LONDON TRIP REVIEWS

July 98

On my annual trip (though this is in fact my second trip this year, as last year and the year before…) to the West End, I saw 7 shows in 4 days (which IS enough !!!).

I saw Cats, Miss Saigon, Whistle Down the Wind and both Phantom and Les Miz twice. These are said to be the blockbuster musical megahits, but I saw them all again for a special reason: mostly for the starring actors but in case of Whistle just for the show (with special interest for Lottie Mayor of course !).

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (Mon. 13/07/98 and Wed. 15/07/98)

"At this performance the role of the Phantom will be played by John Capes".

"John who ?", you'll ask. Well, it is the same question I asked myself, when I had planned my trip to London to see Glyn Kerslake as the Phantom. John Capes wasn't even mentioned in the program, but I found out he had understudied Valjean on Broadway.

I was very disappointed not to see Glyn (I did not even see him 2 days later at the matinee), as I found out he was ill. John Capes isn't a real star, and he joined the London production only recently. I can tell you, it really showed !

His "Mirror" scene was very weak and he had no stage presence whatsoever. The title song wasn't bad, but I was somewhat distracted by Shona Lindsay's (Christine) wrong lipping of the recorded tracks. John's "Music of the Night" was very choreographed (it IS a number in which you don't have much artistic freedom as an actor, but this time it was very clear how the director had taught the movements). I noticed some hesitations in John's singing, which were ironed out a bit when I saw him again 2 days later. He still had obvious troubles with the high A flat notes…

Speaking of the high notes: Shona's "Think of Me" wasn't good at all; in fact the finale to the song was more of a disappointment. Mike Sterling played Raoul on both occasions, which he did rather well, but he has the tendency to overact quite a bit, which sadly is also the case for Shona.

Meg was played by Natasha Knight, who does it rather good, but alas without any freshness…

On both performances the role of André was played by swing John Langley (who has an American accent strangely!). It was clear he didn't play the role very often (as Mark Siney played it in September when I saw it; he's still in the cast though…). Anyway, John played André as a caring, sweet, father-like figure. I haven't seen it played like that yet, but I think it's not right for the part, as André should be a little arrogant at times.

Carlotta was still played by the gorgeous Jasna Ivir, who tries to make the best out of the role. She truly desrves the "Brava's !" she got at the curtain call. David Hillman plays a neutral Piangi, with a fairly good high C.

I was a bit disappointed in Anthony Raffell's Firmin, as he loses a lot of the funny side of the part. A great improvement to last February's performance I saw, was Heather Jackson's Mme Giry, who has a magnificent voice and looks very mysteriously. Brava ! Now back to John Capes. His "I gave you my music…" was very weak, very unstable.

He was a bit better during the second act, but he still lacked the stage presence which a good Phantom must have, even when he's not on stage all the time.

On Monday's performance John Langley didn't catch the "Don Juan" score, which looked rather silly…

There were also some technical flaws during "Prima Donna", in which the 2 managers could hardly be heard due to microphone problems.

Shona's "Whishing" was remarkebly better than her other numbers. Does she think it's her key number in order to win the audience's sympathy ?? Or does she for once make the effort to sing beautifully ?? Anyway, "Wandering Child" was following, so one of the show's highlights started. John still lacked the ability to draw the focus on him, but overall the scene worked rather well.

For an actor playing Phantom, "Point of no Return" must be the real start of the show, since from that moment on he can start playing more at random. Sadly, John still moved quite in a stiff way, and Shona tried to bring some sexyness to the number (which seemed a bit over the top). In the Final Lair, John did some very 'incorrect' things. He didn't move gracefully (as a true Phantom should behave, who thinks of himself to be an aristocrat (I quote Peter Karrie here). John said the "I think my dear" lines so wrong in my opion of course.

Anyway, he truly went mad, but he lost the audience at this point. You couldn't feel any sympathy at all towards the character anymore. When Shona kissed him, he waved his arms as if he was flying in the air (which was awful !!!!). John, put that out !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike Sterling looked very shocked, and moved his eyes in a funny way (I bet he was thinking the same as I was about John's arms…) When John "released" Mike from the Punjab Lasso, he threw the 'candle' away, which surprised me ! On Wednesday, he just put it on the organ (I think he got some bad notes after Monday's performance). His last notes weren't bad at all, but he wept a bit too much for my tastes. Anyway, I'll have to come back to see Glyn Kerslake and I hope Jasna Ivir and Mike Sterling will remain in the cast, as I can't imagine it without them.

CATS(Tue. 14/07/98 Matinée)

Matinées are always full of children, so it's not really a good time to see a show which you didn't see already. With Cats, it's just the same. It was sold out, with 80% children present.

I sat right between 2 groups so I was a bit annoyed when they didn't sit still, kept on talking through the show and showed no respect whatsoever to the actors who were in fact doing a great show.

I particulary liked Sally Taylor as Bombalurina, understudy Annalisa Rossi as Jellylorum, Nick Searle and Sascha Kane as Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, Nicolas Pound as Old Deuteronomy and the incredible, the marvelous Tee Jaye as Rum Tum Tugger and the magical Clifford Stein as Mistoffelees.

There are actually 5 people from the Belgian production now in the show, so I was especially looking out for them. Suzanne Heyne, who played Demeter and understudied Grizabella in Antwerp (I saw her in both roles), does the same job again at the New London. On the performance I saw, she was playing Grizabella, but I still didn't like her version of "Memory" very much. She can't reach the note on "It's so EASY to leave me", so I think she shouldn't be playing the role …

Cats is still a special show, with some good music and inventive dancing. It's not so remarkable it keeps on running and running, and I suspect we'll still be able to see it in the next century.

LES MISERABLES (Tue. 14/07/98 and Thu. 16/07/98)

I had been waiting to see Stig Rossen as Valjean for a long time, and now the fairly new cast had arrived at the Palace Theatre. It was the right time to see the updated version again.

Tim Morgan, former Grantaire and understudy Javert, now plays the bad guy full time. Teddy Kempner plays Thénardier, but the rest of the principals in the cast haven't changed since last November.

At Tuesday's perfromance, I saw Tania Newton as Mme Thénardier. She was hilarious !! She did a lot of things I didn't see Liz Ewing do, who is very good as well (maybe she's a bit more dirty in the face !) I especially liked the Bargain scene, in which Teddy was doing some very funny things (but again very different than previous Thénardiers). Maybe he loses the 'satan' side a bit (and he keeps forgetting certain words !!) but I liked it the way he invented new funny jokes.

Stig Rossen is unbelievable as Valjean. I've never seen any Valjean like this, and he knows how to make the part his own. His Soliloquy and "Who Am I" are real showstoppers and "Bring Him Home" has never been better: I can't imagine him doing it like this every night (but he does; such deep emotions are rarely felt !). He looks just right for the role and is indeed very moving in his scenes with Cosette and Marius, and very angry with Javert, yet he thanks him after Javert let him go away with Marius (which was brilliant !).

Speaking of Javert, Tim Morgan has great potential to become my third favorite Javert (behind Philp Quast and Michael McCarthy). He's a bit unsure about his lines (e.g. in Paris), but he has a great deep voice. He missed some of his top notes, but I can forgive him. His "Stars" were truly amazing.

Silvie Paladino still plays Fantine with as much warmth and emotion as last year, and she makes "I Dreamed a Dream" an unforgettable moment in the show. When I looked at her face during the last scene (when she cried of happiness, seeing Valjean and Cosette together), my heart broke. I enormously liked it the way Stig holds her face when he's about to die, and when Cosette returns, she takes Silvie's place. I was crying !!!!!

Annalene Beechey is still the perfect choice for Cosette: she's pure, young and fresh. It will be a great loss when she leaves the show. Eponine was still played by the gorgeous (now blond!) Gemma Wardle, who makes it worth the cost of the ticket to see the show again and again. She IS Eponine. Brava !!!!

On Tuesday I saw Graham Bruce and on Thursday's Matinée understudy Andrew Keelan was playing Marius. Both aren't of the same standard as e.g. Michael Ball or Mario Frangoulis, but Keelan has captured more the innocence (and has a better voice) than G. Bruce. I shall spare you my views on him (but you can read them in previous reviews I made). Mark O'Malley has come to London to play Enjolras (which he already played on tour). I didn't think much of him (except that he reminded me of a cowboy at times). He was an excellent Chris in Miss Saigon but he missed the arrogance and charisma a good Enjolras should have. I must mention James Doherty as Grantaire and Sam Hiller as Claquesous/Bamatabois, because they proved to understand what they were playing/doing. They interacted extremely good and James does some very funny, amazingly simple things of which you ask yourself why anyone else hasn't thought of doing them.

The orchestra, lead by Colin Pettet, was extremely good on both occasions, which isn't as 'normal' as you might think. Anyway, if you haven't see this cast yet, hurry and see one of the best possible performances of Les Miserables !!

MISS SAIGON (Wed. 15/07/98)

David Shannon was sensational in the 3rd version of Martin Guerre (in the role of Guillaume). I was very pleased to learn that he had been cast as the alternate Chris in Miss Saigon.

It's not easy to see him of course, as he's only doing a few performances a week. I was forunate enough though to see him and I can only say one thing: he is STUNNING, BRILLIANT and he may be the ultimate Chris.

Cezarah Campos plays opposite David for most of his performances. She has a tough job to be the alternate for the marvelous Joanna Ampil, who makes her return to the Theatre Royal, after a stint in Jesus Christ Superstar. I had already seen Joanna twice when she first played Kim 4 years ago. Cezarah isn't the best Kim in the world, but she moves you and that's something which some real 'stars' fail to do.

The supporting cast gave a very moving performance. Richard Lloyd King as John and Jo Jo De La Cerna as Thuy were the finest I've ever seen or heard. Richard made "Bui Doi" (one of the best ballads C.M. Schönberg ever wrote) even more special and thrilling. Jo Jo played a vulnerable Thuy and didn't scream his (very) high notes out.

Leo Valdez is back again in London after an appearance in Sydney, but can't convince me at all as the Engineer. He's not funny (enough), not sleazy (enough): he just annoys you. Maybe he does that on purpose, but for my tastes it doesn't work at all.

Now, what makes David Shannon so good ? Well, everything he does… "Why, God Why ?" was excellent (he even got some whistling and "Bravo's" after the song). His interacting with Cez was very moving and intimate: most of the time he sang a lot softer and more parlando than anyone else, which miraculously worked !

In the 2nd act he totally convinced me (in the Nightmare sequence and the Hotel Scene, which was really brilliant!)

Understudy Irene Warren was excellent as Ellen, although she sometimes sang a bit in an unstable way.

"I Still Believe" was a bit messy when  you were sitting in the Stalls, because the moving platform which brings the room with Chris and Ellen on (and John during the "Telephone Song") didn't move at all !! So they couldn't be seen. This didn't really disturb the atmosphere among the audience, which was excellent. At the curtain call the cheers and applause rose when David came on: it was a magical performance and it's really a highlight among the shows currently in the West End.

See it now, and pray you'll see David Shannon in one of his best roles so far.

Interesting note: on the performance I saw, the understudy for Chris in Holland, Paul Vaes, was in the audience. He clearly liked it and gave a standing ovation. I guess he could learn a thing or two from his colleague…

WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND (Thu. 16/07/98)

Seeing Whistle was an interesting experience. The brilliant opening of the show "The Vaults of Heaven" made the hair in my neck stand up (great singing by Gerard Bentall).

Then it's as if you sit looking at the movie "Independence Day": a magnificent "flying" set by Peter J. Davison marks the difference between the children's playground and the "grown ups".

Swallow, played by Lottie Mayor, sings some great songs in the first act (e.g. Whistle Down the Wind, If Only), with as far as I can judge an authentic slang of Louisiana. James Graeme as her father Boone was a bit disappointing, mainly because his voice showed no strength at all. Walter Reynolds sings a wonderful (sort of Poppa's Blues of Starlight Express) number "Cold".

The Man, played by Marcus Lovett (who looks just like Davis Gaines) has a great number "Nature of the Beast" (which has been moved from the Finale of the 2nd act to his first number). He doesn't deliver it as well as I imagine it can be, but you get the feeling of hearing "Memory" for the first time. It will become a standard song for many singers ! The children are surprisingly good and give the show an unseen freshness and authenticity. "When Children Rule the World" is a tune you'l be whistling days after you've seen the show. I especially liked "Annie Christmas", which is a brilliant mixture of good lyrics, good acting and a great tune.

The finale to act 1 is another showstopper, although I have the feeling it comes a bit too early.

The 2nd act is more consistent and has more coherent numbers, with a trio (Amos, played by understudy Mark Powell, Swallow and The Man), called "A Kiss is a Terrible Thing to Waste" wich will go into musical theatre history !

"Wrestle With the Devil" (with 4 live snakes) failed to hold my attention and the last love duet between Swallow and The Man doesn't feel right at all.

The ending of the show is brilliant in its simplicity (although the "Fire Scene" is quite stunning and spectacular) and the last images are really great.

I still feel the show needs some reworking (maybe the parts of Amos and Candy should be made clearer) and the overall rythme of the show could be more stable.

Anyway, I think you should see this, because you'll be in for a totally different aspect of Lloyd Webber !

( July 98 / Sven Verlinden/Sven.Verlinden@rug.ac.be)