The balance in Luscombe’s revival is precisely right. The “make-do” feel of the sets is in sync with the coconut clacking of the unrelentingly cheery Patsy and helps set the tone of silliness and frivolity with which one must approach Spamalot to reap its many rewards. Versatility is at a premium in this cast. Wide-eyed, dry, droll and gently teasing, Pasquale makes a lovable and very funny Arthur.
The alternative title to Twelfth Night is What You Will, and, more than anything else, that seems Munby’s inspiration here. He has, with real determination, found a new way to approach the text; deliberately emphasised different aspects of the story to fundamentally change the experience.
At interval, a local Wimbledon woman, clutching her near comatose husband, as they fled to the the streets said: “It’s shit. He can’t act or sing and there is no point looking at him anymore. She’s good but it is not enough. Not for £30. This is nothing like show business”.
This is first-rate family entertainment. This Annie is a great night in the theatre and comes highly recommended.
A wave of nostalgia engulfed the Churchill Theatre Bromley last night, when the UK tour of Happy Days – a new musical kicked of its UK tour, some 40 years after the series was first broadcast.
It was impossible not to feel anything but sympathy for this cast and nothing but irritation bordering on contempt for the “creatives” who think this is the way to present West Side Story to non-London UK audiences.
