REVIEW: Crazy For You at the Gillian Lynne Theatre

We can measure the success of a Chichester Festival season by the transfer of shows into the West End and they have a good track record of musical transfers which is now joined by the superb production of the George and Ira Gershwin musical comedy Crazy for You. Based on the music of the 1930s musical Girl Crazy with a new book by Ken Ludwig and first staged in the 1990’s, it is a joyously entertaining romantic comedy in which the fabulous score of delightfully melodic tunes provides a perfect platform for one of the great new young stars of British Musical theatre, Charlie Stemp and the fresh and exciting restaging of the choreography by director and choreographer Susan Stroman. It's simply impossible to not be enthralled and delighted by this combination. 

Stemp is a genuine star performer discovered by Chichester when he played Arthur Kipps in their version of Half a Sixpence and every bit as engaging and charming as a young Tommy Steele. He is surely destined for a career as long as Steele and experience will add that final little touch of cheeky sparkle that Steele has shown within every performance. Stemp plays Bobby Child, the wayward banker who wants to be a theatre star and moves with fluidity and grace, combining tap with balletic leaps and twirls and a knowing grin which engages the audience and cries look at me I can dance! At times it feels like he is improvising the moves in what surely is a well-rehearsed routine. He adds delightful comic timing especially in the disguise as a Bela Zangler including a wonderful recreation of a classic pantomime/musical hall Mirror routine with Tom Edden who plays the real Bela (with a touch of Groucho Marx) in which the audience is held spellbound waiting for the moment when Bela twigs what is going on. His fantasy dance routines with the leggy and lovely Follies Girls in “I Can’t be bothered now “ and “Nice Work if you can get it” are spectacular routines using the whole stage and transporting us back to a golden age of chorus line glamour. 

REVIEW: The Lehman Trilogy at the Gillian Lynne Theatre

The buzz surrounding Stefano Massini's The Lehman Trilogy, adapted by Ben Power and directed by Sam Mendes, has remained strong since its premiere at the National Theatre back in 2018. Five Tony awards later, it is back gracing the stage at the beautiful Gillian Lynne Theatre to tell the story of three Jewish brothers who immigrated to America in the mid-nineteenth century to cement their names as key founders in the story of Western capitalism. 

The play spans 160 years, from the brother's modest arrival in Alabama where they went from shopkeepers to heavy-weight bankers in New York through to 2008 when the reign of the Lehman name on Wall St came to an end. The story evokes a section of American history shrouded by injustice, war and the prospect of new beginnings that never allows anyone to have equal footing but does allow for the brave a chance to reach new heights.

REVIEW: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at the Gillian Lynne theatre

Everyone loves an adventure, an Escape from the mundane everyday life we live. But for the Pevensie children, this adventure to an enchanted world, Narnia, Is an adventure they’ll never forget. C.S Lewis’ critically acclaimed book and the eventual motion picture film The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe finally make its journey to the stage in stunning fashion. 

Set during World War One and the evacuation of the children takes place at the start of the show. Accompanied by Vera Lynn’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’ we meet the Pevensie children, Peter (Ammar Duffus), Susan (Robyn Sinclair), Edmund (Shaka Kalokoh) and Lucy (Delainey Hayles). The children's journey from a war-struck London to Scotland to stay with Professor Kirk, upon exploring the vast mansion the children are staying in, pungent Lucy stumbles upon a spare room and a wardrobe. Curiosity gets the better of Lucy and as she stumbles towards the back of the wardrobe she stumbles upon Narnia. 

COMING HOME: Lauren Byrne, currently in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre

Pocket Size Theatre and Liza Heinrichs (Captured by Liz) have teamed up again and created our new series 'Coming Home'. In this new piece, we look at the reopening of Theatres in London and around the country and celebrate our industry coming back. We got together some performers who will be some of the first to return to theatres and created this piece to bring some positivity to the theatre industry which has been through one of the toughest years in our lifetime. Whilst it is important to acknowledge the hardships we've all gone through, it's important we pull together as a community and celebrate our beloved industry finally coming back! 

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s journey to open Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre has probably been one of the most documented and talked-about stories in relation to the reopening of theatres. This new retelling of the classic fairytale opened on the 25th June 2021 with an opening night of the 20th July, this has been changed due to performances being suspended because of a COVID related case. With music by Lloyd Webber Himself, lyrics by David Zippel and a book by Emerald Fennell, the show is one of the handful of new musicals opening theatre again after the closure of theatres because of the pandemic. 

Lauren Byrne is appearing in the shows ensemble and is also covering the title role. Making her West End debut in the musical, she was previously playing the role of Jane Seymour in the UK Touring production of Six the Musical. Her other credits include Swing and cover Cynthia and Carole in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (UK Tour), Mabel and Dance Captain in Blondel (Union Theatre) and Understudy Rasa, Peggy, Gwen and Joyce in Sunny Afternoon (UK Tour). Lauren is the co-founder of the new training system ‘In3 Arts’, providing part-time training alongside her ex-Six cast member Harriet Watson. 

COMING HOME: Michael Afemaré, appearing in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre

Pocket Size Theatre and Liza Heinrichs (Captured by Liz) have teamed up again and created our new series 'Coming Home'. In this new piece, we look at the reopening of Theatres in London and around the country and celebrate our industry coming back. We got together some performers who will be some of the first to return to theatres and created this piece to bring some positivity to the theatre industry which has been through one of the toughest years in our lifetime. Whilst it is important to acknowledge the hardships we've all gone through, it's important we pull together as a community and celebrate our beloved industry finally coming back! 

Michael Afemaré was due to perform in the transfer production of Evita. The show was revived in a brand new production at the Regent’s Park, Open Air Theatre in 2019 and was meant to be taking over the Barbican in the summer of 2020. But, with the closure of theatres, the production, unfortunately, didn’t go ahead. What that meant for Michael was that he had lost out on a wonderful job. But, we mustn’t focus on the negatives because the day before we met Michael, it was announced that he would be joining the original London company of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella. Having previously been in the original London cast of Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre, he is no stranger to a West End premiere! 

Over the past year, so many issues have been brought to the surface and highlighted in our industry. So many important conversations have been going on and with theatre now planning on reopening, this is the time for the change and progress we’ve been campaigning for. Michael feels incredibly passionate about the lack of representation of ethnicity within the industry, in particular artists of Indian and Asian heritage. Something interesting that he also brings up is, this isn’t just about the casts and people we see on stage, it goes way beyond that, “I am always trying to fight the fight for more equal opportunities, but these opportunities also need to exist beyond theatre casts. I would love for there to be a world where representation and diversity can be noted and appreciated in more positions of power; creative teams, directors, choreographers, casting directors - the list is endless.”