The Wizard of Oz the Musical: Theatre Review

The Wizard of Oz opened on March 1^st2011 with previews beginning on February 7^th. The show looked for their leading role, Dorothy, through a reality TV show which found the current leading lady Danielle Hope. The story is loved by everybody and is known to be the best family film ever made. The plot follows Dorothy and her journey through Oz to get the Witches broom stick and present it to the Wizard so she can get home, along the way she meets the Scarecrow, The Tin Man and the Lion. They all become friends and eventually Dorothy gets back to Kansas and realises the true meaning of Home.
This recent adaptation of the show is brought to the West End by Andrew Lloyd Webber who collaborated with Tim Rice for the first time since 1986; they have spotted some caps in the film where songs need to be put in, like for example Glinda and The Wicked Witch of the West both have songs now. The new score really works, I listened to the soundtrack before hand and really wasn't looking forward to seeing it on stage, however on stage it works but still keeps the original feel that the film had. The stage show was very much like the film but Andrew Lloyd Webber and his team has defiantly put their own touch on it by adapting the costumes and the actors have played with the characters but still all have the original essences of the characters that we all love. However I do feel there was still that extra sparkle missing, The Wizard of Oz must be one of the hardest shows to stage but there was still something missing.

Rock of Ages the Musical: Theatre Review

 

Rock of Ages first premiered in Los Angeles in 2006 with later productions taking place in Melbourne, Broadway, Off-Broadway and a film coming out in 2012. Rock of Ages started previews in London on 31^stAugust with an opening night on 27^thSeptember.The story is exactly what you would expect from an 80's musical, Boy with big dreams meets girl with big dreams, they fall in love, boy ruins the relationship, girl turns to stripping, boy regrets this, boy meets girl again, boy and girl get together and everyone lives happily ever after.

Ok, so the show is a lot better than I'm making it sound! The thing i really liked about this show is that it makes fun of itself; they pull out a programme for the show in the second act and occasionally break the fourth wall. From the audiences point of view it was fantastic, it's such a refreshing break from conventional musical theatre.

Respect La Diva the Musical: Theatre Review

Respect La Diva premiered at the Garrick Theatre on the 7^thSeptember with a press night following the night after; I was fortunate enough to be at this night however I can only feel that the show is still unfinished and needs a lot of work.
The show will embark on a UK Tour after its limited engagement at the Garrick of three weeks and I'm hoping for the sake of mankind, that they re-rehearse the whole show.
The show comes from the creators of Thriller! Live, and is a tribute to the Divas past and present, featuring the work of Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Dianne Ross and many other female Legends. But, I feel the poor narrative and unexciting presenting from Andy Abraham overshadowed the work of these fabulous women. What I couldn't get my head around was why Andy Abraham was even part of the show, his presenting skills were horrific and didn't flow and he also had a few songs, did it turn into the Andy Abraham show with a few women singing songs in between? At points, it seemed like it.
There was also a story of a sound technician wanting to be in the show.... Please producers, if you're reading this, cut it out before it's too late.

Betwixt! the Musical: Theatre Review

Betwixt! Was first premiered at London Fringe back in 2008 with a concert following later that year, since then the show has been under some transformations and has most recently been adapted for the unique space, Trafalgar Studios 2. The show consist of a writer with writers block, his gay roommate, a head of a German Woman and plenty other fantasy characters! The show follows the story of Bailey (The Writer) and his journey to find a story for his long awaited new Novel and how he gets transported to an Enchanted Kingdom where he has to find the way to conquer The Enchantress and stop her completing her evil plan. Yes, I probably thought the same as you when reading the synopsis for the show, "What the f@#k is this?!" But actually, it's pure brilliance!

I was hoping the show was going to be amazing, but I had a strong feeling it was going to fail with the space it's in and the strange storyline. I was proven wrong! Ian McFarlane has done a great job writing this musical, its genius. Trafalgar Studios 2 was the perfect venue for this show, the intimacy of the space was part of the experience. The only fault I could find about the staging was having the band at the back, often they looked bored and looking like they were wishing they were someplace else however there wouldn't be anywhere else for them to go!

Legally Blonde the Musical: Theatre Review

Legally Blonde first opened on Broadway in 2007 with a US Tour starting in 2008, It then made its way over to the West End in 2009 with a cast which included Sheridan Smith and Duncan James. The show tells the story of Elle Woods who follows her love to Harvard law school where she is put through her passes by Emmett Forest and eventually takes on a murder case and wins her man, though it wasn't the one she intentionally chased to Harvard. On the 21^stJuly I went to see the show at the Savoy Theatre.I saw the show in June of last year with the Original London cast with the addition of Richard Fleeshman, since then the cast has been through multiple cast changes.
I was very impressed with the production when saw it last year, it exceeded all my expectations and I loved it.
However I feel like I was watching a different show, the sound system seemed very quiet and of poor quality while the energy levels from the majority of the cast seemed very low.

Jekyll and Hyde the Musical: Theatre Review

 

Jekyll and Hyde the Musical was first staged in 1990 in Houston with a Broadway production following in 1995 which closed in 2001. Recently the show starting its second UK tour staring Marti Pellow. The show follows the story of Doctor Jekyll and his journey on exploring the duality of man, but with his experimenting he slowly phases out his Fiancée, Emma, and he takes on a new personality (Mr. Hyde) when taking the positions he makes. While he is Mr. Hyde he meets and falls for a prostitute, Lucy. The love triangle adds in some drama and passion which the original book didn't have and the score was also beautiful with a Les Miserables feel.

Marti Pellow plays the title role of Doctor Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde, he plays it very two dimensional with no chemistry with the other characters. When he played Jekyll he didn't pronounce his words properly and whether it was his fault or the sound system (it didn't affect anyone else) I don't know but I personally found it very hard to understand him, although when he turned into Hyde, I found his characterization very interesting and he played it very dark and mysterious which was fantastic.

Shrek the Musical: Theatre Review

Shrek the Musical opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on the 14th June 2011 after having a successful run on Broadway and on tour in the USA. The show has received lots of publicity from having stars such as Amanda Holden featured so my expectation was reasonably high because of the hype that the producers had surrounded the show with. However, I can say I am more than disappointed with this production.

The show was not like the original Broadway one, if it was I would have been happy but the level of quality of the scenery was not even tour standard. I sat through the first act with my head in my hands wondering how such a terrible show is being allowed to play to paying West End audiences; I would have walked out in the interval if I wasn't with someone who wanted to watch the second act.

Lend me a Tenor the Musical: Theatre Review

Lend me a Tenor is running at the Gielgud Theatre, with an opening night of June 15^th2011, with previews from June 2^nd2011.This musical transfers from the out of town tryout in Plymouth which ran in September to October 2010. Tito Merelli has come to sing in the Grand Opera Company's production of Otello, but Max (The assistant to the Opera's director) gets thrown on in the place of Tito which leads to confusion for everyone in the show and create chaos! On June 13^thI was invited to see a preview of the show, and I have to say I was impressed. I was not expecting to like the musical as I'm not a fan of slapstick or musicals set in that particular period of time but it was fantastic!

The musical stars Matthew Kelly, and from watching the show I can see that this is stunt casting to get in some extra people. His mannerisms as Henry Saunders were cringe worthy the whole way through, his characterisation in the role is poor but he was ok, he wasn't terrible.

The rest of the cast however were brilliant! Each character had their own personality and you can tell the actors love this show! Joanna Riding and Michael Matus are perfect as the Merellis, Joanna Riding especially plays a brilliant stubborn Italian woman, with Michael Matus complementing her well as Tito.

Billy Elliot the Musical: Theatre Review

Billy Elliot the Musical runs at the Victoria Palace Theatre where it originally opened back in May 2005. To this day Billy Elliot is playing too sold out audiences and remains one of the top West End shows, although I could not see why. On 23^rdMay 2011 I made my way to see the show; I have never seen the film before this but knew the story enough to be able to tell what was going on.

Elton John's score was truly uninspiring and the only memorable piece was the dance break in Electricity, which was the only point for me when I felt the music was uplifting and refreshing. Lee Halls Book was witty and Stephen Daldry complemented this with his direction.

Pete Darlings Choreography was good but nothing special; I feel as though my dance teacher in my old theatre school could have done the exact same thing, I felt no personality come through with the dance so it felt very impersonal to the audience and the characters.

Wicked the Musical: Theatre Review

Wicked the Musical opened on Broadway in 2003 and since then has opened productions in Chicago, Los Angeles, Australia, Germany, Japan and London. The London production opened in 2006 and has been going strong ever since. The show has been through multiple cast changes and I recently went to see it on 22^ndApril 2011.

The show takes place before Dorothy arrived in Oz, following the story of the Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba) and Glinda. It's about the relationship that the girls share with a love triangle, a controversy with the Wizard and the story of the Wicked Witch of The East. The show also explains why the Tin Man has no Heart, why the lion is cowardly and why the scarecrow has no brain.Its providing something that everyone can relate to, it reaches out to almost every audience member which is a very rare thing to find in a Musical.

The design team on this show are a dream; Eugene Lee's set is incredible to look at and fits perfectly into the show, as does Susan Hilferty's delightful and imaginative costumes. Stephen Schwartz's score is incredible. The stunning 11 O'clock numbers are to spare in this show; Defying Gravity, No Good Deed and Thank Goodness are the musical and emotional highlights in the show, each one expressing amazing emotion from the characters.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert: Theatre Review

Priscilla Queen of the Desert first premiered in Sydney, Australia in 2006 and has since opened in Melbourne, New Zealand, London, Toronto and Broadway. The show follows the story of two drag queens and a transsexual making their way across the Australian outback in a Tour Bus called 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'.

The glittery, camptastic show got my heart racing and my feet tapping. The score is made up of dance floor classics, including 'I will Survive', 'Go West' and 'Venus' and even though the songs have been brought up to date with the story the show still manages to keep the original feel to them and reminds us why we love them. I saw the show on the 14^thof April and my expectations were nonexistent as i didn't know enough about the show.