A Musical Celebration of Andrew Lloyd Webber - Review

Royal Hospital Chelsea, London

****

Fireworks over the Royal Hospital Chelsea

As part of this year's open air concert line-up Live At Chelsea, some of the biggest names in musical theatre were joined by the Royal Symphonic Concert Orchestra to celebrate the 70th Birthday of Andrew Lloyd Webber, one of the most influential musical theatre composers of all time. Compered by presenter Myleene Klass, the one-off concert was filled with gorgeous orchestral playing and staggering vocal performances across talent that ranged from recording artists such as Alfie Boe and Beverley Knight and stage stars Ben Forster and Jodie Prenger, as well as cast members from the noble Lord's current West End hits The Phantom of The Opera and School of Rock.

Taking place within the grounds of the magnificent Royal Hospital Chelsea, and running at just under 3 hours, the concert packed in 27 well-loved numbers, drawn from Lloyd Webber’s vast back catalogue. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the song list yielded few surprises as it focused on his most adored musicals, but with such performances on display the evening felt delightfully fresh from beginning to end.

Olivier Award Winner Tyrone Huntley opened the evening with Superstar from Jesus Christ Superstar. Huntley was to return in Act 2 to thrill the audiences with another of that show's numbers. Heaven On Their Minds, effortlessly demonstrating why he is one of today's most exciting musical theatre performers.

Amid the cosmic cluster of West End stalwarts, Ria Jones reprised her award-winning Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard. The show's timelessly cinematic score sounded sumptuous under John Rigby’s baton, with Jones’ take on As If We Never Said Goodbye probing magical, defining her deep and masterful connection to the show. Additionally, Michael Xavier who played Joe Gillis both at the Coliseum in the show’s 2016 revival and subsequently on Broadway, performed the musical’s title number to spine-tingling effect, rightly achieving one of the largest rounds of applause of the evening.

Headliners Boe and Knight were saved until after the interval, with Boe lending his rich tenor to an emotionally intense rendition of The Music of The Night from The Phantom of The Opera, while Knight brought the house down with Memory from Cats, her soulful vocals melding perfectly with the melancholy ballad.

After such an electrifying concert, it seemed only fitting that an explosion of fireworks brought the evening to a dazzling close, accompanied by the orchestra playing the audience out to a spirited version of Jellicle Cats. Featuring an abundance of striking performances, A Musical Celebration of Andrew Lloyd Webber was a grand spectacle of musical theatre greatness, and an appropriately lavish tribute to the impressive career of a man whose contribution to musical theatre not only on the West End but all around the world, is probably unparalleled.

Reviewed by Charlotte O'Growney

Photo credit: Jack Clark

Carousel - Review

Coliseum, London

****

Music by Richard Rodgers

Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Based on Ferenc Molnar's play Liliom as adapted by Benjamin F Glazer

Directed by Lonny Price

Alfie Boe, Katherine Jenkins Gavin Spokes, Alex Young and Brenda Edwards

Rodgers and Hammerstein considered Carousel to be their finest work. The show is this year's semi-staged Coliseum offering from Michaels Grade and Linnit and they have laid on a sumptuously sized cast and orchestra that bring a rarely encountered richness to the famed musical.

The story based on the Molnar's original Hungarian fable is a latter-day fairytale, suggesting that true love can conquer all and that within even the darkest most damaged souls, there is the capacity to love and to be loved in return. It's a sound and wholesome precept for sure, but this ain’t Beauty And The Beast. The argument at the core of Carousel suggests that domestic violence whilst frowned upon is not only acceptable, but can also be bearable so long as the woman truly loves her abusive partner. It is truly a dated yarn, from an era of ghastly sexual politics.

Putting issues aside, the songs are magnificent - though the show's casting, even if commercially platinum-plated, is artistically curious. The star-crossed leading characters of Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow are played by uber-diva Katherine Jenkins and the megastar of musical theatre that is Alfie Boe. The pair's vocal excellence is beyond comparison – but the chemistry between them lacks sparkle. Jenkins too often seems to forget that this Coliseum gig is live musical theatre rather than an opera or a recording studio. Her flawless voice is not matched by an ability to act through song and she fails to make us truly believe in her journey.

Thankfully, the show’s supporting roles are marvellous. Alex Young - who must surely rank alongside the most gifted performers of her generation - gives a perfectly pitched Carrie Pipperidge, with immaculate timing, voice and presence. Her take on Mister Snow is a treat, while alongside her, as the eponymous hard-working Enoch Snow, Gavin Spokes is another comic gem. Geraniums In The Winder has rarely sounded so deliciously, puritanically hypocritical as it does here.

Derek Hagen's Jigger Craigin is a seedy menace - again performed with wit and conviction, Brenda Edwards breaks the Coliseum's hearts with a stirring You'll Never Walk Alone and even the modest character of Mrs Mullin, the carousel owner who offers a sensitively nuanced shading to Billy's complexities, is wonderfully played by Susan Kyd.

A mention too for Amy Everett as the teenaged Louise Bigelow, whose second act Ballet is beautifully delivered.

As if Boe and Jenkins wasn't enough for the coach parties, Nicholas Lyndhurst has been hauled back to the West End for a turn as the heavenly Starkeeper. Of course his performance is divine, he'll get a few more bums on seats and thankfully Lyndhurst is not really required to sing.

However – what truly sets this production of Carousel apart is the visual (and aural) prominence afforded to the full ENO Orchestra, sat in their raised pit. The melodies are the finest in the canon and under David Charles Abell's baton, as the timeless Carousel Waltz plays out it is entirely possible to consider that this may be the classic score's most glorious realisation on this side of the Atlantic, if not ever.

Lonny Price assembles a strong creative team to enhance the show's imagery. Mark Henderson's lighting serves well amidst the economically designed set - with James Noone's projections effectively creating the New England coastline as Josh Rhodes' dance routines also serve to drive the narrative.

A pricey ticket maybe, but there's much to enjoy in riding this Carousel.

Runs to 13th May

Photo credit: Tristram Kenton