I often get asked if there is a show that I would recommend in the West End. I saw a show yesterday that was outstanding. As they say, they smashed it, nailed it or whatever you want to call it.
The show in question is Into the Woods, playing at the Bridge Theatre but transferring to the Noel Coward Theatre in September. It’s a tale that takes well-known fairy tales and weaves them together to see if happy ever after is what happens. Spoiler alert. Actions have consequences.
Over the years, I must have seen 5 or 6 performances, including a lovely one starring our Company Director Cate at the Belgrade Studio in Coventry. I also remember seeing Nicholas Parsons as the Narrator in the 1990s.
Everything about this performance was outstanding. The design, the lighting and the sound were fantastic, while the performances were superb. I’m sorry if I sound gushing, but I was blown away by the ensemble power of this performance.
The staging was imaginative, with minimal props and believable, truthful characters. Stephen Sondheim packs a lot about life into this show, and the performers squeezed in so much more emotion, particularly through the songs. There was humour, pain, disillusionment, hope and joy and, ultimately, a wonderful, earned sense of remaking the world and facing up to misfortune. The audience roared its approval.
Jacob Fowler, our Company Director at Market Harborough, was on as Cinderella’s Prince. His performance as the Wolf that devoured Red Riding Hood and Grandma was funny, seductive and delicious. He owned the space. As the Prince, he carried the bearing and demeanour of royalty but with a twist. As the character says, “I was brought up to be charming, not sincere.” Jacob did a great job in bringing out the nuances of the characters he played.
The show won two Oliviers earlier this year (Best Musical Revival and Best Design) and I’d say it is destined for a sell-out run. It’s one of those shows that lives long after in the consciousness. So there, I recommend it.
