The Producers - Review

Menier Chocolate Factory, London

****

Music and lyrics by Mel Brooks
Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan

Directed by Patrick Marber

Andy Nyman and Marc Antolin

The Producers that has just opened at the Menier Chocolate Factory has sold out for the entirety of its 14-week run before one review has even been published! Patrick Marber directs and his helming of this revival of Mel Brooks’ comic gem, is impeccable. As musicals go The Producers is massive and to have been able to have crammed it into the Menier’s intimacy is quite an achievement. Designer Scott Pask has used the venue’s size to bring us closer to the chemistry of the relationship between scheming Broadway producer Max Bialystock and his apparently timid accountant Leo Bloom.

The show’s plot famously centres around Bialystock and Bloom’s need to create a surefire flop, so as to avoid having to pay out any returns to Bialystock’s “little old lady” angels who he has seduced and defrauded by overselling the profits of his next show many times over. The pair stumble across Franz Liebkind, a Nazi playwright whose Springtime For Hitler they seize upon as a show in the worst possible taste and guaranteed to bomb at the box office. Of course, through an over-plastering of camp and kitsch, the musical goes on to become a Broadway smash and the pair are exposed as scheming crooks.

The accomplished Andy Nyman (who played Tevye at the Menier six years ago) is Bialystock with Marc Antolin playing Bloom. Nyman masters Bialystock’s New York Jewish shtick, getting under the skin of the man’s chutzpah and irreverence. Bialystock however needs to bestride his scenes like a colossus and there is something just a touch diminutive in Nyman’s turn. His take on the monstrous producer is unlikely to be remembered as one of the greats.

It is Marber’s supporting characters, from the show-within-a-show, who really bring this production to life. Playing Broadway director Roger De Bris is Trevor Ashley who gives possibly the finest interpretation ever to this larger than life character. Equally Harry Morrison's Franz Liebkind is a treat. Joanna Woodward gamely steps up to the role of Swedish blonde Ulla, hired as the producers’ assistant and she too delivers a performance that is as fabulous as her stunning looks.

Marber’s ensemble are close to flawless with Lorin Latarro’s choreography proving to be a work of genius within the Menier’s confines. Matthew Samer’s musical direction is also a delight.

Winter may be upon us but there's no room for snowflakes at The Producers. Aside from its two protagonists who end up in Sing Sing, this is a show that takes no prisoners. And as Mel Brooks mercilessly mocks a slew of minorities, the evening makes for one big guilty pleasure. 

Runs until March 1st 2025

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Dick Whittington and his Cat - Review

Hackney Empire, London

****

Written by Will Brenton

Directed by Clive Rowe

Clive Rowe

This year’s pantomime at Hackney Empire is Dick Whittington, with local legend Clive Rowe stepping up to the double honours of helming the show as director as well as playing (Dame) Sarah The Cook.

The story of course is a perennial treat and there is fine work from Kandaka Moore in the title role, Hackney’s favourite Kat B as Dick’s cat Tommy. Graham Macduff is King Rat, Tony Timberlake is Alderman Fitzwarren, Aryana Ramkhalawon is his daughter Alice, Beth Sindy throws some magic into the proceedings as Fairy Bowbells and Max Mirza is Sarah's comedy sidekick, Idle Jack.

But, as ever, the night belongs to Rowe who this year surpasses himself with perhaps the best panto ever to grace the Hackney Empire’s stage. Amidst literally countless costume changes Rowe drives the evening’s comedy at a ruthlessly hilarious pace, all the while drawing great work from his supporting cast. The gags are fast, frequent and perfectly timed with none more risqué than cook Rowe entering dressed as a pepper-mill and telling the audience that he’d bought it on grinder (geddit?).

As Rowe pitches his humour perfectly, leaving both adults and children in stitches of laughter, act one closes to the scene of this greatest of dames, clad on this occasion as the ocean liner “Hello Buoys”, and singing Don’t Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl. Rowe’s credentials as an Olivier-winning star of musical theatre are long established and to see him nailing this Streisand classic is to witness genius in action. Not only that, but by including such a classic gem of a song, the show also introduces its younger audience to a taste of Broadway’s golden years. No bad thing!

Act two plays out to include our heroes stranded on Ee El Pie Island after a storm at sea. This turns out to be a psychedelic ashram (yes … me neither) which while being of tenuous relevance to the storyline, allows the show a chance to reference music from Bowie, Beatles, Madness, Elton John, The Kinks and Joan Armatrading. Absolute delight for the grown-ups. 

Cleo Pettitt has done fine design work both in the show’s scenery and in Rowe’s spectacular gowns. In the pit, Alex Maynard directs his five-piece band with finesse.

Dick Whittington at the Hackney Empjre, with Clive Rowe’s damesmanship, is one of the finest traditional pantos in town.

Runs until 5th January 2025

Photo credit: Mark Senior

White Christmas - Review

The Mill at Sonning

****

Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin

Book by David Ives and Paul Blake

Directed by Jonathan O'Boyle

Nic Myers, Connor Hughes, Gabriella Williams and Jason Kajdi

White Christmas, that perennial festive favourite is given a delightful treatment at The Mill Theatre in Sonning. Based on the 1954 classic movie, the stage iteration of this yuletide charmer was only penned in 2000 and yet, with its score of some of Irving Berlin’s greatest songs, the show feels as though it has been around forever.

Jonathan O’Boyle directs an accomplished cast through the wonderfully corny plot that's all about love and loyalty, through the prism of two nationally famous ex-US Army singers who set about trying to woo the sister act of two lesser known chanteuses. Set, for the most part, in snowy Vermont in a 1950s December, the visual white Christmas charm that Hollywood's cameras could create has to be imagined here. O’Boyle however helms his cast and crew magnificently and theatrical magic really does descend onto this intimate auditorium by the Thames.

Elliot Allinson, Connor Hughes, Nic Myers and Gabriella Williams play the four star-crossed leads and they forge a terrific chemistry within this show that is little more than a Yuletide whirl through some of the American Songbook’s favourites. The two guys set the scene with Happy Holidays, while Myers and Williams have their chance to shine early on with Sisters. Perhaps the greatest singing surprise of the evening is Shirley Jameson’s act-one take on Let Me Sing And I’m Happy, a glorious celebration of life and humanity that’s powerfully performed. And of course, as the proceedings conclude, there’s a glorious singalong of the show’s eponymous title number.

The design and staging is ingenious for The Mill’s compact space, with Gary Lloyds choreography an equal treat as the cast of only 14 souls fill the stage with perfectly drilled movement. If there is one criticism, it is that the floor of the stage is too soft and sound-absorbent to really project the aural magnificence of the show’s several tap-numbers, not doing justice to the cast’s remarkable talents. Tucked away out of sight, Jae Alexander's seven-piece band make fine work of Berlin's compositions.

One is left smiling throughout White Christmas – it is a delightfully festive fantasy!

Runs until 25th January 2025

Photo credit: Pamela Raith

The Devil Wears Prada - Review

Dominion Theatre, London

*****

Music by Elton John

Lyrics by Shaina Taub and Mark Sonnenblick

Book by Kate Wetherhead

Based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger and the motion picture screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna

Directed and choregraphed by Jerry Mitchell

Vanessa Williams

In a whip-smart fusion of stunning style and content, The Devil Wears Prada arrives in the West End to deliver the capital's most impressive new musical theatre production this year. Elton John's score soars from rock through blues, to balladry and soul, transforming this modern classic’s take on the fashion industry’s soulless brutality. Matching Sir Elton’s music, Jerry Mitchell’s direction and choreography takes the story on a sparkling transition from screen to stage.

Vanessa Williams returns to the London stage to lead the show as Miranda Priestly, the editor of fashion glossy Runway and a woman who can make or break careers in haute couture. Williams is an inspired casting choice with the presence that she imbues in Miranda as razor-sharp as her Louboutin heels. 

In an astonishing West End debut Georgie Buckland is Andy (Andrea), the story’s protagonist whose arc we follow as she starts off as Miranda’s novice personal assistant, but who rapidly learns how to shin the world of publishing’s famously greasy pole. Buckland is handed the lion’s share of the evening’s big numbers, closing both acts of the show with Miranda Girl and What’s Right For Me respectively, songs in which she rises to fill the Dominion’s massive space.

The show’s two other featured roles are Runway’s creative lead Nigel played by Matt Henry and Miranda’s long serving assistant Emily played by Amy Di Bartolomeo. Both are equally magnificent bringing power, pathos and humour to their respective performances.

Tim Hatley’s scenery, Gregg Barnes’s costumes and Bruno Poet’s lighting make for stunning visuals from the outset, while Katharine Woolley’s musical direction offers a fine interpretation of the compelling score.

The Devil Wears Prada is famous for showcasing fashion’s cutthroat competition with a story that revolves around aspirations, dreams and treachery in both the boardroom and the bedroom. It is a credit not only to Elton John, but to lyricist Shaina Taub and Mark Sonnenblick and to bookwriter Kate Wetherhead, that they have crafted such a fine adaptation of Weisberger’s original.

This musical is a mutli-million dollar extravaganza built on the highest production values. For those who enjoy a good story, compelling new writing and brilliant song and dance, The Devil Wears Prada is unmissable. 

Booking until 18th October 2025

Photo credit: Matt Crockett

My Fair Lady - Review

Curve Theatre, Leicester

*****

Music by Frederick Loewe

Lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner

Directed by Nikolai Foster

Molly Lynch

Yet again the good people of Leicester are blessed with the most stunning festive gift from the city’s Curve theatre. This year it is Nikolai Foster’s sumptuous production of My Fair Lady that sparkles.

Molly Lynch, who is no stranger to Foster and Curve following her stunning Betty Schaefer in the venue’s Sunset Boulevard a few years back, now steps up to her rightful place as a leading lady, giving the most powerful yet sensitive interpretation of Eliza Doolitle to have been seen on these shores in years. Lynch has a voice that can capture both power and pathos. We are first treated to her excellence in Wouldn’t It Be Loverly and as her character tumbles into perfect received pronunciation with The Rain In Spain, her development is as seamless and as charming as her voice is sweet. From there it’s into I Could Have Danced All Night and on glancing around the Curve’s audience, the smiles on the audience's faces defined the joy that Lynch was bringing in her take on this, one of musical theatre’s most enigmatic women.

My Fair Lady of course revolves around the relationship between Eliza and Henry Higgins, and with David Seadon-Young’s playing the professor of linguistics the pair are perfectly matched. His is a sensitive take on the emotionally crippled academic and rarely has chauvinism sounded so charming as in Seadon-Young’s interpretation. As he implores the world to fit his view of how things should be, firstly with Why Can’t The English and later with A Hymn To Him, the range of his singing is just delightful. And then with I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face, Seadon unlocks the man’s complexities and vulnerabilities with a heartbreaking depth.

Foster has assembled a company of talent to match the two leads. Minal Patel is in fine form as Colonel Pickering, while Steve Furst keeps the flame of old-fashioned sexism burning brightly with his hilarious take on Alfred Doolittle. Get Me To The Church On Time is one of the canon’s comedy highlights that sets the audience up for the traumatic ups and downs of the story's final act. Djavan Van de Fliert is a marvellously voiced Freddy Eynsford-Hill, while Sarah Moyle playing both Freddy’s mother and Higgins’ housekeeper Mrs Pearce is equally en pointe. The venerable Cathy Tyson as Henry’s wise mother brings the perfect weighting of gravitas to her small but critical role in the evening’s proceedings.

Michael Taylor’s lavish set designs fill the Curve’s vast space with height, depth and ingenuity, Mark Henderson’s lighting complements the visuals perfectly, while out of sight (apart from a delightful centre-stage cameo at the Embassy Ball), George Dyer’s nine-piece band make fine work of the classic score. Jo Goodwin's inspired choreography is at its finest in the company numbers, with Get Me To The Church On Time evolving into a spectacle of perfectly rehearsed movement.

Playing until the new year, My Fair Lady at the Curve is quite possibly the finest show to be found this Christmas. Don’t miss it!

Runs until 4th January 2025

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

A Christmas Carol - Review

Theatre Royal, Windsor

****

Written by Charles Dickens

Adapted and directed by Roy Marsden

Having played for just the one week at Windsor’s Theatre Royal, Roy Marsden’s adaptation of the famously festive ghost story made for a charming lead-in to the Christmas season.

Staged as a radio play, the cast sit onstage throughout, costumed as befits their various characters, stepping up to microphone stands to read their lines as Foley Artist Michael Workman creates all sorts of background noises to set the scene. All the sounds are real rather than digitised and it is a treat to see radio drama performed much in the style of how it would have been created during the mid-20th century.

Marsden is Ebenezer Scrooge. Clad in the traditional nightgown as Scrooge receives his three ghostly visitations over the night of Christmas Eve, Marsden’s portrayal of the old miser, from curmudgeonly to compassionate, is the work of a deft old hand who cleverly captures Scrooge’s complexities.

Playing (a Scots) Ghost of Christmas Past as well as Mrs Cratchit, Jenny Seagrove brings a glorious combination of chilling wisdom together with firm but humble homeliness to her brace of  characters. There is a kind familiarity to Seagrove’s performance that is as gorgeous to watch as it is professional in its delivery.

Michael Praed, Robert Duncan and Holly Smith take care of a handful of other key characters that the old yarn requires, while Shannon Rewcroft adds a glorious soprano touch to her roles as Ben Stock steps up to lead the audience in a handful of carols for all after the cast have taken their bows.

The ‘On Air’ series of radio plays is an imaginative concept that the Theatre Royal’s company appear to have skillfully mastered.  Classic dramas, delivered in a way that is both traditional and yet innovative. 

This opinion is published after the show’s run has ended – however it seems that irrespective of this critic’s praise, the Windsor audiences know a good show when they see it. On the night of this review, the house was packed with an audience that spanned the ages and generations, all enjoying an evening of fabulously crafted theatre.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Review

Ambassadors Theatre, London

*****

Music & lyrics by Darren Clark

Book, lyrics & directed by Jethro Compton

Clare Foster and John Dagleish

“It’s all just a matter of time…” a recurring lyric throughout this musical iteration of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic short story – and over the last few years it has been a slow but enchanting journey, watching this show evolve through two iterations at the Southwark Playhouse into its West End premiere at the Ambassadors Theatre.

The story of Benjamin Button is a modern classic. Born in the early 20th century, by a freak of the fates as a 70 year-old man, Button goes through his life gradually becoming younger until he finally expires as an infant in swaddling. Stripping away all the Oscar winning digital/CGI enhancements incorporated in the 2008 movie, writers Jethro Compton and Darren Clark shift the fable from its New Orleans origins to their native Cornwall, and in so doing create a show that gloriously celebrates story-telling through its inspirational cast.

John Dagleish plays Button and in a simple depiction of his age, arrives in the show as a hunched, bespectacled, bowler-hatted and pipe-smoking curmudgeon. Its an ingenious touch that celebrates Button’s age, yet allows him to evolve through the show with simple  costume and make-up adjustments. Dagleish has a fine voice and through an outstanding performance also captures the quizzical yet paradoxically wise, innocence of Button through the show’s first act. The second half brings moments of heartbreaking poignancy as Button's freakishly evolving youthfulness sees him encounter rejection and disbelief from some of those around him.

The show’s company of actor-musicians lend a rustic-folksy authenticity to the evening that imbues it with a mystical Cornish air. Designed by Compton with Anna Kelsey the stage is rough-timbers and staircases with fishing nets draped across the ceiling – subtle and understated, yet a beautiful evocation of this story’s roots.

Opposite Benjamin is his love interest, Elowen, played by the magnificent Clare Foster. Elowen’s character ages in the natural way through the show and it is a mark of Foster’s genius that she embodies the woman not only as a coquettish teenager, but also, sensitively, through the loving and passionate years of her middle-age, through to her ultimate passing, all with a tenderness and an authenticity that mark hers as one of the more fabulous female performances in musical theatre to have graced a London stage in quite some time. 

Leave your memories of the movie at the door. Clark and Compton’s interpretation of this whimsical story, together with their inspirational melodies, mark this show as perhaps the finest new writing to hit the West End this year. If the media gods allow, this production almost deserves a movie of its own. Who knows? Surely it’s all just a matter of time….

Booking until 15th February 2025

Photo credit: Marc Brenner