London With a Teenager

I know, another day, another theatre review. This one was originally intended to be in July, after Roo’s exams had finished and as part of a Greek mythological double-bill with “Hercules”. But sadly, “Percy Jackson” changed its closing date so we had to go as late as we could while not missing the run entirely. With one exam to go, Roo said he reckoned he had enough spare time to take in a show…so that’s how we ended up seeing it on the penultimate day of the run. But it’s going on tour, so hopefully this is not a completely pointless review…just don’t turn up in Victoria expecting to see it.

That being said, let me tell you about a nice spot we found in Victoria. I remember the Cardinal Place shopping centre opening around 2004 and it was a fairly small and unremarkable spot. Now it seems to have its own tube entrance, which seems quite newly-opened. And when I say new, I really mean any time in the last decade or so:

The shopping centre also has a giant countdown to tomorrow in the middle, which I think is supposed to encourage you to make the most of the time you have (e.g. “Ten hours till tomorrow! You could drive to Aberdeen!”). I found it kinda unsettling, as it suggests that something bad is happening tomorrow and the best thing we could do would be to drive to the north of Scotland to avoid it. But we didn’t. We just went to the theatre instead.

First though, the nice spot I was talking about – the roof garden just above the ominous countdown. It’s right outside Five Guys, which would have been handy if we hadn’t just been to Pizza Express. But it was a very pleasant place to spend a kill a bit of time in. We sat in the shade, at the tables and chairs but there were full-on sun loungers as well.

And it was super handy for the theatre, which was just a few minutes’ walk away. It’s a modern building so a bit more accessible and well-planned than some of the historical places we’ve been to lately. It might not have the same charm as some of the older ones but the seats are more comfortable and the toilets are mercifully bigger. One day, I’ll do a full-on comparison between different West End theatres based on seat comfort and toilet availability. I certainly have plenty of data.

We also had surprisingly decent seats for once – I think we might have been upgraded when we got the date changed. We were in rows C and D so very close to the front, which was occasionally unnerving when the cast looked us right in the end. I think most seats would have a decent view though, because that’s the joy of well-planned modern theatres.

If you’re not familiar with the “Percy Jackson” series, here’s the basics – a boy discovers he’s part of a magical world and leaves his home to join her magical contemporaries. Yes, I realise this could reasonably describe a few different franchises but this version has a minotaur in it. And a cerberus, which always appeals to me. What could be better than a doggo with triple the heads to pet?

It has been made into a film franchise, which the kids have seen, and a TV show, which they’ve just started watching today. So would it work as a musical? Roo reckoned it did, as Percy often has an internal monologue and what is the next natural step other than putting those monologues to music?

Morgan Gregory plays the eponymous hero and he’s convincing as both an American and a teenager, despite being neither of those. He bears more than a slight resemblance to Tom Holland – which really helps with the high-school-to-hero trope – but at times he also reminded me of a young Hugh Dennis. His singing voice is powerful and he has the right kind of nervous energy for a troubled teen with ADHD. VK, as ever, was pleased to see more neurodivergent representation on stage (tho she said there was plenty of it in “Mincemeat” as well). Angus Benstead is suitably nerdy and skittish as Grover, while also exuding loyalty, and Lizzy-Rose Esin-Kelly as Annabeth is “true to the books” according to Roo, which is high praise indeed. She has a beautiful singing voice and some of my favourite moments where when she was harmonising with Kenedy Small (Clarisse).

There is some multi-roleing going on, although nowhere near as frantically as in “Mincemeat”. The actor for Luke (Xander Pang) also plays Ares and Vicki Lee Taylor as Percy’s mum Sally turns up in several other roles as well. I think there were twelve cast members in total, so a full cast compared to some others we’ve seen lately, and I’m not sure whether this is the same cast who’ll be going on tour or not.

The opening number sets out the whole premise of the story – that the children of Greek gods have issues. I don’t think anyone could argue with that. But it introduces Percy and Grover, along with their professor (Jazz Evans as Mr Brunner), who seems strangely well informed about Greek mythology. And then there’s the maths teacher, who seems even more strangely obsessed with Kronos. There’s a battle and suddenly Percy’s life is turned upside-down as he discovers his halfblood heritage and is whipped off to camp, fighting a minotaur along the way. We meet the manic Mr D (Joshua Lay), who is not living his life despite being the god of wine and good times as far as I recall.

I wasn’t sure how they would do the minotaur and it was a little conceptual but full marks for scale and the glowing red eyes. I should probably mention that there is quite some peril in this show, and it starts with a loud bang. The age rating is 8+ but even the teens jumped at that. Other effects included what appears to be real fire on stage and, towards the end, an ocean moment where the front few rows – including us – get sprayed with foam. Immersive theatre for sure.

The plot is changed a little in terms of the order of events and there are a few bits skimmed over but that’s perfectly reasonable to fit the book into a 2-hour show. “Capture the Flag” in the first half is a gritty highlight, as the campers attack each other in a seemingly sporting way and the first half finishes just as Annabeth, Percy and Grover set out on their quest.

At the interval, there was some confusion because the ice cream queue was right next to the door to the toilets and no-one seemed to know where to stand. But the ice cream selection was the familiar Judes and I went for mango sorbet this time. Nathan and VK both went for vegan salted caramel, which was a leftfield choice for people who aren’t dairyfree, and Roo went for vanilla. We ate in the lobby, enjoying the rare sight of interval daylight and also this spectacular staircase.

This might be a good time to say that Reuben might also be a halfblood of some kind because he does seem to be able to shoot rainbows out of his hands. Maybe that’s a power that’s only activated during the month of June.

The second half was packed with more gods, all of whom VK describes as “iconic”. Medusa also makes an appearance, who I believe my child described as a “girlboss” in a recent school assignment. The gods in this version are styled after rock stars, which fits with the rock-influenced soundtrack. Poseidon is a chill surfer dude – very different from his “Kaos” persona – and Kronos appears only as a booming voice in a pit. There is a twist at the end, which is signposted quite heavily from the Kronos scene but most people in the audience seem to be fans of the franchise already so I don’t think spoilers were a massive issue. When I say fans, I’m just judging by the sheer number of bright orange “Camp Halfblood” t-shirts on display. So I think the twist is supposed to be a surprise to the characters rather than to us as the audience. Around that same scene, the Thalia story is told and it’s done quite beautifully, with the image of a tree projected onto the character of Thalia. Was VK crying at this point? IDK. Probably.

As far as I remember, there isn’t too much deviation from the book and the songs move the plot along rather than adding unnecessary interludes. For example, one song takes the trio across America on their journey in true Muppet fashion. We ideally needed a map with a little picture of a car, but we got something close to that. I know it seems like every film is becoming a musical now but this story seems to fit the form well. You already need a fairly big suspension of disbelief at parts of the plot (Like how did Percy never notice Grover’s goat legs?) so it’s not much of a stretch for the characters to be bursting into song every now and then. Both of the kids have read the books and both enjoyed the show so I think it will please loyalists. And now fans outside London will have a chance to see it too! For more information on that, click here.

So an enjoyable afternoon out. It was possibly pitched a little younger than some of the shows we’ve seen lately but plenty for the teens to appreciate, especially as the characters are around their age. Hopefully Roo doesn’t have to fight a minotaur on his way into GCSE Physics tomorrow tho…

You know sometimes you just kinda end up somewhere without really knowing how or why? Well, that’s around 90% of all the visits I’ve made to Covent Garden in my life and Sunday was no exception. I mean, I knew technically why we were there – going to see “The Play That Goes Wrong” – but why we were there two hours early, goodness only knows.

But luckily we are expert at killing time, whatever philosophical questions that might provoke from Reuben. So a bit of wandering around the market, a trip to Forbidden Planet and some frighteningly expensive ice cream helped to plug that gap. The ice cream was good but always beware of somewhere that doesn’t have prices visible from the outside:

We also found a shop that sold geek merch, with most of the ground floor being Harry Potter themed. Roo was thrilled to find some LOTR swords but sadly there were not for sale. Trying explaining that to the theatre bouncer when you have your bag checked.

We got to the theatre and in our seats early, which was good because there’s a bit of action before the play starts. Without giving too much away, it is worth being there 10-15 minutes beforehand as by the official start time of 3pm, quite a lot had happened….including some audience participation. That’s all I’m saying for now.

In fact, it’ll be hard to tell you too much at all without spoilers. What I can say is that Reuben complained that his face hurt from laughing so much and that if you’re a middle-aged woman with a dodgy pelvic floor, you should probably go to the toilet before it starts.

What I can tell you is that this is the self-same Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society that you might be familair with from TV shows like “Peter Pan Goes Wrong”. “A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong” and..wll…”The Gone Wrong Show”. The real-life cast might be different to the ones you see on screen (who are the Mischief originals) but the characters they play – Sandra, Max, Chris, Robert, Dennis – are all present and correct. Of course here, those characters are playing other characters but yknow, that’s the nature of “Gone Wrong” shows. It’s neatly illustrated by the programme, which has a fake Cornley programme inside the Mischief programme. Confused yet? Don’t overthink it. It is surreal though….and a credit to the cast, who I believe are brand new for 2025/2026. Without being explicitly told on stage that Tom Wainwright is playing Max playing Cecil Haversham, you know that it’s Max because of the wide grin he gives the audience whenever it’s going well. And you know that Mitesh Soni is playing Dennis playing Perkins because he has his lines written on his hand.

Incidentally, VK said something the other day about how much easier it for boys to get good parts in plays than it is for girls, even when they are not all that good at acting. I said it’s a scarcity thing – all drama societies (and choirs!) seem to be lacking in boys and men so they get pushed to the front when they do show up. And Dennis is a prime example of that. Of course, having been in plays at a girls’ school, we didn’t have that issue. Boys didn’t come into the equation. So if I had to have fake stubble put on to play a mechanical, so be it.

Anyway., that was a bit of a tangent while I was already over-explaining the play to you a bit. Let me rewind and say this – you don’t need to have watched any of the TV shows or other plays to enjoy this. You can absolutely take it at face value and you will laugh, as long as you don’t have an aversion to slapstick humour and spit-takes (any Jonathan Groff fans in the house?). Right at the end, they explain that “you’ve been watching ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ and if you didn’t realise that, you’ve probably been very confused”. So as long as you’re onboard with the basic premise of this, you can’t go far wrong. It just does add another layer to it if you’ve watched the shows and are fond of the characters.

To just describe it as slapstick is underselling the show though. It’s so cleverly scripted and so impeccably timed that everything goes wrong right on cue. I’ve seen people review the TV shows as dumbed down but they’re really the opposite, as is the live show. It’s the way that the Cornley player grimly carry on with their twee little play in the face of disaster that makes it brilliant….just think of the children in Peter Pan saying “Mother you look very pretty tonight” while trapped in collapsing bunk beds. Whether it’s drinking tumbler after tumbler of white spirit or putting out fires without the audience noticing, these actors are dedicated to their craft.

(Except of course for Chris’ occasional on-stage meltdown and rant at the audience)

And if you don’t “get” it, then what? Well, the actual play is not too bad, twee as it is, and has a bit of a twist to it which I didn’t remember from last time, so still managed to be surprised by who the murderer was. The sets are a masterpiece of stage design and there’s a dog in it. Kinda. All these things will help you get through, even if you’re one of the 300 people who thought they were actually seeing “Mamma Mia”.

However, the family and I loved it and we laughed hard from start to finish. It’s hard to explain much more without giving away the gags but I would recommend watching the TV shows first and, if you enjoy the humour, I imagine you will love it too. And if you don’t, you can always leave a negative review and they’ll probably use it as part of their marketing…

I must admit I didn’t have high hopes for this one. Having read the reviews and listened to the reviews of the reviews, not of which were overly positive. But VK wanted to go and tickets were a tempting £20 each for a Friday night, so we went for it. We even roped in CousinZ and my bro for the jaunt.

You should know by now that VK will, wherever possible, always dress for the occasion:

We were up on the balcony, as you’d expect for such cheap seats. There was nothing to say that kids had to sit next to an adult – which I’ve seen a lot in recent age guidance – so the kids had one set of seats and my bro and I took the others. The kids were in the centre and towards the front of the balcony so had a decent view. We were off to the side but had a pretty good view as well. I will say that the seats were a bit uncomfortable – they were very straight and shallow so I found myself perching on the edge quite a lot. When they say that a show has you on the edge of your seat, that’s got to be a good thing, right?

One thing all the critics agree on is that the sets are gorgeous and I would agree with that. It’s obviously an Art Deco aesthetic and the pieces move smoothly on and off stage to create entirely different scenes – from the old-money luxury of the Buchanan’s mansion to the nouveau-riche opulence of Jay Gatsby’s shirt dispenser to the grime of George Wilson’s garage. There is so much detail and the costumes match the mood perfectly. So I think all of that is universally agreed on but many critics have seen the glitz as a negative, calling the show shallow and accusing it of being nothing but surface-level razzle-dazzle.

Maybe I’m not just a deep thinker but sometimes a bit of razzle-dazzle is all you need after a long week’s work. I think I have read the book but it would have been years ago and I don’t remember it that well, so I’m not wedded to the detail. But I do understand how people react to adaptations of books they love that mess around with the detail – I mean, just read my “Ballet Shoes” review if you don’t believe me.

But I know the basic plot and all the main elements are here – Carraway nervy and unsure, Tom arrogant, Gatsby elusive and mysterious, Daisy flighty…. the criticism that they give too much of their souls away by singing is just something you have to get over if you’re watching a musical, in my opinion. And the singing is amazing – Jamie Muscato as Gatsby holds some incredibly long notes in a high tenor that would put Valjean to shame. And talking of Valjean, they have an actual one of those in the cast, albeit in a side character role (John Owen-Jones as Meyer Wolfschirm). Plus an ex-Elphaba (Rachel Tucker as Myrtle Wilson) who we’ve previously seen as Persephone in “Hadestown”. It is a seriously stacked cast by musical theatre standards even before you consider the Hollywood talent of Corbin Bleu as Nick Carraway. The cast is so rich in talent that it feels almost wasteful to give Rachel Tucker just one solo before her character’s death. But then the female leads – Frances Mayli McCann as Daisy and Amber Davies as Jordan – are also incredible so there is almost too much vocal power for one show. Joel Montague as George and Jon Robyns as Tom also get far too little solo time as they are also fabulous singers.

So the casting is immaculate and any one of them could have been the show-stealing lead…why then the negatives? Well, one of the potential weaknesses could have been in the songs themselves which weren’t overly memorable. I normally pick tunes up quite quickly but I couldn’t hum any of them this morning, however beautifully they were sung. But I would say that it’s unfair to compare this show to the other musicals we’ve seen recently where the soundtracks have been played and sung constantly around the house before our visit. It’s easier to come out of Les Mis singing a revolutionary song when that same song has been in your head for months. There was nothing wrong with the songs but they could have been more distinctive and I didn’t really get a 1920s feel from them. To counter that, there were some very 20s dance moves, with all the Fosse poses that you could ever want.

The other negative that many other people have picked out is the Carraway-Jordan romance and I would agree that. I don’t think it was in the book and, as VK pointed out, they are both kinda queer-coded. Its strongly suggested that Nick is attracted to Gatsby and as for Jordan….well, she’s a golf-playing bachelorette. I’m feeling like Carraway is not quite her type. So to add a romance between them seemed to come from nowhere and only served to highlight the moral of story, which can be summed up by Grunkle Stan from “Gravity Falls” – “it’s funny because marriage is terrible”. It would have been far better for them to be friends and conspirators without any hint of romance.

These points aside, the show is perfectly enjoyable. The ensemble moves flawlessly in the set pieces, the dialogue is crisp and sparky and the chemistry between Daisy and Jay is both sweet and intense. The show rushes along at a pace and at the interval I was struggling to think how much plot there would be left for the second half. But although all the main plot points hit in the first half, the consequences of those plot points play out in the second, especially in the tangibly-tense Plaza hotel scene. It feels like there’s a tiny bit of stretching out right at the end, with the glitzy party people brought back a couple of times for reasons that didn’t entirely make sense. Other than that though, it is a decently meaty show given that it’s based on a very thin novel. The seats did not magically get more comfortable but, even with that in mind, the 2.5 hour runtime whizzed by.

Oh, and for the obsessive LWAT theatre followers, it was Mango Sorbet for both of us last night. I know you like to know these things.

The audience also seemed to find the show perfectly enjoyable. Each song was met with thunderous applause and there was a standing ovation at the end – I know these are commonplace nowadays but it certainly didn’t give the impression of a show that had failed to hit the spot. Neither did the line of fans at the stage door, who were all keen to tell the stars how much they’d enjoyed it. We too lined up in the usual dank West End backstreet and met Jon Robyns, Joel Montague, Amber Davies, Frances Mayli McCann and Jamie Muscato. They all signed our programme – and for once, I’d remembered to pack a Sharpie – and we got a photo with Gatsby himself:

All the actors were total sweethearts, especially Amber Davies who was signing even tho she was meant to be rushing for a train. Hopefully the early negative reviews haven’t impacted them too much and they’re finding the packed houses and rapturous applause are making up for some of that. It might be entirely my lack of depth but for us, it was a Great night out indeed.

No disclaimer needed for this one as I paid for tickets. All opinions remain honest and my own.

“The Great Gatsby” runs until 7th Sept. Click here for more info and tickets.

This is an odd one to review because, for once, I’m getting in early on a play that pretty much no one else has seen yet. I always try to avoid reading reviews before I write mine but with things like “Les Misérables” it’s pretty easy to be influenced by what everyone else has ever said about it. So this is a rare opportunity to write something almost completely unbiased.

Except it’s not unbiased, is it? Cause I love Ewan McGregor and everyone knows it. When Nathan got pouty about me declaring my love for him publicly (Ewan that is, not Nathan) I pointed out that he’s brought it on himself by booking tickets to “Life Less Ordinary” on our very first date back in 1997. Ewan has been part of our relationship from the start and latterly, the kids have grown to love him too, through the Star Wars films and “Moulin Rouge”. So it would have to be a complete car crash of a show for me to say anything remotely negative about the divine Mr McG.

(If you’re getting a sense of deja-vu then yes, you’re right. I did write similar about our visit to see David Tennant’s “Macbeth” in October. I have a bit of a tasty for the scruffy Scottish types, OK? And Nathan can’t complain cause he got to see Sigourney Weaver in return.)

Luckily, this show was not at all a car crash. It’s the second night of previews so I sensed there were some times when the rhythm of the lines still needed to settle down but overall it was a tightly plotted, well-acted and intense piece of theatre. Not a musical, much to Eva’s disappointment, but we coped.

I will say off the bat that it was more adult than I expected and we were the only ones to have brought kids with us. The age recommendation is 12+ and I’ll take this opportunity to re-iterate that this is no longer a toddler-focused blog. There’s a fair bit of swearing, including some C-bombs, and some quite explicit scenes. The content warning says “adult themes” but that might be understating it. Having said that, my kids were fine with it all and it’s probably nothing worse than they hear on YouTube all the time but they are nearly 13 and nearly 16 so if you’re tempted to try it with a kid that’s scraping in under the 12-year-old age then I would urge some caution. It’s definitely more of a secondary school production than anything that primary school kids could handle. However much they love Obi Wan Kenobi.

That over, let’s get to the actual play. As you’d expect for a play about architecture, the set is sleekly built and stylish. The main room set has a brick floor which surely couldn’t have been made with real brick but certainly looked convincing. The “cathedral” set that is on stage before the opening is a “lopsided pyramid” of aggressive modernity. Obviously I don’t have any pictures of the production itself but I can share the pre-show set with you:

And then there’s the cast – an interwoven ensemble of five main characters, with some extras for the party scene. Ewan McGregor was the eponymous Master Builder – Henry Solness – and Kate Fleetwood was his wife Elena Solness. Elizabeth Debicki was Mathilde, David Ajala as Ragnar and Mirren Mack as Kaia. They all had a lot of stage time and a lot of emotional moments so it must be exhausting going through this every night. They were all excellent though.

David Ajala threatened to steal the show several times as the “influencer architect” – Henry’s protégé, who was now starting to outshine him. Although the play was largely dark and intense, Ragnar was a beam of sunshine for most of it, dazzling in a small pair of speedos or his party slacks. He certainly provided some lighter moments to break up the drama and delivered his witty dialogue brilliantly.

His comedy foil for most of these scenes was Elena, who Eva described as “iconic”. She was certainly a flawed character with a twisted take on feminism but she was both sympathetic and chilling…you felt for her but also felt sure you wouldn’t want to cross her. Kate Fleetwood balances all these things as well as looking stunning in every stylish outfit (and she has the most amazing cheekbones). Her despair, taut politeness and raw vulnerability all make for a complex female character, the likes of which we don’t see enough of. She loves Henry but she can’t forgive him and it’s this depth which really gives the play its heart. Yet she also has the deft comedy touch to pull off her scenes with Ragnar that break through some of that tension. Masterful.

Elizabeth Debicki as Mathilde was another complex character. She appears to be very vulnerable at first but it soon emerges that she wields far more power than she lets on. Her relationship with Kaia is complicated by a revelation late on in the play and you’re left with the impression that this is a soul alone in the world with no real idea of what she wants. It would be easy to make Mathilde a bland kind of “Mia from Love Actually” temptress but in Debicki’s hands, she is sympathetic while also being very flawed.

While we mention Kaia, JUSTICE FOR KAIA. She’s the only character in this play who did nothing wrong but she seems to get dumped on from all sides and is the undeserved target of Elena’s wrath, which really should have been pointed towards her husband. Mirren Mack plays Kaia with a youthful innocence which turns to weariness as she realises that these “grown ups” she’s been looking to as role models have royally messed their own lives up. She’s the most clearcut of the characters yet the one who gets treated the worst. I say again, JUSTICE FOR KAIA.

(And potentially a new job….I’m not sure she has a future working for Elena after all of this tbh)

All of which brings us to the central performance by Ewan McGregor. I wanted to dislike his character and thought from the synopsis that I would but it’s so very hard to dislike a character played by Ewan McGregor. He makes a multitude of bad decisions, both during the play, and in his backstory but he’s still so sympathetic and you kinda want things to work out for him, even as it becomes very clear that they will not. He plays the role with his natural Scottish accent, which definitely helps the character to feel more likeable – I imagined he would do an American accent for the role but I’m so glad he didn’t. His interactions with Mathilde are genuinely tender and even though you know it’s a problematic power dynamic, you still almost root for them as a couple. But then you see what he has with Elena and feel like you should root for them instead. At times, he reminded me of his “Moulin Rouge” character – choking back tears as he tries to figure out the nature of love – but this is a more mature character than Christian ever got to be and with maturity comes baggage. To mix my metaphors slightly, he wears his heart on his sleeve but it’s weighed down by all that emotional baggage. It’s another complex performance and it blends so well with the others.

Just a quick word on the visuals – the sets, as I mentioned earlier, as impressively detailed and I loved the seascape in the background. The costumes are gorgeous, especially the dresses in the second half, and there are some great visual effects when the fireworks are going off. For a play about rich people, there really is a feeling of understated wealth in the set dressing. At one point, a glass is thrown and the sound it makes is quite obviously not that of glass breaking but I guess that’s done for health and safety issues. Health and safety gets heavily promoted as a concern in the play (exposed wiring in a wooden building, anyone?) so no wonder the production team are hot on it.

So visually pleasing, great performances and a twisty plot that keeps you on edge. What’s not to like? It’s a thought-provoking piece, heavy in places and comedic in others, but well worth watching. The runtime is 2 hours 20 mins including an interval but it went by really quickly. We did, of course, get the usual interval ice cream and we’re developing quite a connoisseur’s knowledge of the Delfont Mackintosh ice cream range, which includes at least two dairy free options. It was warm in there (not quite as warm as “The Tempest” but almost) so I would highly recommend getting a cup of water from the dispenser at the bar before it starts.

I would also recommend trying for the stage door. Reuben was at the end of the row and very close to exit so he shot off the minute the curtain call was done (and we have told the kids never to go before the bows as that’s poor etiquette). He got a prime spot on the barrier and was rewarded by signatures from Kate Fleetwood, Elizabeth Debicki and Obi Wan himself. Honestly, I’ve never seen this boy happier:

All three were super nice – we were warned that they would only sign play merchandise, which is fair enough, and would not be posing for selfies. Roo got to exchange a few words with Ewan and it made him even happier than it made me. Of course, Kate Fleetwood and Elizabeth Debicki have their own geek credentials as they’ve appeared in the “Harry Potter” ‘verse and the MCU respectively. This wasn’t lost on Roo. In fact, he watched “Guardians of the Galaxy 2” a few days ago in preparation for potentially meeting the golden-faced star. When she came out to the crowd of people though, she gave a startled look which looked less Ayesha and more like her Princess Di character from “The Crown”

And Eva was so pleased that she got to tell Kate Fleetwood how brilliant she’d been:

Happy, happy stagey kids.

We didn’t dress on theme for this one (tho Nathan had Darth Maul socks on) but I was quite pleased I’d worn my Bowie t-shirt as there’s a Bowie reference and a snippet of music right at the start of the show:

I realise I haven’t said too much about the plot and the dialogue or any of the technical bits apart from the performances but that’s because I’m aware it’s brand new and I don’t do spoilers. It’s OK to tell you that Éponine dies but I wouldn’t be OK with the same level of detail about something that only a handful of people have seen so far. I will say though, if intense family drama is your thing, then you should give this a try. And if you’re just a Ewan McGregor fangirl, then you should also give this a try. Tho to answer a question raised in a Facebook post – no, he does not get his kit off.

But don’t let that put you off. Click here for tickets and more info.

No disclaimer needed as I paid for this one but all opinions remain honest and my own.

How to review “Les Mis”? Surely it’s such a classic that everyone who might want to see it has already seen it so what could I possibly say? Well, I’ll do my best and start off by wishing the original Les Mis – the novel – a very happy 163rd birthday for last Monday (31st March). Eva naturally made the book a tiny party hat to celebrate:

So that gives you an idea of the kind of obsessiveness we’re dealing with here. She’s been planning this outing for a long time and I put off booking for almost as long because I’d read reviews that said that some of the cheapest seats had very restricted views. Eventually I stopped dithering – with some help from seatplan.com – and booked £40 tickets in the Grand Circle. Not super cheap it could have been a lot worse. The view was fine, as it turned out, but first we had to find the theatre. It’s on what I like to call “Orphan’s Row”, right next to “Oliver!”:

It sparked quite some discussion as to which one came first as there are a few similarities. If you’re ever wondered the same, I can confirm that “Oliver Twist” was published in 1838 and, if you paid attention to the first paragraph, you’ll know that “Les Misérables” was published in 1862, three years after Dickens had published his own French revolutionary novel, “A Tale of Two Cities”. The two authors met in 1846 and around 130 years later Alain Boublil would be watching a production of “Oliver!” when the inspiration for the musical version of Les Mis hit. I’ve learnt most of this in the last 24 hours since seeing the show (with research credits to Eva) and only mention it because it seems very fitting that these two productions have run parallel courses to each other and are now neighbours. Also because Victorian novelists really liked writing about urchins and dead prostitutes.

If all that is too cerebral for a blog post, please enjoy my sloppily painted, French flag-coloured nails which happily matched the tube lines we took to get to the theatre (Weaver, Victoria, Piccadilly). Eva’s nails were red and black, for what will be obvious reasons to some.

If you’re wondering what the rest of her outfit was like, wonder no more. I might have mentioned before that she often dresses like an extra from Les Mis, so I assume this is just what she might have been wearing on a Saturday anyway:

All of which gets us to our seats in the Grand Circle. And look, the view was just fine:

So, on with the show! While I knew some of the songs very well, there were huge chunks of the show I only vaguely knew from having watched the film or heard the soundtrack blaring out of Eva’s room. The whole thing is sung-through, which makes for an interesting mix of songs that are actual songs (with a beginning, middle and end) and other bits which are more like conversational interludes. The latter is where most of the exposition tends to happen, so some of it is skipped out which leaves a lot of questions. Mainly around Valjean’s ability to escape Javert by just putting a suit on and moving to the other side of France. I think it’s probably explained a bit more in the book but there are certainly times when you can tell that a sprawling, epic novel has been condensed to a play that lasts just under three hours.

I’ve mentioned Valjean and Javert already and it would be remiss of me not to tell you what absolute powerhouse vocalists these two actors (Ian McIntosh and Stewart Clarke) are. It’s a lazy comparison to point out that one particular Javert was not such a powerhouse but comparisons are a bit pointless when you’re watching the kind of vocalists that can hold on a notes for seemingly hours or can sing a song almost entirely in falsetto. These are superb singers in their own right. It’s a very male dominated show, character-wise but really makes use of all the possible notes in the male voice, from the bass notes in the opening song to the high notes of “Bring Him Home”. The women are all amazing singers too, but it’s notable that there are some real vocal challenges for the male roles and they are managed amazingly. Maybe it’s just because I’m still learning about men – in a choir sense – so I was intrigued by the range on show.

But yes, let’s talk about the women because they were some of my favourite characters. Fantine (Katie Hall) is something of an angel character in the second half, all blond hair and white flowing dress, and she sings likes an angel too. Of course, in the first half, she’s very much a fallen angel as she has to sell herself and everything she owns in order to send money to her daughter. But then she dies of mother’s disease and thereafter only appears as a hallucination, where she takes on a heavenly glow. I wish the show gave her time to have more character development as she goes from respectable factory worker to dead prostitute over the course of around five songs. Eva often points out how there’s a very jarring contrast between “I Dreamed a Dream” and “Lovely Ladies” and she is not wrong. I guess it’s meant to be a bit of light relief after the epic drama of “Dream” but it does seem like a bit of a leap. “Dream” is rightly one of the most famous songs of the show and Katie Hall does an amazing job of bringing it to life. Again, I’m going to lazily compare it to the film but Anne Hathaway’s tearing of her vocal chords to try and add pathos just doesn’t hit in the same way that this ever-so-pure stage version does. If only we’d had more time to applaud before the sailors rocked up. No disrespect to the actors playing the sailors – it’s just an odd piece of direction.

Talking of odd, something happened just after Fantine died and Valjean and Javert had one of their rumbles. That might be why I couldn’t quite fathom how Valjean got out of the whole turning up at court and declaring his true identity thing…..I missed a bit of the show as there was a commotion towards the front of the circle. I have no idea what it was but I’m assuming it was either a medical emergency or someone filming the show. Lots of people were standing up and pointing and eventually it all settled down but it meant that Valjean escaping and the iconic moment of Cosette appearing were both somewhat overriden by what was going on. The staff seemed to handle it efficiently though, and all was calm by halfway through “Castle on a Cloud”. I’m not entirely sure which Little Cosette we saw but she was very good and her voice carried all the way back to us in the cheap seats.

Then another abrupt change of mood as it shifted again from pathos to comedy with the appearance of the Thénardiers. I didn’t realise it at the time but Madame Thénardier was played by Claire Machin, who I met when she played Cora in The Girls. I cried a LOT at that show and – spoiler alert – I cried at this show too. I won’t blame Claire Machin for either of those as she’s a great comedy actress, ably matched by Luke Kempner as her husband. I hadn’t realised quite how much comedy there was in this show as I’d assumed it was all quite dark and dramatic. I know I watched the film but that was a decade ago and I can’t remember what the balance was like then. I also didn’t realise how many saucy gags there were but that’s not a problem with these worldly adolescents. The age rating is 8 plus so just be aware that some of the humour gets a bit bawdy…but it might well go over their heads anyway. The show is also nearly three hours in total (including interval) so it might be a bit long for the younger ones.

It’s also worth everyone familiarising themselves with the plot before you go as well. There are two time jumps in the first half and it’s not immediately obvious if you don’t know what to look out for (though the programme has a handy guide, which helps). Valjean’s life as a prisoner takes place in 1815, his life as Mayor in 1823 and then the main bulk of the action – around the revolution – takes place in 1832. I won’t say which member of the family was confused by this last jump but it wasn’t Eva. Éponine appears briefly as a child in 1823 and it’s her appearance as a grown woman (played by Amena El-kindy) that signals that we have definitely moved on. I’m skipping forward a little to the second half but I must say that Éponine is probably my favourite character of all. I mortally offended Eva later by saying that I thought Marius should have ended up with her instead of Cosette but yknow, there was chemistry there. Plus I’ve been using a line from “On My Own” as a warm up for choir for a few weeks now because I just love the drama of “I have ne-ver knooooowwwwwwwnnnnnnnnn”. Wanna see how long I can make the choir hold that note on for? How long dya have?

So with the time jump, we’re into full-on revolutionary mode and my top tip would be to not get too attached to any of those idealistic young students. I hope that’s not a spoiler, given that this show has been running for almost as long as I’ve been alive. Eva gripped my hand ever so tightly in excitement as they sang “Red and Black” and “Do You Hear the People Sing” back-to-back and in the interval made sure to pull the red and black theme through to her ice cream:

But I’m once again getting ahead of myself because what comes before the storm – I mean interval? That’s right, the epic pulling together of all these threads in the form of “One Day More”. Now I’ve seen the show, I can really appreciate how all the different musical themes are previewed through the first half and then they all fit together so beautifully. It was the first time I had a little cry because it is so stirring…but it would not be the last. I’m glad Eva had the interval to calm down afterwards because she was almost bouncing out of her seat by this point. After all, this is the girl who set a “One Day More” calendar reminder for bedtime the day before the show….and yes, we did sing the whole thing through. It gets tricky with two people when it gets into five parts.

Anyway, it did not disappoint. I think the live version is a little different to the recorded version as the different themes are sung at different times to really bring each theme out. It was, as I say, beautiful.

I took some time to look through the programme during the interval as I was thinking that – just like “The Sound of Music” the first half was a bit heavily loaded with all the best songs. I stand by that opinion but the second half makes up for the lack of big hitters with the sheer amount of drama and excitement as the students take to the barricade. No more spoilers here but keep those tissues close by.

And the aforementioned “On My Own” is in the second half so it’s not entirely devoid of mega-bangers. Again, it was wonderfully sung and the audience hung on her every note. You might think I’m being harsh by not including “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” or “Bring Him Home” as mega-bangers but you know what I mean…they’re both lovely and poignant songs but not as stirring as something like “Do You Hear the People Sing?”. I did have a few more nitpicks here about what exactly the students’ plan was as it seemed to have a few pitfalls and Marius changes his mind about the whole thing after spending literally five minutes with Cosette. But that’s young people for you, hey?

I haven’t mentioned Marius and Cosette’s actors yet (Jacob Dachtler and Annabelle Aquino) yet but they were compelling as the young lovers and Cosette’s high notes were incredible. Neither of them get much in the way of character development before the action moves on to the barricade but they’re sweet together and when they’re harmonising, it’s one of the highlights, especially when Éponine and Valjean are also singing in “In My Life”. It’s nothing against Cosette when I said he should choose Éponine, honestly. It’s just that their relationship is a bit rushed. As I said earlier, you can sometimes tell that it’s an epic tale condensed down to the length of a show.

Robson Broad as Enjolras was another highlight. Although his time on the stage is relatively short (darn, am I spoilering again??) he has a great energy and you can see why his followers were prepared to die for their cause (still no spoilers, I promise). Lack of planning aside, who wouldn’t want to join this revolution? Eva certainly did.

There is a certain amount of being overdramatic in this story – Valjean, planning to flee the country because he thought someone knew something that they didn’t know, Enjolras risking his life just to showily fly a flag and as for Javert….well, that’s quite an overreaction. Maybe he was jealous of Valjean’s disguise skills, given he got outed as a spy almost instantly. Takes more than a hat to fool those students. But accusing Les Mis of being overdramatic is the very definition of futile – of course it’s overdramatic. Being overdramatic is its very raison d’être. And that’s probably why my very dramatic child loves it so much.

If you’re wondering what the slightly-less dramatic kid thought – well, he enjoyed it too. He said it was “amazing” and has been humming the songs ever since. I think we may have spawned not one but two theatre kids. I would say it’s my fault but Nathan’s a bit flamboyant too so I think they were always doomed.

The crying-at-the-theatre gene is also strong in Eva as well, which I might well have mentioned before. So I wasn’t surprised to see that both of us were sniffling together during the final reprise. Oh and during “Empty Chairs” a bit as well. And probably when Fantine died and kinda during “Bring Him Home” as well. Did I mention you should bring tissues?

A third strong gene is the ability to lose our possessions everywhere we go. So after we’d stood and cheered the performers and headed down the stairs, wiping the tears away, I went back up all those stairs to find Eva’s jacket. It was a red velvet jacket on red velvet seats so the ushers hadn’t picked it up and I managed to retrieve it. It was also my red velvet jacket from the 90s so I was pretty determined to get it back.

I’d left the family hanging out conveniently next to the stage door and by the time I got back to the street, Katie Hall and Amena El-kindy were out signing. We weren’t super prepared but Roo found a pen and we got to say hello to them both and thank them for being so amazing. It was a lovely way to end the day and they were both super sweet. Then we headed home via the chip shop. This is pretty much Eva’s perfect day. Now to manage her expectations for the rest of the Easter holidays….

No disclaimer needed as I paid for this one but opinions remain honest and my own. If you want to go and see it yourself, I’m sure there are plenty of ways to book the most famous musical in the country but still…handy link here