You get one great Victor Hugo-inspired musical and then along comes another. Well not quite. Written by Luc Plamondon and Richard Cocciante and directed by Gilles Maher, this is a kind of Parisian Beauty and the Beast set in turbulent times of the late 15th century. But Les Mis Part 2, it isn’t.
The end, swift, inevitable and so terribly comes as it must and leaves everyone awkward, struggling with the death of Mimi, filled with regret and angst but my mind turned to Musetta, the only one who really cares for Mimi, who looks out for her, this is the real triumph of this production. To bring a focus not only to Mini and Musetta, but also the men’s inability to deal with them as equals. It’s pure understated glory is a wonderfully released production of Puccini.
A beautiful, thrilling, emotionally convincing evening in the presence of a splendid cast, and tremendous music, the ENO at its best.
THE history of the stage musical Chess is as chequered as its current set design at London’s Coliseum. A successful stint in the West End from 1986 to 1989 was long overshadowed by a Broadway disastrous run of two months following vast rewrites as US producers insisted that the American must beat the Russian at the end of Act One, and not as the story originally dictated.
Two centuries after its premiere and thirty years after its first outing in 1987, Jonathan Miller’s Tiepolo-inspired staging brilliantly intercuts the traditions of the Italian commedia dell’arte and the Whitehall farce to create a charming evening of musical and comedy enjoyment.
Rossini’s prequel to The Marriage of Figaro remains as tuneful, ironic and funny as ever. Set in an elegant comic-opera vision of 18th-century Seville, this thirteenth revival with returning (2015 production) director Peter Relton taking experienced control of this established production has the same warm comfortable seriousness its last outing, and serves up the laughs.
This delightful and vivid production is warm enough to please the fans, clean enough to please the critics and fresh enough to draw in a new curious crowd this is smooth and fresh revival. Recommended.
