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I Will Always Love You-The Bodyguard

Beverly Knight being the headliner along with her counterpart Ben Richards, I thought the show would have some hope...when it was on West End 3 years ago the reception was mixed, so was apprehensive in seeing this and you know what it wasn't that bad.With the whole screen to stage is always a gamble as so many people love the film and with one of the greatest singers of all time, Whitney Houston is a lot to live up to, but Knight really is committed to the role and does a really wonderful job.

There were cheesy parts in the show but after all it is a musical and I thought the story was well told, through script, song and dance.

By the end of the show I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this show, one time is enough for me to see it, but I glad I did.

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Just left un-risen-Waitress the musical

***Review coming soon***

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Simply the Best-Tina Turner the musical

***Review coming soon***

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Certainly a Match-Fiddler on the Roof

ye Playwright Joseph Steinand Lyricist Sheldon Harnick wrote a compelling musical that till this day resonates with society, with migration, racism and prejudice still at the forefront of our society. With some big names in this Musical I was very excited to see how they portrayed these roles and they would do them justice. Andy Nyman playing the title role of Tevye, brings great energy to the stage. Throughout the show you are on his journey and feel his emotions throughout, his accent was a bit dodgey, going from welsh, Indian to Oz but it didn’t really hinder his performance as he was so committed to the role. Knowing Maria Friedman was playing Golde she was the house name I would say of the show and you would think she would overshadow her fellow cast members...though she didn’t and played the role marvellous, it was contained, heart felt and you believed her relationship not only to Tevye but to her children too.

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That would be enough (for me)-Hamilton

London has been waiting for over 2.5 years for one of the biggest musicals to cross the pond. Everyone wants a ticket and it finally opened at the newly refurbished Victoria Palace Theatre. Having been listening to the soundtrack since it’s release and watching the various Hamilton clips on Youtube, I was so excited to see this musical that I was like a kid counting down to Christmas.

Eagerly sitting in my seat, the opening (being one of my favourite numbers) is good, but didn’t knock me off my feet.  I feel Burr needed more swag and he didn’t hit the lines enough and then when Hamilton (Jamael Westman) enters I felt his stage presence was standard, nothing to go home and talk about… That said, as the song progressed, the cast’s energy was fantastic and the staging/ choreography throughout was the real highlight for me!

I throughly enjoyed the first half - moreso than the second half, as I felt the second half was just about Eliza (Rachelle Ann Go) and Hamilton.  It seemed to drag and Rachelle Ann Go really should have not been part of this cast, she brings nothing to the role and is forgettable. I really enjoyed the performances of Obioma Ugoala (George Washington) and Michael Jibson (King George), they were truly remarkable in their roles. Obioma is a natural in the role and you understood every lyric along with his relationship with Hamilton.  Perfect casting!  If there was a role exactly perfect for anyone that would be King George for Micahel Jibson, his comic timing was spot on, vocally dynamic and humourous yet sinster along with holding the audience in the palm of his hand.  He truly was the stand out and considering he only has one solo, that is saying something of this man’s talent!  Rachel John really shone as Angelica, she led the pack of the Schulyer sisters and conveyed her emotion throughout.  Her impressive rapping skills in ‘Satisfied’ were astounding and her un-dying love for Hamilton was heart felt.  Another perfromance I thought was enjoyable was Jason Pennycooke whose roles were Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson - another founding father. Pennycooke’s energy and charmisa in both the roles were infectious and his solo of ‘What’d I Miss’ was superb, adding a bit of glitz and swagger to the show.

I thought the musical was sleek in terms of staging, set and costume and especially Andy Blankenbuehler’s  choreography, which is stunning and deserves a second mention. The music and lyrics are pure genius and I do love the songs. For me the downfall was partly the casting, I really feel Jamael Westman, Giles Terera and Rachelle Ann Go weren’t up to standard, compared to the likes of the Broadway cast and it’s creator LIn Manuel Miranda.  With Leslie Odom Jr. and Phillipa So I felt like I was missing out because of some of the casting.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ground breaking hip-hop musical is about one of America’s lesser sung founding fathers.  While a Broadway audience can relate to the story as they’ve been taught it from a young age, I don’t think the English audience have this affinity with it and quite honestly do they really care for the story as such?  Part of this is because the lyics, rapped at a pace, are not entirely clear and it’s difficult to keep up.  This is not just me being condescending, it’s comments which I have heard from other theatre-goers.

I do think that people have been caught up in the hype of it all.  Things aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be.  I don’t regret the money I spent on the tickets, but had I paid for the higher priced middle seats, I’d be miffed.  

The good bits of Hamilton make it worth seeing, so if you can get a ticket at a reasonable price then do so as this musical will go down in history and to miss it would be to “miss your shot”!

#Photo credit: Matthew Murphy-Time out magazine

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A bit of originality comes to the West End-The Grinning Man

The Grinning Man' is a wonderfully weird and wickedly wild new musical based on Victor Hugo's classic. Essentially this show is about GrinPayne and how he was given this maniacal grin as a boy and his journey with his love, Dea to discover who inflicted this disablity upon him. Louis Maskell who plays GrinPayne is simply supurb, he embodies the characters through every fibre in his muscle and becomes almost pupperty in some parts, with amazing body control and physical theatre stamina, his voice is a force to be reckoned with, simply fitting for this role and I really do hope to see him in more! 

Dea who plays GrinPaynes love interest, has such an beautiful pure voice and her acting skills our so great as Dea is blind and the way she plays it is wonderfully executed and well understood. 

Barkliphedro was brillantly played by Julian Bleach, with his commedia dell arte mannierisms and excellent equistions of his songs, it was a delight to watch him manifest in this role and narrate us through the show.

Julie Atherton was perfect for the role of the queen, having been couped up away in a dungon by her father, she shines her way in when her father dies and she is crowned queen, being quirky, eccentric and a reasonable queen one might add.

Directed by Tom Morrris who’s behind the West End hit Warhorse the structure and coming to life of the charcters through the puppets are echoed in this production, and one being Mojo the wolf, which was supurbly orchestrated by two puppeters, bringing Mojo to life, with emotion, character and developing relationships with others on stage.

The physicality, comic timing and the singing in this cast is beyond brillant, this un-usual tale of a musical takes you on a emotional, magical, shocking journey which brings you to tears when you are on your feet at the end with a sense exultation of what you have just watched and this to me is what I love about theatre!

#Photo credit: https://officiallondontheatre.com/show/the-grinning-man-406180/

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Little less Extraordinary-Pippin

The musical of Pippin had a great importance on my life, where the show had a influence on my University work and made me delve further into the works of Bob Fosse. 

Only having seen the show on VHS of the original Broadway version which features the talented Ben Vereen I was excited to hear that Pippin was in London and was intrigued to see how much of the original show they have kept to.

The opening started with the iconic number ‘Magic to Do’ which was performed with panashe and oomph from the leading player Genevieve Nicole, who held the stage on her own with the ‘Players’ being the puppets of her performance.

Enter Pippin, who’s held his song with pride and with good vocals though I feel his look was not the right fit for the role, perhaps he looked too young, not physic enough...and I found that with the majority of the cast, the overall look just didn’t sit right with me along with the costumes which were too amateur looking as if they were clowns. I felt the ‘Players’ didn’t have the right look for the show, they looked quite young and in-experienced and not the sexy, sassy, attractive dancers of the Fosse style you would expect to see in this musical. A few of the players had duplicated roles: Bertha/Frastradra /Charles/Lewis/Catherine...I felt it was odd the grandmother was played with a scottish accent and was very exaggerated in her being, where the actress was trying to hard to play the part ‘funny’ and therefore it lost the scentiment of the relationship of Pippin and her. The same actress played the Queen, this is one of my favourite parts, originally played by Chita Rivera....with that in mind you would think that this part is a really sassy, sexy, fun part to play, though it was played not quite like that and was rather flat with no sass or finesse. King Charles was acted by Rhidian Marc, and stood his ground on the solo ‘War is a Science’. Tessa Kadler vocally suited the role of Catherine, though I felt there wasn’t enough layers to this character, making it quite bland and quite frankly you didn’t care for her.

I loved that they kept to some original Bob Fosse choreography, like the manson trio and in the opening number of ‘Magic to do’. Towards the end I found it odd that Pippin and Catherine weren’t stripped from everything, such as there make-up, costume, hair...the whole point is for the leading player to take everything superficial away, and then at the end they stand there with nothing, just themselves with each other in which they are contented with...that said the set was extremely well done and quickly turned round to an empty ‘hall/stage’ with a sense of eeriness. 

When putting on a Bob Fosse musical you have to get everything right and perfect cause that what Fosse was...a perfectionist and this production of Pippin didn’t quite reach the corner of the sky.

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From age 6, I was drawn to the works of ALW, the songs would move me, excite me and general pull emotion from my soul. His works still do that all these years on. I will never forget my work experience with The Really Useful Group when I was 16, it made me want to work for this wonderful man whether it be onstage or in the RUG HQ...I guess there is still time for either 😉 Many happy returns Andrew 🍾🥂 @andrewlloydwebber

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Dreamgirls-Big voices lighting up the West End Stage

When you think of Dreamgirls you thinks of either Jennifer Holiday or Jennifer Hudson as their roles as Effie, with Holiday in the orginal Broadway Cast and Hudson in the film version, but now added to that there is a new Effie in town on the West End stage and that is Amber Riley. Watching this actress grow through her time on Glee and now hitting the big time in playing one of the most prominent roles in a musical is just phenomenal how her career has been catapulted.

 Dreamgirls, wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t at great fault. I thought some of the choreography got lost due to the staging, and that some of the stage direction was a little strange or it just looked strange, for an example, when Effie is doing her big number ‘And I’m Telling You’ she just standing behind the dressing room chairs and mirrors, I think at the big moment of the song she should of come forward, all guns blazing, it felt quite restricted.

 The cast were very strong, with the three leading ladies, Effie White played by Amber Riley, Denna Jones played by Liisi LaFontanie, Lorrell Robinson placed by Asmeret Ghebremichael, the trio complimented each other, in their character look, acting and vocal ability, it was a delight listening especially to Asmeret, with her quirky acting and her vocal range stood out…Amber Riley brought the house down with her solo’s and no doubt with ‘And I’m Telling You’, I had hair standing at the back on my neck and arms and looking around the audience everyone draw dropped and stood to their feet without any hesitation.

The men stood strong and showed their power status, the two that were the stand outs for me were Joe Aaron Reid who played Curtis Taylor Jr. and Tosh Wanogho-Maud who played Jimmy Earle, they were always in the moment, commanded the stage and were strong in all three disciplines, I enjoyed how quick they were, of how they reacted to others on stage and their energy in general. Along with the humor Tosh brought to the role along with sadness when we witness Jimmy’s decline. 

The show didn't knock me off my seat, though Amber Riley’s solo’s did. Overall, the show did not disappoint and had a some real stellar moments that will stick with you.

#CREDIT: BRINKHOFF/MÖGENBURG

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Starlight Express Concert review-There’s a light at the end of the tunnel

Starlight Express is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s longest running shows and it hasn’t been re-jigged and shuffled and still plays on in Germany for the last 29 years without interruption…though when Andrew went to see this production on a recent trip to Germany, he almost didn’t recognise the show and thought he needed to see the original score of this and revisit it to make it more current both musically and along with some tweaks in the dialogue. Which brings us here to one of his Palaces and it’s The Other Palace formally known as the St James Theatre.

Taking on this new venue, Andrew wanted to make it home to new works of Musical Theatre and concert style performance/workshops. So where better to show audiences how Starlight Express can be brought forward to 2017 with new songs, one written collaboratively by his son Alastair Lloyd Webber and Nick Coler, new dialogue that everyone can recognise or relate to and keeping that uplifted spirit at the end of the show ‘There’s a light at the End of the Tunnel’.

With the diverse cast leading the concert workshop performance, the performers were dressed in ‘normal’ clothes with an added accessory to define their character, i.e. Greaseball wore a leather jacket… with the ensemble playing the other groups in the show i.e. Electra’s pack, then Greaseball’s pack and then Rusty pack as the freight trains…which did work in this workshop….with the girls, we had the original names of Pearl and Dinah along with new recruits of Belle and Tassita, the girls are strong, feisty and really lead in some parts, showing girl power rather than acting up as dappey, weak character, this girl ‘powerness’ especially showed through their group song, which resembled a girl band like Little Mix. The other pieces that brought the musical forward is within a group number, the girl would be singing about the boys with the lyrics ‘Swipe right, Swipe left for the boy you like’ which everyone recognises and either can relate to or know someone who has had that experience on Tinder.

The role of Electra I always thought was a very camp role and could see that part as a drag queen, which have/are gracing our stages Kinky Boots, La Cage, Priscilla, and being more open to that world in this new version of Starlight.  

The new duet between Rusty and Pearl was more contemporary and pop like style, it sounded like something you would hear perhaps like Ariana Grande collaborating with Justin Timberlake.

As woman parts in theatre are much less than men it was great to see some of the male roles being switched to a woman playing the part from Poppa to Momma and the French train being played by a woman too, which both parts worked, them being played by a female.

So it goes to show us that in this day and age we can mix things up, bring new light to a piece of work that has been stored away for many years and be brought to a new life for the next generation!

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42nd Street-This is what Broadway is about!

You want a big, brassy (in a good sense), blow out choreography, then get your tush to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane where you will find this classic American musical.

The show was everything I expected to be if not more, the leads where brilliant, the ensemble where impressive...the casting must of been pretty intense, with wide eyed youngester fresh out of drama school and are ready to tap there way onto stardom. The ensemble play a big part in the show, so it’s important they work together, my only crticism is that one cast member stood out soley, with their over exaggarted expressions where they looked like they were in pain and over did everything and didn’t look the part or worked together as a team, this really threw me off. 

Clare Halse who plays the lead, Peggy Swayer, was amazing, she was born to play this role, her voice, tap standard and acting were on point! Sheena Easton was perfect as the fading star Dorothy Brock, she was truly believeable and vocally it really suited the role, the husky, mellow sounds. The famed director Julian Marsh was marvellously played by Tom Lister, he brough a sense of humour and charm to the role along with being assertive yet understanding.

The chorepgraphy is just wonderful, it really hit’s you when they perform ‘We’re in the Money’, the amount of hard work, dedication and passion was so prominent in that piece alone. 

The costumes were the perfection of a pastel colour palette, everything was considered for each cast member, visually it looked liked they all just stepped out of a 1940′s big budget musical.

I would’t give this musical a miss, so get on your tap shoes and shuffle on down to Buffalo, meaning to the Theatre Royal Druy Lane.

#https://opening-night.org/2017/04/05/42nd-street/ #photo credit

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The Life-brings the streets to the stage...

You better be rough and ready to watch this, as your are taken into the dark and seedy world of prostitutes and their pimps and seeing ‘The Life’ they lead on a daily basis. The opening number was led by John Addison who I didn’t think was quite right for the role, his was too ‘actorish’ and vocally was nothing special. Straight away we are introduced to the ‘hookers’, Lucinda Shaw and Charlotte Reavey who continually stood out as the sister whores - strong from  start to finish and more than held their own on stage. Omari Douglas deserves a mention, playing both a pimp then a transexual in Someday is for Suckers, who was emotive and an excellent mover!

The two main hookers were played by T’Shan Williams who played Queen and Sharon D Clarke playing Sonja.  They both complemented each other and their friendship was believable, showing true loyalty to one another. Sharon D Clarke’s song ‘The Oldest Profession’ was the song that was a stand out, her vocal ability and soulfulness took the audience to the edge of their seat. Throughout the show she was the one who was so well experienced that it made the others look like amateurs!

I thought the role of Fleetwood was really badly cast, David Albury seemed to strain during his songs and his acting was lousy, I just didn’t think his look suited the role he just wasn’t believable enough for me.

The chief pimp Memphis was marvelously played by Cornell S. John, he was terrifying as the part and you felt genuinely scared about what his next move would be, his relationship with the hookers and pimps was daunting, where everything he does is purely for his own benefit.

A true star was Joanna Woodward, who played the out town girl Mary, her voice was so perfect for the role, and what a voice she has, with such a broadway tone, her acting was one of the strongest, through song and text, she didn’t over act, she was in the character and stood on her own with her strong stage presence and finesse.

Jackson-Greaves’ choreography was pure artistry, it was sharp, expressive and fiercely delivered.

Overall, I felt like I watching a really good amateur production, there was something missing  I feel that was down to the casting.

Charlotte Reavey and Sharon D. Clarke (Photo: Marilyn Kingwell)

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The Wild Party-Gin, Sin, a real Wild Party

To open Andrew Lloyd Webbers’ re-vamped theatre of St.James Place to now The Other Palace, brings this raunchy, sizzling, energetic and dark musical that of The Wild Party. Seemingly, there are two productions out there of The Wild Party but I was pleased to hear my favourite version of this was heading to London, and that’s Michael John LaChiusa’s works. The songs are more quirky, fun, comedic, up-beat, mixed with some beautiful duets and ballads.

The musical opens with such energy and vibrancy introducing Queenie and the man she is currently living with Burrs played by John Owen-Jones, who acts out a minstrel show act after Quennie (Frances Ruffle) performs her vaudeville routines. When things come to a blow at home, Burr’s suggest to have a wild party with all their old friends, Queenie jumps at the idea and then the party begins!

When the gin is in full swing we are introduced to each character/couple through some quirky, up-beat, humorous songs. Standing out especially is the Gold in Goldberg duet Steven Serlin and Sebastien Torkia, their timing with each other was perfect and they were entertaining to watch another stand out for me wasTiffany Graves, her vocal and dance ability in her solo “Like Sally” was impressive, capturin the audience with her dancer high kicks and broadway tone. Awaiting one guest to arrive you could feel the audience getting excited and when she enters on-stage that is Victoria Hamilton-Bariitt the audience applause and tagged alongwith her toyboy Black wonderfully played by Simon Thomas and he certainly does look the part, but I was worried maybe his vocals will be weak, well needless to say his vocals were smooth and had a lovely quality, he was perfectly cast! One of my favourite numbers in The Wild Party is ‘My Best Friend’, it is funny, quirky and it gives the audience the understanding of these two characters relationship, that is of Queenie and Kate, always competing against each other but enjoying one another’s company. Through Victoria Hamilton-Baritt songs her voices sounded tired and I couldn’t hear her that well (maybe it was a mike issue) though i have heard her sing much better, that said she is great and made the role of Kate he own! I thought Frances Ruffelle voice suited the character of Queenie, smokey, husky, sultry tones, though I thought she was a little too old for the part, the part i would say would be someone in their 30′s/40′s. John Owen-Jones was perfectly cast to play the role of Burrs, he is just so good at everything he does, his voice is seamless, his acting was excellent and he was always there in the moment!

I must mention the direction and the choreography which was outstanding, combining the two different arts forms of contemporary and musical theatre dance together, creating such meaningful and powerful movement. Drew McOnie is one to watch, he makes the stage vibrant, fun and tells the story well not just through movement but direction as well.

The energy on the stage throughout the show was electrifying, you truly felt you were part of this party and by the end was shocked, exhausted and dumbfound at what just happened. All the cast were just brilliant, there was so much talent on that one stage I felt very lucky I got to watch this show!

photograph credit: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjyhrLuk4nTAhVJIcAKHR8rCXwQjB0IBg&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theotherpalace.co.uk%2Ftheatre%2Fwild-party%2F&psig=AFQjCNFUx8DsWIXlhduQ0gJhV8JWCFe3mw&ust=1491338711304790

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She Loves Me - Look in front of you and the answer could be there...Ice-cream...Love

The Menier Chocolate factory is renowned for its high quality productions, where the majority of them get a West End transfer and sell out. She Loves Me no doubt has that potential, with the strong cast of 16, the memorable songs and funny storyline, this show caters for all!

With the book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock. Sheldon Harnick himself complemented the show by saying it was the best he’s seen; But that’s what we English do best, we convey, not over perform and we have that natural sense of charm and humour which is much needed for this piece of Musical Theatre.

The storyline is one which we can relate to in someway, with relationships, work, the panic when it comes to Christmas. 

The story tells of Amalia and Georg who work in a Parfumerie, but each have anonymous romantic pen pals who they both fascinate over and are longing to meet. The love story inspired the films The Shop around the Corner and You've Got Mail. 

Scarlett Strallen who plays Amelia was delightful to listen to and played the part with quirkiness and wit! Mark Umbers as Georg Nowack was superb, his vocals are so dreamy to listen to, his acting was spot on! Alastair Brookshaw as Ladislav Sipos, was sentimental and was more of the introverted character, which was nice to see as the majority are quite confident, self assured characters. Les Dennis who plays as Mr Maraczek, you really felt for his character emotionally, I would say he did look directly into the audience at people and it look like he was checking who was in the audience, that said he played Mr. Maraczek with heart and honesty. Callum Howells as Arpad Laszlo the teenager who is eagerly wanting to work in Mr. Maraczek Parfumerie, plays the role with great energy and enthusiasm and with a great musical theatre vocal tone, Dominic Tighe  playing the charming, sauve yet sleezy Steen Kodaly, was wonderfully played and his relationship with Katherine Kingsley as llona worked so well together, making their duet fun and humorous, with Katherine Kingsley’s strong cockney accent really added the comic value in this musical, along with her great characterisation and sass!

One of my favourite scenes was the ‘romantic’ restaurant scene, choreographically it was sleek and creative, the way it was directed and it was just plain hilarious, I don’t want to ruin the scene by going into too much detail, but it was so funny I couldn't stop laughing!

The show ends on March 7th, so book fast before it sells out! As they say in ‘She Loves Me’

“Please call again. 

Do call again, 

Madam” ...in which I certainly would do!

#Image: http://britishtheatre.com/review-she-loves-me-menier-chocolate-factory/

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Till we reach that day... Ragtime the musical

In a world of uncertainly, the divide of upper and lower class widening, people fighting for their rights and equality, this musical couldn't be more relevant than as today! With Trump now in power, with his un-nerving policies and Bre-xit dividing us away from nations, this musical is reflective of 2016 and this musical puts that right in front of you, making this musical raw and pertinent.

With this show being a bit different as it’s actor/musician musical, the opening number was beautifully staged, in still frames, moving across the stage to introduce all the characters, the voices blended so beautifully together, building to a strong opening number! 

The story was well told through all the characters, Anita Louise Combe playing mother, her solos and duets were to die for, her voice is just magical, so beautifully sung and she tells the story in the moment. The eye-catching Ako Mitchell playing Coalhouse Walker Jr., his velvety tones, passion and depth hits you with power and emotion. Jennifer Saayeng playing Sarah, her tone and voice is incredible, she did fluff up the beginning of my favourite song in Ragtime and that is ‘Daddy’s son’ and made it apparent to the audience that she made a mistake, which with experience you know you shouldn't do that, that said she made it up with her powerhouse vocals in all her numbers! Gary Tushaw who plays Tateh the immigrant,was wonderful, so passionate and vocally sustained all his songs, you could feel his anger and hunger to make a new life for him and his daughter in America. Another favourite number of mine is the quirky ‘The Crime of the Century’, the neurotic Evelyn Nesbit played by Joanna Hickman, whilst singing this number she was incorporating her cello into the choreography, it was genius and it worked delightfully! 

The cast are so talented, some of them playing a variety of instruments and playing their part too, like Christopher Dickins who plays Harry Houdini with the accordion strapped to his chest and then playing the piano! It got me thinking what can’t this cast do, it was that good!

I urge you to book your ticket now as it ends on Dec 10th, if you don’t it would be The Crime of the Century!

Photograph: Scott Rylander/Annabel Vere

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The legend lives on-Sunset Blvd

The ENO hosted one of Andrews Lloyd’s Webber famed musical ‘Sunset Blvd’, which originated back in ‘93′, from it powerful solo ‘Sunset Blvd’ and ‘With one Look’, you knew this musical will be a hit yet again!

The book by Don Black and Lyrics Christopher Hampton, choreography by Stephen Mear, and with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, this musical had a very strong team, so it was bound to be a success with the cast added onto that list. Which brings me to  Glenn Close as the dramatic Norma Desmond,  Michael Xavier as the handsome young writer Joe Gillis, Siobhan Dillon as the delightful Betty Shaefer and Fred Johanson, Max Von Mayerling, many more, but I shall highlight the ones above as they really captured me.

The Orchestra were on the stage throughout, but that certainly didn't distract the audience, it added to the dramatic effect to the set and the sound just  tremblered throughout the ENO lead by Michael Reed Conductor, who he and his orchestra were just fantastic!

Micheal Xavier exuded the sexy Joe Wills to life, with his flawless and effortless vocals, to his dashing good looks, it was hard to take your focus of him...until Norma Desmond her very self Glenn Close, who has played the role before and embodies the essence of who Norma Desmond was, her dramatic flare and obsessive nature enrapture her persona, when it comes to the vocals, they aren't the strongest and it sounds she’s struggling to reach the note, but she does it well cause it kind of suits the character. Fred Johanson was superb as Max, his acting was so good, the emotion, his sense of honor and respect towards Norma, but also his pain seeing her deteriorate throughout the years. Johanson deep, velvet voice, brings you into his world and really captures the moments! Dillon who plays Betty Shaefer was great, her vocals were delightful to listen too and her acting took her character through different hoops of feelings and made her strong and vulnerable at the same time. 

The relationship between Close and Xavier was beautiful, terrifying and sad all at the same time, the acting between them both was superb and both Close and Xavier and the cast, deserved the standing ovation!

#picture from www.dailymail.co.uk

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The Fat Duck