WEST END STORY

WEST END STORY

(Apologies – this story was delayed in the changeover!)

The London theatre scene seems as lively and brilliant as ever, reports The Mercury Arts Editor Billy Suter, who caught three varied musicals on a recent visit to the British capital

Overseas travel costs an arm and a leg and, in these days of a sad rand, even a shoulder and a hip – making a spree in London’s West End theatres a pricey pleasure. We’re talking nearly R45 at some venues for a small bottle of water at interval, some R90 for a glossy programme (albeit a fine souvenir) and ticket prices ranging from R225 (top balcony-behind-the-pillars stuff) to R1,120 or more for the best seats. But if you can wangle a way to see through the financial nightmare, a feast of stellar theatrical fare is in store to wipe away the blues for an hour or three.

Everyone, of course, has a favourite recommendation, but if you’re a fan of the musical there honestly can be no better choice than the truly wondrous, massively spectacular Wicked, deserved winner of 15 major awards, which is in its second year at the grand old Apollo Victoria, one of Britain’s largest theatres.

Stephen Schwartz, who gave the world Godspell and Pippin, and who co-wrote the delightful songs in Disney’s recent Enchanted, created Wicked in 1996. He based it on Gregory Maguire's novel of the same name, which tells of the friendship between the good and wicked witches from Frank Baum’s story and the subsequent classic musical, The Wizard of Oz. Wicked offers a very, very clever plot, a “prequel” to The Wizard of Oz, and examines the relationship between Glinda the Good and wicked witch Elphaba before Dorothy and Toto from Kansas shook up Oz by arriving in a tornado. Wicked’s Grammy-winning songs are superb – one reviewer has even likened them to being close to Stephen Sondheim – and performances are magnificent. Kerry Ellis - whom I saw as green-skinned Elphaba, having now flown off to reprise this role in the Broadway production - created the role of Meat in the original London cast of We Will Rock You, the Queen musical still running at London’s Dominion Theatre. Filling the role as Glinda in the production I saw was Dianne Pilkington, who was Belle in the UK touring production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Both women were magnificent in a show that is impeccably mounted, with special effects that include airborne performers and a dragon peering down from the proscenium arch. The production is one you simply have to beg, steal, borrow or kill to see sometime in your life!

Also rich in spectacle is the musical version of The Lord of the Rings, to be seen at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane until July 19, when it will have had 492 performances and played to more than 700,000 people. Due to the popularity of the London production among international visitors, discussions are underway for the production to re-open in Germany in November 2009 with a German-speaking cast. According to a show spokesman, The Lord of the Rings' creative team is also developing a touring version to launch in New Zealand next year, before being presented in cities across Australia and the Far East. I was bowled over by the sheer spectacle of the production – sensational lighting, imaginative staging and inspired use of a large cast, including bungee jumpers and stilt-walkers, and effects including a dragon, giant spider and a menacing black horseman that virtually fills the stage (all stilts and rod-puppet work).

The look is amazing and the tightly gnarled Middle Earth thicket that dominates the set is extended to creep from the stage, above and to both the sides of the proscenium arch, and then over the first balcony areas overlooking the stalls. Truly breathtaking! The Lord of the Rings is also of note for a magical performance from Canadian Michael Therriault as the gruesome Gollum, who appears in the second half climbing, Spider-Man-like, down the proscenium arch. Sadly, however, good performances and many great surprises notwithstanding, the music varies from dull and samey to forgettable and, with so much plot to wade through, and a three-hour running time, one starts to yearn for a fast-forward button. Still well worth seeing, though. Tickets for The Lord of the Rings start at £15 (about R225) and are available online at www.lotr.com

And now for something completely different . . . the delightful Avenue Q, which opened on June 1 2006 at the Noel Coward Theatre (formerly Albery Theatre) has had its run extended again until April next year. This is the relatively small show which started off-Broadway then, beat Wicked to win three of the top 2004 Tony Awards – for best musical, best original score of a musical and best book of a musical. The show, described as Sesame Street for adults, is still one of Broadway's hottest tickets and most original shows in recent memory – and a huge hit in London. Brassy, vulgar at times, constantly hilarious and always novel and enormous fun, the show focuses on a group of colourful folk – humans and puppet creatures - that live in a small block on the New York avenue of the title.

They come together after Princeton, a bright-eyed college graduate, moves to the neighbourhood to follow his dreams and discover his ever-elusive purpose in life. A tiny bank balance, the distraction of a busty blonde and a variety of weird and wonderful friends and neighbours lead Princeton on a hilarious story of self-discovery. Life may suck on Avenue Q but being jobless, homeless or politically incorrect and having sex (whether hetero, homo or porno . . . and that’s just the puppets) are just some of the topics featured in the terrific songs of this show. The cast includes Jon Robyns (runner up in the TV series Any Dream Will Do, which sought a lead for the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) as Princeton. Other standouts are Simon Lipkin as Nicky and ‘Trekkie Monster, Julie Atherton as Kate Monster and Lucy The Slut, and an amusing Naoko Mori as a character called Christmas Eve. More info from www.avenueqthemusical.co.uk

Also packing them in, since October 2006, in fact, is Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre, which has had only lukewarm reviews but remains an audience favourite. Featuring some great choreography, it remains true to the Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Rey movie which, set in the summer of 1963, has 17-year old-Frances “Baby” Houseman learning some major lessons in life as well as a thing or two about dancing. Containing hit songs such as (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, Hungry Eyes, Hey Baby and Do You Love Me?, the two-and-a-half-hour show is directed by James Powell and stars Josef Brown as Johnny Castle, Georgina Rich as “Baby”, David Rintoul as Dr Jake Houseman, Issy van Randwyck as Majorie and Isabella Calthorpe as Lisa.

LONDON THEATRE LATEST: Rowan (Mr Bean) Atkinson has been confirmed to play pickpocket master Fagin in Cameron Mackintosh’s West End revival of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! The show previews from December 12, and officially opens on January 14, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where it will be based on Sam Mendes’ 1994 staging at the London Palladium and will be directed by Rupert Goold. Oliver and Nancy will be played by newcomers chosen in the reality TV series, I’d Do Anything –Atkinson last appeared on stage more than 20 years ago with his one-man show Rowan Atkinson In Revue.

Topol, Israeli star of stage and screen versions of Fiddler on the Roof, will join Lisa O'Hare and Millicent Martin in the Open Air revival of Gigi, to run at London’s Regent's Park from August 6 to September 13, according to whatsonstage.com The production will be directed by Timothy Sheader, with choreography by Olivier Award winner Stephen Mear. The 2008 Open Air season began on June 2 with productions of Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night playing in repertory. They’ll be followed by A Midsummer Night's Dream, previewing from July 8.

Versatile British TV comic, Catherine Tate, is to be directed by Anna Mackmin in a revival of David Eldridge’s Under the Blue Sky, set to run from July 10 to September 20 at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre. Described as a darkly comic yet tender play, Under the Blue Sky examines three relationships, six lives and the nature of love and friendship, both true and unrequited. Although she’s probably best known for her award-winning comedy sketch series The Catherine Tate Show, Tate has also appeared on screen in Bleak House, Starter for Ten, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Wild West and Men Behaving Badly.

The musical All the Fun of the Fair has now become a reality, with a three-month tour scheduled to commence at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, on September 12, 2008. Set against the backdrop of a travelling funfair and packed with dazzling stunt sequences and hilarious crafty cons, the show features many of Essex’ hits such as Winter’s Tale, Hold Me Close, Gonna Make You a Star, Me and My Girl Nightclubbing, Silver Dream Machine and Rock On. All the Fun of the Fair is co-written by Essex and Jon Conway (Boogie Nights) and sees Essex as funfair owner Levi Lee, a man not only coming to terms with the loss of his wife but also struggling to deal with his rebellious teenage son. And if that isn’t enough, there are the attentions of a newly-divorced woman… Following Bromley, the tour will continue to Darlington, Stoke, Brighton, Southend, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Glasgow, Bradford, Woking, Dartford and Cardiff. Although further dates are expected for 2009, there’s no news of a West End transfer.

PREVIOUSLY POSTED: According to reports in the Daily Express newspaper, David Essex is writing a new musical, All the Fun of the Fair which will feature many of his hit songs. The article goes on to say that his aim is to take the production on tour prior to a West End transfer in 2008, and that he intends to play one of the show’s characters – an ageing Jack the Lad involved with a touring fun fair. Essex has enjoyed a remarkable career; one that has combined records, theatre, composing, film and television – all with amazing success. Yet it was on stage that he shot to fame – playing Jesus in the original London production of the musical Godspell. He subsequently starred as Che in Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s original cast of Evita.

Other notable roles include Tony Lumpkin in Sir Peter Hall’s 1993 production of She Stoops to Conquer (opposite Miriam Margolyes and Donald Sinden) both on tour and for seven months at the Queen’s Theatre; and Fletcher Christian in his own musical Mutiny! (co-written with Richard Crane) which played at the Piccadilly Theatre for 16 months. His film credits include That’ll Be the Day with Ringo Starr, the sequel Stardust with Larry Hagman and Adam Faith, and Silver Dream Racer alongside Beau Bridges. Essex has regularly been courted by Hollywood but has always returned to the UK where he has undertaken numerous nationwide sell-out solo tours. He is currently touring with fellow pop veterans David Cassidy, The Osmonds and Showaddywaddy in the Once in a Lifetime UK tour, in which he actually sings All the Fun of the Fair.

He was last seen in the West End last summer playing the Reverend Shaw Moore in the hit musical Footloose; and from August 2007, will star in a touring production of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love. A stint as Peter Pan‘s Captain Hook in Northampton over the 2007/08 Christmas season is also planned. In 1999, Essex was awarded an OBE in recognition of his services to charity, especially to VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas).