42nd Street at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Singin' in the Rain has songs from a variety of MGM movies so it wasn't a novel idea when 42nd Street did it in 1980. It's no different to Crazy for You or An American in Paris which uses Gershwin songs from different musicals.

I believe Mark Brambles and Michael Stewart approached Jerry Herman to write new songs for 42nd Street but he refused saying that it wasn't 42nd Street without songs from Al Dubin and Harry Warren. Even though We're in the Money, Dames and Lullaby of Broadway aren't originally from 42nd Street the movie, it's so seamless that you'd assume it was written for the show. 

Stunned.

Absolutely fantastic - and those £15 front row seats are a total steal (our two G&Ts at interval were more than a ticket!). Quite overwhelming actually to be that close to everything. I did tear up a bit as well. The tap! Beats American in Paris hands down I must say.

Done something I have never done before - just got home and immediately booked two more tickets for June for Mum and I - Side row A. It seems the view will be great from there too.

Hope the word of mouth spreads like wild fire for this one.

Gotta love a Haiku...

Tonight, tonight, TONIGHT...! Excited? Me? Well, I have heard it's a bit good ;-)

9.5?

Go on then... why wasn't it a 10?

Why isn't this on the side of every bus in London?

Saw this last night, and loved it. Thin plot and characters can't detract from the gorgeous tunes and sheer spectacle!

Human beings marching in lockstep, mechanical men and women, pretty much every horrible event in history has involved this sort of thing, so I'm suspicious. Why should I be impressed by something the North Korean state could do better? If the producers of this show can put 50 people on stage and have them form perfect clone cogs in an ever-moving, clattering musical machine, couldn't North Korea get 100,000 people to do the same thing? Would that be more impressive or sickening?

And isn't this the sort of glittering dog and pony show, involving marching to music, and scantily clad people, that gambling meccas use to make their punters stupid? A primal call to the baby in you to just get in line and dance your money and mind away? Yes, it probably is all these things, so, beyond the primal call to our inner child to leap up onstage and tap away in unison, beyond the instinct to admire perfection in form and beauty, beyond the desire to be lost in an earthquake of legs, what individual humanity makes this show worth watching?

There's those glorious life-affirming tunes from Warren and Dubin. For the above-stated reasons, I loved that they included solos and duets as well as the whole shebang. Sheena Easton was surprisingly special singing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," which even seemed to benefit from the wear and tear of the years on her now husky voice. She also managed to belt "I Only Have Eyes for You," which I found affecting.

I loved Stuart Neal as Billy Lawlor. That is a horribly underwritten role, but he infuses it with such charisma and charm, and for my money is the best singer in the whole ensemble. There's a funny joke in the show about Lawlor being a better singer than Julian Marsh, and in my mind, it's even funnier when you realise the amount of songs that are started by other characters, like the above-mentioned "I Only Have Eyes For You," by Sheena Easton's Dorothy, that he comes on and finishes, packing a bigger punch, and infusing even more emotion. Basically, it's not only Marsh Lawlor sings better than, it's everybody!

"Dames," which Neal's Lawlor leads on splendidly is an absolute SMASH, with it's structural sandwich around the song "Keep Young and Beautiful" giving it a variety in mood and tone and music that is only matched by the dazzling "42nd street" title song. The only thing that could have improved "Dames" for me, would have been if Theatremonkey and Mallardo (who are always duetting on the same theme on this board in their never-ending quest to see "faces") had donned bowler hats, jumped up onstage either side of Neal's Lawlor, and sung that cheeky refrain "What do you go for, go see a show for, tell the truth you go to see those beautiful dames" lol!

Another charming human touch to this show was the lasciviousness of Clare Halse's Peggy Sawyer, succombing to multiple kisses. Indeed, Halse completely graduates from her former role as a Toreadorable in Gypsy with her impish loveable starring role in this.

I also loved Bruce Montague's lecherous Abner Dillon. Incidentally, his presence made me think of "Funny Girl," in which he played Ziegfeld, and I was amused at how the plot of this show perfectly mirrors the history of staging that show at the Savoy, with Natasha J. Barnes the real Peggy Sawyer, and Sheridan Smith the real Dorothy Brock. Heck, even the fictional show in this show is called "Pretty Lady," which is just a knock-off of "Funny Girl," anyway!

Ultimately, the sound and fury of this show overwhelmed me, despite my overly suspicious nature, and I too wished I was onstage tapping away myself.

For the above reasons, though, this show will never be as impressive and romantic and characterful and all-round celebratory of humanity as the current version of "An American in Paris."

4 and a half stars

I was behind you! And I have seen it again since (and booked for two more performances!)

Absolutely LOVE this show. It was perma-grin from the second the orchestra started until they stopped!

I was also there last night. What can I say that hasn't already been said. It was Wonderful.

Over the years I have seen this show seven times, including once on Broadway with Christine Ebersole, but this was hands down the best.

I was impressed with every single cast member and am fast becoming a big fan of Tom Lister. I thought he was perfect for the role of Julian Marsh.

Have had friends message me and say I must see this show so just booked A1 for £15 as a pre birthday treat at the beginning of May.

Couldn't quite believe I could book a single seat with no difficulty and there is no 'levy', no booking fee and no postage charge.