Sue Townsend's The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 the musical

Sue Townsend's The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 the musical, Menier Chocolate Factory, 2017. 

Cast: Kelly Price, Dean Chisnall, John Hopkins, Lara Denning, Gay Soper, Barry James, Benjamin Lewis/Ilan Galkoff/Samuel Menhinick, Jason Rennie/Callum McDonald/Connor Davies, Amir Wilson/Edward Hooper/Max Robson, Asha Banks/Georgia Pemberton/Lara Wollington.

Book and lyrics: Jake Brunger

Music and lyrics: Pippa Cleary

Director: Luke Sheppard

Clumsy title! I loved the book this is based on and really should read it again sometime soon. But I don't remember much about this. I'm sure I enjoyed it but unexpectedly it had no life after this run. Every time I come across a programme for the Menier I feel like I ought to go back soon but they no longer seem to have anything on that appeals - I think Covid knocked the wind out of their sails and somehow they're no longer the exciting theatre they used to be.

Beautiful The Carole King Musical

Beautiful The Carole King Musical, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2017.

Cast: Bronté Barbé, Kane Oliver Parry, Amy Ellen Richardson, Matthew Gonsalves, Carol Royle, Adam Howden, Leigh Lothian, Merryl Ansah, Lauren Byrne, Matthew Elliot-Campbell, Khalid Daley, Jessica Joslin, Esme Laudat, Emma Lucia, Grant McConvey, Jacob Mcintosh, Paige Miller, Matt Mills, Simeon Montague, Ben Morris, David O'Mahony, Sarah Webb.

Book: Douglas McGrath

Words and music: Garry Goffin & Carole King, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil

Director: Marc Bruni

There ought to be some punctuation after "Beautiful" - a comma or semi-colon surely, because if you right it down with all the words on one line it needs it!

 I was aware of Carole King but doubt I could have remembered the names of any of her songs because they're the kind of songs that have become standards, that just sort of always existed. And I knew even less about her life. I do remember being impressed by this - by the quality of the cast and the whole production.

Romeo & Juliet

Romeo & Juliet, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2017.

Cast: Victoria Blunt, Peter Dukes, Aruhan Galieva, Rebecca Lee, Emma McDonald, Offue Okegbe, Lauryn Redding, Jamie Satterthwaite, Mike Slader, Stuart Wilde.

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Paul Hart

I wonder if I didn't go to see Twelfth Night because I felt like I'd seen it enough, which is ironic as Romeo & Juliet is very high on the list of Shakespeare's plays that I never want to see again. I'm curious about things that do it a bit differently: Matthew Bourne's dance version, the musical & Juliet, but have no need for a "straight" version of this again. In my memory this was set in an Irish pub which might be the worst idea ever.

A Murder is Announced

A Murder is Announced, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2017.

Cast: Louise Jameson, Janet Dibley, Tom Butcher, Sarah Thomas, Dean Smith, Lucy Evans, Cara Chase, Alicia Ambrose-Bayly, Lydia Piechowiak, Jog Maher, Will Huntington, Matthew Wellman.

Writer: Agatha Christie

Adapted by: Leslie Darbon

Director: Michael Lunney 

I expect I enjoyed this as it's based on a good book and it's always good to see Miss Marple but looking at the programme I can't help thinking it deserved a better production with a more well-known cast. Definitely ripe for another version.

Funny Girl

Funny Girl, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2017

Cast: Natasha J Barnes, Darius Campbell, Nigel Barber, Zoe Ann Bown, Martin Callaghan, Jennifer Harding, Rachel Izen, Joshua Lay, Myra Sands, Rhianne Alleyne, Kit Benjamin, Lloyd Davies, Flora Dawson, Joseph Dockree, Abigayle Honeywill, Bronte Lavine, David McIntosh, Peter Nash, Gillian Parkhouse, Tom Partridge, Nova Skipp, Alexandra Waite- Roberts, Sam Wingfield, Alexandra Wright.

Composer: Jule Styne

Lyricist: Bob Merrill

Book: Isobel Lennart

Revised book: Harvey Fierstein

Director: Michael Mayer

I wonder if there wasn't a kind of hysteria around Sheridan Smith's appearance in the revival that prompted this tour, including her very public breakdown, that got this a bit more publicity (and therefore a tour) that perhaps it didn't deserve. I saw her in it and my recollection is that it was good but surely Gypsy which was revived around the same time, and with a similar plot, felt a lot better. I wonder if this will get revived again in the not too distant future, or will there be better things that deserve the attention?

Real Thing

Real Thing, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2017.

Cast: Adam Jackson-Smith, Rebecca Johnson, Laurence Fox, Flora Spencer-Longhurst, Kit Young, Venice Van Someren, Santino Smith.

Writer: Tom Stoppard

Director: Stephen Unwin

It's a bit of a shock finding Laurence Fox in a box under your bed. I knew I'd seen him in this because I remember liking it. One of the things that people say about him now he's a racist fascist is that he was a shit actor but I don't remember him being shit in this, but that isn't meant to sound like defending him. I seem to remember the set had a lot of wood on it and a statement chair. Perhaps he played a writer and it was the equivalent of Noel Coward's Present Laughter or perhaps I'm just making that all up.