Theatre Trip: ALW's Cinderella

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S CINDERELLA

Gillian Lynne Theatre
Date: 13 October (Wednesday), 7:30pm
Seats: Circle, E51-52

(Seen with Richard!)

Another week, another weekday show! I bet this looks very exciting, but actually I'm going to need a break soon as my sleeping habits and caffeine consumption are not working super well together! In the, we were running late and we arrived at the theatre at 7, and through the doors at 7:15. They've recently redone the theatre though, so it was easy to get around, there were lots of places to buy drinks, and plenty of bathrooms (even for the ladies we never waited more than a few minutes) We were lucky enough to win lottery tickets with the chance to purchase tickets for £25. It turns out our seats were much better than I expected - they were up in the Circle, but the theatre has been resigned very well and all the seats in the house would have had a good view. Because we were further back we could easily see all the action and there was only a small amount of action that we missed.

The music of this new show - his most recent since School of Rock - is very good. At one point Richard and I turned to each other and said, 'This music feels very Gilbert and Sullivan', and it definitely does, but in all the best ways. There are 4-5 main themes which keep coming back being reused in different ways and it has a little bit of a pantomime vibe; but again, in a good way! We really enjoyed the music side of it.

The book for this was also quite good. Emerald Fennell has written the book for this and she got great fame for her recent movie Promising Young Woman, which I loved, and she has made this plot more modern. I felt like all the changes worked well and it definitely felt more modern than Cinderella usually is.

All of the actors in the chorus seemed great. There were some very hunky guys who did an excellent number with pretend weights and other such 'strong' showing off. The stepsisters (Georgina Castle as Mari, Laura Baldwin as Adele) were really funny and totally vapid. Laura I knew could pull off a role like this as she was Dawn in Waitress and while she was not vapid in that, she was quite a caricature and that works for her as an actress.

The older ladies were not my favourites in the show. The Queen (Rebecca Trehearn) was more genuine and she definitely had amazing costumes! Her voice was also very lovely and she was the right balance of silly and fun. The Stepmother I didn't actually like all that much. Victoria Hamilton-Barritt did a fine job of acting in the role, but the character she chose (as it said in the program) was a cross between David Bowie and Joanna Lumley, which I felt was way over the top and just too pantomime. It didn't really feel like it fit with the rest of the acting choices the other characters made.

The main prince in this Cinderella isn't actually Prince Charming but Prince Sebastian, Charming's younger brother. He was played by Ivano Turco, a new graduate in his first West End role. I feel like you could tell how new he was to being on stage, and his voice was more on the pop end of things rather than musical theatre. His voice was lovely though, if a little overpowered by the band at times. And boy, I'm trying not to spoil anything, but THE BOY CAN DANCE! I'd like to see him again in the role in a few months once he's had time to settle into things.

The biggest draw in this show for me was Carrie Hope Fletcher, playing the titular role. She seemed really at home in this show! The singing parts seemed to be written exactly in the best parts of her voice (maybe they were, as she has been Cinderella since the original workshop) and it meant that she could put everything she had into the big numbers. Her costume is very cool and she is witty and funny, which is refreshing for what is normally a Disney princess! I really enjoyed her in the role and am looking forward to seeing her again. I will be continuing to enter the lottery - Jess is too because she wants to see it with me next!