Theatre Trip: Crazy For You (#2)

CRAZY FOR YOU

Gillian Lynne Theatre

Date: 27 December 2023 (Wednesday), 2:00pm

Seats: Circle D 72-73

(Seen with Bri! Or I was supposed to...)

Notes: This was something I had talked about doing - seeing Crazy For You again! And this time Bri was on board so I booked us a pair of seats for the first matinee after Christmas. And then the drama started! She was staying out of town for the holiday and had planned to head into the city to meet me for the show. Except that when she got to the station, there had been a signal failure and there were no trains! With no other options, she considered getting a lift to another station or even into the city, but even then there would have only been a 5 minute buffer and so she was unable to make it.

Even I had a little bit of trouble - despite leaving with enough time to get to the theatre at 1:30, the train and then the tube both ran slow. Plus I had to pick up some food for lunch and it was a 10 minute walk from the station, so by the time I arrived it was 1:50 anyway. And then the line to get in was huge, so I walked into the theatre at the 3 minute call, left the bathroom at the 1 minute call, and then got into my seat as they were announcing the show would be starting! But I wasn't late and that counts.

The music in this show is so good! While not every number is a stand out that is listenable outside the theatre, I love how every single one fits the show so well and they are so catchy. I really like the chorus numbers in particular and the dancing as well is just mind blowing. That being said, I think with a little bit more training (and a total body overhaul!) I could totally be a chorus girl in this show. Slap That Bass and I've Got Rhythm in particular are perfection and joy in theatre!

This time there were a few things that I noticed were different this time around. Mostly Bela Zangler, who played up his role and broke the fourth wall a few times to get extra laughs from the crowd - and it totally worked! Clearly all the performers are nice and relaxed and ready to have some fun in their final week.

Of course the cast of this show is spectacular. This time I particularly noticed one of the chorus members, Bradley Trevethan. He had been very athletic and had a few standout moments with jumps and flips! Turns out he is a swing too (and assistant dance captain too!) so that is very cool.

But that core duo of Carly Anderson and Charlie Stemp are just magic together. The way that they dance together is smooth and joyous, and I wish I could move like that! Charlie is also phenomenal, the way that he dances and clearly enjoys it so much while somehow also making it look easy? Impossible but somehow he does it.

I have appreciated this show so much both times I have seen it and while I do tend to lean towards more modern shows, I would love to see more in this vein as it is just such a great time.

Theatre Trip: Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends

STEPHEN SONDHEIM'S OLD FRIENDS

Gielgud Theatre

Date: 14 December 2023 (Thursday), 7:30pm

Seats: Circle E 15-16?

(Seen with Bri!)

Notes: I had heard so many good things about this show! I din't know when or if I was going to be able to go because of work and Christmas coming up, but then Bri messaged me to say that she had seen Today Tix having a 24 hour sale and she picked up a pair of tickets for £15 each, which is a total steal! It was a Thursday but that is manageable for sometimes. So I got up extra early and caught the train to work and then left as early as I could manage to get into the city!

We met at Fortnum and Masons as Bri needed some things, so we tried to get dinner there (they do lovely bagels and such - except they close that counter at 5pm!). Instead we wandered in the direction of the theatre on the hunt for something not crazy junk food and nice and fast. We ended up at Whole Foods where we got a slice of pizza each and some madeleines for interval sweets, which turned out to be perfect for eating as we walked over to the Gielgud.

Our seats were upstairs in the Circle but had a quite good view as that theatre has a lovely rake. I don't think I would have liked to be further back, especially because this show has no set changes and minimal costumes. It is a review style show which was set up to honour the work of Stephen Sondheim and was put on for a few gala performances. It did really well and then the passing of Sondheim meant that they decided to bring it back, with some amazing cast members! More on them later. 

Because there is a lot of Sondheim shows, this features music from all of them - Sunday in the Park with George, Company, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, West Side Story, Gypsy, plus more. I am familiar with the main music from almost all of those shows, even for the ones I haven't seen, and of course I am very familiar with some of them; Company, Sweeney, and Into the Woods in particular. It was interesting to hear the music from a beautiful on stage orchestra out of context from the shows and to hear which ones they chose.

Each show had at least a few numbers and some got entire sets, with some basic costuming and staging. But while the music is of course a big draw, the actors are the real deal and were an incredible part of this show.

The 'chorus' featured a lot of actors I've seen before, most of whom got starring moments and their own feature songs. Christina Allado got to be Anita in West Side Story (who I've seen in Prince of Egypt), Damian Humbley had some stand out songs, and then there was Bradley Jaden. His starring song was as the Wolf in Into the Woods, opposite the Red Riding Hood of Bernadette Peters. It was a great interpretation and he was gorgeous! Jeremy Secomb also had a starring turn as Sweeney Todd opposite Lea Salonga's Mrs Lovett. I also didn't realise ahead of time that Bonnie Langford was in this! She is an absolute British icon and still an incredible singer and dancer (I wish I could do the splits at all, let alone at 59!) and she was a part of the trio for You Could Drive a Person Crazy.

But of course, the two big performers are absolutely insane. Lea Salonga hasn't performed on the West End in about 20 years but is a big name on Broadway and was first discovered here in London. She had about half of the big songs, including A Little Priest, Children Will Listen, and Everything's Coming Up Roses. Her voice was powerful and resonant and she delivered every song beautifully! My favourite was definitely her Mrs Lovett

And, for the first time, making her West End debut at age 75 and an absolute icon, Bernadette Peters. She dances so well, sings amazingly, with her highlights including I Know Things Now, Broadway Baby, Old Friends. It was also very clear that she was indeed an old friend of Stephen Sondheim's - at one point they had a video reel and she was clearly moved by it. She had worked on many shows with Sondheim and they clearly knew each other well.

I feel so grateful to have seen Bernadette, after seeing the legend Patti Lupone in Company previously. Two Broadway legends ticked off, plus Lea (who is on her way to becoming one), and a West End one too in Bonnie Langford! And to see it with my oldest friend was purely a bonus.

Theatre Trip: Crazy for You

CRAZY FOR YOU

Gillian Lynne Theatre

Date: 13 October 2023 (Friday), 7:30pm

Seats: Stalls C 1-3 (Front Row!)

(Seen with Jess!)

Notes: Another Friday night at the theatre! I do love a post-work theatre trip, even if it's a pain taking the train to work at 7am on a Friday. I saw this with Jess after picking up tickets for a super price, with restricted view seats on the edge of Row C. We did our usual pre-show routine - meet at McDonalds, eat dinner, head over to the theatre.

We had issues getting in, as once we got to the theatre. I lost my phone signal and couldn't load the tickets. I was plenty happy about that because I knew we could just go to the box office and ask for printed ones (which go in my diary), but they just let us in anyway using the written seating plan on my email. Mildly disappointing, but we needed time to get ourselves organised - program, drinks and bathroom before the start of the show.

When we got to our seats we realised that our seats were not restricted at all. We were right on the edge of the row - and C was the front row! The only thing restricted about it was that it was slightly lower than the stage, so I had to sit up REALLY straight to be able to see the best part - which was watching the dancers feet.

I didn't know a huge amount about this show other than it was from the 1990s. In fact it is, but it is a rewritten version of a musical from the 1930s which also entirely uses music by George and Ira Gershwin. This means that despite only being 30 years old or so, it feels more like 100. It had a really classic musical old-school feel which I really liked. It also means that the music has a really coordinated feel and all the songs are super coherent - nothing is new but the Gershwin's have a huge back catalog which they could pull from to make it fit together as well as possible.

One of the highlights of this show was definitely the choreography. Now that I am learning tap, I was so excited to see a classic musical with BIG chorus numbers and they did. Not. Disappoint!! The coordination was incredible and the steps were amazing. The chorus as a whole was great to watch and worked together amazingly as a team. Of particular note was the guy who played Moose, who was very funny.

In more major character news, there were 3 great leads. Bela Zangler was played by Tom Edden, who was wickedly funny and over the top. The beautiful Polly Baker was played by Carly Anderson. She moved incredibly gracefully, danced like an angel and made a perfect partner to the real star of this show. Charlie Stemp played Bobby Child. I've never seen someone so perfect for a role. He practically floated across the stage, his footwork was impeccable, he looked so graceful and he was the perfect partner. And the comedy routine with Bela Zangler, and his impressions? So amazing. He's only just 30 but Charlie Stemp is a really rare talent and now I want to see absolutely everything he does for the rest of my life.

This is only on until January, and while it is currently December already I really want to see this absolute classic again before it closes!