Hello, Dolly!

 

Hello, Dolly!, London Palladium, 2024.

Cast: Imelda Staunton, Andy Nyman, Jenna Russell, Tyrone Huntley, Harry Hepple, Emily Lane, Leo Abad, Craig Armstrong, Lindsay Atherton, Gemma Atkins, Alan Bradshaw, Jabari Braham, Jenni Bowden, Daisy Boyles, Kevin Brewis, Samara Casteallo, Olly Christopher, Brendan Cull, Hayley Diamond, Jacqueline Hughes, Ashless Irish, Jodie Jacobs, Shirley Jameson, Paul Kemble, Emily Langham, Michael Lin, Amira Matthews, Laura Medforth, Matt Overfield, Tom PArtridge, Wendy-Lee Purdy, Edwin Ray, Phil Snowden, Kraig Thornber, Gavin Wilkinson, Liam Wrate.

Book: Michael Stewart

Music & lyrics: Jerry Herman

Director: Dominic Cooke

This was delayed by the pandemic and when it finally arrived it was spectacular but I couldn't help feeling that it was all a bit pointless. Big sets, big cast, great singing, but it all sort of amounted to nothing. I know a lot of people are fond of the show but maybe that wasn't reason enough to bring it back. Also, the arrival of a £12 programme is not something to be celebrated.

Opening Night

 

Opening Night, Gielgud Theatre, 2024.

Cast: Sheridan Smith, Hadley Fraser, Shira Haas, Nicola Hughes, Amy Lennox, John Marquez, Benjamin Walker, Ian McLarnon, Cilla Silvia, Jos Slovick, Rebecca Thornhill, Robert Finlayson, Daniel Forrester, Jennifer Hepburn, Issy Khogali, Chrissie Perkins.

Bookwriter & Director: Ivo Van Hove

Music, lyrics, orchestrations & vocal arrangements: Rufus Wainwright

I've loved Rufus Wainwright so much that I went to New York to see his Judy Garland show. He's incredibly talented but headstrong with it and nobody seems able to say no to him. Least of all his late mother who seems to have encouraged all his nonsense. This musical was rubbish, utter dog shit, and I shouldn't have been surprised: there had been the album of sonnets, the two operas (I saw one but was spared the second when it didn't get a run here), and even a requiem. Who writes a requiem now? Who even wants to hear a requiem now? I hope he'll learn his lesson and go back to albums of great songs but that seems increasingly unlikely.

Pericles

 

Pericles, RSC Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 2024.

Cast: Alfred Enoch, Philip Bird, Sam Parks, Sasha Ghoshal, Kel Matsena, Emmanuel Olusanya, Felix Hayes, Chyna-Rose Frederick, Miles Barrow, Chukwuma Omambala, Gabby Wong, Leah Haile, Jacqueline Boatswain, Miriam O'Brien.

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Tamara Harvey

So far my only visit to the RSC at Stratford, which I found rather lovely. The play was on my list of things still to be seen, which is what tempted me there, although I think I did spend some of it with my eyes slightly shut. Probably not one of his best works.

The last bag

The last bag. Obviously not the last bag, but by this time I'd started cataloguing and throwing programmes away, so it felt like the last before order arrived. The bag itself came from a cute little shop in Devon and I bought it because I quite fancied the bloke who ran the shop and designed the bag, who inevitably was straight.

Feeling Afraid as if Something Terrible is going to happen

 

Feeling Afraid as if Something Terrible is going to happen, Bush Theatre, 2023.

Cast: Samuel Barnett

Writer: Marcelo Dos Santos

Director: Matthew Xia

I adored this. A one man show about a gay man was always going to be right up my street. Samuel is turning into one of those people who I will see in anything, and have seen him in quite a lot. It was short and funny so I bought the play text and when I read it it was just as good. I sat next to someone famous, possibly Olivia Williams, which made the evening even more exciting. A triumph.

La Cage aux Folles

 

La Cage aux Folles, Regent's Park Open Theatre, 2023.

Cast: Jak Allen-Anderson, Craig Armstrong, Tom Bales, Taylor Bradshaw, Billy Carter, Daniele Coombe, Ben Culleton, Jordan Lee Davies, Nicole Deon, Lewis Easter, Harvey Ebbage, Emma Johnson, Julie Jupp, Shakeel Kimotho, Debbie Kurup, George Lynham, JP McCue, Carl Mullaney, Richard-Kyro Nelson, John Owen-Jones, Sophie Pourret, Alexandra Waite-Roberts, Hemi Yeroham.

Book: Harvey Fierstein

Music & lyrics: Jerry Herman

Director: Tim Sheader

My second visit to the Open Air Theatre as nothing had been on which felt appropriate to the space. This wasn't really either but it was brilliant and then, about ten minutes from the end, the heavens opened and the show was abandoned and we got horribly lost and wet getting out of the park in the dark. I know that's not a memory about the show but it was a fantastic evening.

Beautiful Thing

 

Beautiful Thing, Stratford East, 2023.

Cast: Raphael Akuwudike, Joshua Asaré, Trieve Blackwood-Cambridge, Shvorne Marks, Scarlett Rayner.

Writer: Jonathan Harvey

Director: Anthony Simpson-Pike

I saw the original production, then the twentieth anniversary one, and because I'm so old I saw the thirtieth. I wonder if there will be a fortieth. It's interesting (and inevitable) that my feelings for it have changed as I get further away from the ages of the characters: the first time made me cry all the way home, this time I really appreciated the writing. I think it felt less dated with a black cast as I felt (possibly wrongly) that being gay might be more of a problem in their community. Lovely theatre as well.