CINDERELLA
December 23, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Sunday, January 6, 2013
THERE’S no doubting the headline name in this panto, and Louie Spence milks it for all it’s worth. Which is just what you’d expect from Louie Spence.
And without any disrespect to the rest of the hardworking cast, he’s actually about the only real name you’d recognise. Anna Williamson? Kev Orkian? Deniece Pearson?
But don’t imagine for one moment that that’s a shortcoming. There are plenty of pantomimes all over the country with no TV personalities in them at all, and they’re often much the better for it. But Milton Keynes has, in recent years, featured Mickey Rooney, Bradley Walsh, Bobby Davro and Gareth Gates, so it isn’t a question of pulling power.
In fairness, the little ones might well know Anna Williamson from her various stints presenting children’s television, and she makes a pleasing enough Cinderella, with a sweet voice and stage presence. Anyone who remembers the sibling pop group Five Star will also be familiar with Deniece Pearson, even if they didn’t know it, and she’s given the opportunity to let rip with her Mariah Carey-type vocals in her debut panto turn as the Fairy Godmother.
Kev Orkian, however, is a real discovery, although he’s been doing the cabaret and corporate rounds for years. He’s lovable and larky as Buttons, and I could easily have stood much more of his comedy routine at the piano, for which he’s arguably best known but which is allowed a single solo spot here.
Elsewhere, there’s lots of money been spent on the set, dancers and a lively pit band, which always makes a huge difference to the electricity in the auditorium, and the show throws in some singalong pop hits, suitably excruciating gags and plenty of Louie Spence. He’s not personally my cup of tea, and he should have been left to the dancing rather than any acting, but if he’s what you’re coming to see, you won’t feel shortchanged.
It’s a sparkly, swiftly-paced production that is never allowed to flag, and the youngsters will find much to entertain over the festive season.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
October 30, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, November 24, 2012, then touring
EVERYTHING but the kitchen sink has been thrown at this new production – the first in more than 25 years – of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical. And producer Cameron Mackintosh certainly doesn’t do things by halves.
There are more than 30 people on stage, another 14 in the pit and countless costumes and set changes as the epic spectacle plays out in grand operatic style. It’s in Milton Keynes for a month before another six months of tour dates around the UK, bringing a live Phantom to parts of the country that may not have had the chance to catch it in London.
The aims are laudable and the production is truly impressive. The extraordinary new design by Paul Brown and stunning lighting by Paule Constable harness all the atmosphere and tension required for the Gothic melodrama of Gaston Leroux’s original horror story. And, of course, there’s that Lloyd Webber score offering the same epic grandeur to the ears as the production does to the eyes.
In truth, the sheer scale of the spectacle overshadows both the story and the performances, though Katie Hall in particular makes a terrific assault on the almost unsingably difficult role of Christine. She’s touching, vulnerable and fiery in just the right measure and has a hell of a voice to top it off.
Earl Carpenter, one of the West End’s longest-running Phantoms, looks extremely comfortable in the role, as does Simon Bailey as the third element of the love triangle, Christine’s suitor Raoul, and there are some beautifully sung and played parts among the supporting cast too, notably the double-act theatre managers Andre and Firmin (Simon Green and Andy Hockley).
The real piece de resistance is in the orchestra pit, however, where musical director Craig Edwards leads a huge and note-perfect band through a highly challenging score with calm assurance and an immaculate, sumptuous result.
Say what you like about the Lloyd Webber and Mackintosh musical machine, they know how to put on a show.
LEGALLY BLONDE
July 31, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, August 11, 2012, then touring
IT’S entirely appropriate that the signature colour of Elle Woods, the heroine of this screen-to-stage adaptation, should be pink.
Pink conveys all the frothy, ephemeral fluffiness of the supposedly dumb blonde who, in desperation, follows the object of her desire to university and turns out to be top of her class at Harvard Law School.
But don’t be fooled by the glitzy, throwaway wrapping of a 2001 movie aimed at teenage girls. This new incarnation is a proper musical, and it has Broadway and West End credentials to prove it.
Now out on the road after a hugely successful London run, Legally Blonde has a toe-tapping score by husband-and-wife team Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, and a taut, witty script from Heather Hatch. It’s closely based on the film, but the music adds immeasurably, especially in the hands of a tuneful, nine-strong live pit band.
Stepping into the role of Elle – no small feat, as she’s a complex character with some tough vocal requirements – understudy Amy Ross looks every bit the leading lady, with charm, charisma and a pair of lungs.
Gareth Gates has matured nicely into a sure-voiced performer and pulls off the right balance of good looks and a mean streak in the role of Warner, Elle’s one-time fiancé who dumps her because she’s too shallow for him.
Iwan Lewis, as the slightly geeky law student who recognises the true Elle, is confident and convincing, while strong cameos from former Brookside star Jennifer Ellison and Lewis Griffiths as Elle’s hairdresser buddy and her hunky delivery guy deliver some of the show’s comedy highlights.
Jerry Mitchell’s direction and choreography are always energetic and keep the production moving swiftly from scene to scene, with a couple of big set pieces in the shape of Elle’s courtroom climax and a wonderfully silly Riverdance spoof.
Underneath the unashamed froth and fluff of the pink lady, there’s a well-crafted, beautifully executed musical with a lot of heart. Like Elle herself, it’s important not to take the surface superficiality at face value.
DIRTY DANCING
May 4, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, May 26, 2012, then touring
THE 1987 movie Dirty Dancing essentially had three things going for it. Well, four, if you count Patrick Swayze. There was an iconic theme tune, (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life. There was an iconic movie moment – that lift, when Swayze hoists Jennifer Grey above his head in the lake. And there was an iconic line: “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
But there’s a reason why films are films and theatre is theatre. Successful adaptations from one medium to another recognise this and fundamentally rebuild their story in a way that transforms it into something new and creative.
What screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein has done is pickle her film script in aspic and recreate it, virtually frame by frame, on stage. She and director Sarah Tipple even reinforce this notion by projecting images and footage onto the vast white set, so the lake ‘lift’, for example, is performed through a screen on which is displayed a gently rippling body of water. It’s clunky, unconvincing and, ultimately, a cheat.
For fans of the film – and the auditorium seems choc-a-bloc with them – it’s a faithful, if inevitably rather pale, imitation of its source material. For lovers of live theatre, paying fifty-odd quid for a stalls seat, it feels uncomfortably like cynical exploitation.
The whole approach is fraught with problems. I shan’t dwell on them, except to moan that the decision to use a kind of filmic underscore of pop songs from the 1963 era is disappointingly undercut by the criminal waste of the fabulous on-stage band, with the producers opting instead for recorded tracks through the majority of the show.
What can’t be denied is the extraordinary talent put to energetic use in the pursuit of this strange endeavour. Swayze himself may not be available, but even without him, the dancing is sensational. Paul-Michael Jones reveals his trained background in the Swayze role, looking every bit the part, and he’s matched step for step in the routines by Charlotte Gooch as his summer camp dance partner whose accidental pregnancy kicks off what little there is in the way of a plot. Meanwhile, Emily Holt as Baby looks a lot like Jennifer Grey and manages the transition from shy ugly duckling to dirty dancing swan capably enough.
So if you’re prepared to put away any critical faculties and simply sit back and enjoy the choreography, then by all means go for it. It’s colourful, vibrant and leaves you breathless. But renting the DVD is cheaper.
WONDERFUL TOWN
April 24, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, April 28, 2012, then touring
ANYBODY expecting to see the wide-eyed, fresh-faced Connie Fisher who won the lead in The Sound of Music on telly is going to be disappointed.
The six years since she earned herself the role of Maria, combined with the ravages of recent throat surgery, have made Connie almost unrecognisable from the youthful ingenue who solved Lord Lloyd Webber's problem.
Instead, she's matured into a classy, assured actress, and that stunning voice has dropped about an octave and a half into a sultry contralto, still carefully controlled but now with added interest.
Leading the company in this new tour of a lesser Leonard Bernstein musical, it's just a shame she hasn't got more opportunity to showcase her talent. In fact, the same goes for the entire production.
Director Braham Murray has built a fabulous show on quicksand. His huge cast are fantastically energetic and well drilled by choreographer Andrew Wright, designer Simon Higlett has supplied superb sets and costumes, and the singing and orchestral playing – courtesy of 18 members of the Halle Orchestra – are uniformly sensational.
Besides Connie, the focus falls on Michael Xavier as her potential love interest, and he fills the shoes thrillingly. He looks the part, sounds flawless and has charisma by the bucketload.
Other standout performances come from Nic Greenshields as Irish New York cop Lonigan and Lucy van Gasse in the tricky role of Connie's sister, who joins her in her journey to find fame and fortune in the Big Apple. And here I must apologise for giving away the plot. Because that's it. In its entirety.
The story and book are so slight as to be almost non-existent, which seriously undermines the sumptuous Bernstein score and the terrific talents on display. With a decent script and some heavy editing to its two-hour 40-minute running time, this could be every bit as wonderful as its constituent parts deserve.
LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
March 12, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, March 17, 2012, then tour continues
SURELY the play with the most apt title ever written, this landmark of American 20th Century theatre is certainly long. At a shade over three hours, it’s something of a feat of endurance.
Eugene O’Neill wrote the heavily autobiographical work in 1941, never intending it to be published or performed – probably because of the hideous light in which it casts the imploding family, particularly the alcoholic father and morphine-dependent mother.
But his wishes were ignored by his widow and the play was staged just a couple of years after his death, helping to confirm O’Neill’s status as a groundbreaker among US playwrights.
In the half century since, the world has changed dramatically – if you’ll pardon the pun. Shorter attention spans, a quicker grasp of theatrical exposition and the omnipresence of drink and drug-related storylines in drama have all shifted the landscape of an audience’s expectations.
The result is that O’Neill’s sprawling study of the collapsing Tyrone family, condensed into one highly charged day in their seaside house in the summer of 1912, now seems painfully slow, cumbersome and plodding.
Having said all that, director Anthony Page’s new production, heading in due course for the West End, makes for an impressive evening.
The headline draw is unquestionably David Suchet, who gives a towering performance as the fiercely defensive Irish-born actor whose blinkered but protective attitude is arguably responsible for his family’s ills. Suchet is powerful, poignant and masterful in his handling of the nuances of the part.
Trevor White and Kyle Soller are both terrific as the two sons, one older, the other stricken with consumption, who try variously standing up to the old man and letting him have his way, until drink gradually overtakes them all and the bonds begin to disintegrate.
The jury is out on Laurie Metcalf as the “drug-fiend” mother. Her performance is meticulously judged to unravel during the course of the action, but her big finale is delivered in a flat monotone – the danger of which, of course, is that it appears monotonous.
But a fine set by Lez Brotherton and some striking moments of passion and pathos help to stamp excellence onto the production, making it considerably more than simply a long, difficult journey.
MATTHEW BOURNE'S NUTCRACKER!
February 14, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, February 18, 2012, then touring
TWENTY years on from its first appearance at the Edinburgh Festival, and ten years after a substantial reworking for his New Adventures dance company, choreographer Matthew Bourne is enjoying as much success as ever with his radical version of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker! – complete with that all-important exclamation mark.
With stunning designs and costumes by long-term collaborator Anthony Ward, this radical retelling of the charming Christmas tale about a young girl, Clara, and her dream of the wooden toy that comes to life is vibrant, colourful and teeming with theatrical ideas.
Bourne and his original director, Martin Duncan, chose to move the opening scenes from the conventional setting of a family festive party to the much darker, almost Dickensian scenario of an orphanage, a notion which adds much to the contrast with Act Two’s extravagant Sweetieland.
It also allows for a great deal of comedy as the dreamland Clara is refused entry to Sweetieland by a hilarious mint humbug bouncer, and is forced to watch as a procession of extraordinary characters passes by – including Marshmallow Girls prancing to the strains of the Sugarplum Fairy, and a trio of bizarre biker-clad Gobstopper boys.
It’s all highly inventive and entertaining, and Bourne’s choreography is relentless in its imagination and execution, all performed by a large and able cast of talented dancers.
The production is let down, unfortunately, by the absence of a live orchestra. Presumably the excessive costs got in the way, but given the director’s own admission that Tchaikovsky’s “incredible” score is at the heart of the Nutcracker’s appeal, it is a crying shame to deny theatregoers – especially young, possibly first-timers – the matchless joy of real music, rather than an over-loud, amplified recording.
That quibble aside, this Nutcracker is a feast for the eyes, if not so much the ears, and an evening of spectacle and delight.
December 23, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Sunday, January 6, 2013
THERE’S no doubting the headline name in this panto, and Louie Spence milks it for all it’s worth. Which is just what you’d expect from Louie Spence.
And without any disrespect to the rest of the hardworking cast, he’s actually about the only real name you’d recognise. Anna Williamson? Kev Orkian? Deniece Pearson?
But don’t imagine for one moment that that’s a shortcoming. There are plenty of pantomimes all over the country with no TV personalities in them at all, and they’re often much the better for it. But Milton Keynes has, in recent years, featured Mickey Rooney, Bradley Walsh, Bobby Davro and Gareth Gates, so it isn’t a question of pulling power.
In fairness, the little ones might well know Anna Williamson from her various stints presenting children’s television, and she makes a pleasing enough Cinderella, with a sweet voice and stage presence. Anyone who remembers the sibling pop group Five Star will also be familiar with Deniece Pearson, even if they didn’t know it, and she’s given the opportunity to let rip with her Mariah Carey-type vocals in her debut panto turn as the Fairy Godmother.
Kev Orkian, however, is a real discovery, although he’s been doing the cabaret and corporate rounds for years. He’s lovable and larky as Buttons, and I could easily have stood much more of his comedy routine at the piano, for which he’s arguably best known but which is allowed a single solo spot here.
Elsewhere, there’s lots of money been spent on the set, dancers and a lively pit band, which always makes a huge difference to the electricity in the auditorium, and the show throws in some singalong pop hits, suitably excruciating gags and plenty of Louie Spence. He’s not personally my cup of tea, and he should have been left to the dancing rather than any acting, but if he’s what you’re coming to see, you won’t feel shortchanged.
It’s a sparkly, swiftly-paced production that is never allowed to flag, and the youngsters will find much to entertain over the festive season.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
October 30, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, November 24, 2012, then touring
EVERYTHING but the kitchen sink has been thrown at this new production – the first in more than 25 years – of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical. And producer Cameron Mackintosh certainly doesn’t do things by halves.
There are more than 30 people on stage, another 14 in the pit and countless costumes and set changes as the epic spectacle plays out in grand operatic style. It’s in Milton Keynes for a month before another six months of tour dates around the UK, bringing a live Phantom to parts of the country that may not have had the chance to catch it in London.
The aims are laudable and the production is truly impressive. The extraordinary new design by Paul Brown and stunning lighting by Paule Constable harness all the atmosphere and tension required for the Gothic melodrama of Gaston Leroux’s original horror story. And, of course, there’s that Lloyd Webber score offering the same epic grandeur to the ears as the production does to the eyes.
In truth, the sheer scale of the spectacle overshadows both the story and the performances, though Katie Hall in particular makes a terrific assault on the almost unsingably difficult role of Christine. She’s touching, vulnerable and fiery in just the right measure and has a hell of a voice to top it off.
Earl Carpenter, one of the West End’s longest-running Phantoms, looks extremely comfortable in the role, as does Simon Bailey as the third element of the love triangle, Christine’s suitor Raoul, and there are some beautifully sung and played parts among the supporting cast too, notably the double-act theatre managers Andre and Firmin (Simon Green and Andy Hockley).
The real piece de resistance is in the orchestra pit, however, where musical director Craig Edwards leads a huge and note-perfect band through a highly challenging score with calm assurance and an immaculate, sumptuous result.
Say what you like about the Lloyd Webber and Mackintosh musical machine, they know how to put on a show.
LEGALLY BLONDE
July 31, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, August 11, 2012, then touring
IT’S entirely appropriate that the signature colour of Elle Woods, the heroine of this screen-to-stage adaptation, should be pink.
Pink conveys all the frothy, ephemeral fluffiness of the supposedly dumb blonde who, in desperation, follows the object of her desire to university and turns out to be top of her class at Harvard Law School.
But don’t be fooled by the glitzy, throwaway wrapping of a 2001 movie aimed at teenage girls. This new incarnation is a proper musical, and it has Broadway and West End credentials to prove it.
Now out on the road after a hugely successful London run, Legally Blonde has a toe-tapping score by husband-and-wife team Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, and a taut, witty script from Heather Hatch. It’s closely based on the film, but the music adds immeasurably, especially in the hands of a tuneful, nine-strong live pit band.
Stepping into the role of Elle – no small feat, as she’s a complex character with some tough vocal requirements – understudy Amy Ross looks every bit the leading lady, with charm, charisma and a pair of lungs.
Gareth Gates has matured nicely into a sure-voiced performer and pulls off the right balance of good looks and a mean streak in the role of Warner, Elle’s one-time fiancé who dumps her because she’s too shallow for him.
Iwan Lewis, as the slightly geeky law student who recognises the true Elle, is confident and convincing, while strong cameos from former Brookside star Jennifer Ellison and Lewis Griffiths as Elle’s hairdresser buddy and her hunky delivery guy deliver some of the show’s comedy highlights.
Jerry Mitchell’s direction and choreography are always energetic and keep the production moving swiftly from scene to scene, with a couple of big set pieces in the shape of Elle’s courtroom climax and a wonderfully silly Riverdance spoof.
Underneath the unashamed froth and fluff of the pink lady, there’s a well-crafted, beautifully executed musical with a lot of heart. Like Elle herself, it’s important not to take the surface superficiality at face value.
DIRTY DANCING
May 4, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, May 26, 2012, then touring
THE 1987 movie Dirty Dancing essentially had three things going for it. Well, four, if you count Patrick Swayze. There was an iconic theme tune, (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life. There was an iconic movie moment – that lift, when Swayze hoists Jennifer Grey above his head in the lake. And there was an iconic line: “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
But there’s a reason why films are films and theatre is theatre. Successful adaptations from one medium to another recognise this and fundamentally rebuild their story in a way that transforms it into something new and creative.
What screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein has done is pickle her film script in aspic and recreate it, virtually frame by frame, on stage. She and director Sarah Tipple even reinforce this notion by projecting images and footage onto the vast white set, so the lake ‘lift’, for example, is performed through a screen on which is displayed a gently rippling body of water. It’s clunky, unconvincing and, ultimately, a cheat.
For fans of the film – and the auditorium seems choc-a-bloc with them – it’s a faithful, if inevitably rather pale, imitation of its source material. For lovers of live theatre, paying fifty-odd quid for a stalls seat, it feels uncomfortably like cynical exploitation.
The whole approach is fraught with problems. I shan’t dwell on them, except to moan that the decision to use a kind of filmic underscore of pop songs from the 1963 era is disappointingly undercut by the criminal waste of the fabulous on-stage band, with the producers opting instead for recorded tracks through the majority of the show.
What can’t be denied is the extraordinary talent put to energetic use in the pursuit of this strange endeavour. Swayze himself may not be available, but even without him, the dancing is sensational. Paul-Michael Jones reveals his trained background in the Swayze role, looking every bit the part, and he’s matched step for step in the routines by Charlotte Gooch as his summer camp dance partner whose accidental pregnancy kicks off what little there is in the way of a plot. Meanwhile, Emily Holt as Baby looks a lot like Jennifer Grey and manages the transition from shy ugly duckling to dirty dancing swan capably enough.
So if you’re prepared to put away any critical faculties and simply sit back and enjoy the choreography, then by all means go for it. It’s colourful, vibrant and leaves you breathless. But renting the DVD is cheaper.
WONDERFUL TOWN
April 24, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, April 28, 2012, then touring
ANYBODY expecting to see the wide-eyed, fresh-faced Connie Fisher who won the lead in The Sound of Music on telly is going to be disappointed.
The six years since she earned herself the role of Maria, combined with the ravages of recent throat surgery, have made Connie almost unrecognisable from the youthful ingenue who solved Lord Lloyd Webber's problem.
Instead, she's matured into a classy, assured actress, and that stunning voice has dropped about an octave and a half into a sultry contralto, still carefully controlled but now with added interest.
Leading the company in this new tour of a lesser Leonard Bernstein musical, it's just a shame she hasn't got more opportunity to showcase her talent. In fact, the same goes for the entire production.
Director Braham Murray has built a fabulous show on quicksand. His huge cast are fantastically energetic and well drilled by choreographer Andrew Wright, designer Simon Higlett has supplied superb sets and costumes, and the singing and orchestral playing – courtesy of 18 members of the Halle Orchestra – are uniformly sensational.
Besides Connie, the focus falls on Michael Xavier as her potential love interest, and he fills the shoes thrillingly. He looks the part, sounds flawless and has charisma by the bucketload.
Other standout performances come from Nic Greenshields as Irish New York cop Lonigan and Lucy van Gasse in the tricky role of Connie's sister, who joins her in her journey to find fame and fortune in the Big Apple. And here I must apologise for giving away the plot. Because that's it. In its entirety.
The story and book are so slight as to be almost non-existent, which seriously undermines the sumptuous Bernstein score and the terrific talents on display. With a decent script and some heavy editing to its two-hour 40-minute running time, this could be every bit as wonderful as its constituent parts deserve.
LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
March 12, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, March 17, 2012, then tour continues
SURELY the play with the most apt title ever written, this landmark of American 20th Century theatre is certainly long. At a shade over three hours, it’s something of a feat of endurance.
Eugene O’Neill wrote the heavily autobiographical work in 1941, never intending it to be published or performed – probably because of the hideous light in which it casts the imploding family, particularly the alcoholic father and morphine-dependent mother.
But his wishes were ignored by his widow and the play was staged just a couple of years after his death, helping to confirm O’Neill’s status as a groundbreaker among US playwrights.
In the half century since, the world has changed dramatically – if you’ll pardon the pun. Shorter attention spans, a quicker grasp of theatrical exposition and the omnipresence of drink and drug-related storylines in drama have all shifted the landscape of an audience’s expectations.
The result is that O’Neill’s sprawling study of the collapsing Tyrone family, condensed into one highly charged day in their seaside house in the summer of 1912, now seems painfully slow, cumbersome and plodding.
Having said all that, director Anthony Page’s new production, heading in due course for the West End, makes for an impressive evening.
The headline draw is unquestionably David Suchet, who gives a towering performance as the fiercely defensive Irish-born actor whose blinkered but protective attitude is arguably responsible for his family’s ills. Suchet is powerful, poignant and masterful in his handling of the nuances of the part.
Trevor White and Kyle Soller are both terrific as the two sons, one older, the other stricken with consumption, who try variously standing up to the old man and letting him have his way, until drink gradually overtakes them all and the bonds begin to disintegrate.
The jury is out on Laurie Metcalf as the “drug-fiend” mother. Her performance is meticulously judged to unravel during the course of the action, but her big finale is delivered in a flat monotone – the danger of which, of course, is that it appears monotonous.
But a fine set by Lez Brotherton and some striking moments of passion and pathos help to stamp excellence onto the production, making it considerably more than simply a long, difficult journey.
MATTHEW BOURNE'S NUTCRACKER!
February 14, 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, February 18, 2012, then touring
TWENTY years on from its first appearance at the Edinburgh Festival, and ten years after a substantial reworking for his New Adventures dance company, choreographer Matthew Bourne is enjoying as much success as ever with his radical version of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker! – complete with that all-important exclamation mark.
With stunning designs and costumes by long-term collaborator Anthony Ward, this radical retelling of the charming Christmas tale about a young girl, Clara, and her dream of the wooden toy that comes to life is vibrant, colourful and teeming with theatrical ideas.
Bourne and his original director, Martin Duncan, chose to move the opening scenes from the conventional setting of a family festive party to the much darker, almost Dickensian scenario of an orphanage, a notion which adds much to the contrast with Act Two’s extravagant Sweetieland.
It also allows for a great deal of comedy as the dreamland Clara is refused entry to Sweetieland by a hilarious mint humbug bouncer, and is forced to watch as a procession of extraordinary characters passes by – including Marshmallow Girls prancing to the strains of the Sugarplum Fairy, and a trio of bizarre biker-clad Gobstopper boys.
It’s all highly inventive and entertaining, and Bourne’s choreography is relentless in its imagination and execution, all performed by a large and able cast of talented dancers.
The production is let down, unfortunately, by the absence of a live orchestra. Presumably the excessive costs got in the way, but given the director’s own admission that Tchaikovsky’s “incredible” score is at the heart of the Nutcracker’s appeal, it is a crying shame to deny theatregoers – especially young, possibly first-timers – the matchless joy of real music, rather than an over-loud, amplified recording.
That quibble aside, this Nutcracker is a feast for the eyes, if not so much the ears, and an evening of spectacle and delight.
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