Tuesday, 30 October 2007

West End Wonders - October 2007

As a card-carrying West End Wendy, my blog would seem incomplete without casting a gimlet eye across some of the best (and worst) theatrical activity across the London theatre scene currently.

Must See: Lord of The Rings, Theatre Royal Drury Lane


It had a journey to the West End as difficult as the one faced by Frodo and Sam, but Lord of The Rings has settled into an amazing residency the likes of which the Theatre Royal Drury Lane hasn't seen in many years.

Although the word 'spectacular' is bandied about with abandon, the staging of this Spectacular, epic musical is truly breathtaking. It is a work of bravery, it doesn't easily fit into a genre, it isn't loaded with celebrity names (though the presence of the stunning West End star, Laura Michelle Kelly should not be under-estimated), there are few familiar landscapes for the wary audience but I cannot recommend Lord of The Rings highly enough.

Set upon set will draw you into the world of Middle Earth. If you are not a fan of the films (3 hours of walkin and talkin - no thanks) or the books (never mind 'I couldn't put them down'...I couldn't pick them up), the scale of the filmic score will sweep you along.

A fine dynamic piece of storytelling that is worth anyone talking a risk on.


Catch It Quickly: Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre


The wind's in the East and she's about to fly out of London, but if anyone's not had a chance to catch this memorable production, then do it. Stripping back the sickliness of the Disney film, bringing in the darker feel of the books, Mary Poppins explores the redemptive power of imagination and the bonds of family against a backdrop of disfunction. By not taking the easy artistic choices, the production team have crafted a vivid work which will delight and inspire youngster and unnerve and move adults.


West End Washout: Desperately Seeking Susan, Novello

I hate it when a show I've been looking forward to singularly fails to live up to expectations.

The problem is that Blondie songs are great performance songs, especially in the hands of the unique Debbie Harry - but they do not have that emotional development or internal dialoguing required of songs in a stage show. Levered in seemingly randomly to provide a score for the flimsy story culled from the film that helped make Madonna a star, it feels distinctly cut and shunt. Despite a talented cast, these songs belong to Ms Harry and no-one else - certainly not Steven Haughton, as a Max Headroom lookilikee, running on a treadmill singing One Way or Another.

Not funny enough to be a comedy, not involving enough to create drama or tension, not frenetic enough to be a caper, the wasted opportunities lie strewn across one of the ugliest sets to (dis)grace a West End stage for many years. There feels as if no love or attention has been afforded to a production that seems as happy to desperately seek a fast buck.
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