The Midnight Bell - Review

Sadler's Wells, London

***

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

The company of The Midnight Bell

Inspired by the novels of Patrick Hamilton, The Midnight Bell plunges us into the murky, world of 1930s Soho. And there, thanks to Paule Constable’s gloomy lighting, it remains for one hour and fifty minutes (apart from a twenty minute interval). While Lez Brotherston's set design is atmospheric, the action is not always visible. That the follow-spots sometimes fail to light their intended subject doesn’t help matters. 

The titular Midnight Bell is a pub where various people – lonely, listless, cocky or whatever – meet. Most are looking for love or sex in some form or other, with some of the encounters working out better than others.  

Of course the choreography is sensitive, imaginative and very watchable. Some of the gestures are witty too and it’s all very human. This is Matthew Bourne, after all, and he’s a master of his own form of body language.  But the story telling is too vague and given the shadowy lighting it’s often hard to distinguish one character from another although each is, apparently, drawn specifically from the novels. 

Terry Davies’s evocative music, pre-recorded by an eleven piece orchestra with a singer, fits the mood of the piece perfectly. He deploys an effective use of voice, sailing over the top of the musical texture, to create mystery, sadness or wistfulness. Like Bourne, Davies is very good at evoking mood with, for example, a minimalist percussion rhythm accompanying a sex scene in a seedy hotel that is aurally arresting. Less successful is the use of characters miming 1930s songs which simply feels lazy. Dance in general, and ballet in particular, is a non-verbal medium and the songs are a jarring interruption. 

This revival of The Midnight Bell, first seen in 2023, is reasonably enjoyable theatre, athough the second half drags. Not Matthew Bourne’s finest.

Runs until 21st June, then on tour.

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Reviewed by Nicola Klein

Oliver! - Review

Gielgud Theatre, London

*****

Music, lyrics and book by Lionel Bart

Freely adapted from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist

Revised by Cameron Mackintosh

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Cian Eagle-Service and Billy Jenkins

Matthew Bourne’s production of Oliver!, arguably the greatest English musical ever written, was outstanding when it opened in Chichester last summer. Now transferred into the West End, it is a privilege to be back soon, reviewing the situation of this production that sparkles even brighter than before. Rarely does a show offer such breadth and depth of performances, across the entire cast, as is achieved by Bourne with his wondrous company. Co-Producer and reviser Cameron Mackintosh has had a lifelong love affair with Oliver! and the subtle revisions that he brings to Lionel Bart’s brilliant original move the show effortlessly into the 21st century.

On press night it was the sublimely talented Cian Eagle-Service playing Oliver, delivering a finish to his big solo, Where Is Love? that all but took the roof off the Gielgud. Rarely, actually NEVER, has that song been sung by a child performer with such power, passion and intensity.

Bart’s genius - aside from penning a show that delivers so many hit songs in rapid-fire succession - was to take the bleak brutality of Dickens’ novel and imbue it with nuanced and perfectly pitched bittersweet comedy. The fun begins early on with Katy Secombe and Oscar Conlon-Morrey paired as Widow Corney of the workhouse and  the beadle Bumble. In a double act that in the original Oliver! was to inspire Boublil & Schoenberg in their creation of the Thenardiers in Les Miserables, they capture the duo’s heartless bombast and petty penny-pinching to a tee. With pinpoint vocals and a mastery of physical comedy, their work is flawless.

Next up are Stephen Matthews and Jamie Birkett as the undertaking Sowerberrys. Again, harsh irony and tragedy but overlaid with comic class - and it should be noted there’s a fine turn from Birkett in act two with her reprise of Where Is Love? in the role of Mrs Bedwyn.

Oliver’s arrival in London of course introduces the show’s most colourful characters. Billy Jenkins is The Artful Dodger, whose cockney vocals and nifty footwork are everything a Dodger should be and more. Aaron Sidwell has grown into the role of Bill Sikes, his understated menace proving both ugly and chilling.

As Nancy, Shanay Holmes has also matured into this most intriguing and complex of roles. Holmes is yet a further example of this company’s vocal magnificence with her take on As Long As He Needs Me giving the Gielgud’s rafters another rattling.

And then of course there is Fagin. Much like Steven Spielberg made us wait before our first glimpse of the shark in Jaws, so too does Bart let most of act one go by before Simon Lipkin erupts from a trap door.

Lipkin’s take on the old Jewish fence is carefully researched and meticulous in its delivery, unlocking Fagin’s humanity and vulnerabilities with a sprinkling of immaculately timed humour. As we see Fagin care for the newly-arrived Oliver into his den of thieves, Lipkin imbues the role with a rarely seen pathos. His skills in comedy and magic are also used wonderfully and with his spectacularly klezmer-esque Reviewing The Situation, his is one of the finest musical theatre performances in town right now.

Lez Brotherston’s designs are simply stunning. Amidst a whirl of wrought iron staircases and bridges, and a deft deployment of the Gielgud’s revolve, Brotherston shifts the narrative across the country and the capital, aided in no small measure by Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs stunning lighting designs. In the pit, Graham Hurman’s orchestra are spot-on throughout.

 

Consider yourself well-in to witness this fantastic spectacle!

Booking until 28th September

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake - The Next Generation - Review

Sadler's Wells, London

*****

Composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

The Company

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, now badged “The Next Generation”, plays at Sadler’s Wells over the festive season. This remarkable ballet that has literally introduced and inspired generations of young people into the world of dance remains a radical re-imagination of the classic gothic fantasy.

Bourne’s interpretation veers away from magic and enchantment. His is a modern world of challenged mental health, of society’s demanding expectations, and of a young Prince grappling to define his sexuality – all danced to Tchaikovsky’s music.

On the night of this review The Prince was magnificently danced by Stephen Murray. The show’s principal dancer however is given a gruelling two-role responsibility with this review seeing Harrison Dowzell take the parts of both The Swan and The Stranger. Dowzell is sensational throughout. His Swan, a creation of The Prince’s troubled mind, moves with an avian power and grace that is compelling. Matthew Bourne’s interpretation is very dark, with a tragic climax to the show that reflects Dowzell’s hypnotic influence over the damaged young Prince.

The complementing role that falls to Dowzell is as the charismatic Stranger who appears at the palace ball. Teeming with testosterone, Dowzell asserts himself as the alpha human male, truly the balls of the ball, sweeping all the Princesses - and then the Prince – off their feet. Dowzell’s contribution to an evening of scorching dance-fuelled drama is simply breathtaking.

Of course, it is not just The Swan that stuns. As Bourne’s corps of Swans, all bare-chested and clad in Lez Brotherston’s now famous swan-leg costumes fill the stage, the beauty of the director's vision is ingenious. Their perfect poise and movement only heightening the painful poignancy of the Prince’s mental decline. Rarely have a flock of birds looked so ripped!

Ashley Shaw danced The Queen for this performance as Katrina Lyndon played The Girlfriend. Shaw has long impressed on these pages in her work for Bourne – here, supported by subtle hair and makeup enhancements, she convincingly plays a role way beyond her years as the matriarch emotionally disconnected from her damaged son. Shaw shows sheer talent in a critically important supporting role. Lyndon (also the show’s dance captain) makes the most of a slighter role, mixing moments of comedy with perfectly weighted vacuity as she delivers the complex part of the young woman whom The Prince, at first, so passionately desires.

Brotherston’s set design is, as always, a treat, while in the pit, Benjamin Pope conducts the New Adventures Orchestra through a fabulous delivery of Tchaikovsky’s work. Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake remains a chillingly exhilarating evening of dance.

Runs until 26th January 2025 then on tour

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Oliver! - Review

Festival Theatre, Chichester

*****

Music, lyrics and book by Lionel Bart

Freely adapted from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist

Revised by Cameron Mackintosh

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Simon Lipkin

Matthew Bourne’s production of Oliver! will quite possibly be the the most glorious musical revival to open in the UK this year. Cast with the cream of the country’s musical theatre talent, Cameron Mackintosh’s revisions of Lionel Bart’s show achieve the rare distinction, that many strive for but very few achieve, of taking a classic and making it even better.

Bourne again works alongside designer Lez Brotherston, in a partnership that has lasted decades and which sees this national treasure of a musical visually re-imagined yet still authentically Victorian, with bridges and revolves and swirling steampunk ironwork transporting us across the England of the story.

The kids are gorgeous, and Bourne’s direction and choreography sees the show kick-off with Food Glorious Food that is as imaginative as it is evocatively charming. On press night it was the young and talented Cian Eagle-Service in the title role, beautifully voiced and with a charming confidence that held the narrative along with our belief in him.

The show's workhouse scenes introduce us to the despicable Mr Bumble and Widow Corney luxuriously played here by the ridiculously talented Oscar Conlon-Morrey and Katy Secombe. Musical theatre cognoscenti will know that the 1968 movie saw Mr Bumble played by Secombe’s father, the late and much loved comic-genius Harry Secombe and Secombe more than honours her father’s memory with her take on the amorous widow. Conlon-Morrey complements her in his skilled and hilarious interpretation of blustering pomposity. A nod too to Stephen Matthews and Jamie Birkett who capture the ghoulish comedy of the Sowerberrys, the undertakers to whom Oliver is sold by Bumble.

Katy Secombe and Oscar Conlon-Morrey

Brotherston’s set ingeniously shifts us to London where Billy Jenkins’ Artful Dodger gives just the right Cockney swagger to Consider Yourself before introducing Oliver, and the audience to Fagin. Much like Steven Spielberg makes his audience wait before unveiling the shark in Jaws, so too does Bart allow almost an hour of the show to (gloriously) pass by before revealing this most complex of characters.

Simon Lipkin's Fagin brings an earthy, magnetic, Sephardic interpretation to one of musical theatre’s most frequently caricatured Jews. Bourne skilfully avoids any classic antisemitic tropes in this Fagin, with Lipkin displaying an intriguing, enchanting presence in his performance. Vocally he is magnificent, owning the Festival Theatre's massive stage in his Reviewing The Situation, with a subtle klezmer-esque nuance to some of the musical arrangement of the number. Lipkin also offers inspired moments of physical comedy, and study him closely for just a hint of Max Bialystock's tragi-comedy in this most glorious of Fagins.

Shanay Holmes is Nancy with a take on this intriguing woman that almost explains her love for such a violent partner as Bill Sikes. Holmes brings power, passion and pathos to the role, wonderfully taking Chichester’s roof off (twice) with As Long As He Needs Me. Opposite Holmes, Aaron Sidwell brings a chilling menace to Sikes.

Under the stage, Graham Hurman’s orchestra of 13 make glorious work of the rich score. 

This fantastic show, with one hit song following another, sees Mackintosh and Bourne open up the genius of Bart’s writing to dive even deeper into the composer/lyricist’s understanding of Dickens' London and above all the human condition. With musicals most frequently being set in the USA, stories steeped in English culture are few and far between. This Oliver! is amongst the finest.

Never before has this show offered more!

Runs until 7th September

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Old Friends - Review

 Gielgud Theatre, London

****

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Devised by Cameron Mackintosh

Directed by Matthew Bourne and Julia McKenzie

The company of Old Friends

Much of Old Friends, Cameron Mackintosh’s lovingly curated tribute to Stephen Sondheim is a masterclass in musical theatre. Over 2 1/2 hours and 40 songs, some of the West End’s finest sing a selection of Sondheim’s compositions that spans decades.

Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga have been flown in from the USA to headline the show. Salonga of course won numerous awards creating the role of Kim in Miss Saigon in London back in 1989 and later in New York. Since then however, her impact over here has been muted. Peters, albeit a Broadway legend and arguably Sondheim’s one-time muse, is less well known in the UK outside of musical cognoscenti and other than as a sincere and profound tribute to the composer it is hard to understand her bill-topping status. There are moments in the evening that leave one reflecting that some of Peters’ numbers could perhaps have been better delivered by other members of this star-studded ensemble.

If Arthur Miller was America’s leading light in late twentieth-century drama, mercilessly exploring and exposing the human condition, then Sondheim was his match in musical theatre. Interestingly and notwithstanding Sondheim’s genius, he never created (nor possibly may have never sought to create) a show of the juggernaut, franchisable or (as Stephen Schwartz may have called it) “popular” status garnered by say Cats, Phantom of The Opera, Les Misérables or Wicked. That being said, when Old Friends is at its best it offers magical moments of perfect performance. 

Highlights of the evening include: a gorgeous pairing of Salonga with Jeremy Secomb as Mrs Lovett and Sweeney Todd for a selection of that show’s favourites; an outstanding ensemble take on A Weekend In The Country with a shout-out for Janie Dee’s brilliant interpretation of Countess Charlotte Malcolm, nailing the comic potential of her few lyrics perfectly. Joanna Riding, with superb support from Damian Humbley cynically sparkles in Getting Married Today as does Bonnie Langford’s in a breathtaking I’m Still Here. Clare Burt, a late arrival to the cast, gives a magnificent irascibility to The Ladies Who Lunch. The first half ends with an uplifting full-ensemble delivery of Sunday from Sunday In The Park With George, with Peters assuming the position of the parasol-bearing Dot. Considering that Sondheim possibly created that role with Peters in mind, the moment and the staging is one of a rare and special theatrical beauty.

Kicking off the second half, the overture from Merrily We Roll Along offers another glimpse of Sondheim’s musical talent, while a seamless segue into a small medley from West Side Story reminds us of his skill way back as a much younger writer. The Gypsy inclusions of You Gotta Getta Gimmick and Everything’s Coming Up Roses are also delightful.

Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear direct and choreograph respectively, coaxing immaculately presented iterations of each song. Julia McKenzie, another of Sondheim’s close and wise associates is co-credited as director. The whole affair is staged with a smart simplicity, Alfonso Casado Trigo’s orchestra elegantly placed upstage.

Opportunities to see a company of this calibre do not come along often. Go see Old Friends!

Runs until 6th January 2023

Photo credit: Danny Kaan

Romeo + Juliet - Review

Sadler's Wells Theatre, London

*****

Music by Prokofiev

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Cordelia Braithwaite and Paris Fitzpatrick

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo + Juliet returns to Sadler’s Wells, reminding London of this brilliant, bloody interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic tale.

Set in the dystopian Verona Institute in the ‘not too distant future’, this is a Romeo + Juliet that sees the Bard’s narrative fused to Prokofiev’s classic score and staged with more than a nod to Lindsay Anderson’s If... Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and maybe just a hint of Alan Clarke's Scum for good measure.

Bourne’s action never leaves the white tiles of the institution, harshly lit and policed by armed guards. This is a bold and distinctive Romeo + Juliet that where necessary plays fast and loose with the familiar plotlines to enable the narrative to reach its tragic climax while still maintaining the rudiments of the story.

Where everyone bar the guards and Romeo’s patrician parents are clad in white, it’s a challenge for the humble punters to discern the Montagues from the Capulets - but that is but a minor quibble. The flawless standard of Bourne’s New Adventures company’s dance is breathtaking. Their movement so apparently effortless and immaculately drilled, is sensational.

In the pit Brett Morris conducts a scaled down orchestra of 15 players. But as those famous opening bars of Act One play out so magnificently and chillingly, one quickly realises that not only is Prokofiev’s composition in very safe hands, but also how appropriate Bourne’s vision is for the music.

Paris Fitzpatrick and Cordelia Braithwaite dance the leading roles bringing athleticism, passion and a profound vulnerability to their characters. There’s a wickedly fine turn from Danny Reubens’ Tybalt too.

Yet again Lez Brotherston partners with Bourne to deliver a stunningly evocative stage set, complete with a domed ceiling to the Verona Institute that rises and falls like ET's mother ship.

The production values are immaculate throughout, with New Adventures proving a fine example of Arts Council England’s money that is being well spent. And while Matthew Bourne may have teasingly juggled with one of the oldest love stories in the canon, his blood-soaked finale concludes a truly ripping yarn.

Runs until 2nd September

Photo credit: Johan Persson

The Car Man - Review

Royal Albert Hall, London

*****

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Music by Terry Davies and Rodion Shchedrin's Carmen Suite (after Bizet's Carmen)

Will Bozier

More than twenty years after Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, his ballet inspired by Bizet’s Carmen, premiered in Plymouth the show returns to London playing at the Royal Albert Hall as a part of its 150th anniversary and marking the first time that Bourne has ever staged a production in the landmark London venue. No expense has been spared in this revival, with the director/choreographer fielding a cast three times the size of his original 2020 company.

The plot’s inspiration may hail from Carmen, but the aura of The Car Man hails from Hollywood. Set amidst an Italian-American community in the USA’s Midwest, the action plays out in the fictitious town of Harmony, a name that is as ironic as its images are iconic. This is a town of billboards, tumbleweed and Dino’s eponymous automobile repair shop, where the car men work. The music is from Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite supplemented by additional composition from Terry Davies, with the opera’s fabulously familiar melodies delivered to perfection under  Brett Morris’ baton, fused into mouthwatering leitmotifs that emerge through the two hour show.

Zizi Strallen

Bourne’s protagonists are a quintet made up of the abusive Dino who is also the owner of the town’s diner, his wife Lana, her sister Rita together with Angelo, a hired help and Luca an itinerant drifter whose arrival leads to the destruction of Harmony’s harmony. This review will not reveal how the five’s smouldering passions ignite, but remember that this is Carmen-themed where lust, jealousy, and murder have to fuel the narrative. Bourne’s vision is as bold as it is beautiful and bloody, with his characters’ sexualities straddling their desires and all leading to an inevitable and heartbreaking revenge.

Will Bozier is Luca the titular car man, with the practically perfect Zizi Strallen opposite him as Lana. Both of these performers are outstanding in their dance and acting and where the intimate nuance of stolen glances can so easily be lost in the Royal Albert Hall’s vastness, the billboards that double up as projection screens show occasional snatches of beautifully filmed lingering glances in true Sunset Boulevard style close-up. Strallen is wondrous in portraying both her allure to Luca and also in capturing quite how irresistible she finds him to be. Mary Poppins she ain’t!

Will Bozier and Zizi Strallen

Bozier is all muscle and movement. A guy who cannot keep it in his trousers and to whom any hole is a potential goal. Oozing testosterone, his is a role of almost perpetual or potential conflict or coitus. Physically demanding, Bozier’s performance is breathtaking.

Paris Fitzpatrick’s Angelo is the more diminutive of the younger guys, clearly vulnerable and at times violently violated and abused. Integral to the plot, his is a carefully delivered role. Likewise Kayla Collymore’s Rita. While hers may be the more marginal of the principal roles, Collymore dances with an assured and nuanced sensitivity.

Kayla Collymore and Paris Fitzpatrick

The middle-aged, flabby Dino is played here by Alan Vincent, a neat touch being that back in the day at the show’s Plymouth premiere, it had been Vincent who created the role of Luca. At the Royal Albert Hall however, Vincent captures the rage of the cuckolded Mediterranean exquisitely. And as is so often the way with a New Adventures production Lez Brotherston’s design work shifts the audience from London’s south-west to America’s mid-west effortlessly. 

For more than two decades The Car Man has been lifting the hood on modern dance, treating its audience to a powerful spectacle of music and dance that stirs the soul and pulsates the emotions. If you’ve seen it before, then you need to revisit this outing to wonder at how Bourne’s company fill the Royal Albert Hall. And if you haven’t seen it, then all the more reason to grasp the opportunity right now. Either way, just go!

The Company

Runs until 19th June

Photo credit: Johan Persson

The Red Shoes - Review

Sadler’s Wells, London


*****


Based on the film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
and the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale
Music by Bernard Herrmann
Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Adam Cooper, Stephen Murray, Cordelia Braithwaite

Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes returns to Sadler’s Wells three years after it first premiered - and while the score and dance remain exquisite, there is a depth to this ballet that has only matured over time.

This time around, Bernard Herrmann’s score is played live with the ingenious transposition of work from his various movie compositions flowing so seamlessly around Bourne’s creation, that one senses the music could almost have been commissioned for this production.

The movement of course is exquisite in its story of a doomed love triangle that evolves within the Ballet Lermontov. A love blossoms between ballerina Victoria Page and Julian Craster a young composer at the ballet, while throughout Boris Lermontov, the company’s impresario harbours his own lustful desire for Page. Alongside this cocktail of human passion, there is within the tale, The Red Shoes Ballet itself, a Lermontov production that tells of the enchanted/cursed shoes, and the macabre power they can exert over their wearer.

On press night Ashley Shaw played Page, Dominic North, Craster and Adam Cooper, Lermontov with all three impeccable in their bringing to life the tragic romance. As the narrative shifts across Britain and France their dance, and of course the work of their fellow corps of dancers, allows this difficult and disturbing love story to unfold before us. In the 2019 iteration however, the psychology of the story’s underlying emotional complexities is even more vivid than three years ago. Unquestionably dark and yet stunningly portrayed, Bourne captures the gothic horror of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale and imbues it with a believable 20th-century relevance.

Lez Brotherston’s ingenious swivelling proscenium arch remains a masterclass in stage design, as Brett Morris conducts the New Adventures Orchestra with a heart-soaring fluidity. Playing into the new year, The Red Shoes continues to offer an evening of world class entertainment and dance.

Playing at Sadler’s Wells until 19th January 2020, then touring
Photo credit: Johan Persson

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake - Review

Sadler’s Wells, London


****

Directed by Matthew Bourne

Will Bozier and Ensemble

As one of dance’s most iconic productions, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake returns home to a rapturous reception. The story of The Prince, starved of love and chained by duty, who finally finds love and acceptance in an unlikely place, is a tragedy. Yet Bourne’s trademark injection of comedy is dialled up tenfold in this production, with laughs drawn from staging (a mechanical corgi), performances (notably The Girlfriend, played in this performance by Carrie Willis) and premise (notably the ballet performance watched by the royals, poking fun at traditional ballet stereotypes).

While the plot scurries along, the most striking elements remain those that feature The Swan and his herd. Such is the iconography of this character that when he finally makes an appearance in Act 2, perfectly paired with Tchaikovsky’s quintessential score, there is a frisson of excitement in the audience.

The swans are truly extraordinary. Their casting as male dancers, coupled with their costuming, enables Bourne to perfectly capture their grace, ferocity and strength. This also serves as an homage to the athleticism of a dancer, usually concealed or, at the very least, downplayed.

Yet there are times where it’s clear that a larger stage is required for the swan troupe, particularly in A City Park; it simply feels that it has outgrown its roots. That aside, the stage is awash with exquisite costuming, opulent set design and explosive choreography.

Individually, the Prince (a sweet and earnest Dominic North) and The Swan (the powerful Will Bozier) are stunning. Together, they are not a typical pairing - but that serves only to highlight the atypicality of Bourne’s vision. The Queen (Katrina Lyndon) and Willis also contribute memorable performances combining theatrics with dance excellence, all the whole bolstered by a superb ensemble.

23 years after its original staging at London’s Sadler’s Wells, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is back with more electricity, punch and swagger than ever before. With a standing ovation, the audience agrees; this is a must-see.

Runs until 27th January 2019

Reviewed by Bhakti Gajjar

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Cinderella - Review

Sadler's Wells, London

*****

Music by Prokofiev

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Liam Mower and Ashley Shaw

Witty, gothic and yet strangely enchanting, Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella returns to Sadler’s Wells for the festive season before heading out on tour. Where last year’s Christmas offering from Bourne’s New Directions company was The Red Shoes, this year it’s all about the glass (or rather, the sparkling diamanté) slippers as the classic fairytale, scored by Prokofiev is translated onto London during the Blitz of 1940.

Bourne’s Second World War staging was first aired in 1997, before a revival in 2010 leading to this 2017 slightly re-worked reprise and it makes for an uncompromising interpretation of the famous yarn. The best fairytales have always melded magic with monstrosity and Bourne’s vision upholds that fusion as goodness fights to triumph over evil.

The psychodrama here however is harrowing. We all know how the tale traditionally pans out, the wickedness of its opening chapters defining Cinderella’s family. Bourne however takes the darkness deeper. One of Cinderella’s step-brothers attempts to molest her, her stepmother tries to murder her and even the show’s hero - in this narrative a downed RAF pilot - is shown to be both physically and morally flawed.

In removing the traditional "royalty and castle" from the story, Bourne still preserves the classic three acts. The first depicts Cinderella’s domestic misery. The second, famously the Ball, is here shifted to London’s Café de Paris on the night that the venue was (as tragically occurred in real life) bombed during a German air raid.

The third sees the pilot searching London’s streets and tube station blitz shelters for the beautiful woman whose shimmering slipper he retained after she was taken away injured from the explosion. Bourne lobs in some novel twists, but rest assured there’s a pleasingly happy ending.

Ashley Shaw again assumes the responsibility of leading ballerina, in the title role and, as in The Red Shoes, is magnificent. Without referencing the technical intricacies of Bourne’s choreography, suffice to say that Shaw translates poetry into movement. Her love, desire and fears are all exquisitely portrayed in a performance that appears as exhaustingly athletic as it is artistically beautiful.

Opposite Shaw is Andrew Monaghan as Harry, the Pilot. Wounded and bomber-jacketed, he’s not the fairytale’s handsome Prince, rather a decently loving (and beautifully danced) everyman, who falls for the downtrodden heroine.

There’s not a fairy godmother to be found here. Instead, Liam Mower dances The Angel, gifted with magical powers to make Cinderella’s wish come true. Mower too is magnificent.

Amongst an excellent cast, a nod to Michela Meazza as Sybil the Stepmother. Bourne’s programme notes acknowledge a reference in Sybil to the 1940’s screen legend Joan Crawford – and Meazza beautifully embodies the aura of Crawford’s cruel mystique.

The influence of cinema again pervades Bourne’s work. There is a broad monochrome ambience throughout, interspersed with vivid flashes of colour, alongside assorted hints to movie classics that captured the 1940s. The reference to Brief Encounter in the final act (albeit without the standard Rachmaninov soundtrack) is a particular treat.

Bourne's dark interpretation of the story sits at odds with our expectations of the Cinderella narrative. But the challenge is a good one that creates a stunning interpretation that holds a mirror up to ourselves. Catch it now at Sadler’s Wells – or make every effort to see this enchanting ballet as it tours the country.

Runs until 27th January 2018, then tours. Touring dates here.

Photo credit: Johan Persson

My Very Best of 2016

In a year that brought seismic political changes, alongside the tragic deaths of a huge number of talented artists, the showbiz talents of the world continued to turn out first class gigs.  

My favourite moments of the shows that I saw in 2016 are below and include performances from across the UK, together with the USA and also Europe. Theatre, cabaret, dance and concert performances are all included and there's no ranking - the list is entirely alphabetical. 

These shows were quite simply my (and with one exception a guest reviewer's too) highlights of the year. The links below each entry will take you to its original review on this site. 

Enjoy this look back on what was another year of stunning performances.

CABARET

The Understudy - Ceili O'Connor

A newcomer to London's cabaret scene, Ceili's one night gig in the West End was as relaxed and chatty as it was perfectly rehearsed. With a set list that included some of the biggest numbers that this talented West End performer has understudied, through to an unexpected Billy Joel megamix...

Review link



CONCERT


Ennio Morricone at the O2

To be one of the few critics invited to review this one-off gig at the packed O2 was a privilege in itself - But in an era when good film scores can be the modern equivalent of symphonies, to see this 87 year old legend conducting orchestra in choir through some of the most evocative and globally recognisable compositions of the last 50 years will stay with me forever. 

Review link


DANCE

The Red Shoes - Sadler's Wells

Matthew Bourne's newest work from his envisioned and inspirational New Adventures Company is a ballet inspired by a classic film that was all about a ballet inspired by a classic fairy tale. And all styled as a loving tribute to a Golden Age of cinema. A selection of Bernard Herrmann's film scores have been carefully stitched together to form Bourne's musical backdrop. Ashley Shaw leads the sold out run at Sadler's Wells before New Adventures tour the show around the country and with Lez Brotherston's mesmerising set, this ballet is unmissable.

Review link



THEATRE - DRAMA


The Father - Duke of York’s Theatre

Florian Zeller's play was an ingeniously agonising examination of the effects of dementia on an elderly man. Kenneth Cranham brought his heartbreakingly perceptive tour de force back to the West End, in a play (rare these days) that educated and informed its audience about the debilitating nature of the illness, as Cranham palpably shared the nightmare of dementia.

Review link


No Man’s Land - Wyndhams Theatre

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart made Pinter's deliciously absurdist take on Hampstead and Camden life a theatrical treat. No one can claim to understanding the definitive meaning of the play, but who cared?  In a production as unflinchingly 1970s as The Sweeney or Derek and Clive, these two starriest of knights shone brilliantly.

Review link


King Lear - The RSC at Stratford upon Avon and London's Barbican

Another play and quite possibly the first in the canon about the effects of ageing,  Greg Doran's time hopping take on the ageing pagan monarch was world class theatre from the RSC. Antony Sher revealed new layers of howling grief in what is perhaps the most timeless of Shakespeare's tragedies. 

Review link



The Railway Children - Kings Cross Theatre

I know its frowned upon for a critic to review his own efforts, but the opportunity to ACTUALLY DRIVE THE STEAM TRAIN (!!) in a performance of this enchanting production will stay with me forever. Appearing alongside a talented cast, and meeting the show's fabulous crew, my crash course (literally!) in becoming an engine driver might have been a Health and Safety nightmare, but to this big kid it was a five-star dream come true.

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THEATRE - MUSICAL


42nd Street - Theatre du Chatelet, Paris

The UK's Stephen Mear has shipped New York to Paris with his stunningly, lavishly, choreographed take on this most American of musicals. In a cast built around talents that Mear trusts implicitly Ria Jones, Dan Burton and Jennie Dale were magnificent alongside newcomer Monique Young. Big Broadway shows don’t come more lavishly staged than this.

42nd Street is still on for a few more days and well worth the Eurostar fare!

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Burnt Part Boys - Park Theatre

Modestly staged with minimal design, director Matthew Iliffe and his MD Nick Barstow brought this off-Broadway gem to London. Moving and exciting, the production was one of the tightest pieces of ensemble acting.

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Fiddler On The Roof - Broadway Theatre, New York

Lyricist Sheldon Harnick told me recently that he considered this production of his classic musical as the best revival since its 1964 Broadway opening. Hofesh Shechter's re-imagined choreography made for a glorious whirl of Chagall and Klezmer inspired magic, while Alexandra Silber and Adam Kantor's Tzeitel and Motel gave a youthful integrity to the young lovers that was as relevant to 21st century New York as it was to Tsarist Russia.

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The Fix - Union Theatre

The Union Theatre moved across the road, and to mark its reopening Michael Strassen reprised his take on Dana P Rowe and John Dempsey's musical swipe at the all-American political scene, with a pre Presidential Election run of The Fix. The cast was as excellent as the show's timing, with Lucy Williamson and Ken Christiansen being masterfully Machiavellian - and beautifully voiced too.

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Funny Girl - Natasha J Barnes on for Sheridan Smith

Funny Girl was recognised last year as one of my best shows - But this year, when Natasha J Barnes came on to play Fanny Brice whilst Sheridan Smith was indisposed, she became another of this year's jaw-dropping sensations.

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Grey Gardens - Southwark Playhouse

With a fabulous cast headed by Jenna Russell and the inimitable Sheila Hancock, this quirky Tony-winner made its European premier. Thom Southerland worked his genius over the piece and the queues stretched down to Elephant and Castle - proving yet again that London's fringe can provide a brave and quality platform for the widest range of shows.

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Jesus Christ Superstar - Open Air Theatre

Timothy Sheader in conjunction with Drew McOnie's excruciatingly brilliant choreography gave London an unforgettable take on this early Rice and Lloyd Webber collaboration. Declan Bennett may well have been outstanding in the title role, but it was Tyrone Huntley's Judas, hands dripping silver blood, that lives on. The show returns to Regents Park this year. Don't miss it! 

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Oliver - Curve Leicester

I caught up late to the Curve's Oliver, deliberately, to see Laura Pitt-Pulford take over the role of Nancy and of course she was marvellous. Played out against takis' glorious designs that were as dark as they were colourful, Laura's Nancy was amongst the best I've seen and proved a great way to start the year!

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Parade - Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

Parade is one of the best modern musicals written. A tough and ultimately devastating story - but one in which Jason Robert Brown has painted a picture of the Southern USA at the turn of the 20th century using a flamboyance of musical styles. Parade is a tough show to do well and up in Manchester James Baker did just that. Spines were tingling from the opening chords of The Old Red Hills Of Home and it was gratifying to see that top notch fringe theatre can exist outside of both London and August in Edinburgh.

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It was also a privilege to be invited to write the programme notes for Parade, a musical that I love. You can read them here: Review link

Sunset Boulevard - Coliseum

Life imitated art at the Coliseum as a real mega movie star (Glenn Close) trod the boards as Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond. Close's stunning solos, a top notch supporting cast including Michael Xavier and Siobhan Dillon and Stephen Mear's clever choreography made for a phenomenal concert staging.

The show heads to Broadway next year for a limited run and New Yorkers are in for a treat!

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Sunset Boulevard - Ria Jones on for Glenn Close

I didn’t see Ria Jones step up to this most magnificent of plates myself - but luckily that most versatile of theatre PRs Kevin Wilson was there, who reviewed the performance for me.

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Waitress - Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York

Jessie Mueller leads a top notch cast in this intelligent and stylish screen to stage translation. Sara Bareilles has offered a veritable dessert buffet of delectable tunes. A modern tale that's as all-American as apple pie, the cliche-free story is an uplifting tale of discovery and strong women.

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