Aspects of Love w/ Michael Ball - Lyric

Oh god it looks so cheap and awful 🤣

So I made a return visit to Aspects last Monday. It was depressingly empty with the top two levels closed and the bottom two about 50% sold. Obviously no idea if was papered at all or if those were there had all bought tickets.

Anyway, most of my reservations from the first time remained unfortunately, but overall I enjoyed it a bit more. Possibly as this time I knew what was coming so was a bit more relaxed and my expectations were managed.

Dave Willetts I thought was excellent as George. Firstly in his own right, and secondly without MB the whole thing just seemed to flow a bit better as was very much Aspects of Love and not the Michael Ball show. I like MB but it is a problem for a lot of actors that later on in their careers it seems hard to see their characters rather than simply them. EP was similar towards the end of her time on stage. Dave Willets did have a vague ac-TOR feel about him and seemed to deliver every line with a flourish of his hand. He also rolls his Rs something shocking and constantly sounds like he needs to clear his throat. But still has a fantastic singing voice and you can see why he's been such a legend in big roles over the years. His George is also slightly more faithful to Georges of days gone by as this ageing distinguished lothario. I mean I guess he has played it before. He is MUCH older than Rose and Guilietta though and if anyone was gonna get the over mentioned "ick" I'd suggest the implied threesome scene is more guilty than any of the Jenny stuff.

Speaking of Jenny I really noticed this time that older Jenna is sensational. Pitch perfect and a fantastic actress, Anna Unwin is wonderful. She gives everything in the second half of Act 2. It's clearly directed to be much older than precious incarnations (discussed ad infinitum already) but she certainly plays it as a grown woman. In fact I reflected that younger Jenny is played older too and would have passed for older Jenny in previous productions.

Danielle de Niese. I mean, am not sure what I think. She's really not how Giulietta is in my mind, but there is certainly something about her. She's serving camp icon. Well, am not sure what she's doing, but she's 100% committed to it and am kind of buying it. At the curtain call she seemed to somehow be acting as if she was the lead of the whole piece. And was also mouthing things to some people in the audience (friends I assume). It's unusual but captivating. You can imagine she'd be insanely fabulous/a total nightmare on a night out.

The night belongs to Laura Pitt-Pulford though who is truly sensational as Rose and in many ways is carrying this show. Acts and sings Rose superbly and is there in the conversation that always crops up on Sunset threads as someone who is a pure 'double threat.' Anything But Lonely is the highlight of the night. On Monday she had the last bow at the curtain call which is exactly how it should be.

Set is better from further back (honestly, front of Lyric is awful) and the projections and physical set work better together from there. I still think it looks cheaper than I'd hoped. Some of the painted drapes are nice, some are awful. I hate the Circus scene one. All the faces with black holes for eyes and mouth - it's like something from a horror movie. And the under powering of Hand Me The Wine And The Dice I still find a great shame. In fact the set works best when there is less of it. Anything But Lonely on an almost empty (but totally open) stage was wonderful. And that painted backdrop with the gorgeous deep blues of a night sky is the best of the night IMHO.

The orchestrations sound thin which is odd with the same number (bar one) as the original orchestra. I went through both and the only difference is that the original had piano/celeste AND keyboards with a credit for programming. Current production drops the latter. I really think they should have had some programmed keyboards to add the fuller sound of strings playing together which the violin/viola/cello could then play solo lines on top of. This is what Phantom, Les Mis and most other musicals do these days (and what Aspects did in 1989). Other non string dominant sections could also do with more oomph that a second keyboard/synth would provide. Perhaps it was a choice to go more "natural" but I think fuller would have been better. Personal taste.

Anyway, there we are. Still a fantastic musical, my second fave ALW score and I'll probably go three more times. It seems to be selling so poorly however I am a bit worried it won't complete it's run. Really hope it does. 

Speaking of Ms De Niese. Has anyone else noticed that she’s the only character who doesn’t noticeably seem to age in Act Two. All the other characters have older looking hair and in Bogyo’s case some very dodgy looking stubble and talcy hair whereas Giulietta maybe has some aging portrait in the loft and stays the same the whole way through. Very odd.

Our ageless Queen. Imagine she had it written into her contract before she’d sign. #IconBehaviour

(Think I’m obsessed 😱).

Totally agree with you, it is one of the more niche shows for ALW fans. And whilst I am pessimistic about chances of a recording it certainly would be lovely. I will always love the score. And I'll always enjoy the story, even if it hasn't "aged" that well.

Yes, certainly Sunset was the last of the ALW "smash hits" in London really. As you say he was still at his marketing peak and Whistle had a huge launch with the pop versions CD etc.  Think it ran for just 2.5 years in the end, a big hit for anyone other than what ALW was used to at that time. Then Beautiful Game onwards were much more modest affairs. 

Yes you’re right. Didn’t it famously lose money on Broadway despite one of the biggest advances ever?! Still feel was a bigger “hit” than Whistle though and gained more ongoing traction.

Whistle’s London staging was also impressive, but really I think Sunset was the last of the mega musicals in the pure sense.

Finally saw this tonight. A 5 star production of a 3 and a half star musical.

Nimax website now shows 19 August as the end date too.

Sad for the cast. I despair at what passes for "popular" in the West End, especially since the pandemic.

(plays still continue to offer something meaty and adult orientated, but nearly every successful musical has to have family appeal or it's doomed to fail)

For me, the best days of the West End have definitely passed.

Agreed. It was flailing and giving way to jukebox and endless screen to stage transfers throughout the past decade. I've looked back and realised that at around half the musicals I saw in London in the 2010's were small "off West End" productions. 

I think people sometimes overestimate his appeal.

It needs to be the right show I think. He is known these days for his cheesy personality so hairspray fits that well, and is a well known show. Les mis is les mis. Aspects is lesser known. Once his hard-core fanbase have seen it then its reliant on getting the general public in.

The musical he did at ENO years back also flopped from memory.