West End with Steph

I will start off by saying that I did not particularly enjoy this show, but still have a lot of good to say about it. The cast were all fabulous, and the costuming (by Danielle Gallagher) was excellent and very appropriate for the plot and setting. My main issues were the plot, and the songs (by John Kander and Fred Ebb).

Kander and Ebb are also the writers of Cabaret and Chicago, which were huge hits, so I find it such a shame that the songs in Curtains were so lacking. One of the main issues is that most of the songs add absolutely nothing to the plot. The show is a musical (Robbin’ Hood) within a musical (Curtains), so it makes sense for a few of the songs to be songs from Robbin’ Hood, but there were just too many, and they were often way too long. There are twenty-two songs in the whole musical, and ten of them are from Robbin’ Hood, so they often don’t do anything for story. The very first song, ‘Wide Open Spaces’, is one of those songs. It is 3 minutes long, so not massively too long for a normal song in a musical, but for a song that does not add anything to the real plot of the show, it is too long in my opinion. It does introduce that the lead actress, Jessica Cranshaw, isn’t very good, but she is then murdered at the end of it, so really, it could have been said in a more concise way since we hardly needed to get to know the character. I feel the show should have opened with the last thirty or so seconds of ‘Wide Open Spaces’ followed by Jessica dying, that way the point is gotten across without the audience having to sit through a very repetitive song.

(Photo: Richard Davenport https://www.theotherrichard.com/)

None of the other songs in act one were especially memorable, so I will skip to the end. The final song is the exceptionally long: ‘Thataway!’. This song is seven minutes long and is worthless to the plot. The cast are rehearsing the number with the new leading lady, Georgia Henricks (played by the exceptionally talented Carley Stenson), and that is it, that is the whole reason for having the song. 5% of the entire show is dedicated to pointing out that the new actress needs to rehearse before going on stage for an audience, which seems obvious to me and probably everyone else. The act ends with another murder to leave the audience wanting to come back, but after being beaten down by the inconsequential, seven-minute number just before, I almost left during the interval, which I have never done before.

After weighing up the options, I did not leave during the interval since I did not want to waste the money I had paid for my seat! Thankfully, the second act was a bit better. During the second act we got to see what I think was the best song in the show, ‘It’s a Business’, sung by the character Carmen Bernstein (played by Rebecca Lock), who is a co-producer of Robbin’ Hood. Rebecca Lock is phenomenal in this role, and she shows off the power of her voice in this song. She sings about why she backed the show and reveals that she is in it entirely for the money; Lock plays the crooked producer excellently.

(Photo: Richard Davenport https://www.theotherrichard.com/)

Another ‘perk’ of act two is that we get to here the only song that is actually about who the cast thinks committed the murder: ‘He Did It.’ For a show with a double page spread in the programme titled ‘Whodunit?’, I would have expected more than one song on that subject. I do tell a small lie, there is a reprise of the song, called ‘She Did It’, but I really don’t think that a reprise should count as a second song due to it being so similar to the first version. This is my second big issue with the show: there just is not enough about the murder! In a show that’s meant to be a murder mystery, the majority of it should be just that, but instead it’s filled with numbers from the show within a show, which feel like filler, and songs about a couple of different love interests, past and present, and that is about it. There is not even a song when the murder is solved and the killer is revealed, which seems like a massive flaw to me.

The final major issue I have with Curtains is that so many of the songs are reprises. Some of the reprises make sense, for example ‘In the Same Boat’ is reprised a few times, but that’s to show the writing process and how the writers are trying to find the perfect version to complete Robbin’ Hood, so it is more acceptable. There are three different versions throughout Curtains, each with different lyrics, tune and actors singing them, but the same orchestra part, then one final version where they put all three together. They are also all very short, apart from the final version, so I cannot complain about them, they were all enjoyable. Most of the other reprises, however, do not have the same necessity or add the same interest. They are almost identical to the originals, so it just feels like lazy writing. Act two consists of twelve songs altogether and, including the ‘In the Same Boat’ rewrites, seven of those twelve are reprises, which just leaves the show feeling samey, since very little new music is being heard. The last three songs of the show, which take place after the killer has been named and caught, are all reprises, so there is no exciting ending to the show where we get to hear a celebratory new number, which is a big let down after sitting through two hours of wondering who the murderer is. Overall, I just found the songs lacking, and in a musical that really cannot be the case! I will admit that I am only twenty, so my dislike of the style of songs could be put down to that, but that still does not excuse the volume of reprises and repeats.

(Photo: Richard Davenport https://www.theotherrichard.com/)

On a much more positive note, the cast were excellent, with Rebecca Lock standing out to me especially. Jason Mansford played the lead well and, unsurprisingly, his comedy timing was spot on. The dancing was well choreographed and well performed, as well as fitting the time period. The ensemble was full of highly trained dancers and were thoroughly entertaining to watch, the dance breaks/numbers were some of my favourite parts of the show!

As I said at the beginning, the costume design was wonderful. There were many costumes, since each song that was ‘rehearsed’ had its own set of costumes, as well as the clothes the cast were wearing when they were not ‘performing’ or ‘rehearsing’. All of them were beautiful and worked amazingly together. The set also worked very well done. I especially enjoyed how it was used at the beginning. They have to quickly switch between ‘performing’ view, and ‘backstage’ view, after Jessica Cranshaw collapses, so they simply turn the set pieces round and put up an image of an audience on the back wall, it was very effective. With both the costumes and the set, there was always a distinct difference between the sets for just Curtains, and the sets for Robbin’ Hood, which I think is important. The sets for Robbin’ Hood always had a much fancier, slightly tackier, look to them, as with the costumes. They were also western styled, which was obviously a big part in them looking different to the non-Robbin’ Hood sets as well.

(Photo: Richard Davenport https://www.theotherrichard.com/)

I can’t forget to compliment the band, who played without a hitch, and the backstage crew who kept the set pieces moving as they should be, the sound and mics working perfectly and the shots being called on time! The lighting was stunning as well, it really added to the atmosphere of every scene.

If you are wondering whether to see this show or not, I would recommend listening to some of the music first, since that really is what ruined it for me. If you enjoy the music, then you will most likely enjoy the whole show, but if you do not enjoy the music, chances are it will ruin the whole performance for you. It was not this particular production that had any issues for me, it was just how the show was written that I did not like. So, I can safely say that I will not be seeing any other productions of Curtains, no matter how amazing the cast list seems!

Frozen is a musical based on Disney’s film by the same name and was playing at the St James Theatre in New York City, until it was sadly closed during the COVID-19 lockdown. It follows the same story as the film. Anna, the feisty, positive, younger sister, sets off on a journey to find her older sister, Elsa, after she accidentally sets off an eternal winter in Arendelle at her anointment to become queen and runs away to the mountains. Anna meets Olaf, the snowman, Kristoff, the mountain man, and his reindeer, Sven, along the way and they help her on her quest to save her sister. It is a story of sisterly love and learning to love and accept yourself for who you are.

The musical, despite following the same story, brings lots of new songs and music, as well as keeping some of the classics from the 2013 movie. The first characters we properly get to meet are young Elsa and Anna, who sing ‘A Little Bit of You’, which is about them making a Olaf for the first time, and also leads to young Elsa hitting young Anna with her magic, which is really the beginning of the end for Elsa until the end of the musical when there is of course a happy ending (it wouldn’t be a Disney story without one!). I was fortunate enough to see Fiona Morgan Quinn as young Anna and Suri Marrero as young Elsa in this performance, and they were beyond phenomenal! Both had amazing voices and brought such an exciting energy to the stage. Their acting was very natural, but big enough for the whole theatre to see, they were an absolute pleasure to watch. I have seen a lot of children in stage shows and they are always amazing, but I was completely blown away by these two. They continue their excellent performances through a couple more songs, before magically growing up into Caissie Levy (Elsa) and Patti Murin (Anna) at the end of ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman?’

(photo from @fionamorganq on Instagram)

Having described the kids as phenomenal, I am left with no words to describe the voices of Levy and Murin. They both have such power in their voices, while still being able to portray the struggles both sisters have been through. I will not say anything more about the two leads, because it is not necessary. They were cast for a reason and they show it.

One of the only things I did not love about the show was the set and staging for ‘In Summer’, Olaf’s solo song. Ryann Redmond plays the role of Olaf and does a great job of acting with her own face and body as well as puppeteering the snowman puppet (which is very cleverly designed but I will get into that later). My dislike was nothing to do with her, it was the set. Practically the entire show is full of incredibly detailed, realistic sets, except for ‘In Summer’, which has a cartoony style to it, and I know it is to show that he’s imagining, but since it’s the only time in the show where this style is used, I felt it was out of place and took away from the overall vibe of the show. If the cartoon style had been woven more into the show, especially around Olaf’s parts, I think it would have worked better, but it was only used in this one circumstance and I did not like that.

However, while I am on the topic of sets, I must talk about how stunning the rest of them are. Christopher Oram was the scenic and costume designer on this production, and I adore his designs. The sheer detail that goes into each of them is unmatched in any other show I have seen, and I ended up spending £19 on the souvenir programme, so I would be able to fully remember them! For anyone who does not know, programmes in England are usually only £10 maximum, so forking out nineteen is unheard of for me, but I could not resist. I would genuinely say that the sets alone make this production worth seeing. The costumes compliment each set amazingly as well, it makes the scenes absolutely stunning to look at.

(Kristoff (Jelani Alladin) and Anna (Patti Murin). Photo: Deen van Meer)

The special effects (by Jeremy Chernich) are so magical, and the lighting design (by Natasha Katz) just takes them to the next level. Lighting design and special effects seem to go hand in hand in this show, so I could not possibly know who designed which parts, I imagine it was a collaboration between the two though. One of the standout moments to me is when Elsa sets off the eternal winter. She touches the edge of the stage and the whole theatre turns to ice. Shards of ice shoot out of the wings and the floor is covered in dry ice smoke to look like snow. The set pieces to disguise the wings transform into snowy cliffs and its just incredible. The set change got a round of applause from the audience. It was magical to watch. The other major special effects moment I remember is near the end. The people of Arendelle are coming to capture Elsa and punish her for the eternal winter, and to protect herself Elsa makes huge icy spikes shoot up from the ground to block them out. They look so much like ice and are quite scary really. If I were one of the people of Arendelle I would certainly count them as a good reason to stay back!

(Caissie Levy as Elsa in Frozen: The Musical. Photograph: Deen van Meer)

Now I do not want to make this review too long, but it would be a crime of me to not discuss Olaf and Sven. Olaf is done in a sort of Lion King-esque style. He is a puppet attached to the actor. His feet were joined onto her feet and she controlled his arms, mouth, and head with her hands, using a not-quite-classic puppeteering set up. When they first came on, I was concerned that having the actor be taller than the Olaf puppet would be distracting, but it was quite the opposite. I found that I stopped noticing she was there and focussed mainly on the puppets face. But even on the occasions I did look at Redmond, she was mimicking the facial expressions and it almost added more to the character. Sven on the other hand, was slightly different. He was not a puppet per say, but I do not know if he could be classed as a costume either. He looked and acted just like a reindeer, but of course was not really one. He has only one person inside, controlling him (Adam Jepsen and Andrew Pirozzi switch off playing him, but you never see their faces, so I am not sure which one I saw!). The design is ingenious. It unfortunately is very difficult to explain though, but believe me when I say it is incredibly effective.

(Collin Baja and F. Michael Haynie in 'Frozen' North American Tour. Photo by Deen van Meer)