The Third Man - Menier

Palladium. Summer 2024.

Sorry to disappoint you.

Saw this tonight, and agree with much of what has been said above: a shaggy dog story, gussied up by a masterful filmmaker into art, feels a little boring when stripped of the cinematics.

However, there were things I loved: the opening number, utilising the whole ensemble; the atmospherically murky design; and the lead, Sam Underwood, carrying the story effortlessly and emotively.

Some spoilers follow. . .

This is essentially a shaggy dog story, made into something brilliant by Carol Reed in the film: by shooting on the streets of actually divided and destroyed postwar Vienna; by his further fetishistic division of that space into dark and suggestively mysterious shots; by the everpresent Anton Karas zither theme that slyly celebrates and simultaneously critiques a merry-go-round of deep corruption, that climaxes in well known musical themes, but which is much more fully formed than those mere musical highlights; and by Orson Welles's charismatic, dastardly and preciously brief appearance.

This shaggy dog story, of one man questioning one person after the other after the other after the other after the other, is essentially boring, and what elevates that story in the film can't be replicated on stage.

There are some things that really worked for me tonight:-

(1) The opening number, utilising the entire ensemble singing and dancing, felt very Fiddler on the Roof shtetl, beautifully suggesting the desperation and searching of a population who survived a war;

(2) Sam Underwood rocks as a musical theatre actor, carrying the book emotively, and excelling in singing as well. God help this show without him making all the questioning of one person after another seem interesting lol;

(3) There is a "Cabaret"-like emphasis imposed on the piece, with out-of-towner, Underwood, falling for invidualistic morally-compromised nightclub singer, Natalie Dunne. This works best, when the lights go down and she sings commandingly, like Sally Bowles.

Unfortunately, the writers of this musical are too slavish to the film to allow the more buttoned up chanteuse of the film to get fully naked emotionally on stage, the way Bowles unleashes her every inner demon. That would have distinguished the musical from the film in a theatrical way the film could never have aspired to, and would have excited the audience, but unfortunately, this aspect is only partially realised, and all too soon we are simply questioning another witness in shaggy dog style.

Overall, there was enough I liked for me to rate this 3 stars.

PS: I also missed the cat from the film lol!

I think it's a wash.

Those who've seen it may enjoy the nostalgia of revisiting the film, but will likely end up disappointed that the musical doesn't add much.

Those who haven't seen it may experience an enjoyable extra twist or two (I haven't revealed any twists in my review), but the shaggy dog nature of most of the story may still bore them a bit, given that they won't experience what makes the film work.

I'm far too young, obvs, but those of a certain age will remember that Ronnie Corbett, sitting in an armchair, usually wearing a stylish Lyle & Scott sweater, was a master at telling a shaggy dog story.

Having read the posts here on the Chocolate Menier's latest offering I went zither with trepidation and ended up.... relieved. Certainly no-one can accuse this of being a masterpiece but it is no better and no worse than many other musicals I have watched over the years.

On the plus side: the stage is nicely done, evocative but neutral enough to suggest most of the crucial arenas. It is an atmospheric piece and the first song sets the scene and ambience and period very well (unfortunately there are few musical highlights after that). The singing is good if not spectacular and the musicians do their work effectively too.

Minus side. The songs aren't strong enough, at times it feels like a play with music. Too much jaw-jaw and, as tends to happen in musicals, this is of a flat informative nature, which is fine when it's between great songs but less so when it bridges nondescript music. Sightlines are terrible in certain seats, despite not having been warned on booking there are severe restrictions on some of the side seats. Why on Earth is Harry Lime given an English accent?

I noticed that at one point the film music was quoted for a few notes - there was a recurring motif which referenced but didn't copy it - and wondered if this was a copyright issue?

Sam Underwood as Holly Martins carries the show, in narrative terms, and did well. Natalie Dunne was good as Anna Schmidt but (I felt) a bit within herself. Simon Bailey as Orson Welles, sorry I meant Harry Lime, is flashy and extroverted (he actually has a passing resemblance to the Artemus Gordon character from tv's "The Wild Wild West". The ensemble work well together.

I was expecting a 1/5 and got a 2.5/5 but there were empty spaces - perhaps 10 to 15% - and not sure this augurs well. Has to be said the audience were supportive and appreciative.

Musicals aren't really my thing - I've seen a few, and enjoyed them, but somehow never got bitten by the bug. But in an effort to broaden my horizons a bit I though I'd try this since the movie is so great.

Anyway, in short, I liked this. For such a small scale production they did a fine job of recreating the atmosphere of the movie and even made a decent fist of some of the iconic scenes like the Prater Wheel and especially Harry's first appearance.

Regarding the songs/music, I thought it was fine, though none of the songs really stuck in my head, and as noted by other posters, some of the rhymes were a bit clunky. The quality of the singing was good, with Natalie Dunne in particular having a great voice.

In summary, a decent night out.

Finally saw this after the cancellation last time. Positives are the staging, harmonies and atmosphere. Also nice interval ice cream!

The showtunes are just not memorable,funny with some of the lyrics and the rhyming dictionary being used like Harry Lime and Slime!

Glad I saw it, but think a play would be better than a musical. Kudos to the cast there is a plethora of talent and interesting to see the Menier look different to my last visits for concerts there.