42nd Street at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

That's it, you've all convinced me. I've just booked to to see this on the 20th of May. So excited!!!

Saw this last night.  Sheena still off. 

Joyful.  Simply joyful is the only way to describe this.  Front row, cheap seats - thank you so much to everyone on here (@theatremonkey I'm especially looking at you!) for all the info.   It was such a treat to see this so close up, to be able to smell the costumes and to have to hold ourselves back from leaping up on stage to help unravel two of the girls who got their sequins tangled up and had to leave the stage closer together other than the choreography intended!

I went with an advanced tapper.  The dancing was technically difficult but the hardest thing, I'm told, were the rhythms.  Many of the ensemble are straight out of college.  It is amazing that they have been trained and choreographed to this level.  Close up their smiles were smiles of joy at being there, not the cheesy, jazz-handy smiles of stage school.

I will admit to being disappointed at not seeing Sheena.  (Will be back in July, so here's hoping.) CJ Johnson standing in did a good job - her acting was fabulous but I found her singing voice to be just the wrong side of classical for the role.  This was, in fact, a bigger role than I'd understood from the comments on here.  I saw no reason for her not to have the final bow, although the first thing Mini Tibs, who was with me, said as we were leaving the theatre was "OMG!  Why didn't she get the big bow?" referring to Clare Halse.

And Miss Halse truly was amazing.  She was like a little pocket rocket flying around and captured the 1930s/40s Hollywood naive earnestness of, say, a young Leslie Caron perfectly in the first act.  Our only disappointment was that she spent so long in that lilac travelling suit!  This was her second show of the day and her energy was boundless.  At the curtain call she flew around that vast Drury Lane stage as if she were on spreels (it is a word - springs/wheels )

But, like everyone else, I agree that the show belongs to the ensemble.  The stewards were talking before the show - we thought they may have been ensemble-in-training - about how difficult the steps are and how slick the whole thing is.  Stairs and mirrors have previously been mentioned and they are awesome moments indeed.  As are the shoes.  And the costumes.  And the smiles!  Oh those smiles!  (And that includes ours!)

(Aside. Strange that as I flicked the telly on this morning they were showing Butterflies on Gold - in which Bruce Montague (Abner Dillon) plays Leonard, Wendy Craig's fancy bit.)

All 4 levels looked full to me.  Full standing ovation.  The orchestra should have been raised up for their bow.  That's the only thing I'd have done differently.  Just go!  

Couldn't agree more with Tibidabo's review. Saw this on Friday night and thought it was superb. A shame Sheena Easton wasn't well but to be honest she wasn't really missed. Clare Halse and the chorus are the real stars. Mind you they are helped a great deal by great costumes and some impressive set work. I usually prefer a more modern, "edgier" type of show but would recommend this to anyone.

I believe she'll be off for the rest of the week, but don't quote me on that (even though you literally can )

They opened the show on ITV's Tonight at the London Palladium tonight. It really was an incredible performance and I hope lots book as a result.

Just watched it. Really impressive and sold the show well. It wouldn't surprise me if it was done in 1 take as there are some amazingly quick changes in the actual show so it can be done.
Just booking my 2nd visit for June.

I believe it was actually recorded on a Sunday. It is the cast.

Oh I see. Sorry. They are the ones on the side e.g. A23 and A24. Cool

How bad is the restricted legroom in A24? It's wishful thinking for someone who's 6ft 5 right?

I suspect the magic of editing allowed the quick changes elsewhere in the theatre. I wonder how much rehearsal they were given to rechoreograph without the staircase, and to work out that tricky run down the aisles and seamlessly onto the stage.

I'm around 6' 6" and found the legroom fairly tight in the front stalls so personally wouldn't want to try the restricted legroom seats if the normal seats are as close together as they are.