Moulin Rouge! The Musical

 

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Piccadilly Theatre, 2025.

Cast: Natalie Kassanga, Dom Simpson, Craig Ryder, Dex Lee, Ben Richards, Ivan de Freitas, Charlotte Gooch, Hannah Jay-Allan, Helen K Wint, Matteo Johnson, Bernadette Bangura, Angela Marie Hurst, Athena Collins, Dean Read, Gavin Ryan, Oliver Adam-Reynolds, Kaiyah Bailey, Erin Bell, Emily Bolland, Ross Chisari, James Davies-Williams, Katie Dracon, Serenar Douch, Rola Elliott, Myles Hart, Grace Hawksworth, Maiya Hikasa, Melvin Leblanc, Tom Mather, Kira McPherson, Paul Mukembo, Ben Rutter, Mark Samaras, Jamie Shields, Catrin Thomas, Lindsay Tierney, Alex Tranter, Matt Trevorrow, Kevin Tristan, Ben Whitnall, Sasha Woodward.

Book: John Logan

Director: Alex Timbers

I probably wouldn't have gone to see this if the boyfriend hadn't wanted to go, and that would have been a shame as it was really entertaining. I liked the film when it came out but Baz Luhrmann has made increasingly vacuous films since then. But this really works as it does a similar sort of "immersive" thing to the current run of Cabaret, although not to the same extent. It did feel like our decent seats in the stalls were in the thick of it. Really entertaining and good fun.

Into the Woods

 

Into the Woods, Bridge Theatre, 2025.

Cast: Valda Aviks, Geoffrey Aymer, Katie Brayben, Bella Brown, Chumisa Dornford-May, Kate Fleetwood, Jo Foster, Michael Gould, Jennifer Hepburn, Hana Ichijo, Julie Jupp, Gabrielle Lewis-Dobson, Gracie McGonigal, Hughie O'Donnell, Jamie Parker, Oliver Savile, Rhys Whitfield.

Music & lyrics: Stephen Sondheim

Book: James Lapine

Director: Jordan Fein

I was very excited about this, the first big London revival of a Sondheim show since his death, and one of my favourites (I think this was the fourth production I've seen of it). It was a really good production, a really solid four stars, but not the production by which all future productions will be judged against. It looked amazing - the trees seemed real - and the whole staging was great, as was the singing. I wish they'd do less serious drama at the Bridge and more fun stuff like this.

Here We Are

 

Here We Are, Lyttelton Theatre, 2025.

Cast: Tracie Bennett, Jack Butterworth, Chumisa Dornford-May, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Richard Fleeshman, Harry Hadden-Paton, Cameron Johnson, Rory Kinnear, Jane Krakowski, Denis O'Hare, Martha Plimpton, Paula Szot, Edward Baker-Duly, Alastair Brookshaw, Amira Matthews, Steven Serin.

Book: David Ives

Music & lyrics: Stephen Sondheim

Director: Joe Mantello

Sondheim's last, and slightly unfinished work, gets the full National Theatre experience with an amazing set and unbelievably good cast. They do their best but they can't make up for the fact that it doesn't make sense and is a bit silly. Now I think it's time to revisit the classics and put the oddities back in a cupboard.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

 

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Minerva Theatre, 2025.

Cast: Jack Wolfe, Jenna Russell, Mark Addy, Ralph Birtwell, Sharon Rose, Madeleine Worrall, Amy Booth-Steel, Don Gallagher, Tarinn Callender, Timo Tatzber, Ben Redfern, Jacqueline Hughes, Nell Martin, Anu Ogunmefun.

Book: Rachel Joyce

Music & lyrics: Passenger

Director: Katy Rudd

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the book this was based on, and the two others which went with it, as they could easily be described as a bit twee. But I found them moving and sweet and funny. This was the same and inevitably it made me cry. The wife is still a bit tricky, forced to be miserable at home while he husband wanders off, and maybe the actors were a bit young for the roles, but it really is a lovely piece of work.

The Frogs

 

The Frogs, Southwark Playhouse Borough, 2025.

Cast: Dan Buckley, Kevin McHale, Joaquin Pedro Valdes, Carl Patrick, Bart Lambert, Martha Pothen, Alison Driver, Milo McCarthy, Evonnee Bentley-Holder, Jo Foster.

Written and adapted by Aristophanes, Burt Shevelove, Nathan Lane.

Music & lyrics: Stephen Sondheim

My attempt to see all of Sondheim's stuff - not impossible, there's not as much of it as you'd think - took me to this early and obscure (to me, at least) work. Silly and fun but completely forgettable. Kevin McHale was in Glee and was an unlikely actor to find in a small theatre in South London (he was good though).

Richard II

 

Richard II, Bridge Theatre, 2025.

Cast: Jonathan Bailey, Olivia Popica, Clive Wood, Michael Simkins, Royce Pierreson, Vinnie Heaven, Amanda Root, Gerard Monaco, Jordan Kouamé, Adam Best, Badria Timimi, Phoenix Di Sebastiani, Christopher Osikanlu Colquhoun, Seamus Dillane, George Taylor, Emma Bown, Stephen Boyce, Martin Carroll.

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Nicholas Hytner

The second time I've seen this, the previous time was with David Tennant at the Barbican. There's something about this play and hot youngish actors (at the same time someone of that description was doing it on Broadway). It's a pity that the play is nonsense and I couldn't wait for it to end.

Jonathan Bailey, who at the time had just been described as the hottest man on the planet or something, was good, very energetic, very watchable. The staging was great, but none of it makes up for the fact that I just didn't like the play.

The Importance of Being Earnest

 

The Importance of Being Earnest, Lyttelton Theatre, 2025.

Cast: Ronke Adekoluejo, Julian Bleach, Sheereener Browne, Richard Cant, Sharon D Clarke, Ncuti Gatwa, Jasmine Kerr, Amanda Lawrence, Gillian McCafferty, Elliot Pritchard, Eliza Scanlen, Hugh Skinner, John Vernon.

Writer: Oscar Wilde

Director: Max Webster

When this was announced I rolled my eyes. Do we really need any more productions of Oscar Wilde's plays? Didn't the season where they did them all to very lukewarm reviews finish them off for a while? Apparently not. The reason for seeing this was Ncuti Gatwa, making his first appearance post Doctor Who, and he was good although both Sharon D Clarke and Hugh Skinner were better. I probably laughed more at this than anything I had seen in a very long time. I really should have seen the transfer that included Stephen Fry as Lady Bracknell. But I'm still of the opinion that Wilde should be staged sparingly.