Starter For Ten - Bristol Old Vic, Feb 2024

Booked! This should work really well.

They’ve been all over our local news recently. We’re at the first preview so will report back.

Any chance of this coming to London?

This is a wonderfully upbeat musical with some very good performances from the ensemble cast, and as a Bristol alum there were moments of nostalgia that delivered all the feels for me. Adam Bregman, Will Jennings and Eubha Akilade are the stand outs in this show, alongside an always-funny Mel Giedroyc, who plays a number of different characters. It deserves a life after Bristol and I hope it gets one.

Unfortunately there were three things that I felt detracted from the brilliance of this show. First, the sound in the BOV was terrible - at times you could hardly hear the singing - they could really do with sorting out the levels. Second, if you sit in the front four rows prepare to be blinded by the lights which appear to light up the audience far better than they illuminate the performers on stage. And finally they've all but cut the flipping brilliant "Touched by an Angel" that they've been using to trail this show, bar a very brief acoustic version which added absolutely nothing. I spent the entire time waiting to hear the superbly talented Adam Bregman sing this live, and it never materialised. Gutted. The video of the studio recording is now also conspicuously absent from the website. This was clearly intended as the show's "big number" and for me, it's poorer for it's absence. There are a few sections that could be tightened up which would help reduce the lengthy running time (show started 14:30 and finished 17:12) without cutting a good song.

Really enjoyed this today. Would love a cast recording.

If it transferred to the West End, a smaller house like The Vaudeville would be good.

The acoustic version of Touched By An Angel; who sang that? Was it someone from the band?

There are many deep pocketed producers attached to this project. I find it highly unlikely that this is anything other than the start of a long journey.

I was about to come on here and say the same thing, does anybody have any updates? I know they were recording the cast recording the other day so maybe it’s an allusion to this, but I’d love for it to go elsewhere???

The Pinter doesn't feel like the right place for this - somehow I can't think of that as a venue for a popular musical - and I rather hope that the creative team is taking the opportunity after Bristol to tweak the show: although it was good, i don't think it was quite good enough yet for the West End and I'd love it to be even better if/when it comes to London.

Another Bristol Old Vic production backed by Sonia Friedman went to the Harold Pinter: the play 'Dr Semmelweis'.  Not really an indicator of anything, but....factual. lol

Also ‘The Grinning Man’ a few years ago.

Maybe she’s not but I’ve definitely read it on a threat or a Tweet somewhere?