Avenue Q's Closing!! (And Other, More Upbeat Theatre News)

What a sad, sad day. Avenue Q is closing.

There are so many people I've imagined taking to see this show, and getting them to love it, and fall in love with musicals and theatre and all the rest of it. And now that's not going to happen. (Although there was very little likelihood it'd happen anyway, but that's not the point. Now it definitely won't.)

Ho hum. There's always the soundtrack, which I once listened to exclusively for months on end, until it made me feel a little bit seasick. (Other soundtracks I've done this with include Wicked. My sister told me she did it with Sweeney Todd. I blame our parents letting us listen to the same Joseph tape for several years' worth of car journeys. Altogether now: "Way, way back, many centuries ago", etc.)

And here's the rest of this week's theatre news from the Visit London Blog

Theatre Review: Legally Blonde @ the Savoy Theatre

Ohmigod, ohmigod, you guys! So, I finally saw it. 

Legally Blonde: ohmigod, it's so good.

From the start, when the sorority girls open the show with their first number, I was totally hooked. Lots has already been written about how funny, silly and sassy this new show is. Here's my tuppence-worth...

First up, I still haven't seen Hairspray, so I can't really comment on this choreography and direction (by the same Jerry Mitchell) being any better, or the same. I can say that I loved it.

Second, I think last night was perhaps the second-ish time in my life I've ever given a standing ovation. (I'm British. We don't really do it over here.) I might've been way back in row T (freebie marketing seats, thankyouverymuch) but when Sheridan Smith came to take her bow, I simply felt the overwhelming, non-British need to stand up. To show her how impressed I was with the work she'd put into my evening. 

I really think the main thing about the whole show is Sheridan Smith. 
She's the clever cog who stops Legally Blonde The Musical being too saccharine sweet. Her wit and, er, spunkiness (ick word, but it's the best I can do) shine through all the already shimmery, pink, shiny parts of the show, and somehow end up giving the whole musical a kind of interesting, deeper, classy gloss finish. In almost any other actresses' hands, I really think Legally Blonde just could've been too, too much.  

I don't know if it's just me, but having found out so much of SS's "backstory" (the idea that she's worked so hard for the part, that she acknowledged that she is: "honestly the laziest person and get a stitch walking to the car, so this is quite a big ask for me (from SOLT). It’s great to have something to work towards and challenge yourself", that, as Peter Davison points out in the reelkandi video of the Opening Gala, in need of regular reassurance that she is "good enough"), I found it almost impossible not to root for Elle / Sheridan. 

Quirky, cartoony, kooky as she is, SS captured my attention throughout. She's odd looking; too tomboyish even in a power LPD (little pink dress) and heels to ever look like a proper, beautiful, sexy, leading lady. Underneath all her acting it up as the uber-Malibu-blonde Elle, there's somehow still a whole heap of Smithy just millimeters underneath the surface. And yet, somehow, it all really works.

In fact, I'd like to see the show again soon, so I can watch more of the other stuff going on on stage, the choreography, the chorus members, the set, rather than getting caught up with watching SS and her beautiful but weird wigs. It's hard to take your eyes off her.

Aside from our heroine, how's the rest? Well, Duncan-James-from-Blue does just fine, his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. (I hope.) Peter Davison is OK as Professor Callahan (LK wanted someone nastier, but she's a Doctor Who fan, so...), and as I predicted, Jill Ha'pney is totally brilliant as Paulette.

It's funny how, when people have been in EastEnders, Chicago and the like (Byker Grove, anyone?), the snobbery quickly descends. But I think Jill Halfpenny is an actual properly brilliant musicals actress. Big voice, great mover, utterly believable, professional to a pin-prick, perfect in every way on stage. I hope she likes what she does, and sods the rest of them.

And the songs. The SONGS!  There's a hilarious song called "Gay or European" which nearly induced Mamma-Mia-style stare-at-the-floor-til-they-stop hysterical palpitations from yours truly. There's a few Wicked-style power-ballads, all messed up with really funny bitchiness from the self-proclaimed Greek Chorus. There's "Whipped Into Shape", which, as I may have mentioned elsewhere, features simultaneous skipping and singing. Skipping AND Singing! There's an early near-romantic near-duet ("Serious") which made me think of a Rogers-Hammerstein-Carousel duet (memories from the same theatre, perhaps), before it's all turned, hilariously, on its head. Callahan's "Blood in the Water" made me think of "Why Can't the English" from Lerner and Lowe's My Fair Lady. 

Put it this way, there's some class behind the songs, both the lyrics and the tunes. Well done Mr O'Keefe and Ms Benjamin. (Anyone know what else these two are working on??)

Anyway, I'll probably think of more things I love about it, but that'll do for now. I'm pleased to have a new obsession. I just need to work out exactly where it fits in the whole my Top 10 Stage Musicals blog post that I've been writing for about eight months. Terrible. I should perhaps get back to that.

Musical Excitement: Legally Blonde The Musical

Yeah, baby. On the first day back in the office (Mon) it was so nice to be offered some shiny, happy, pink, musical tickets... Legally Blonde, baby! Yay! It really made my day.

After attending the launch of Legally Blonde The Musical at Café de Paris no less, back in... wow, in October (really, that long ago?!), I have been quite excited about seeing this show.

There's skipping! And singing! (At the same time!) And Sheridan Smith! A weird thing called the Bend and Snap! And Sir Peter of Davison! And Jill Halfpenny! (Who, damnit, should really look into changing her name to something beginning with "S" for the purposes of this musical...)

And, it even got the WEWs a little bit giddy before Christmas. Remarkable.

Well, I'm excited. I haven't been to a big, new West End musical in aaages. Since Sister Act back in MAY??? (Sure, I saw Oliver-Exclamation-Mark in September, but that's hardly new, and while the sets were great, and it was all very polished and professional, it certainly wasn't terribly exciting...)

Roll on a fab, musical-filled 2010.

Musical May

It's been a good month for musicals.

Alongside the preview we were lucky enough to catch of the new show, Sister Act The Musical, I've also finally been able to see Billy Elliot on stage.

People at work have recommended Billy Elliot to me before. (It comes up in LK's top 3 from time to time, I'm sure.) I was slightly unconvinced. I love the film, but I didn't really see how it would be any better on stage. I mean, how can anyone beat Jamie Bell and Julie Walters?

All I could see was a classic Sandy and Danny situ all over again.

I recently saw Wicked for the first time too (last month) and did really enjoy it. It's pretty silly, but that's not a bad thing! The opening was pretty unconvincing; not knowing anything about the show, I felt kind of lost for the whole of the first song or two. Once it got going, and I started to understand the tongue-in-cheek nature of the show, I really began to enjoy it. By the time Elphaba was flying, A and I were totally engrossed in the silliness of it all.

But back to Billy.

My word, it really is amazing. Lee Hall's story, made into a musical, becomes incredibly sophisticated, much more than a cheesy "show", layered, meaningful, upsetting, emotionally challenging, funnier, sadder, wittier, cleverer, and astonishingly for an already-great film, much more powerful.

I loved the costumes, the politics, the music (explaining in the interval that Elton John was behind it all sent A into a stammering confusion of buts and ands...), the set, the script and the dancing.

The juxtaposition of the police officers, miners and the young ballerinas was particularly memorable. I loved the way they used the theatre and the safety screen to such effect, bringing Billy's dad off the stage and into the audience, somehow, as Billy was auditioning for ballet school. Also memorable was Billy and the older dancer's duet. Indeed, anytime Billy was dancing solo I was thrilled to be in the audience. What a star performer.

(A and I were amused to learn that our Billy was being played by one Fox Jackson-Keen. There you are rooting for this poor deprived kid from a rough area of the north, and then you realise he's just a terribly nice ACKTOR from drama school.)

But the whole play has so much to it (the social comment, the politics, the humour, the aching sadness, the exploration of the questions of talent, class, poverty, gender roles and so on), I can't help but think that my recent enjoyment in the audience of Billy Elliot might've been what slightly marred Sister Act The Musical for me. Shallow is an understatement, but I'll review in due course, once press night's been and gone.

And of course, I'm not the only person to enjoy Billy Elliot: it's been nominated for 15 Tony awards on Broadway. Remarkable. Let's hope he wins!

Musical Excitement: Sister Act

Oh, it's been a long time a'coming, this one.

In fact, I wrote about Sister Act's arrival into the West End for londonist back in November last year.

Then came the marketing juggernaut. The show's producer, a little old lady called Whoopi Goldberg (you might've heard of her), appeared on BBC Breakfast, on the Chris Moyles Show, Loose Women, the Justin Lee Collins Show, (presumably) Jonathan Ross and the One Show. She talked about Sister Act the Musical in the metrolondonlitepaper, in magazines, online.

There was launch party invite (which I missed due to a damn last-minute HP crisis).

There's been wall-to-wall (in the pre-FB meaning of the word) advertising; from Tube station hoardings to animated MPUs on our site... It's been remarkable.

Brilliantly today I was offered a couple of comps to a preview next week. On a day when work wasn't going as well as it should. Little things like this make me a very, very happy bunny.

Yay. Musicals make life better.

Cultural Magpie: New Musicals

Since new musical Spring Awakening failed to totally impress me, although it was great (read my londonist Spring Awakening review here), I've been on the look out for other new musicals, and having a think about some old ones too.

Exciting news here on the new Phantom of the Opera sequel. It's called Love Never Dies, which strikes me as a cross between a Bond film title, and a Celine Dion song. I wonder what it'll be like?!

Baz Bamigboye (not being a Mail (urgh) reader, I have no idea who he is) says a few interesting things about it. Here's the main stuff, so you don't have to read the Mail yourself:

From what I've heard, it sounds like the best work Andrew has produced in decades. I confess, I didn't know he still had it in him - it's a score of high passion, full of longing and regret.

Director O'Brien noted that the music - and the show's story - are about maturity. "Not only that, but a vast repository of his [Lloyd Webber's] own life and themes are coming back and being newly re-explored."

He added pointedy: "He's not phoning this in - it's all new stuff."

Indeed, it is a completely different sound to the main melodies in the original Phantom show - however, the composer noted that there are a couple of tiny motifs that will be familiar to the many millions who have seen Phantom on stage or screen.

Slater observed that the first Phantom was driven, emotionally, by youthful insecurities. This older Phantom is driven by adult regrets. "It's about choices and consequences," O'Brien added. "This is about the road not taken."

This has me swinging between toe-curling anxiety and appreciative nodding.

1. Clever, making it about maturity (they've learnt something from Mamma Mia! etc)
   
2. Good, it's got a new sound, but still keeps some "tiny, familiar motifs" (well, duh, it's ALW, isn't it?!)
   
3. Positive noises, "full of passion, full of longing, full of regret" - all fine by me
4. Yes, enjoying the use of the Jon Stewart favourite: "phoning it in." And pleased that ALW isn't. Cos I think it'd be quite a complicated process were he to try
   

But what do we do with the news that "the Phantom (is) living in a fairground on Coney Island. He is somehow reunited with Christine, now married to Raoul and with a son"??

Terrible, terrible, terrible ideas. "Somehow" in a plot summary has all kinds of alarm bells a-jangling, right?

I was thinking yesterday about some of the more dreadful lyrics from Spring Awakening, and wondering whether I was being a little harsh, being so down on them. Afterall, the programme notes made sure we were aware that they were deliberately gauche and teenage. But I can't see this as an excuse.

I was sitting on the bus, trawling the musicals of my mind, and this, from the sloppiest of them all, still makes my skin tingle:

Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation,
Darkness wakes and stirs imagination,
Silently the senses abandon their defences
Helpless to resist the notes I write (Phantom)

Then there's this, which is still beautiful after all this time.

Don't listen for those bells, for love is only love
And if it's love you've found, your heart won't hear a sound
But if you're really wise, the silence of his eyes
Will tell you love is only love, and it's wonderful enough (Hello Dolly!)

I could go on. (Please don't.)

Let's hope, wherever ALW's musical odyssey is going with this New York Bond Film Phantom Sequel, he's got a decent lyricist on hand. Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe, Don Black, that kind of thing.

Other new musicals I've picked up on my magpie rounds:

1. Heathers?? Laurence O'Keefe, who wrote the score for Legally Blonde, is penning the songs; Reefer Madness director Andy Fickman and writer Kevin Murphy are part of the project; and it's got the blessing of the original movie's production team
2. Ghost?? heading to the West End next year, with music by Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics, and Glen Ballard, who produced Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill

For this week's musical dose, I'm heading to the New Wimbledon Theatre for some reassuringly old school fun: Singin' In The Rain.

Altogether now: "Make em laugh, make em laugh..."

Musical Excitement: Spring Awakening @ The Novello Theatre

After not really understanding about this show, particularly as we were illustrating it with some dodgy rehearsal pics on site, I'm now beside myself with excitement about tonight's press trip.

Then I read some more about it, perused the reviews, and watched Chad work himself up into a suitable lather over the show.

Yes, thanks to my former uni-and-flatmate CB, who's now lucky enough to work for SOLT, I'm tagging along as a plus one to the press night of the transfer of Spring Awakening to the West End. Hurrah.

There have been a few bad ones (Mme De Sade, Obama on My Mind, Dirty Dancing) in the last few weeks. Let's hope this is going to turn it all around...

More to come...

Musical Excitement: Obama On My Mind @ the Hen and Chickens Theatre

Very excited about tomorrow evening's entertainment.

I've got press tickets to see what's become known as The Obama Musical, or Obama: The Musical at the Hen and Chickens Theatre in Camden.

It's actually about the campaign trail from the p.o.v of an American in London, I think. You can listen to the theme toon on their site. This from The Graph:

Written and produced by the Ohio-born Teddy Hayes, The Obama Musical focuses on the personalities behind the Democratic candidate's campaign.

Songs in the show, due to receive its premiere at Barons Court Theatre next month, include Obama and Me, which is sung by an obsessive member of his team and includes the lyric: "We are a pair/like chocolate and éclair".

Hayes said: "I've done a bit of work for the Obama campaign and this is a send-up of what happens behind the scenes."

Except, it seems things have changed since that report, as it ain't at Baron's Court, it's at Hen and Chickens.

As well as being intrigued about seeing a new musical, I'm also excited about finally hitting another one of London's pub theatres I've been researching recently. Review coming...

Plus, I just like the idea of someone else waking up with "Obama on my mind..."

Theatre News: Zorro's Closing

Gutted to hear today that Zorro's closing early. It was booking until September, but has posted notices saying it's coming off in March.

What a shame. I really liked it.

It comes as a surprise too. Lots of the news at the moment is talking about how well the West End's doing at the moment. Blockbuster sales for Oliver!, awards all over the place, depression-defying theatre, musicals triumphing in tough times, usw.

Normally a show like this would be offering cheap deals, 2-for-1 offers, that kind of thing, a long time before it announces it's closing. I wonder if it's a casting / crewing thing, rather than an audiences-not-coming thing.

Mysterious, like the masked man himself.

Cultural Magpie: Pickings from the Guardian

News from a pre-work picking through the Grauniad brought out these two jewel-like snippets.

From Lyn Gardner:

Do make the most of Shunt while you can, because the company has had notices to quit the space in the summer.

Which seems like a real shame. I've only been there on a site tour, but it seemed like an amazing space. I must take Lyn's advice, and make the effort to get there before it's all over. Boo.

Second, this from Paul Morely who's got a problem with the future of musicals, mentions this:

Later this year we should see if Bono and the Edge can refresh the musical by tapping into a comic superhero myth. Their Spider-Man, with director Julie Taymor, might yet drag the musical into the 21st century...

Ooh, do you think they'll get The Bubble to sing the theme toon?

Review: Sunset Boulevard at the Comedy Theatre

Seen any Andrew Lloyd Webber this year? And I'm not talking about watching the Lord spout his meaningless witterings about "raising your game" and "going on a musical journey" on some Saturday night TV show.

I'm talking about bona fide, spine tingling, heart-string tugging clichéd-but-we-love-it musicals that seem to hit the right note (pun intended), every.single.time.

If you don't have the ALW gene, the one that makes your eyes well up when the two doomed leads start singing that octave-separated duet, the one that increases your heart beat when you hear that flute solo, the one that roots for that unwitting, innocent outsider pulled into an odd gothic entanglement (The Woman in White, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard), don't worry. But, well, I'm sorry: this might not be the show (or even the review) for you.

Sunset Boulevard is the Tony Award-winning 1990s musical of the 1950 film of the same name. It tells the story of a tragic relationship between an old silent movie star, Norman Desmond ("the greatest star of all", played here by Kathryn Evans), and a young writer called Joe Gillis (Ben Goddard). This reworked version, directed by Strictly Come Dancing's Craig Revel-Horwood, is greatly paired-down from the blockbuster it became, and features a cast of actor-musicians.

Like Avenue Q, there's a moment at the start of this Sunset Boulevard where you have to enter into a contract with the people on stage. In AQ, you agree to accept the puppets. Here, it's about the instruments. Yes, they're going to be playing their instruments on stage, in view, while dancing, while acting; in some cases, while having a conversation. Pretty much throughout. And yes, you have to go with it.

In fact the result, as well as being in awe of the incredible talent on stage, is an interesting one. While playing and watching in the sidelines, the musicians add another kind of participatory, voyeuristic audience to a play which is very much about playing, theatre, being on show, celebrity and audience.

The two leads are fantastic. Crazy self-obsessed old bat Norma Desmond is a dream role for any actress (Glenn Close, Elaine Paige and Petula Clark have all played her). Kathryn Evans' gorgeous full-bodied voice suits the big show-stopping songs perfectly. She also brings a desperate lonely physicality to the role –those long fingers, that long neck, those long eyelashes – that makes her more than a match for Ben Goddard's big-statured Joe.

Goddard shines as Joe, too. It helps that he's rather gorgeous, as well as being a likeable, troubled rake. I didn't mind watching Ben being stripped down to the pants of his writer's clothes and trussed up in tails at all. Joe's as enamoured with fame and celebrity as he is disgusted by it; this duplicity comes through particularly nicely in the rousing title song which Goddard totally nailed after the interval.

The rest of the cast are also ace. Kudos must go to Laura Pitt-Pulford making her West End debut as Betty, who not only manages to play the flute while "sunbathing" lying down, but also manages to get herself upright, gracefully, seamlessly without a break in playing. The girl's got stomach muscles.

Norma and Joe's wonderful New Year's Eve tango was a particular highlight; which is to be expected from a show directed by Revel-Horwood.

Tellingly, for a show about a writer, it has some lovely one-liners, some nice cheeky quips, some excellent turns of phrase and rhyme in the lyrics and the script. That's lyricist Don Black for you. He's the chap behind Born Free, a handful of Bond themes, and lots of other top notch classics. And here he's paired with Christopher (Atonement, Dangerous Liaisons, The Quiet American) Hampton. Here's a fantastic profile of Mr Hampton.

There are less successful moments. I didn't love the awkward, over-long car chase. The full-cast numbers occasionally felt a little clunky on the Comedy Theatre's stage. (Is it too small? Were we sitting too close – for once – and too on one side to appreciate the blocking?) And Ben Goddard occasionally needs to relax his (lovely, big, musical-instrument caressing) hands when he's singing.

But these are minor quibbles in a fantastic, magical piece of musical theatre, which really lived up to my expectations.

Take anyone under 18, whose New Year's resolution is likely to be to give up whichever musical instrument they currently hate practising because it's uncool. And anyone of any age with a pure and simple interest in theatre craft, and everything (clever props, gorgeous costumes, great sound and lighting) that goes into creating the magic of a show. And of course, this is must-see fodder for everyone with that secret ALW gene. Go, believe the illusion, and be taught "new ways to dream".

Sunset Boulevard is playing at London's Comedy Theatre until 18 April. Photo of the two leads tangoing is by Robert Day.

Musical Excitement: Sunset Boulevard

How stunning is this picture?!

I've been interested in Sunset Boulevard since listening to Elaine Paige singing (the grammatical awkwardness of) As If We Never Said Goodbye on some Divas compilation of Mum's.

Then, a few Christmases ago we watched Amy's Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration and Glenn Close doing her fantastically nutty performances as Norma Desmond.

That night, I headed straight to wiki, to find out more about this musical that I recognised the songs from, but had never seen, nor knew anything about.

So, I was really excited to hear that Sunset Boulevard was coming to the West End this Christmas.

Two cheeky emails to PTA, and I've been offered two press tickets to the day after press night. Which is good enough for me.

Watch this space for the review.

Musical Excitement: Imagine This

Tonight's musical excitement is Imagine This at the New London Theatre.

It's an odd place where I've seen both Blue Man Group and Gone With The Wind; there's a crazy combo of popularity, rejection, success and failure if ever I saw one.

Imagine This has Peter Policarpou in, who everyone knows from Birds of a Feather.

It's had some shocking reviews... We'll have to wait and see...

Musical Excitement: Carousel

It's the opening preview of Carousel in London tonight and we've got tickets.

Am very excited to see Lesley Garrett; more soon...

20.11: Today's Moment of Zen

Time: 9.05am
Place: Clapham Junction Station

You know it's a great start to the day when you hop off the bus into the bright winter morning sunshine and in your ipod-loving ears, Rusty is asking you to call him Rusty if you like...

By the time you reach the turnstiles inside the station, he's demanding you call him Rusty if you dare...

And you know, for you, Starlight Express will always be one of the greatest ways to start the day.

Londonist: More Singing Nuns for the London Palladium

It seems the London Palladium just can't get out of the habit.

Currently occupied by the singing nuns and lively hills of The Sound of Music, today we hear Maria and co's residency at the Palladium will be followed by Sister Act The Musical next summer.

Whoopi Goldberg herself, the original wimple-wearing, gangster-fooling, singing competition-winning Delores is producing the divine new musical alongside Stage Entertainment.

New musicals derived from films haven't done all that well in the past year, with the failures of Gone With The Wind and Desperately Seeking Susan. But we're hoping Whoopi and co (the score and lyrics are by Disney's top duo Alan Menken and Glenn Slater) will wow the West End when the show opens in June next year.

Sister Act The Musical comes here following a US tour, but without a stint of Broadway.

But what do they know? This month's openings on New York's hottest theatre scene included Shrek the Musical. Yikes.

Sister Act The Musical opens at the London Palladium on 2 June 2009, with previews from 6 May.

See original post on londonist