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5 Off West End shows of 2019
Lorna
Dalla – Crazy Coqs Cabaret
Lorna
Dallas is a West End star who having taken 20 years away from the limelight
some may not recognise but in this ninety-minute cabaret she gives us every
reason to rediscover her and enjoy her fabulous soprano voice and delightful
story telling. Her song choices, arrangements and perfect delivery are an
absolute joy. It is a wonderful collection of songs by brilliant lyricists and
composers including Irving Berlin, Kander and Ebb, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern,
Sammy Cahn, Ivor Novello , Anthony Newley and Rogers and Hammerstein II . But
each is given an emotional context by the reminiscences from the different
stages of her home life and from Show Business
Transit-
Underbelly Southbank
The show is presented as a group of friends on a
madcap journey by air as a link to their various spectacular acts. They took
familiar circus acts to new levels as they challenged themselves to do it
bigger and better. They were at their best when they performed as an ensemble
team. A brilliant skipping routine where at times up to three ropes were
spinning within each other was a great demonstration of their skill and timing.
They saved the best to last with the phenomenally exciting Trampo-wall where
four of the male acrobats bounced on a large trampoline and then appeared to
walk up the wall of flight cases to reach the top, perhaps twenty feet above
the ground before acrobatically tumbling back down. This was a Five-star circus
act performed with great skill and fun and it provided a massively entertaining
thrilling seventy-minute show which showed off Canada's greatest export.
Napoli
Brooklyn – Park 200
Theatre can be powerful and emotionally engaging when you have a great script, brilliant cast and a strong production with a strong message for todays’ society. Napoli, Brooklyn was such a production – faultless moving storytelling and a message for all of us to “learn to take people how they are”. Written by a woman, directed by a woman and with a mainly female cast it does not really need the mother to tell us “women are the strongest ones”. We meet the family and find the Italian Mamma, Luda (a wonderful performance from Madeleine Worrall), no longer able to cry even with an onion held against her eye, her emotions suppressed by the powerful towering figure of her bullying husband Nic (a strong gritty performance from Robert Cavanah) and the responsibility for bringing up her three daughters. Each Family member is superbly characterised and played.
Panto
Nativity – Kings Head
This year's Kings Head Christmas offering is the thirteenth Pantomime from the marvellous Charles Court Opera and for once it is a show that fully delivers on the promise of the handbill with a musical that takes " the story that sparked the season to create their most joyous show yet". With a delightfully simple effective set, a fabulous cast of five, some delightful reworking of well-known songs and a real appreciation of both Christmas and Pantomime they have magically produced an upbeat fun adult Pantomime that is a joy from start to finish. They pack the show with witty one liners, blatant innuendos and corny jokes, showcasing the talented cast and providing a fitting show for what the Kings Head must hope is the last Christmas at its spiritual home before it moves to a new building.
Ain’t
Misbeahavin’- Southwark playhouse
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