DIVAS AT THE DONMAR
Review by Mr Gerard
So I was in London this Saturday, and I can sum it up in three words: Great, great, good.
The first "great" comes from the Ruthie Henshall signing, for which I cannot thank the Dress Circle management enough. I had bought the cd the day before, listened to it, and liked it (something Judy Collins could have done, and coming from this Judy Collins fan, that's a compliment indeed). And Ms. Henshall was a real lady, sweet to everyone. Many times, when you meet someone you admired, you're disappointed. Well, this was certainly not the case here. So, thank you, Dress Circle, for making my journey even more enjoyable than I planned it to be.
The second "great": Mamma Mia. What can I say about this musical that hasn't been said before? That's it's a pure two hours of fun? That those songs work perfectly well as stage numbers? That the cast is top notch, from Louise Plowright to Louise Gold (with a special mention to Lesley Nicol)? That it ws the best musical I've seen since 1999 (the RNT production of Oklahoma, with Maureen Lippmann, Hugh Jackman and Shuler Hensley, if you want to know)? And that I had a great time? Most of you agree with me, I'm sure. Mamma Mia is the musical to see when you go to London.
The "Good" came from seeing Michael Ball perform at the Donmar. It was the first live performance I saw of him, and it certainly was an interesting show, with great moments (the money notes were all there, I got a kick out of the Broadway medley which saw him outjolsoning Jolson, and the song "Mother, Father, Goodbye" -I don't know if this is the real title, so that's how I call it - really pulled my heart out, for personal reasons). The song "Is that all there is ?" was both sad and funny, "Life on Mars" was great, and I enjoyed seeing him use every trick he knows to make the songs alive. However, I'm not afraid to admit that he lost me a few times, and that I thought he overdid it a little on some songs, like "Padam Padam" and "What Now My Love". Despite this, his talent made this evening something I will remember for a long time.
One last thing before I close this loooong post, : the Prince Edward had something that I didn't know could exist in a theatre: leg room. For this six feet tall frenchman, that was an unexpected bonus (especially after seating at the Théâtre de la Porte St. Martin, where the poor man seating before had to tell me to remove my knees off his back). And the Donmar (which was suited to the kind of performance Michael Ball did) had ample head room (at least in the circle), so I didn't have to slink in my seat to avoid blocking the view of the people behind me (which was good, because unfortunately, the seats don't have enough butt room, but you can't have everything, can you? ) Anyway, this was a great week-end all around, but it will be a while before I go back there. Maybe a year or so. Hope the West End won't have been turned into a desert by then.