REVIEW: A Christmas Carol, LMTO, Lyceum Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭
Julian Eaves reviews London Musical Theatre Orchestra’s A Christmas Carol in Concert starring Gryff Rhys Jones at London’s Lyceum Theatre.
Nicolas Colicos
REVIEW: A Christmas Carol, Lyceum Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭
A Christmas Carol London Musical Theatre Orchestra Lyceum Theatre, 11th December 2017 5 Stars Book Tickets Seeing this sprawling, grand, majestic musical entertainment again in the once splendid surroundings of Bertie Crewe’s opulently spacious rococo interior (behind Beazley’s proudly neo-classical facade), with the full resources of the LMTO massed on stage, complete with a chorus and a line up of superb soloists, all in evening dress, flanked by a brace of sparkling Christmas trees, and beneath the trademark red banners of this specialist orchestra, in this melodramatic, sentimental story of vice and redemption, it is easy to think that there is rather more of nineteenth century French grande-opera about it than the conventional trappings and concerns of Broadway showbiz. Hearing Alan Menken’s stunning score, given lush and vivid life in Michael Starobin’s gorgeous orchestrations, it is easy to imagine oneself back in the world of Meyerbeer, Gounod and Berlioz, where … Read more
Honeymoon In Vegas Gets Concert Production at London Palladium
The London Musical Theatre Orchestra will be staging a concert version of Jason Robert Brown’s Honeymoon In Vegas to the London Palladium as the first show of its 2017 season. Honeymoon In Vegas tickets are now on sale. Based on the hit 1992 film starring Sarah Jessica Parker, and Nicholas Cage, Honeymoon in Vegas tells the story of mild-mannered Brooklynite, Jack, who haunted by the fear of a promise to his dying mother never to get married, avoids proposing to his new girlfriend Betsy. He finally summons the nerve and takes Betsy to Las Vegas only to have his plans compromised by a dashing gambler with an eye for luxury and Jack’s new fiancée. Honeymoon In Vegas will feature Samantha Barks (Les Miserables movie, The Last Five Years) as Betsy, Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who, Legends Of Tomorrow) as Jack, Simon Lipkin (Avenue Q, The Lorax) as Buddy, Maxwell Caulfield (The … Read more
REVIEW: Of Thee I Sing, Royal Festival Hall ✭✭
The comic performance of the night, and the source of most consistent pleasure, came from the very talented Tom Edden who made an acting masterclass out of the portrayal of the reluctant Vice President, Alexander Throttlebottom (is there a character in a Broadway musical with a better name?). Taking his cue from that name, Edden presented a neurotic, chaotic, frantic but ambitious, character: he stole every scene he was in and even some he was not in. Superb.
