive going for it - the barnstorming central performance by Katie Brayben.

Look, we know Brayben is a sensation - she won an Olivier for her performance as Carole King in Beautiful, and I'd put money on the fact that she's probably secured her second with her portrayal of Tammy Faye Bakker.

It's sort of everything you can hope for in a performance - confident but vulnerable, brassy but reserved, and with a voice like so few others. 

Brayben is stunning in this role, with her performance of the 11 o'clock number If You Came To See Me Cry being something that will stay with me for a long time. I just couldn't help thinking if she was this brilliant with the material she as given, imagine what she'd have been like with material that matched her capabilities...

6. Rafe Spall as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird

I am one of the four people on the planet who hasn't ready To Kill A Mockingbird, so I got to go in to this remarkable play blind, which I'm really thankful for.

Rafe Spall was a complete revelation for me in this. I knew him to be a good actor, but I'd never seen him really soar in anything before, and that I saw him as Atticus Finch, and he's simply sensational.

The driving force of the whole play, the focus point, and my god what a powerful performance. It's been 8 months since I saw it and I still think about moments of his performances and the raw honesty in which he did it. 

Stunning work, one of the highlights of the year.

5. Charlie Stemp as Bobby Child in Crazy For You

Oh Charlie Stemp, you wonderful, wonderful man.

Half A Sixpence at Chichester launched him to stardom with it's transfer to the West End, and made him a leading man. 

Crazy For You at Chichester has cemented him as a star, and it's West End transfer will only strengthen this.

Stemp is the real deal, although this was the first time I saw him as a true triple threat. We knew he could dance, we knew he could sing, but he radiates showmanship throughout this joyous three hour show. He's the lynchpin and he does it with ease: charming, vulnerable, brassy and brash, he's going to take London by storm and walk away with all the awards - London is incredibly lucky to have this coming in.

4. Mark Rylance as Rooster in Jerusalem 

Well, it's on my top ten performances a decade later than everyone elses (!) but I finally got to see the incredible Mark Rylance in Jerusalem this year.

There's sort of not much to say that hasn't been said but it truly is a performance for the ages, and all of the superlatives are worth it. It's a mammoth 3 and a half hours for Rooster, and it's a remarkably grotesque look at a character that we all know someone like...

It's also the kind of role he can never really age out of so I'll see you for round three in 2032.

3. Juliet Stevenson as Ruth Wolff in The Doctor

Remarkably, I've never seen Juliet Stevenson on stage before this year, but good lord was it worth the wait.

Her performance in The Doctor is one of those performances that you don't really understand how she does it, or where she even began to put it together. She's mesmerising to watch on stage, and is the glue that holds the whole thing together. You're rooting for her at the beginning, but like any flawed human she makes mistakes along the way and you are tested to your absolute moral limit, and that's down to Stevenson's superb portrayal.

2. Miri Mesika as Dina in The Band's Visit

Miri Mesika as Dina is the musical performance of the year and I will debate anyone who says different - in fact, its one of the musical performances of the decade.

What Mesika did on stage at the Donmar is the definition of a masterclass. She commands the stage in the smallest details and is utterly mesmerising to watch. The way in which her voice moves through David Yazbeck's sensational score is a marvel. In particular, her performance of Omar Sharif is like a film in four minutes. Mesika places the audience under her spell and was unforgettable.

It's such a specific performance that says so little, yet means so much. If you saw it, you know, if you didn't you REALLY missed out.

1.  Jodie Comer as Tessa in Prima Facie

I'd be surprised if this isn't at the top of everyone's 'best performance' list this year to be honest.

The superlatives for Jodie Comer in this show were ridiculous, but in this rare case she deserves every single one of them.

It's a prime example of 'leaving it all on the stage.' A one-woman show, for an hour and forty minutes, of a subject matter that is so utterly relentless is no mean feat, and Comer attacks it head on. She is dynamic and devastating -she leaves everything on that stage and more. It's quite simply one of the best performances I've ever seen on stage (and it is STAGGERING it is her stage debut.)

An instant sell-out, with a Broadway run for 2023 planned, and the NT Live screening SAVED Event Cinema and made it the most watched event cinema in history (grossing more than 3.5 million at the Box Office) - occasionally, the performance matches the hype: this was one of those times.

Top 10 shows of the year to follow between Christmas and New Year - have a lovely festive season xx

Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) Review - Criterion Theatre

I'll be the first to admit that when someone said we were getting another version of the seminal Jane Austen classic in London, my first reaction was (like the legendary Brenda from Bristol): not another one?!

But I definitely eat my words having seen Isobel McArthur's revolutionary reinvention of Pride and Prejudice (sort of!)

Five female household staff members decide to take centre stage and tell the well-known tale in their own way - think 39 Steps meets Downton but with a bit of Catherine Tate's Nan thrown in for good measure. It feels familiar to begin with in the fact that you feel like you know where it's going, with quick costume changes galore, but it's the moment that they begin to sing that this piece cements itself as something entirely new, and that's down to McArthur's fabulous script. The entire Austen novel is in there, but by having her characters belt out At Last and Young Hearts Run Free she gives them room to breathe in a way that a standard play would not. After all, when talking isn't enough to express emotion, you sing...

The five women in this show are all exceptionally hard working. I've said it before and I'll say it again: multi-rollng is one of the hardest skills for an actor to perfect, and the precision with which they have to execute this show is so exact, it's like they're balancing on a knife the whole time, as it could at any point go wrong - and that's THRILLING as an audience member. 

All five women are superb in their respective roles, but a special shout-out has to go to both Hannah Jarrett-Scott (as the whole Bingley family and an incredibly touching Charlotte Lucas) and McArthur herself, who's performance as Mr Darcy is that rare thing in theatre: you manage to simultaneously loathe the man but are willing for him and Miss Bennett to get together (yes thank you Jane Austen for the foundation, but also thamk you Isobel McArthur for building on it so brilliantly). 

It's a real shame that Plan B covid restrictions, and the rapid movement of the Omicron variant caused this production to close at the beginning of February as it's a perfect entry point into theatre who don't think theatre is for them. Audience numbers dropped across the country so significantly that that producers were left with no choice but to cut their loses and finish early. As expected, once things began to calm down a little, the theatre has been packed every night, with too few seats to get in everyone who wanted to see it before it finished.  

With plans for an extensive UK tour starting in Edinburgh in September and a return to the West End too, I can only hope that the show will receive audiences for many performances to come like the one it got on its final show - because it deserves it. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

February 2022

Criterion Theatre, London 

A Number @ Old Vic Review

When announcing their upcoming season, it seemed practical for The Old Vic to be doing a number shows with small casts (they previously had Camp Sigfreid over the summer with Luke Thallon and Patsy Ferran): with Covid very much still crippling the theatre industry (and the world), there are less people to have to worry about than in a big scale production like their annual A Christmas Carol. 

But there's real merit in the version of Caryl Churchill's superb A Number that goes way beyond logistics. 

It's a semi-futuristic take on a father having multiple sons thanks to the wonders of human cloning (remember Dolly the sheep? Well imagine they got that on an even bigger scale...) and his relationships with all of his children. Director Lyndsey Turner's production feels incredible timeless, in the fact that this house has been plucked out of time and is being presented 'nowhere'. Designer Es Devlin's set is flooded by red (a nod to blood and family ties perhaps) and it helps to create a truly unsettling feeling before the piece has even begun. 

Considering its previous iterations have attracted pairings like Michael Gambon/Daniel Craig and Roger Allan/Colin Morgan (the latter of which was concluding it's run just as theatres closed in March 2020), it's obvious that it takes real talent to tackle this material, but Turner's cast are more than up to the task. 

I May Destroy You's Paapa Essiedu has arguably the harder role, in the fact that he plays all the versions of the son who has been cloned - both against his will and without his knowledge.  Essiedu gets three distinctive roles to get his teeth into - a real gift to any actor - and does so excellently. With his characters running the fully gammit from shy and anxious to ferocious and vengeful, he is able to put all his skills to great use and really draw in the audience - his delivery of the word 'Daddy' over and over again rung in my ears long after I left the theatre. 

Yet, it is The Walking Dead's Lennie James who's stoic take on Salter that ultimately wins him the evening (if such a thing can be done in a two-handed). 

In his encounters with the different versions of his son, Salter is offered the chance many father's long for: the chance to get it right. He is given the opportunity to divulge as much or as little information as he likes, able to gage the reactions from the version he is presented with. It faces the audience with a very real moral situation: children really are the product of their parents decisions, and should they be privy to everything about them or should some things remain a mystery? The continuity in James' performance is clear yet sporadically chilling, with the audience able to watch him make the same mistakes over and over again but for what he believes are good reasons - something any watching father will undoubtedly be able to relate to. As a pair, Essiedu and James are electric, dynamic and, most importantly, believable - there isn't a moment that you question the relationships aren't genuine. 

Few writers works are revived and still relevant in the frequency that Churchill's work is, indeed this production marks the fifth major UK production of this piece since its creation in 2002. It's good to question why that is and the answer seems clear: no matter when her work is produced, it means something different. That's the beauty of a piece as meticulously crafted as A Number: with a running time of just 65 minutes, Churchill knows what every single word means and why, and yet certain moments play different dependant on when it's revived - the laughs would not have been the same in 2002, just like they will not be same in 2042. But it's ageless quality means that it will endure the changing world and continue to speak to an audience on a basic level for years to come: what does it mean to be a parent, and how do you ensure that your child does not make the same mistakes you did?

The answer? Who knows - just keep trying to do what you think is best. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

February 2022

The Old Vic, London 

Cabaret @ Kit Kat Klub Review

It's the most talked about revival of a musical in quite some time (for good and bad reasons) but Cabaret at the Kit Kat Klub (the redesigned and unrecognisable Playhouse Theatre) is now well into what promises to be a long run. 

Very few musicals are iconic in the way Cabaret is. It has a film that truly made a star of Liza Minnelli, and the Sam Mendes production (first seen in the 90s) has been revived multiple times over the years to continuous acclaim. 

So to take on something like this, you have to be ready to do something as distinctive and put your own stamp on it. 

Director Rebecca Frecknall obviously has a very clear vision of how she wanted to interpret the classic, and that'd evident from the moment you enter the theatre. No spoilers but it's worth arriving as early as possible and going for a wander round, as there is so much to take in.

Tom Scutts design gives us visually rich setting of the seedy Berlin nightclub, which is a little at odds with what we know Cabaret to be, but it's so exciting to look at you kind of have no choice but to forgive the overly extravagent nature of it. 

It's a given that you need exceptional performances in a production this anticipated, but thankfully Frecknall has two leads that are well up to the task.

This iteration of Cabaret came from the mind of Eddie Redmayne, who's wanted to professionally play the Emcee for over a decade. In an entirely different version of the Master of Ceremonies than we have seen before, Redmayne's opening image is of a contorted, child-like figure - setting the tone that this show is full of surprises. He sings well, but it's not his voice that shines through: it's the sheer magnitude of his stage presence. It's an immensely physical performance that never ceases to go in unexpected places, unravelling into a truly sinister figure by the end of the show.

As Sally Bowles, Jessie Buckley is the antithesis of the girl we know as played by Minnelli. Buckley is gritty, loud and brash from the off, losing any kind of irresistibility we may have expected. In a way this fights against the rest of the production, as it feels very angry from the off. Her performance is also a little jarring against Omari Douglas as Cliff, who does very much feel like a plot-point in this production, rather than a possible way out for Sally. This is also not helped by the fact that Douglas feels a tad miscast in the role of the plucky American writer who arrives in Berlin on the eve of war.
Buckley does, however, walk away with the entire night with the title number (which is worth the price of admission alone.) Screaming her way through the final chorus at the top of her lungs in a rendition that could easily have blown the roof off, the audience finally sees the penny drop for Sally as she understands the world around her is falling apart.

Liza Sadovy and Elliot Levy are beautifully poignant as the secondary couple, who find themselves caught in a fight for love and survival in the face of overwhelming prejudice, and there's is a scene-stealing turn from West End favourite Anna-Jane Casey as Fräulein Kost AND a Kit-Kat girl (I'd suggest the Tories don't go though as Casey is likely to high kick them in the face.)

It would be remiss of me to talk about this production and not address some of the controversy around it's pricing. 

I went to the first preview and had a good stalls ticket for £75. If I was to try to purchase that seat today, it is now an eye-watering £250. That doesn't include any food or drink or any extras, that's a standard stalls seat. 

Now, I work in theatre. I understand how dynamic pricing works. I get that theatre is a business and that after the last two years theatre needs to make back as much money as possible, AND this production has revamped a whole theatre and that hasn't been cheap. 

My issue is the fact that this is now a production that only rich people can see. The marketing team make a big point of the Lottery (which has six tickets for every show at £25...!) and that tickets are available from £30, but that's literally a handful of tickets, that you need to be able to book 9-12 months in advance. It's just a hugely inaccessible way to work. Trust me, I get that they have A-List stars who need paying, and we are living in uncertain times, but two people wanting to sit in the stalls at Cabaret in February will cost the same a package holiday to Spain for two people - that's unacceptable for a night out. 

Be that as it may, this production is a sensation. It has phenomenal stars (who are with the production till mid March) but it's such a solid production that whoever they put in it next have a great piece to work with (I'd consider the £250 if they can give me Andrew Scott and Billie Piper...)

Frecknall has really worked hard to make a fully immersive experience for the audience and for a lot of people this will be unlike anything they've experienced before - and they won't forget it in a hurry. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

November 2021

Kit-Kat Klub, London 

Operation Mincemeat @ Southwark Playhouse Review

 

Southwark Playhouse are currently having a great time with yet another run of Spit Lip's masterpiece -  Operation Mincemeat.

I previously saw this show in September 2021 and was pretty blown away by it if I'm honest. It's back now for a 6 week run until the 19th February (which, like it's previous runs, is virtually sold out) and I already have 2 more trips to the show booked...!

The plot? In a nutshell, avoiding all spoilers, Operation Mincemeat centres on the real life WW2 operation involving the invasion of Sicily. A fake body, a plane crash, and a whole lot of miscommunication. Oh, and James Bond (don't ask!) 

I'll fight anyone who tells me what the cast of Operation Mincemeat are not the hardest working cast in London right now - because they are. David Cumming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Jak Malone & Zoe Roberts are all stars in their own right, each playing multiple different roles and giving each of them a distinctive voice. Men play women, women play men, everyone plays people older and younger than themselves, and within seconds of the character changes you have forgotten and instantly bought in to the next person you meet - and it's fantastic to see. 

It is Malone, however, who walks away with the show with his performance as Hester Leggett, an MI5 operative. She is, in a way, the motherly figure throughout this story, and something of an anchor for Jean Leslie (a young typist who's flare gets her involved in the mission). Malone's delivery of Hester's musica monologue is an emotional sucker punch, in which a one-word name change in the lyric knocks the audience for six and sees a woman recounting her experience of the war before this one, and the sacrifices made to contribute to the victory. 

Southwark Playhouse is a tricky venue to be able to do a lot in set-wise, but designer Helen Coyston has brilliantly put together a central setting that easily changes to so many different locations with the tiniest of changes. Add in Sherry Coenen's atmospheric lighting design, and you've one of the best looking small-scale productions I've probably ever seen.

The comparisons to modern musicals like Six are inevitable, as it has similar beginnings and also looks set to go on to bigger and better things. I'd argue this actually a better show overall though - the full two and a half hour running time enables every character to be fleshed out, and every idea to fully develop. If this is where British musical theatre is heading, then we have nothing to fear: Operation Mincemeat deserves to conquer the world. 

(keep an eye out for the upcoming film starring Colin Firth and Penelope Wilton for a dramatic look at this story in more detail - it'll be well worth a watch.)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

January 2022

Southwark Playhouse, London

Moulin Rouge @ Piccadilly Theatre Review

It took 17 years from the release of the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film for Moulin Rouge to finally make the logical step to a stage musical, and after many delays due to the pandemic it has finally opened in London.  

In what was undoubtedly an incredibly complicated process to transfer a masterfully theatrical movie to the stage, the big question is obviously: does it live up to the hype? 

And the answer is unfortunately, not really.

It feels like audiences are going to come away with one of two reactions to this production. 

The first is being blown away at the spectacle of it all, and there is absolutely no denying that it is the biggest spectacle in the West End right now. Upon entering the auditorium, it's very easy for the sheer scale of what the audience are presented with to take their breath away. It's incredibly immersive as it doesn't stop at the pros arch and really pulls the audience into the world of the Moulin Rouge. There is an argument that it's all a bit too flash, as its supposedly to be a bit of a seedy nightclub, and it all feels very polished and perfect, but you sort of forgive it this because of the volume of what is knocking your senses. 

Both acts of the show begin with some of the best set pieces I've seen in a show...ever? 'Welcome to the Moulin Rouge' is a full five stars, reeling you into the world and giving you everything that this production has from beat one. Similarly, 'Backstage Romance' at the top of Act 2 is a visual feast for the sense as the tight ensemble are throwing themselves around the stage to the music of Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. 

But the issue is that because of both acts start as good as this show can possibly get, they have nowhere to go but...down.

My main issue with the show as a piece of theatre is that it's just an objectively bad adaptation of a really great movie, in one big way. 

In the film, Moulin Rouge is a story about risking it all for love, putting everything on the line, and a story that is ultimately about life and death. The issue with the stage adaptation is that I didn't believe either of the central characters actually gave a monkeys about each other. A large reason for this is the two leading performances (which I will come onto shortly) but the real crux of the problem is that the heart of the original story has gone. John Logan's book for the musical relies on cheap laughs, and the characters mugging to the audience every time a pop song comes in. There was logic behind the music in the film: there was a nudge and wink to numbers like Like A Virgin but they ultimately had a reason for being there, whereas Logan has created a bizarre musical comedy that relies on the audience shrieking with laughter (and on occasions joining in...!) when the cast sing songs like Shut Up And Dance With Me. 

A lot of the problems with the book could be glossed over if the cast were top notch and able to really bring some heart out if it (along with the sheer spectacle of the production). But the issue is...quite a few of the key cast are just not right for their parts. 

It's always an interesting risk when cast very young actors (often right out of drama school) to lead a brand new musical, and there's plenty of examples where it works (e.g Sam Tutty in Dear Evan Hansen and Jamal Westmam in Hamilton) but I don't think it paid off here, and that's largely just because both Jamie Bogyo and Lisii LaFontaine are just...too young for their roles. LaFontaine does fine with her material and does bring the house down with her performance of 'The Sparkling Diamond' but she lacks the real desperation or indeed life experience needed for the woman who is single handedly holding her family's future in her hands. As the bohemian Christian, Bogyo unfortunately just feels very miscast. He sings well throughout, but the character's loveable nature is missing, which as a result up-ends the entire production. There's also little to no chemistry between the pair (in contrast to Kidman and McGregor in the film) which makes the central plot difficult to invest in when you don't believe that they actually care about each other all that much, and causes big numbers like the 'Elephant Love Medley' and 'Come What May' to not land as they should.

Supporting performances however are largely excellent. Clive Carter is magnificent with his performance as the master of ceremonies Harold Zidler - enticing everyone into his world and keeping just on the right side of endearing - and Simon Bailey plays the Duke a little more panto-baddie than expected but it certainly works. Jason Pennycook is doing great work as Tolouse, but his new storyline with Satine is at odds with his and LaFontaine's respective ages (although this is not his fault)

The ensemble work unbelievably hard in this show, with visually exciting choreography from Sonya Tayeh throughout and a wonderfully diverse (in so many ways) cast who all look incredible in Catherine Zuber's astonishing costumes. 

The critical reviews for this are not going to matter for the majority of people who want to see it - the show is a visual spectacle and the essence of the film is stil in there somewhere, and people will likely have a lovely time. 

If you have any sort of critical eye for theatre though, you will very quickly see past the spectacle and see the issues (and the easy solutions that could make this show a lot better).

November 2021

Piccadilly Theatre, London 

⭐⭐⭐

Top Ten Performances of 2021

 Top Ten Performances of 2021

What a year for performances in theatre, eh?

Having had 16 months of...basically nothing, theatre exploded back in May socially distanced, to a full capacity bang in July, and the performances came bursting out. 

It was incredibly hard to get this down to a top ten, but I've managed it. I do however, want to quickly highlight some people who didn't make the top 10 but do need mentions for their sensational work this year:

Robert Lindsay's comedic tour-de-force as Moonface Martin in Anything Goes, giving a masterclass in old school musical comedy. 

Joanna Riding passing the baton on to the next generation with her definitive performance as Nettie Fowler in Carousel at Regent's Park. 

Anna Maxwell-Martin's heartbreaking portrayal of Marianne in the revolving cast revival of Constellations.

Mazz Murray welcoming us back to live performances with an iconic portrayal of Norma Desmond at Ally Pally

Emma Williams revisiting her Olivier-nominated performance in Love Story and breaking everyone's heart. 

Steph McKeon literally being lifted out of a Disney animated film and bringing Anna to life in Frozen. 

And on to the top 10....!

10. Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as Stepmother in Cinderella @ Gillian Lynne Theatre

A friend described this performance to me before I saw it as 'what if Jennifer Saunders had played Glenn Close playing Cruella DeVil?' 

The result would have been Victoria Hamilton-Barritt in Cinderella. 

A performance that chews the scenery till there is nothing left, taking every single laugh there is and creating her own when she's taken all of them. No one stands a chance when VHB is on stage - she's stealing the show from underneath the entire cast and rightly so!

9. Ben Daniels as Ned Weeks in The Normal Heart @ National Theatre

The Normal Heart really decimated me back in October. 

AIDS plays at the National Theatre are life changing to me, and this is no exception. A spectacularly cast show, with one hell of a leading man. 

Ben Daniels holds this show together and barely leaves the stage. He leaves his soul on the stage for us all to see by the end. What he has to go through is brutal, but it's a necessary reminder of where we have been and where we must never let ourselves go back to. 

I will be shouting so loud for him when it comes round to awards next year.

8. Julian Ovenden as Emile De Beque in South Pacific @ Chichester Festival Theatre

It's no secret that I'm a sucker for a classic musical. Those scores are my bread and butter. 

But it truly does not get better than Julian Ovenden in South Pacific. 

The man's voice is like liquid gold - seriously listening to him singing This Nearly Was Mine is an experience I will never forget - and he's so in control of everything he does, it's THRILLING to watch. 

Singing a score that is nearly 80 years old, but managing to make it sound brand new is no easy task, but it's exactly what Julian does. 

Don't miss him in this show next summer on tour and at Sadlers Wells.

7. Carly Mercedes Dyer as Erma in Anything Goes @ Barbican

In a show that is so spectacularly cast, with a leading lady that is so totally in control of the entire show, it's hard for other performances to pull focus. 

But Carly Mercedes Dyer is SO brilliant as Erma that she all but steals the show from the actress playing Reno. 

A genius comedy part, that's full of wit and dry humour, and a killer 11 o'clock number that is properly brilliant gives her all the ingredients to be a star, and my god does she do it. 

This performance will be showered with awards next year...

6. Linzi Hateley as The Narrator in Joseph @ The London Palladium

When Linzi Hateley first played the Narrator in Joseph...I hadn't been born.
My parents actually saw her play the Narrator but they don't really remember it.

But it's one of those legendary performances that people in theatreland continually talk about over the years. 

It's unbelievably iconic that Linzi had the nerve to return 30 years later and still be able to belt like she did in the 90s!

This performance was so good because you could see what it meant to her to be doing it again, at the Palladium, with Jason, and getting to have this much fun on stage again.

It was just wonderful to watch and I had the best time ✌️

5. Shoshana Bean @ Cadogan Hall

I'm kind of baffled that it took me quite as long as it did to see Shoshana live, in person. I think I just seemed to always be doing something when she was in London!

But she came in December from the mother of all Christmas concerts, and holy Moses. Every single song a masterpiece, every single guest a legend, but above all - one woman front and centre with no special effects, just singing for days.

Best vocalist in the world?
Yeah, pretty much.

4. Rob Madge in My Son's A Queer (But What Can You Do) @ Turbine Theatre

I sort of hadn't anticipated quite how much this show was going to affect me, 

I was basically going to any theatre that was available in June and July, but I sort of hadn't clicked at how much I was going to relate to this show that Rob created.

They literally broke my heart into little pieces as I watched...so many parallels of my own life in front of me? Rob's authenticity is so inspiring, and the fact they have always been like this all the more so. They truly put their story front and centre in this really special piece, and were just...honest. The perfect performance of humour and heartbreak, and the best fashion show on stage ever!

(I cried the most I think I've ever cried at anything at this show...and we know I cry at literally anything, but this took the prize!?

3. Jessie Buckley as Sally Bowles in Cabaret @ Kit Kat Klub

It takes a special kind of skill for an incredible singer to make themselves sound like a bang average one, but that's essentially what Jessie Buckley has managed to do in Cabaret.

We know she's a sensation, and we knew she'd be able to act her face off with Sally Bowles, but I really wasn't sure how she'd manage to make herself sound...not good, you know?

It all comes together in the title number, which is frantic, disjointed, edgy and gutwrenching - rightly bringing the audience to it's feet as she vanished through the floor.

We've really got a fight on our hands for the Olivier for Best Actress in a Musical this year, and it's going to be seriously interesting to see it play out....

2. Rachel York as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes @ Barbican

I think what this year has basically shown me is that I love women who play Reno Sweeney.

Rachel York came to London for four weeks, and became the toast of the town in that short time. Reprising her role as Reno from the US National tour of Anything Goes at the Barbican this year, she completely reshaped the show we'd become used to with another Broadway legend.
The first time I watched her play Reno, it was like watching the show again for the first time. She completely changed the entire show with her earthy portrayal of Reno, because she just...is her? It's the only way I can describe it really - she just IS Reno.

So hoping the rumours are true and she is returning for the UK tour and Barbican run next year - it's financially a DISTASTER for me if she is, but I look forward to it immensely!

1. Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes @ Barbican

I could write you a ten thousand word dissertation on what this performance meant to me, and hey, maybe one day I will!

But in your life, there are performances you always wish you could have seen. Julia McKenzie in Guys and Dolls, Judi Dench in A Little Night Music, Audra McDonald in Carousel...the list goes on.
 Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney has been one of mine for a decade, and in the midst of a pandemic, the theatre gods granted me that wish.

Sutton is a triple threat at the absolute top of her game, and it's literally the best thing in the whole world watching her on stage. The way she knows this role so well, but revisiting it ten years later manages to find new things in it is...just thrilling. 

I don't think I will EVER forget the feeling of watching her do the iconic end of Act 1 tap routine in real life at the first preview. It was one of those moments when the energy in the room shifted as she hit centre stage and then tapped for six minutes, and then belted her face off to a massive standing ovation. Literally the stuff dreams are made of.

For so many things this year as theatre began to emerge from the darkness, we have been so lucky, but I will thank my lucky stars forever that this performance came to us when it did, and I got to enjoy it as many times as I did (and now it's immortalised on screen and on TV on Boxing Day!)