42nd Street at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Anyone who saw the show last night, I see the programmes are very much the Cinderella/School of Rock book style rather than the usual Drury Lane programmes. Do they contain production photos?

As Wickedgrin says, the show has not been reconceived - it's a revival of the 2001 Broadway revival, staged by the same people, director Mark Bramble and choreographer Randy Skinner. And why would they change what works so amazingly well? Certainly from the very first moments of the overture when the conductor's podium elevated and conductor Jae Alexander turned to the house, arms outstretched, the wildly enthusiastic audience was revelling in the recognition factor. And when the final chords of Lullaby of Broadway segued into the sudden rhythms of 42nd Street and the curtain edged up to reveal those countless dancing feet, a roar went up that could only be interpreted as welcome back to tap dance heaven! It's the show we were hoping to see.

For a musical this big - a 36 member ensemble (24 ladies, 12 men) accompanied by a 19 piece orchestra - and this complex it was an astonishing first preview, flawless. Everything worked, the excitement never let up from those opening tapping feet right through to the huge post-bows production number (shades of recent discussions here) which brought down the house.

The cast is terrific. Clare Halse is an archetypal Peggy Sawyer, pretty and petite, full of energy, a fabulous dancer, well matched by Stuart Neal's Billy Lawlor. Christopher Howell and Jasna Ivir are funny and effective as the comedy duo, Maggie and Bert, and, if there were any doubts about Sheena Easton's Dorothy Brock, put them to rest - she's excellent, loudly tempermental but retaining sympathy and, with her appealing smoky voice, really selling her songs. A new song has been added for her in the first act, the only change in the show I could detect. It's the torchy "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", a solo number, and she sings it gorgeously.

But the standout for me is Tom Lister's Julian Marsh, by far the best I've seen in the role. He not only commands the stage and delivers his iconic lines - which, at this point, border on parody - with passion and conviction but he can sing! Thanks mainly to him the "Lullaby of Broadway" number in the second act totally stops the show, as it should. For once we have a Julian Marsh who deserves his final bow.

I just kept thinking how amazing it has been to have taken in, within a few days of each other, two such fabulous and exemplary dance shows - each the best of its kind - as An American in Paris and now 42nd Street. From the sublime to the sublime. Lucky London.

Someone would have said sooner or later that the cast could be more diverse, so it's better be me: it really could have done better in this aspect.

Please refrain from saying it's set in the 30s, historical accuracy, blah blah blah

How is the show itself? 

And how is the view from the seat I am sitting in tomorrow?

White people traditionally better at tap dancing

Did I read that correctly...

It's not in the traditional repertoire of

Classic Indian Dancing

Nor of the African or Caribbean culture

The dancing is quite different

I don't think it would be the first audition choice for BAME actors

SERIOUSLY??

White people are not natural at tap. It's a dance. ANYONE can learn a dance, Any dance, from any culture.



I don't know why I'm feeding the troll....

If I could be in any show

Ever

It would be this one

I would dance about all over the stage

Clapping and waving


Is tap dancing hard?

Do the shoes make the difference?

I think the show will spark a frenzy of people wanting to learn

There are several female BAME actors in the ensemble

No men

Isn't tap a standard part of all musical theatre training?

It originated as a fusion of percussive African tribal dances and Irish, English and Scottish hornpipes, jigs and clog dancing, and was later influenced by jazz dance.