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!)