Review by: Paul Towers, 1/11/2017
42nd Street by Michael Stewart & Mark
Bramble
Music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubin
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
“funny, musical and energetic.”
42nd Street, taken from the Warner Brothers’ film
which in turn is based on the book by Bradford Ropes, is the ultimate backstage
musical to end all backstage musicals.
The tenuous story is of an inexperienced hoofer, Betty
Sawyer (here played by the incredibly talented Clare Halse), who gets to go on
for the star, Dorothy Brock (surprisingly played by ex-pop star Sheen Easton),
when she breaks her ankle. In the words of director Julian Marsh (Norman Bowman
in this performance) she has to go out a girl and come back a star! And boy
does she!
Although Sheena Easton is top billed as the ‘name’ it is
Clare Halse who steals the show. This girl can sing, she can dance, she can tap
faster than a machine gun! Her comic timing is spot on and she looks great as
well.
As befits a West End show money has been spent on the
production. There is more sparkle than an entire season of Strictly, more
costume changes than a Kardashian photoshoot and a whole slew of standard, hum-along
songs.
This show is topped and tailed with two amazing routines.
The opening, as the curtain rises, of the entire chorus line tapping is awe
inspiring. While the almost finale where a huge staircase slides forward and
the dancers, clad in sparkly suits, tap their way down in formation is breath
taking.
Along the way there is a great routine that is akin to the
opening of the Muppet show, a large bank of rooms each containing a girl. As
they sing their lights go on and off in
time to their voices. A tribute to the lighting engineer!
Another stand out visual moment is the routine where Dorothy
Brock, in shadow behind a huge back cloth, shadow dances with Pat Denning, the
squeeze she is cheating with behind sugar daddy Abner Dillon’s back.
On top of this there is a great moment in Keep Young and
Beautiful when a large mirror comes down and we are treated to a Busby Berkley
homage. Berkley, of course, was the film’s choreographer.
If you are a fan of big, bold, sparkly musicals (and who isn’t?)
go see 42nd Street before it closes
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