(seen at the afternoon performance on 10th June 2023)
When the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (former London home - twice – of this musical), was given its £65 million refurbishment, owner Andrew Lloyd Webber was wise.
He made things work which didn’t previously – access for wheelchair users. He added things which enhanced the experience – new restaurants and extra bathrooms. Most of all, though, he knew to keep and simply refresh what did work. Beautiful staircases were cleaned, metal re-gilded. The whole adding up to finding new glory in an already beautiful existence.
Sadly, this new touring production of “42nd Street” which originated at Leicester’s Curve Theatre earlier this year misses the opportunity to do the same as its former home.
Promising a new approach to the show, Jonathan Church’s efforts show a distinct lack of enhancement, and it is a particularly unwise choice to remove an iconic opening sequence when you cannot replace it with something better.
This sets the tone for the entire revival. The set and staging are of necessity slimmed down from the sumptuous West End runs, but this production is as unimpressive visually as it is in textual re-invention.
The luscious score of beloved standards is still there - rather brassily performed, but present. Unfortunately, Bill Deamer’s choreography and musical staging make the mistake of crowding the stage so that the dance fails to breathe in the airy way the exuberant material requires.
A horrible choice opens “We’re In The Money” with “real” urchins rather than the obviously comedy chorus-girl ones, throwing the whole concept of the “show within a show” into question by removing Producer Marsh’s whole point of glamourous escape.
The cast seem slightly ill-at-ease in some numbers – the opening of “Dames” and the curtain-twitching discipline of “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” particularly unsure with timing almost upsetting the effect in the latter.
Robert Jones relies on backdrops and projections, a lovely front-cloth for the show aside. An unwise cardboard prelude to revealing the train is the largest malfunction – on top of several noticeable blown staircase bulbs and a broken door. Little Broadway dazzle if this “Pretty Lady” is going to be the biggest show of all time.
For “a role learned in 36 hours,” Nicole-Lily Baisden as Peggy Sawyer does a reasonable job. Becoming “clued-up” faster than we expect, Baisden dances like a dream and imbues Sawyer with a little more fire and less sweetness, interesting choices.
It is no wonder Sam Lips’s Billy Lawlor is drawn to her as this decent tenor turns willing guide and mentor.
Adam Garcia’s Julian Marsh is a younger producer than usual, his exhortation of the joys of the Broadway Lullaby oddly muted but his determination clear even if less abrasive than previous incarnations.
Leading temperamental lady Dorothy Brock has Ruthie Henshall in a welcome return to the stage. Clearly enjoying the diva attitude, her quieter reflective scenes too – particularly those advising her replacement – are her strongest. Her voice seems a little softer than usual, perhaps assisting the moment.
Double act writer / producers Maggie Jones and Bert Barry give Josefina Gabrielle and Les Dennis a few moments. Gabrielle is on strong vocal form, Dennis turning in a bumbler which gets stronger through the show.
There’s also good work from Michael Praed and Anthony Ofoegbu as Pat Denning and Abner Dillon, connoisseurs of showgirls, frustrated lovers and two of the better-defined characters of the evening.
Of course the dancers work hard, there is plenty of tap to the ever-glorious tunes. It is just that the magic of Broadway seems in lesser supply and delight and relief of creating a show against the odds barely communicates across the vast orchestra pit.
The opening number of a show is crucial, the first line setting the tone. Losing the "ankle reveal" moment at the beginning seems to have put the tapping heart of the show out of sync.
Not a bad production as such, but something of a disappointment that the director finds nothing new or interesting and has eschewed what was so valuable before.
3 stars.
Photo credit: Johan Persson. used by kind permission.