A Decade of Musicals 2010-19

The end of the decade is a good time to look back at theatre trips over the last ten years and assess which were the best musicals I've seen. I saw a lot of musicals over the decade and many were good, very good indeed, but didn't have the certain something to get it into this list of favourites. So, in chronological order, here they are...

'Hair' @ The Gielgud Theatre 2010

I first saw 'Hair' in New York on the eve of Snowmageddon in February 2010 and, luckily, virtually the whole company transferred to London for a season at the Gielgud Theatre over the summer of 2010. I saw this joyous musical several times, getting up on the stage to dance with the hippies at the end. Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy, Will Swenson, Alison Case, Kacie Sheik and all those spaced out hippies singing and dancing their hearts out every night was fabulous. I still listen to the cast recording regularly.

'South Pacific' @ The Barbican 2011

I first saw 'South Pacific' on the evening of Snowmageddon in New York in February 2010 and remember floating down Broadway from Lincoln Centre on waves of a tropical love story between Nellie and Emile. I bought the cast recording with Kelli O'Hara singing (the original Nellie) and listen to it regularly. That production transferred to the Barbican for a short season before going on tour so I had to see it.

'The Color Purple' @ Menier Chocolate Factory 2013

This musical introduced me to the fabulous Cynthia Erivo as Celie, the central character in the play. Great acting and an astonishing voice coming out of Cynthia and a great cast generally - I thought their singing voices were so much better that the actors on the cast recording from America. I saw Cythia the following year in the all-woman 'Henry IV' at the Donmar and then in 'Songs For A New World' in 2015 and then she went off to reprise her role as Celie on Broadway and now she's been nominated for two Oscars...

'A Chorus Line' @ The London Palladium 2013

I slightly surprised myself by having 'A Chorus Line' in my top of the decade list but it was a great production. I've never liked the film (or seen it all the way through ) so I came to this production quite new since it's rarely performed - it needs a big stage and that's what the Palladium gives you. Scarlett Strallen played Cassie who utters the immortal line, 'God, I'm a dancer and dancers dance!'.

'Grand Hotel' @ Southwark Playhouse 2015

I first saw 'Grand Hotel' at the Donmar Warehouse in 2004 and fell in love with it's tale of 1930s Germany, Berlin, love and escape. Julian Ovendon played the Baron, Daniel Evans as Mr Kringelein and Mary Elizabeth Mastranatonio as the ballerina. The Southwark production made me fall in love with the musical all over again. Scott Garnham was the Baron, Victoria Serra was Flaemmchen and Valerie Cutko as the maid.

'Kinky Boots' @ The Adelphi Theatre 2015

'Kinky Boots' is the musical of the film of the same name, a tale of friendship and understanding and how red is the colour of sex and you can never have too much heel. I first saw it in preview but had to go back to see it again, a feel-good show with a happy ending, ideal to see after a hard week at work and let your imagination loose.

'Xanadu' @ Southwark Playhouse 2015

Another play I first saw on Broadway before it eventually got a London premier at Southwark Playhouse, 'Xanadu' tells the tale of the 1980s film of the same name with Olivia Newton-John in the main role. The musical is so much better than the film since it's played entirely for laughs, poking affectionate fun at the film and at the '80s, great songs by ELO, sparkles and love (obviously) plus hundreds of disco glitter balls. What more could you ask for? I saw it multiple times.

'The Threepenny Opera' @ The National Theatre 2016

I never thought I'd have a Brecht show in a list of favourites but I loved this production of 'The Threepenny Opera' at the National Theatre, with it's tale of sex and violence, crime and love. It was a new translation by Simon Stephens set in an imaginary time in London at the time of the King's jubilee. Rory Kinnear played Mack the Knife, Haydn Gwynne as Mrs Peachum, Rosalie Craig as Polly (aka Pirate Jenny) and Nick Holder as a menacing Peachum. I loved the wooden rotating set and can't help wonder how much brown paper they got through.

'Follies' @ The National Theatre 2017

There are many ways to do a show and this was a monster of a show, with a huge cast and set, glamour and glitz and the plain awfulness of the 1970s costumes, led by stellar performances by Imelda Staunton and Janie Dee. I loved the simple storytelling and having the young characters on stage whenever their older counterparts took the lead. Failed marriages, disappointing lives, happy lives, depression and almost madness, such a colourful show with some very powerful songs.

'Hamilton' @ The Victoria Palace Theatre 2018

'Hamilton' was laden with so much hype from it's Broadway run when it finally landed in Victoria that it couldn't possibly live up to it but you know what? It did. I avoided all reviews and avoided hearing the cast recording so I could experience it with fresh eyes and ears and was rightly rewarded for my efforts. The thing that really impressed me was the pace and movement in the show - it was never still. Well done people.

'Caroline. or Change' @ Hampstead Theatre 2018

A show I saw purely because Sharon D Clarke was in it, first up at Hampstead and then again when it transferred to the Playhouse. The story of a maid in the south of the USA in the '60s with civil rights going on in the background but Caroline's life revolves around the washing machine, the transistor radio, her children and the white Jewish family she works for. I've seen Sharon in various things over the years and you always get a great performance from her but her big song at the end of this play is truly a show-stopper, a masterclass in how to deliver a song. I'll remember that for a long time.

'Fiddler on the Roof' @ The Playhouse Theatre 2019

I've seen the film (an early '70's Sunday afternoon staple) and a version with Harvey Fierstein as the lead on Broadway years ago but this new production brought the show right up to date. It's a tale of minorities trying to blend in without losing their culture, of forced migration, of what happens to families forced apart. It felt so right for the times. The set spilled off into the audience which was probably much more powerful in the small surroundings of the Menier Chocolate Factory where it was first performed before transferring to the Playhouse.

'The Bridges of Madison County' @ Menier Chocolate Factory 2019

I've never seen the film this musical is based on so I was seeing it afresh when I took my seat at the Choccy Factory in the summer of 2019 - I'd booked it to see Jenna Russell in the lead role. It's the story of Francesca, a war bride who raises her family in small town America and then, out of nowhere, she meets the love of her life but it can't be. It's a tale of joy and sadness, of accepting, of memories, and Jenna was great as our heroine. I loved it.

There could have been so many other entries into this list but these are the stand-outs for me. I couldn't limit it to a top ten since they all deserve a mention. I wonder what joys the 2020s will bring?

The Plastic Bag Awards 2017

It's that time of year again when awards are awarded, winners are overjoyed and losers try to smile through their tears but let's not get sentimental since there can be only one winner (no tied votes here). Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Plastic Bag Awards for 2017, in other words, the Baggies!

Best Theatre - Shakespeare

This has been a poor year for Shakespeare in the Plastic Bag and there are only two nominees in this category. Both are worthy to be nominated but neither were perfect productions.

'Hamlet' at the Almeida Theatre
'The Tempest' at the Barbican Theatre

I liked the new production of 'Hamlet' with Andrew Scott right up until the made-up ending scene and I liked Simon Russell Beale as Prospero and I loved the fluidity of the electronic flying Ariel but it wasn't really all that smooth. So, neither ticked all the boxes, but the Baggie goes to 'Hamlet'.

Best Theatre - Drama

There were some very powerful productions on stage in 2017 and the list of nominees could easily have been expanded but it's limited to five:

'The Glass Menagerie' at the Duke of York's Theatre
'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' at the Harold Pinter Theatre
'The Ferryman' at the Gielgud Theatre
'Angels in America' (both parts) at the National Theatre
'Young Marx' at the Bridge Theatre

Imelda Staunton and Paddy Considine both gave astonishing performances in 'Who's Afraid' and 'Ferryman' respectively and 'Angels' was a great ensemble performance across both parts of the play. 'Menagerie' and 'Marx' both had their great moments in very different types of play. The award must go to 'The Ferryman' for the excellent writing and poetry in the lines, the great performances and the shocks and twists and turns when least expected.

Best Theatre - Musical

The West End still seems to be full of musicals that have been on forever or jukebox musicals but there are still some gems with revivals and even new musicals being written and produced. The nominees are:

'Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill' at Wyndham's Theatre
'The Life' at Southwark Playhouse
'Follies' at the National Theatre
'42nd Street' at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
'Everybody's Talking About Jamie' at the Apollo Theatre

If there was an award for new musical it would go to 'Jamie' and new one full of life and love and and joy but it's up against stiff competition this year. It was great, as always, to see Sharon D Clarke in 'The Life' and be introduced to new talent T'Sham Williams, and Audra McDonald was astonishing in 'Lady Day. However, the winner has to be the great production of 'Follies' at the National Theatre and the excellent performances by Imelda Staunton and Janie Dee.

Best Entertainment

An 'entertainment' is a performance that doesn't really fit into any of the other categories, such as one-man/woman shows, readings and cabaret. There are only three nominations this year:

'Miss Hope Springs' at the Wigmore Halls
'Bent' at the National Theatre
'A Poem for Every Day of the Year' at the National Theatre

The winner was easy to pick for the harrowing and powerful performance of a staged reading of 'Bent' at the National Theatre, a production I won't soon forget.

Best Gig

There was a time when I'd go to a gig a couple of times a month (or more) but these days it's a much rarer thing. There are only three nominations:

Suzanne Vega at the London Palladium
Bananarama at Hammersmith
The Unthanks at the Royal Festival Hall

It is always a joy to see Suzanne Vega play live and last year was the anniversary shows for 'Solitude Standing' and '99.9C' in which she played both albums all the way through. The Unthanks gave a veery moving performance with an orchestra as backing band and there were some astonishing arrangements of their songs. But the Baggie must go to those three mad girls in Bananarama who brought joy to Hammersmith and made us all young again. Keep it up girls!

Best Dance

I saw a lot of dance in 2017, with lots of triple bills of ballets as well as full length performances. Two Wayne McGregor's ('Woolf' and 'Codes') and both were excellent and innovative. Two one-act ballets from separate triple bills at the Royal Opera House really stood out as well as an innovative production of the story of 'Alice'.

'Woolf Works' at the Royal Opera House
'Tree of Codes' at Sadler's Wells
'Rubies' as part of the 'Jewels' triple bill at the Royal Opera House
'Flight Pattern' as part of a triple bill at the Royal Opera House
'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' at the Royal Opera House

The judging panel found this to be a very difficult decision but they were kept locked away until they could hand over an envelope with one title in it. That title was 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' for the astonishing performances, the innovative designs and the sheer wonder and fun of the thing. Well done Royal Ballet!

Best Exhibition

This category was a difficult one to narrow down the nominees from the large number of really good exhibitions visited this year, but here are the final nominations:

'Revolution: Russian Art 1917 - 1932' at the Royal Academy
'Michelangelo & Sebastiano' at the National Gallery
'Raphael: The Drawings' at the Ashmolean Museum
'Lawrence Alma-Tadema: At Home In Antiquity' at Leighton House Museum
'Cézanne Portraits' at Musee D'Orsay and the National Portrait Gallery

It was great to see artists whose works I;m very familiar with next to those of artists I've never heard of before and wondering why not? Seeing classics from the High Renaissance and revolutionary works from the last century and then seeing painting after painting by an artist who hasn't had his own exhibition in over 30 years. So much to see and wonder at. However, the Baggie goes Mr Cezanne and his portraits of family and friends that I saw both at Musee D'Orsay and at the National Portrait Gallery.

Best Film

Given the many different film genres it's probably unfair to try to compare films showing wild leaps of imagination next to documentaries but there's only one category for film I'm afraid. The nominees are:

'La La Land'
'Wonder Woman'
'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2'
'Here To Be Heard: The Story of The Slits'
'Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World'

'La La Land' was a joy and a sadness, 'Wonder Woman' was an inspiration and 'Guardians' was just daft fun. 'The Slits' told a story I was partially familiar with but from a different perspective and 'Rumble' told a story I wasn't familiar with at all and I learned so much from it. The winner has to be 'Here To Be Heard: The Story of The Slits' because I go back so many years with those women. Well done!

And there you have it, the Baggies for 2017! I wonder what 2018 will be like?

'Follies' at the National Theatre

We went back to see Stephen Sondheim's 'Follies' at the National Theatre again the other evening - we'd seen it in preview with a few technical niggles so it was good to see it in its more finished form. It was great! It's such a well-constructed piece of story-telling and a musical that it can't really fail when done right and the National Theatre is certainly doing it right. It's on the big Olivier stage and it works its magic to great applause.

'Follies' is about life and love, about growing old and growing apart, about hopes and dreams - youthful and those belonging to a more advanced age - and about personal stories intertwined to tell a bigger tale.

It's 1971 and the night before an old New York theatre is about to be pulled down and become an office block. The theatre used to hold the Weismann's Follies spectaculars between the wars and, as a farewell, Mr Weismann has invited his old leading ladies back for a last party. It's a chance to relive the old days, for old friends and rivals to meet and remember when they were young and for old loves to emerge. It's a theatre of ghosts and dreams that we see to start the show, the younger selves of our leading ladies in all the glamour and glitzy costumes as they grace the stage before the 1971 reality hits.

The core of the story belongs to Sally and Buddy and to Phyllis and Ben who were friends before the war and married their respective spouses and went their separate ways. Sally and Phyllis were in the Follies show and Buddy and Ben were their suitors who used to come to the theatre after the performance to take their girls dancing. We gradually learn that neither couple have had it easy and that Sally still has an unhealthy love for Ben who used to play around with her behind Phyllis's back. Buddy knows, but can't help loving Sally. Throughout the show, whenever we see the 50 year old leads we also see their 20 year old younger selves somewhere in the shadows, watching and reliving their experiences. It works really well.

This is the case for the whole cast - whenever we see the 1971 version of them their young version  is also on stage. It's a trick that works really well, reminding us that these 'old ladies' were once glamorous but that life passes us all by. And the ladies also have their stories to tell. We have the Parisian chanteuse who uses her former Broadway fame to sell cosmetics, the dancing couple who set up a dance studio, the vamp who went on to star in films and now has her own TV show but still lives it up. There are some great performances in these vignettes into other lives and it all works very well indeed.

One of my favourites was seeing Heidi as Miss 1918 who had a song written for her by some famous composer in Vienna (who she can't quite recall) and the stage goes silent as her 1971 self sings the song in her operatic soprano, later joined by her 1918 self. It's a song of love long gone, of lovers parting and wanting just one more kiss, one more attempt at life. It's a great moment and gets a huge reaction from the audience. It's even more special since we have a genuine opera star on the stage playing the role in Dame Josephine Barstow who used to sing lead with the Royal Opera.

Another great sequence was when the 'girls' perform one of their old numbers involving both singing and dancing and, understandably, their younger selves take over the dancing after a while. Dawn Hope leads this section with style, grace, a big voice and excellent timing.

It always circles back to our main players of the two couples, all of whom have their star moments (or two). One of my favourites from this show is 'In Buddy's Eyes' sung by Sally about how the husband she doesn't really love still sees her as a young and perfect princess despite being married for 30 years. It's such a lovely song and I grew to love it through Barbara Cook's version of the song. In this production it's sung by Imelda Staunton who plays Sally. She also gets to sing another 'biggie' later in the show, 'Losing My Mind'. It's good to see where and how this song fits into the show and we can see that she's been losing her mind for a long time, sadly.

Janie Dee, our other leading lady, plays Phyllis and she gets her own big songs and an extended dance sequence and my favourite of hers was 'How Could I leave You?' sung after an argument with husband Ben who asks for a divorce. It's a very clever song and Janie pulls it off excellently. She also exhausts by watching her energetic dancing in 'The Story of Lucy and Jessie' which she dances with her younger self.

Philip Quast and Peter Forbes play our leading men, Ben and Buddy respectively. They get their own songs both together and alone, old friends who met their wives when they were showgirls at that theatre. Ben suave as the former diplomat and Buddy the clown who still loves Sally despite having a mistress when he's out on the road. I particularly liked Buddy's 'The Right Girl' about the two women in his life when he realises that he doesn't love the right girl for him.

I also liked Ziti Strallen as the young Phyllis who yearns to be worthy of Ben and, later, outshines him. I also liked Leisha Mollyneaux who played young Stella (Dawn Hope's character), particularly for her dancing behind the mature Stella reflecting her arm movements in reverse - that must've been incredibly difficult to get right but she performs it really well.

The set looked like the demolition of the theatre had already started but, as it moved around and created larger spaces its versatility became obvious. The glamour of the show rests with the young ghosts of the past as they sing and dance in their glitzy costumes and outlandish headdresses - it's odd that all the fancy costumes are worn by the chorus rather than the lead characters but it works.

This really is an excellent show and, if you can get tickets, grab them with both hands.

'Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf' at the Harold Pinter Theatre

Last week we went to see 'Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf' at the Harold Pinter Theatre. I've never seen the play and only seen the start of the film - I give up shortly after the shooting starts - so I know it's a bit shouty but that's it. I didn't realise there were some really funny bits as well as squirm-inducing bits. I squirmed more than once. I didn't expect to like this play but I did and that's down to the play, to the actors and to the production as a whole.

The play is about George and Martha, a middle aged couple, and their dysfunctional marriage and is set in their rather shabby living room with a drinks trolley that never stops giving. I don't think it's humanly possible to drink as much as they did and not fall over in a coma, but they make it through to the end. Martha announces she's invited the new maths professor (who keeps reminding them his subject is biology) and his wife over for a night-cap much to George's annoyance since it's late at night and he wants to go to bed, not entertain strangers.

There's a lot of banter and joking, and getting in little digs at each other in front of their guests and it's gradually ramped up to become more vicious, each trying to out manoeuvre each other and get in the best jibe. This isn't a marriage, it's open warfare, especially when Martha changes and starts to seduce the new professor in front of George while he sits with the professor's wife and watches before getting angry. Can it get any worse? O yes, easily.

We're not really watching the breakdown of a marriage so much as the disintegration of two people who stay together for some unexplained reason. Unexplained until the end, that is.

It's a really powerful play with some deeply uncomfortable scenes and the strangest resolution at the end that left feeling sorry for those horrendous characters. Conleth Hill was a bit of a surprise with his poise and great timing, his passive aggressiveness a great foil for Imelda Staunton as shouty Martha. The night belongs to Imelda though, who gives us an exhaustingly intense performance of a middle aged woman out of control in her own world. She gave a truly astonishing performance and I have no idea how she can possibly do that night after night.

If you haven't seen it then you should - something like this doesn't get staged in the West End everyday.

'Gypsy' at the Savoy Theatre

Last years' season at Chichester included three great musicals - 'Amadeus' (with Rupert Everett), 'Guys and Dolls' (with Sophie Thompson) and 'Gypsy' (with Imelda Staunton). The only production to transfer to London is 'Gypsy' which has just opened for a limited season at the Savoy Theatre on the Strand. Imelda still leads the cast (and has pride of place on the poster) but Herbie is now played by Peter Davison rather than Kevin Whateley. I have to report that Dr Who can do many things but either he had a terribly sore throat or he can't sing (I suspect the latter, but Herbie doesn't need to sing so that's ok).

It's the same production as in Chichester (and I blogged here) but on a smaller scale since the Savoy doesn't have the vast expanse of stage as Chichester. No less energy in the performances, of course, despite having done the matinee that afternoon. You'd never have guessed.

As you probably know, it's the tale of a stage-mother who is tirelessly driven to make her daughter June a star, the star she wanted to be herself but the moment passed her by. We see the same old, tired act again and again as the children grow up and move from town to town and vaudeville theatre to theatre. And then they have their big break with a shot at Broadway but the theatre only wants June, not the rest of the act or the mother and they turn it down. Then June runs off with one of the dancers after getting secretly married and setting up their own act. So Mama Rose turns her attention to her older daughter, Louise, to make her the star instead of June.

They end up in a burlesque theatre with strippers and that's where Gypsy Rose Lee is born when Rose insists Louise (played by Lara Pulver) does the strip when the booked stripper is arrested since it means she will bow out of the business as a star. A hesitant Louise does the strip by simply removing a glove and then goes on to become the star her mother always wanted, as the most highly pay stripper in the business. Without Rose. And that leads to Rose's eventual breakdown on stage with her name in lights and the crowd on its feet applauding the latest and greatest star in Mama Rose. But it's all fantasy and she walks off to a party with her newly reconciled daughter, walking into the lights off-stage. Phew! What a roller coaster that fully deserved the standing ovation at the end.

It's a great production of a great show and is a perfect showcase for Imelda Staunton, particularly her big songs that close both halves - 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' and 'Rose's Turn'. Imelda captures the fire and passion of ambition and blasts it out at the audience in an astonishing performance that reveals so much of her character, of the pain of being in the background and trying to push forward to reach her dreams. She won't give up on her dreams despite losing the man she loves and her daughters along the way. A portrait in tenacity.

If you can, go and see this show and see Imelda's career-defining performance. It's only on for a couple of months so book tickets now. Anita Dobson and Brian May enjoyed it too - they were sitting along the row from us and I bet Brian was itching to get out his guitar and join in with a solo.

'Taken At Midnight' at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

'Taken At Midnight' is a new play by Mark Hayhurst and has transferred from Chichester straight into one of the posher venues of the West End. It's nice to have a new play to see - we could do with more really - and even nicer to have the lead role designed exclusively for a more mature woman. How many of them do you get for the pound these days? In this case, the mature woman is Penelope Wilton who created the role in Chichester last summer.  Last years' season at Chichester was excellent  and it's nice to see this transfer to the West End, along with 'Gypsy' with that immense performance from Imelda Staunton which opens shortly at the Savoy. I'm seeing that in April.

I've seen Penelope in a few plays over recent years - 'Hamlet', 'Bernarda Alba' and 'John Gabriel Borkman', none of them laugh a minute musical extravaganzas. Penelope seems to have a different persona entirely on telly and in film - the loving wife and mother, slightly dizzy and wanting to please. She showed both sides in the 'Marigold Hotel' film a couple of years ago and I always remember her performance turning into a zombie in 'Shawn of the Dead', so similar to but a million miles from her role in 'Ever Decreasing Circles' decades ago. Suffice it to say I like seeing Penelope Wilton on stage - you never know what you're going to get but she will be good. She should be our next theatrical dame.

'Taken at Midnight' is the tale of German lawyer Hans Litten in the 1930s who prosecuted the Nazi SA thugs who terrorised left wingers in the early '30s. At one memorable trial he summoned Adolf Hitler to the witness stand and tore into him. He won the case, obviously, but Hitler had a long memory (and, I assume, a big notebook for all the names). The night the Reichstag burned down he was conveniently put into protective custody for his own sake and not detained in a prison but in a concentration camp. No-one in the play bats an eyelid at the term 'concentration camp' because it had a different meaning after the Nazi's use of the term. We follow him from camp to camp until he ends up in Dachau where he's classified as a Jew and where he manages to hang himself to escape his constant tormentors.

But it's not really about Hans, it's about his mother - and, by extension, the mothers of all the 'disappeared' over the years. Hans' disappearance forces her to deal directly with the gestapo and she makes no secret of the fact that she will annoy them and continue to annoy them until she speaks to someone who has real information about her son. And she does. As the years pass by her relationship with the gestapo officer develops - but she never trusts him - and it's quite a shock the first time she greets him after a few years with the Nazi salute and a shouted 'heil Hitler'. That made me do a double-take.

 She eventually gets to see her son at Dachau where she pleads with him to give the Nazi's what they want since 'the time to be brave is over'. She wants her son to live and, seeing him enter hobbling and with misshapen legs, she knows he can't have long to live without some kind of major intervention. She shouts at the threatening guards who don't want her near their prisoner but she moves her chair near so she can grasp his hands and plead. But to no avail. He's been through too much now to allow himself to weaken and he reminds his mother how she brought up him and his brothers, to tell the truth and be true to themselves.

The set is very simple with the front of the stage simply a wooden floor that, with the addition of a desk and some chairs, can be a living room or a gestapo office. The back of the stage is the prison area, bare with a chair or a bed depicting an interrogation room or a cell. The lighting did it all really, with shadows projecting all over, subdued one minute and then bright for a summers day. It was very impressive. And that's how the play ended, with Hans recollecting the trial with Hitler only to stride off as his shadow loomed only to turn into a shadow of a man being hanged.

It was a very impressive play, particularly Penelope Wilton as Irmgard, Hans' mother, who played to full-on and not willing to take any crap from the gestapo officers she dealt with. Don't mess with me, her attitude shouts, not a soft and complaint woman, but a woman of power and character with some standing in the society that slowly vanishes. Martin Hutson was great a Hans and, when he entered the final scene to meet his mother I couldn't believe the silhouette of his broken body was him. All the performances were excellent.

This play is well worth seeing, for the performances as well as for  story we shouldn't allow to be forgotten. Penelope and Martin were both great and touching and the spare set is something to behold in the different lighting shots. Go and see it if you've got the time.

'Gypsy' at Chichester Festival Theatre

It should always be a bit of an event to go to the theatre, even more so when it's preceded by a 1.5 hours train journey to get to the town the theatre is in. The latest production at Chichester Festival Theatre is 'Gypsy', one of the big musicals, particularly when it stars Imelda Staunton and Kevin Whately.

I've only seen 'Gypsy' once before and that was on Broadway six years ago with Patti LuPone as Mama Rose. We saw it shortly after the opening night so it was still in the excited stage of the production before it settled down. The Chichester production has been on for a few weeks now so felt nicely established.

'Gypsy' is built around the legend of Gypsy Rose Lee, the queen of burlesque. But it's not really about Gypsy at all, it's all about Rose, the driven show-biz mum who wants her daughters to become stars, first June and then Louise, and it's Louise who makes it as Gypsy. I remember not being too keen on the character of Rose when I first saw her in New York but Imelda brings a layer of humanity, of hope, to the role that makes the character more attractive (but still not terribly likeable). There's something about the three leads that makes this particular show a pleasure - they work well together. Rose, Herbie her agent and lover and elder daughter Louise, make a nice package.

Rose pushes her daughters around the vaudeville circuit of theatres in the hopes of striking it big and, as they age, she keeps the show the same, forcing them to be perpetual children. My favourite scene of the ensemble section is when we see the passing of the years happen in front of us with a strobe light on the players dancing as the children are replaced by adults. That's a great scene, and we're introduced to the young adults that grew out of those children.

Rose, of course, keeps pushing until Baby June elopes with one of the young men and after a brief moment of not knowing what to do, she instantly focuses her full attention on Louise who will now be the star. The drive and focus are quite frightening in a way and Imelda delivered a magnificent 'Everything's Coming Up Roses', throwing herself into the song and her acting credentials coming into play to make this a performance to remember. The intensity was astonishing as she stood tall and declared that she would not be beaten, even by her own daughter. This was a stunning end to the first half and had the audience clapping and hollering for more. And more was to come.

The second half introduces us to the troupe led by Louise, how she becomes Gypsy and how she loves every minute of her new life. From an accidental booking into a burlesque theatre Louise becomes Gypsy Rose Lee, the world famous stripper who keeps everyone guessing.

This all comes about when Rose overhears the theatre manager talking about a star spot for a stripper and she volunteers her daughter to take the place, arguing that they can then leave the burlesque with their heads high since they left as stars rather than as flops. This is a move too far for Herbie who leaves as he and Rose were due to be married and Louise becomes Gypsy. And Gypsy becomes a star. She has one of the best sequences from going on stage for the first time, nervous and unsure, to gradually gaining confidence and more sparkly frocks to eventually ruling the roost as a star. Lara Pulver was great as Louise, moving effortlessly from duckling to swan.

The final song is 'Rose's Turn' when Rose finally strides out on stage as herself, not living through her daughters, and belts out the song. It's easy to confuse what's going on in that song, most of which is happening in Rose's head but we're clapping away at the end as she takes her bows and then we realise she's bowing to an empty theatre, with Gypsy clapping from the wings. It's a powerful scene as mother and daughter reconcile themselves to each other - at least for the moment - and walk off stage arm in arm.

The cast were excellent, particularly Imelda Staunton who brought a hideous humanity to the driven character of Rose. She gave her all in her big songs and she gives trained singers a run for their money. Would I rather see Patti LuPone as Rose? No, give me Imelda any day! The sheer ferocity of 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' was astonishing.

Kevin Whately was lovely as Herbie, the man who can be pushed and pushed but only pushed so far. I'm very familiar with Kevin on telly but have never seen him on stage before - he ought to do more live theatre. I also liked Lara Pulver as Gypsy bringing a nice charm to the role as she grows in confidence and seems to get taller (probably the shoes!) as well as more elegant. I loved the three strippers with a gimmick!

Well done to everyone involved in this production - it's a great show! It's only on for another week but here's hoping for a West End transfer. I think London is ready for Rose again.